Notre Flore Cèdre / Cedar
L'Occitane (2007)

Cedre - L'Occitane
The best thing about this one is its first 10 seconds which displays a very nice fresh grapefruit-note. After that a very dominant synthetic grapefruit-note takes over and doesn't go away till deep in its dry-out. I guess its the same stuff that's being used in Terre d'Hermes, that very amnesia giving, penetrating scent-molecule. Some lavender joints together with some herbs, rosemary/thyme, and a watery melon-note. This part shows great resemblance with Aqua di Gio, that hot herbals dipped in watery-melon, salty-seabreeze. Beside that, for me its smells like a new sneaker-shoebox stuffed with lemon peels. But the thing that Cedre reminds me the most of is Silvio's silver-polish, a bitter-sour, waxy smell with a plastic-rubbery side to it. The cederwood is more of a dressed up slight soapy, white wood with raw-greenish vetiver on top, which smells very nice. If only that persistent, it just goes on-and-on grapefruit-note, had left the scene, this could have made my very happy. Instead, it spoils this Mediterranean party, leaving my nose with a hangover...

If you rate a scent by how others respond....this one always gets very positive comments! The cedar sings true, but soft spoken. It LASTS and lasts, but not in a over powering way.

Some people might get confused by this scent. This is about the cedar leaf, which is also very fragrant, not the wood (though that's in the mix too). I remember as a child being told that people used to press fresh little fans of cedar leaf in books to imbue it with the scent. When I first spray this on, it doesn't have a strong smell, but I definitely feel, for lack of a better word, a presence of some kind - a transparent, high-toned freshness that pervades the room. This is similar to the reaction I get from Beyond Paradise for Men. I must be anosmic to whatever's in there that Luca Turin loves so much, but I feel its presence. In BP for Men, it's an eerie, ghostly, synthetic presence. In the L'Occitane, it's a much more natural, healthy one. Indeed, L'Occitane seems to have actually delivered on its marketing schpiel about capturing a breeze blowing over a cedar forest and out to sea.This lasts surprisingly long on me, and like with other L'Occitane products, it seems to get stronger after the first hour or so. The dry-down contains more wood and darker complexities. I guess there's another way to describe this fragrance. One day, while walking around with its "presence," I thought - Christmas tree.

Soft, sweet, simple. A bit boring if you ask me. Cedar is not in the forefront here in reality. Though designated as unisex, this is more appropriate for women in my opinion. Cedre needs a bit more of an edge to appeal more to men. My overall reaction is "blah".

This is a much richer composition than I had expected. No fusty and dry woodsy opening, but a sharp grapefruit and resin imbued accord. It's a very invigorating start, and the perfect way to introduce the earthy and warmer phases to come. The heart is initially cumin dominant, but it is ably supported by the dry indulgence of tobacco. The cedar is restrained for prominence in the latter stages, and it ensures that the dry bittersweet base completes a very fine experience indeed. Despite its EDP formulation, L'Occitane Cedar is no arboreal powerhouse; it's simply a very well balanced blend of natural components.

This is just plain boring next to the likes of L'Occitane's Eau des Baux. They got it right the first time. That said, it's not a bad scent, so I'll go neutral.