Verveine / Verbena
L'Occitane (2003)

ClockworkAlice has it on the nose here. I don't get ANYTHING sweet from this scent. It's a short, sharp shock of sour lemon zest with verbena for balance. I will say this was another blind cruise ship purchase from a person who mistook my love for a certain scent because of the language barrier. I told her I love vetiver and because there was no sample, I bought this thinking it would be a great vetiver scent. I've purchased L'Occitane in the past and found their products to be affordable and very high quality. I probably should have done my research but I'm honestly not disappointed in this. The lemon and verbena is delightful, it works well in the humid climate where I live, it's not loud and to my nose it doesn't give me "Lemon Pledge" as some have noted. It's short lasting, sure, and it wears very close to my skin. But that to me is good thing. I want to smell myself, I don't want everyone else to. I can say I get no rose (as described in the notes above) from this, but I'm not so sure I would want to. I love giving a few spritzes of this on my shirt when I get out of the shower - this lasts forever on clothing, just not on my skin. Clean, fresh, definitely a warm weather scent. I'd buy it again.

First of all - it was both a pleasure and a horror to read Zealot Crusader's review (read it! it's very deep and informative), but mostly it was an eye-opening experience about the differences in perception.

Where Zealot Crusader sees this as a "sweet lemony scent with a prominent sugar coated "lemon drops" accord which is in line with the gourmand craze of the period", I see a super zesty, super sour and dry lemony refreshment with zero sugar added. The only thing I have ever tried that was more sour than this was Verveine Agrumes (and it's also great in what it does).

On me it's a short lived scent that needs either constant reapplication or it should be used for what it does best - as a refreshment, a zesty morning before or after shower scent to lift your mood, to pick you up and make you stand strong on your feet. If I feel even a little bit unwell, Verveine seems to make me better in minutes, it just has that power.

How will YOU see this scent - as a sweet lemon-drop verbena scent or the extra sour refresher - it's up to you and your perception of sweetness. But do try this, it's great in summer or on Saturday mornings.

Verveine by L'Occitane (2003) is a pretty straightforward and sweet interpretation of verbena for the most part, so there won't be much to this review. Verbena can be processed a number of ways, but L'Occitane chose to present it with a sweet lemony top with a heavy geraniol and musk base, making it feel on par with many of the sweet 90's and early 2000's designers making the rounds at the time. I'm guessing this accounts for the stuff's enduring mainstream popularity in the shops, but it just doesn't do the job of being a refreshing scent as most verbena perfumes tend to be, at least in my humble opinion. Many limited edition flankers have also spawned off of this one, with several of them being better than this original take, but Verveine is certainly not the worst verbena scent in the world either.

Lemon oil and a slight mandarin orange open Verveine with a very dominant "lemon drops" accord which is in line with the gourmand craze of the period. Anyone who's had sugar-coated lemon drops as a kid already knows where I am with this assessment, but for those who don't, imagine a candied lemon furniture polish and you're getting close. The green verbena is paired to sharp petitgrain but the leafy feeling isn't enough to counteract the corner drugstore candy feeling, and the claimed rose/gernium (just straight geraniol to my nose) base amplifies the sweetness of the top, with the white musk holding it to skin. Wear time is a modest 6 hours but the scent can be a bit cloying in that time, so be careful. Usage by L'Occitane is in summer, but honestly I'd recommend the aptly-named Verveine Agrumes (2015) as a far superior option for a summer lemony verbena fragrance.

I'd normally say L'Occitane is good at communicating quality at their price point, especially in light of creations like Eau des Baux (2006) and Terre de Lumiere (2017), but some of their simpler compositions like Verveine feel rushed with cut corners or dialed in to capitalize on marketing an array of cosmetic products rather than be fragrances on their own that have accessories accompanying them. When they do this, L'Occitane remind us that despite their penchant for really tasteful perfumes, they're still ultimately a mall store on par with Aveda or The Body Shop. Of course, if you love lemon drops, you may love this as a daily showering companion or just as a cheap thrill, so test before taking my word for it. I wouldn't find Verveine offensive, but this is also an accord I'd never intentionally seek out, since I prefer my lemon verbena zesty. Solid neutral.

It starts off slightly Lemon Pledge-y, but that quickly fades, and it is a lovely lemon scent thereafter. It's wonderful in the heat of summer, and I associate it so strongly with summer that it's hard to imagine wearing it any other time. I have just finished my 10mL mini bottle, and would consider replacing once I go through some more of my summer scent stash.

It smells exactly like Jif Lemon Cleaner, so if you like the smell of that, then you will enjoy this. The longevity is fairly weak, perhaps due to the natural ingredients. Very zesty in its nature, but not for me.

I absolutely love this fragrance...at least the smell is incredible. BUT, as others have already pointed out, the longevity and sillage are nonexistent. It's sad, as this is so fresh and clean. It's very refreshing...for about 30 minutes on me. There's no way that's worth a thumbs up, but the smell is too nice for a thumbs down, so I've gotta go with a neutral rating.