Eau de Vetyver
Yves Rocher (1982)

Yves Rocher is like a mainstream version of Body Shop and, as you would expect from such an outfit, its perfumes are middle of the road.

So it comes as no surprise to find this was not a raw vetiver but a highly embellished with a whole load of modifiers wrapped around the core: licorice - with a dark oily smokiness lurking in the background, sweet powder ... lemon, bergamot coriander, which lead the supporting cast. These are followed by spicy, green and woody notes; this is not a virtuoso performance but a chorus line. The result is pleasant, if a little baroque, especially when incense, a rose bouquet, sandalwood, coumarin and finally labdanum emerge to pile up more and more layers so, at the end of the day, it doesn't have a great deal to do with vetiver.
Like a vetiver showroom dummy hung with a whole load of garments; the body is vetiver shaped, but there's not much of it on view.

It was an easy vetiver, but, without any real challenge, probably too easy.

Crisp and literaly quivering with energy and warmth yet clean-cut scent, exhaling the qualities of one of the most well-known ingredients in perfume industry. Powerfull woody and resinous drydown, long-lasting, refreshing and strong.