L'Epice de Mer by Montagne

Introduction

Vikings were the Norse people from southern Scandinavia…but, that’s too nerdy. Vikings, to all of us,

were sailors, had the longship (boat we all think of), they were amazing navigators and traders, but most of all, they were fearless and smelled of the sea. Creed attempted to encapsulate all of this into a scent in 2017, nosed by Olivier Creed, he captured the spices and citruses Vikings transported, the smell of the sea, the unmistakable scent of pepper and the uplifting feeling of navigation. This review though, is not about Creed’s Viking, it is instead about an inspired expression by the house of Montagne, aptly called L’Epice de Mer. Let’s dig down on the fragrance.

Notes

Top: Pink pepper, bergamot, lemon.

Middle: Pimento berries, mint, rose, orris.

Base: Sandalwood, vetiver, ambergris, patchouli. 

Review

L’Epice (LE) opens up spicy and peppery, all sitting on a bed of fresh bright bergamot,  a very remote mint plays second or third violin, it’s also reminiscent of root, has that earthy vibe to it, almost dirty, it’s dry from the white floral angle, yet, it doesn’t have the powder associated with white florals. The bergamot does not dominate, neither does the lemon although they make their presence felt and can spike through the spiciness as the fragrance progresses. Ten to fifteen minutes in, the salty ambergris comes to the front of the fragrance and this is when I think it really shines, this is when the name L’Epice de Mer (the spice of sea) really shines through, at this stage, you can really experience the feeling of the sea on top a bed of spices, it’s marvelous. Imagine standing at the stern of a boat (back part), this boat is carrying spices and it’s made of wood, as you stand at the back the air sips through the hull of the boat and carries with it the spices you are transporting while at the same time the saltiness of the sea comes through, close your eyes and imagine that, you did? that’s L’Epice de Mer.

The dry down, 1 hour in, things get simpler and a very mature salty woody base comes to the front, the spices are now gone… but be aware, the drydown is salty, ambergris does not lose it’s head ever, what makes L’Epice feel like the sea is still there for the remainder of the fragrance’s life.  This makes the drydown stand on it’s own when compared to the plethora of wood based fragrances, it makes this unique. It’s pleasing and non-invasive, however, it does not become a crowd pleaser by itself, it remains weird enough to remind you of a niche fragrance.

When compared to the original, Viking is brighter and the ambergris salty note kicks in earlier, Viking has a better opening and it’s way more rounded early, to tie it to my previous reference, it feels like sitting on the boat from the get-go, it wastes no time showing it’s head.  L’Epice , however, takes longer, it’s very strange but it’s almost like both fragrances go through the same stages but Viking gets there faster, it develops almost immediately whereas L’Epicee takes some time to get there but those stages, once developed, are very similar, never completely the same, but, very close. How close? You know I don’t throw percentages around but, I’d say, close enough that unless I identified my tester strips, I wouldn’t remember which one is which.

Compared to Other Clones

I compared this to Alexandria Fragrance’s Seven Seas and instead of putting those 3 to fight each other, I

put L’Epice and Seven Seas on the ring. Seven Seas (black label) is darker and it does not “pop” like L’Epice does, it’s not bright, the pepper is different and I can barely feel the bergamot. Don’t get me wrong, Seven Seas is a fine fragrance and I like how deep it is, but, when compared to L’Epice, it loses, and it does because L’Epice has that ocean vibe, that pepper sparkling. 

A good way of concluding this: Seven Seas is like being inside the boat I was describing, but sitting at the front , close to the wood and no wind to be felt, the pepper feels like it’s been sitting for a while instead of fresh pepper, the saltiness and marine feeling is not as present. Seven Seas reminds me of the sandalwood and rose used on Viking where’s L’Epice reminds me of the bergamot, vetiver, lemon and ambergris on it. When compared to the original? Hands down, L’Epice takes the cake as closer comparison.

99BottledScents Grading & Usage

Scent: 8/10

Projection: 8/10 for 1 hour or so.

Sillage: with quarantine, it’s hard to measure this

Uniqueness: 8.5/10

Longevity: 7/10, lasts for a good 6 hours before becoming a fainter scent.

Versatility: 7/10, I can’t think of a situation I wouldn’t wear this, it wears up (suit) and down (flip flops & t-shirt).

Overall: 8/10

Is it Unisex? If you know me, I don’t like labeling fragrances for men or women, we should all feel the freedom to wear whatever scent we want. I sprayed this on my wife to do the test and I don’t prefer it on a woman, however, that is only my opinion and in no way should change your decision to wear and rock this!

Final Thoughts

When comparing clones or inspired expressions, it’s easy to judge the clone by the original or the other way around, judge the original by it’s clone. If you choose to judge the clone by the original, L’Epice is a bottle you can consider adding to your collection, the price difference between the Viking and L’Epice would be hard to justify for someone who only has a passing desire for Viking and I can assure you the essence of Viking is very present on this inspired expression. If you are ok with not owning Viking, you won’t find a better clone or inspired expression out there and when you put into the equation what L’Epice costs, this starts falling into the “no brainer” territory.

How about judging the original by it’s clone, this can happen when you don’t have access to the Original but think you know it just by the clone, this is where L’Epice can fall short. This is not a 1:1 representation of Viking and Creed can easily be called the king of ambergris, they know how to make that note really pop and Viking is a prime example of that, Viking feels like the ocean, Viking has an edge that only Creed can give a fragrance,if you want the original, only the original will do…. however, something to consider on your journey…Viking’s performance is horrible when compared to L’Epice, after 2-3 hours, Viking becomes a skin scent where L’Epice continues to project and that can tip the scale on L’Epice’s favor considering how close they are on the scent profile.

This brings me to my conclusion, when I first started reviewing L’Epice I thought it was going to be a bust given my experience with other Viking clones, I never thought I would like a clone over the OG, the consumerist part of my brain was like “the OG is better because it’s 4 times the price!”, alas, I can say that where I stand is this: The OG is better for the time it lasts on your skin, it is, the sprayer on the bottle is better, how fast it becomes rounded, all of that. I’m glad to own the original, but, had L’Epice be available when I bought the OG and I was able to compare them like I did just now, I wouldn’t had bought the OG and I would be happy with just owning this clone. Montagne did good by the Creed’s DNA and was able to bring us the spices of the sea for a price we all can afford. Good job Montagne, nah, scratch that, Great job.

Thanks for reading,

X.

Links:

L'Epice De Mer @ Montagne’s Website

My Instagram

Tobacco Noir by Montagne

Herod, a Parfums de Marly creation by none other than Olivier Pescheux, nose behind Eros Flame,

Valentino Noir Absolu Musc and 1 Million! (to name a few)  was introduced in 2012 and became a legend of its own, being the first niche in many people’s collections, being a love at first smell for countless stories in Instagram, suffice to say, Herod’s imprint in the fragrance world is here to stay. Like many niche scents, they can be expensive to acquire and in the case of Herod, a common critique is that the longevity can be better. Montagne, the inspired expression house based in NY has come up with a contender that pursues that Herod DNA, aptly named Tobacco Noir.

Openning

Tobacco Noir opens, for me, with a very strong green tobacco note and vanilla, enveloped in a grassy note , the note pyramid does not include Vetiver but that’s where my mind goes and that’s how I would describe it. It’s very comforting albeit it’s darkness (this is not a fresh fragrance, hence the noir name). Cinnamon and Pepper are also there, but I would not describe Tobacco Noir as being heavy on those notes, the opening is actually very well rounded and no note completely dominates over the other.

Heart

This fragrance’s middle is very complex and the incense really comes through, providing a sort of “ash” background, but it comes and goes, it’s extremely rounded and no notes take over the composition at any moment., I continue to detect Vanilla and now Musk is entering the composition, it’s one of those fragrances that are not linear, that invite you to keep investigating them.

DryDown

Vanilla, Musk, Cedar…. it’s very rounded, soft but woody, sweet but musky. I would consider this a crowd pleaser and would never assume it’s a niche offering just by the drydown alone, I can see why it’s so famous  though, it’s pleasing and although it can be a little complicated, the drydown being about those 3 major notes makes it so that it stays crowd pleasing. I really like this drydown, it’s very inviting and  not offensive.

Comparisons

Unfortunately, I don’t have Herod to compare it to, however, I do own Arabian Horse (AH) from Alexandria Fragrances. On opening, Tobacco Noir (TN) is more tobacco whereas AH is more peppery, almost peppercorn, for me, this part is the less inviting aspect of AH if I’m honest, it’s again the obsession with one note being all-powerful and taking over. However, things get better, Tobacco Noir goes woody when Arabian Horse goes sweet (ambery), with Tobacco Noir I have to wait for the incense, with Arabian Horse is there and it’s way more ashy than Tobacco Noir.  They are fairly different on the opening. A way of explaining it would be that Arabian Horse goes amber & pepper, whereas Tobacco Noir goes tobacco, vanilla & grassy. That grass note, although faint, is amazing.

Montagne goes peppery & cinnamon on the heart., at mid point, these 2 frags are completely different. Arabian Horse has a very strong note that completely takes over, I think its ISO E, it just wins with the pepper musk amber combination. It’s not bad, it’s just not complex.

On dry down they become way similar whereas AH is more amber with Tobacco Noir exposing cedar instead. No comparison for me, Tobacco Noir wins, for the wife, Arabian Horse wins because it’s denser, less skin scent. 

Conclusion

Montagne’s openings for PdM Inspirations are amazing, they really found something that clicked on the formula and I for one am excited to experience it, long gone are the days of harsh openings that threw notes in all directions, after some time to macerate, the first sprays are amazing. If you like the Herod DNA, you can’t go wrong, however, notice that the performance is not beast mode, Tobacco Noir will invite you to sniff and experiment, to learn, not necessarily to sit and be slapped in the face by it’s projection. This is extremely well done.

Thanks for reading,

X.

Top notes: Pepper, cinnamon, tobacco leaf absolute.

Middle notes: Incense.

Base notes: Musk, vanilla.

Links:

Tobacco Noir @ Montagne's Website

My Instagram

Azonto by Montagne

Bal D’Afrique , from the Stockholm based niche perfume house Byredo was introduced in 2009, nosed by Jerome Epinettee,  inspired by Paris in the late 1920’s and its infatuation with African culture, art, music, and dance. Well, that won’t invoke any memories for me so I decided to comprehend the feeling further, Bal translates to bale, bale from Africa, ok, this perhaps makes more sense as the grass notes and floral undertones would convey, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Today I explore Azonto, an inspired expression from NY based house Montagne.

Opening

Red & White Florals sprinkled with lemon, kissed by grass, enveloped in beach grapes. I know that sounds complicated…and I’m glad it does because that is what Azonto’s opening is like, complicated and fresh. Trying to peel out individual notes is very hard, lemon and vetiver are definitively there with a hint of neroli to my nose, neroli usually takes over fragrances, not this time. It’s a little powdery for me, perhaps from the violet but the fragrance itself does not feel as dry as other powder scents tend to be. The first few sniffs will definitively feel like a bale with vetiver grass surrounding a bunch of florals in the middle, picture it, a big bale with hay and vetiver intertwined on the outside, hiding a big bouquet of flowers in the middle, you open it on a humid day…that’s what this opening is like. I have many fragrances and have tested hundreds, the opening of this fragrance is on shelf of it’s own.

Heart & DryDown

Look, I’m not disappointed by the drydown, that would be too harsh of a word to use, it’s just that the opening is so perfect that I wished it stayed for a long time, I wish those notes lingered for hours, but alas, they don’t. The drydown is all about the amber, musk, vetiver with (what I think) is jasmine, basically, a woody base with a floral over-tone. It’s good, it’s just not this complicated fascinating fragrance the opening provided us, I love smelling this during the day, finding it on my skin and let it complement my day, it’s very fresh without being green, it’s floral enough without being floral.

Performance & Usage

Sadly, for me, this becomes a skin scent really fast, within 2 hours or so. I can find it on my skin for 6 to 8 hours easily, but, it does not project at all after the initial hour. This is 100% unisex, but, if you’ve read my review before you know I don’t believe in assigning gender to scent. This is a summer fragrance or perhaps a warmer spring day as well.

NOTE: I live in Seattle and the temperatures are on the cold side still, I will wear this when it gets warmer and will adjust my review if the performance changes due to weather changes.

Conclusion

I don’t own Bal D’ Afrique and to be honest, I’ve never even tried it before, I know it is a hyped fragrance but I never did pursue it. I tried Azonto thinking I wouldn’t like it, I was proved wrong so fast, I love the opening and how well mixed this fragrance is. Should you buy it? If you like fresh fragrances, I would say yes, the price to value proposition is amazing for what you get, there are ZERO designer fragrances I’ve tried that have this level of complexity, heck, even niche ones fall short.  However, if you are a big fan of beast-mode fragrance or those that last 2 days on your skin, I would consider the performance implications with this fragrance before pulling the trigger and getting it, me, I’ll spray this twice during the day…because I get to experience that amazing opening twice :) 

Thanks for reading,

X.

Top notes: Neroli, lemon, African marigold, bergamot, buchu.

Middle notes: Violet, jasmine, cyclamen.

Base notes: Musk, vetiver, cedarwood, ambery. 

Links:

Azonto @ Montagne's Website

My Instagram

Eau Bergamot by Montagne

Le Labo is a house you can’t judge by experiencing only one of their fragrances, Santal 33 is strong and

niche, Bergamote 22 on the other hand isn’t, it’s pleasing, soft, bright and can almost be called a crowd pleaser. Daphne Bugey, perfumer behind this fragrance is also responsible for Neroli 36, Rose 31, Tonka 25 and Lys 41 from the Le Labo empire, suffice to say, Daphne knows how to create a wonderful fragrance. Today I examine Eau Bergamot, an inspired expression of Bergamote 22 by the house of Montagne.

Review

BRIGHT! That’s the first word to comes to mind, sparkly bergamot is the first thing you feel. Interestingly enough, bergamot is technically not a lemon (as we tend to think) and instead it’s more related to a sour orange, hence the complicated and fascinating scent that can be extracted as oils from its rinds. Suffice to say, bergamot is a great note that can take sharp or dark connotations depending on what fragrance it’s used and how it’s mixed, it can be fleeting as it’s staying power is not great. On Eau Bergamot, the note is very bright which in this case it’s different from fresh, bright for me means it sparkles on your skin, comes alive, whereas fresh (for me) implies it envelops you on the scent, it brings you in like the smell of fresh coffee. Eau Bergamot is pretty straight-forward, bergamot, an amazing sour grapefruit and humid vetiver envelop a great amber/vanilla/musk base, although the fragrance can be described as simple, it should never be called boring or even similar to anything else, Eau Bergamot stands by it’s own merit and makes the wearer feel immediately happy, as if walking a citrus fields with no shirt on and the breeze picking up every scent. I feel this fragrance has a great resin/amber note on the dry down and I’m surprised the OG is not mentioned as a great amber dry down.

Performance is decent for a bergamot based fragrance that never lets the cedar or vetiver take over completely, I get 1 hour of solid projection and around 5 hours before it starts tapering off to a scent skin, note, performance on hot days is better as the sweat allows this fragrance to spark again! So, depending on use and number of sprays you  you might get 7 solid hours out of this.

Do I recommend this? If you like the bergamot note, that’s easy, yes. If you instead prefer darker fragrances, this might be too bright for you. When would I reach for this? In cases where I would reach for Acqua di Bergamot from Zegna, Mugler Cologne or Versace Man Eau Fraiche, I prefer Eau Bergamot to those because it’s less watery and the notes come alive!

Thanks for reading,

X.

Eau Bergamote @ Montagne's Website

Vanille Fraiche by Montagne

Parfums de Marly (PdM) introduced Layton in 2016, a creation of Hamid Merati-Kashani, nose of several fantastic fragrances including Percival from the same house, Oud Rose Intense from Fragrance Du Bois and Mystic Experience from Initio, suffice to say, Hamid knows what he’s doing and Layton might be his best creation with a 4.4 rating on Fragrantica, not a small feat to accomplish. Layton’s blue bottle has become a staple of fragrance shots on Instagram and you can’t find a forum that talks about scents that doesn’t obsess over this bottle, so, if you are pursuing Layton but find the price to be a deterrent, I present to you an alternative from Montagne, called Vanille Fraiche.

The Opening

The first few minutes with this fragrance, I can detect bergamot coming through, not dominating mind you, just coming trough, making the whole thing lively and sparkly, it’s enveloped in this lavender/apple/vanilla cloud that is then surrounded by wood and imprisoned… yes, the opening can be perceived as slightly fresh but it really isn’t a fresh fragrance, the sandalwood makes sure of that. In the past, I’ve had reservations about Montagne’s fragrances’s openings, I’ve found them different from the OGs and to be truthful, a little lacking. That changed with Vanille Fraiche, from the moment you apply it to your skin it’s well rounded and no notes go sparking off your skin in unknown directions, they work together to envelop you, out of my 15 Montagnes (so far), this has the best opening in terms of quality, it’s pretty amazing.

Heart & DryDown

The drydown for me is pretty crowd pleasing, it’s not challenging or mind-bending complicated, it’s very well done. You can detect different wood accords in there, sandalwood is not the only player and they all complement each other to form a wood bubble that is nothing short of pleasing, inside that bubble you get vanilla and lavender, a non-tart apple note as well, earthy apple, what you get from peeling and smelling the peel.  Note here, the patchouli comes through and it can create similarities to some of the Mugler fragrances, but, they are very different scents, Vanille Fraiche to me is about a ton of notes playing together, it feels complete, whether Mugler can take some notes and over-do them in a different way, pleasing as it is, it’s not this. The scent bubble from the drydown is inviting, office friendly, date approved, cuddling encouraged.

Is this spicy? That’s the one question I’m not able to answer yet… when compared to really spicy fragrances, this is not spicy to me, but, there is something on the drydown that invokes that spicy feeling, it’s a fleeting note that augments others, like pepper, I really like it but I’d be hard-pressed to call it spicy per-se.

Gender & Body Chemistry

Is this unisex? Absolutely. On my wife’s skin, bergamot is more lively than on mine and the apple is way more “detectable” than on my own skin, on my daughter’s skin, the fragrance goes almost fresh with the bergamot playing first violin as her skin tends to make fragrances sweeter than they are. Suffice to say, all 3 directions that I tested this on are incredible and I have no reservations saying this is a unisex fragrance (provided you like wood notes, of course)

Comparisons

I compared this to Alexandria Fragrance's Royal Equestrian, a clone I’ve held as a great interpretation before. Look, honesty can be brutal, but truth is important, Vanille Fraiche made me hate Royal Equestrian (RE), I wore them at the same time (one on each arm) and Royal Equestrian was so invasive on my skin, so loud without being rounded while Vanille Fraiche felt so complete on my skin, on the openings, there is a 100% clear winner and that is Vanille Fraiche. On the drydown, RE becomes more sub-dued and rounds itself better becoming more pleasing, but still, it augments certain notes (vanilla/apple) and they are louder than the wood, in my opinion, changing the fragrance from a wood bubble with apple/vanilla notes inside to a vanilla/apple bubble with wood notes inside, so, my comparison will be based on which I prefer and I do prefer Vanille Fraiche, I see no situation in which I would choose RE over Vanille Fraiche.

Compared to OG, I sadly ran out of my sampler for Layton before I could do a brutal and extended 1:1 comparison, but, the one time I compared them I couldn’t believe how close they were, in fact, I couldn’t take in that I was comparing two different fragrances. Layton is a staple scent on everyone’s collection, I’m not buying the OG, I don’t need to, I already have my Layton scent.

Performance

On cold days, this stops projecting after 1 hour and remains a pleasing skin scent for 8+ hours, on warmer days the projection lasts longer (perhaps 1.5 to 2 hours). Due to quarantine, measuring sillage or scent trail is almost impossible! This is not a beast mode fragrance and I’m glad it isn’t, making it beast mode would augment notes that need no augmenting, this scent profile is meant to be Eau de Parfum concentration for us to be able to enjoy all the notes and I’m glad Montagne respected that.

Conclusion

Clones or Inspired Expressions can feel different from the OGs on your skin because they lack the depth the OGs went for, for a long time those of us that like clones had to live with that and be ok with it, I think Montagne just introduced a fragrance that changes that perception, the opening on Vanille Fraiche is fantastic and the drydown worthy of daily wear. If you like Layton, this is an easy option which, considering the cost, is almost a no-brainer. The ingredients in Vanille Fraiche feel natural and over-spraying will not cause a headache or choke you, it will complement you. This is a solid 7/10, mainly because I find Layton to be too crowd pleasing for my taste. Well done Montagne, well done.


As always, wear it because it complements you, not because of the compliments.

My Instagram.

Essence N°9 : Tubéreuse by Elie Saab

Introduction

This fragrance was created by Francis Kurkdjian, the nose behind JPG Le Male, Mr Burberry, Baccarat Rouge 540, Grand Soir and many others. The essence collection from Elie Saab is all about taking one prominent note and make it play first violin on the compositions behind the name of the fragrance, for example, on Essence N°9  Tubéreuse, it’s all about the white flower but the notes also contain cinnamon bark,  musk and bergamot, however, the Tuberose flower is the main note and the prominent one, same for the rest of the line. What’s more, the fragrances are are meant to complement each other (for example, this one can be layered with the Vetiver, Our or Amande Tonka versions), part of the genius that only Kurkdjian can bring to the table.

The Opening 

Tuberose (Agave amica) can lean feminine as it’s very floral and rounded…. but, I think it leans feminine because we associate certain notes with a population, in my case, I associate white florals with a fragrance my mom and her friends wore when I was growing up called White Diamonds …therefore I consider Tuberose to lean feminine. However, I think forcing a scent profile to a gender is not correct, it limits your olfactory experience and you’ll miss out on some gems out there.

Enter Essence No 9. The opening is all white floral, all powder, very powerful and loud, the cinnamon sharpens the opening, upon first spray you think it’ll grow close to skin but it doesn’t, it sparks, it does this magic trick where it rests on your skin first and THEN it becomes loud, the scent cloud, if you are not careful, will be super strong. Imagine grabbing two handfuls of freshly picked tuberose flowers, on a hot day where the flowers are particularly loud, now imagine burying your face in those flowers…. but what’s more, imagine your hands can hold twice the amount of flowers and you bury your face again…THAT is what this feels like. It’s amazing, it’s so pure and loud.

The DryDown

Musk enters the composition but it never takes over completely, the essence of the white flower is there even though it sits darker and earthier on your skin. The drydown is very well rounded and still floral, the powder aspect remains but it’s not what I would consider a powdery scent considering the ingredients (meaning: it’ll always be powdery

Performance

This fragrance is a beast! It will project 1 to 2 feet for at least 3 hours, and will be on your skin 8+ hours.

Where to Buy?

I got mine from FragranceNet, highly recommend you join their mailing list to get some significant discounts.

The Bottle and The Sprayer

The cap is magnetic and it's easy to hold the bottle from the cap (useful when you store bottles on a drawer), the bottle is thick glass and screams quality, the sprayer produces a beautiful mist, 9/10 for the bottle. One of my favorite bottles from my collection.

Conclusion

If you are into white florals, this is not to be missed, if you are into Tuberose (pure scent) then this is definitively not to be missed. It sparks from your skin with the most pure Tuberose note, the cinamon helps tone down the powder and add complexity to the scent, the bergamot makes it shine and the musk allows it to sit on your skin, rounded and complete. This is not everyone’s cup of tea, but, it’s the right person’s sip of whiskey. Totally recommended, 8/10.

Have you tried this or any from the Essence Line? Drop me a line and tell me about your experience!

As always, wear it because it complements you, not because of the compliments.

Thanks for reading,


X.


My Instagram.

Good Life by Rêveur

Vetiver can take many forms in fragrances, it can be earthy with a strong edge, almost dirty… it can

also be bright, almost like a happy version of itself, regardless, the fragrant grass with a great fixative is a staple on perfumery, and Rêveur has included it on it’s Eaux de Perfume, Good Life.

The Opening

The first time I smelled Good life I remember thinking “so, this is what a green fragrance is”, don’t get wrong, I love Guerlain’s Vetiver, Creed’s Green Irish Tweed and many other well known green fragrances I’ve tried or owned before this one, but Good Life managed to separate itself from the rest by the perfect mix of mint, vetiver and lavender, the opening is very green and rooty , it’s strong, almost essential oil strong, however, it has a lot of character while it allows you to enjoy it. It’s important to note, I think the concentration on this fragrance is pretty high, all of the notes spark from your skin as though to yell at you, do not apply this and think it will disappear, it will not.

Look, I’m a sucker for lavender, I just am, but I’m not a fan of the overly done lavender note on soaps / shampoos /etc, I’m a fan of the earthy lavender and this is what I detect on Good Life. It stays at the same level as the Vetiver and the mint and they complement each other.

DryDown

This fragrance is linear,  meaning that it stays on the same vibe from opening to drydown with the difference being that musk now appears after 30 minutes or so, white musk is how I would describe it and what I feel. It compliments the vetiver as the mint and lavender die down from the notes. The drydown is less sharp on the vetiver but the fragrance never loses it’s DNA, this is a green fragrance from beginning to end, have no doubt about it.

Performance

Good Life will suffocate if you over-spray it, I did the mistake of spraying 7 times on me (3 on chest, 1 on neck, 1 on each arm bend, 1 on forearm that I rubbed with the other forearm) and the scent bubble became too much for the first 45 minutes or so, after that, it died down enough to be more tolerable (NOTE: This is subjective, some people love that beast mode so to each it's own). However, when I spray less, the scent bubble is airy and very pleasing for my taste. Longevity wise, expect a solid 5-7 hours depending on how hydrated your skin is (or if you apply it over lotion) and expect a projection of 1 feet for about 1-3 hours. Sillage is harder to measure in times of Quarantine, so, I was not able to measure it.

Use

This is a spring/summer fragrance with the capability of extending into warmer days during Fall. I use this when I’m wearing a buttoned short sleeve shirt with shorts and it really complements the attire and overall feeling of a sunny day. Because this is not a skin scent and it projects, the scent bubble will become more noticeable as you sweat so take that in consideration.

The Bottle and The Sprayer

I got the 1.7oz (50ml) and it comes with a nice pleather bag for travel. I can lift the bottle by the cap (which is useful as I store my fragrances in drawers) but the cap is not magnetic. The bottle has good heft to it and you can tell the label is applied manually as sometimes it’s not 100% centered, I like this as I appreciate the fact that someone worked on my bottle individually. The sprayer produces a nice mist but its not great at regulating, so, the spray it produces is awesome but don’t expect to press halfway and get a consistent spray like you would get with Dior. I rate the bottle and the sprayer at 6.5/10 where Creed, Kilian and Dior’s sprayers are 10.

Price

The 50ml goes for $80 ($1.60 / ml) while the 100ml goes for $120 ($1.20 / ml).  These prices enter the niche stratosphere as you would expect, but look, I’ll throw a curve-ball here… price per ML is on the same range as DUA and the quality and unique-ness you are getting here is better…so, there’s that. Also, price per ml is less than some offerings from Creed and I would compare this house to Creed in terms of quality. So yes, it’s a little expensive for a relatively unknown brand but I assure you, the quality is there.

Conclusion

Look, there are many options on green fragrances that are good and many options that are fantastic, I think Good Life is part of the fantastic ones and one you should consider, at $80 is not exactly cheap and committing to it might scare someone off, I suggest you visit Rêveur’s page and get some samples, put them to the test on your skin, play with them, see if you agree with me... I have a feeling you'll get the bottle.

I have 99 bottles of fragrance on my collection, I use Good Life several times a month as the weather gets warmer, that should tell you how high I think of this, 8/10 on my book.