L.12.12 Blanc / White
Lacoste (2011)

With a citrusy opening that's more smooth than sharp (in terms of grapefruit it's the polar opposite of the nostril-scorching Ungaro Fresh), this one is thoroughly pleasant, inoffensive, but not at all boring. Can be worn by pretty much anywhere, anytime in warmer weather without nonsensical age restrictions.

The junior varsity basketball game just ended. You've hit the gym shower. You and your teammates are about to head to the local pizza parlor to get a slice and a soda. You might even whisper about a girl across the room.

This one is a "meh" for me. A safe scent, clean and not overly sweet, spicy, fruity or whatever. Unfortunately it all but disappears from my skin within 90 minutes, leaving a slight trace of cedar and vetiver only if I place me nose directly on my wrist.

Whilst the opening blast is indubitably containing citrus - a ripe grapefruit that shoes very little bitterness and has an orangey touch - this is merged with a restored cardamom very soon. Not bad at all.

In the drydown The florals come out, with a rather creamy ylang-ylang most prominent, with a herbal touch - rosemary but no thyme. A rose notion comes and goes; this is a somewhat bland rose Later on a frankincense arises, based on a olibanum that is quite restrained and never of an overwhelming ceremoniousness; this is a team player. This might also be due to an underlying vetiver, which prevents the heart notes form being too dark and gloomy.

The base is centred around wood notes, which started budding in the drydown and gradually assume a louder voice. The woods are quite nonspecific, and the occasional whiff of a soft and weak leather impression adds only little to this.

I get moderate sillage, good projection and six hours of longevity on my skin.

A pleasant scent for warm spring or cooler summer days, this creation does well in the top notes and the early drydown, but it a tad too generic and overly synthetic in the second part of its development. Overall 2.75/5.

From December, 2016:

Eau de Lacoste Blanc is a fantastic little gem released by Lacoste as part of their L.12 series. While I enjoy Yellow, this one, in my opinion is the best of the line, as it's a truly original scent with a very distinct smell. The dominant notes to my nose are Ylang-ylang and tuberose, which work alongside the grapefruit to create a floral aroma with a very tropical slant. Blanc is NOT just a clean white citrus fragrance as you may be lead to believe by the name and the fact that it would make sense since everyone's releasing clean white citrus fragrances these days. In fact, the "white" aspect of this one probably has more to do with a certain coconut-like creaminess that's prevalent throughout the scent, which gives it a smooth and lush feeling. I'm not saying it smells like coconut exactly, but there's this tropical creaminess to it that's pervasive from start to finish. Blanc is a cheerful scent and because of the florals it's elegant as well, but in a very relaxed, breezy way. Cardamom lends it some sweetness, and while it has a woody base the wood notes are not very distinct and are more of that generic, kind of vague woodiness blended with a little white musk to provide some backbone to the florals. But the bland quality of the woods doesn't really bother me here as the focus is on the florals and grapefruit, and they are what really shine in this composition. Eau de Lacoste can be dressed up or down easily and seems best suited for daily wear and warm evenings out. I love to wear this during the summer when I'm out at night, especially if I'm near the beach or a boardwalk. It really fits that kind of environment well (if I ever take a vacation to Hawaii, I'm bringing this with me!). Overall I give this a thumbs up and actually recommend it as a blind buy for anyone interested in a masculine floral-tropical. It's relatively inexpensive and its unique smell will probably give you a pleasant surprise. Enjoy!

A reference for the extra sweet, headache-inducing, synthetic male scents that dominate department store shelves currently. The smell is the same as mass-produced shower gels; clean, sweet and inoffensive. That being said, L.12.12 Blanc / White does the job it was intended for by smelling great in the air and getting compliments from ladies.

I don't get as much citrus as others, just more of the clean laundry detergent scent with added sweet synthetics.

Daytime casual seems best. If oversprayed it becomes very cloying, but otherwise should be a great warm weather scent.

On my skin, it really projects and lasts all day. Great performance.