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Notes12/11/2015
Overpriced dailyness
Not much to say about this, except for the fact that the “extrait” name (and the price) may be somehow misleading. Vetiver Extrait smells great, but well... simply put, it’s no different from any good vetiver scent. It’s a really simple, smooth, light straightforward vetiver, classy and cozy, not particularly powerful (actually, not at all) or rich, just diligently bearing most of the usual nuances of most vetiver scents – it feels initially zesty, peppery and crisp, slowly becoming smokier, rootier, still keeping vetiver’s traditional subtle feel of “oily grassiness”, subtly paired with a rather conventional base accord of powdery-dusty notes. It’s all good, really. It wears extremely well, it feels refined and laid-back, carefully mannered enough to avoid any “raw” earthy effect – on the contrary it feels rather polished, bright and distinguished. It conveys an extremely enjoyable albeit slightly pedantic sense of calm, class, confidence and sophisticated weightlessness. If compared to dirtier or richer vetiver scents, this is quite on the opposite spectrum – it feels very clean, almost ethereal. Even a tad too much, as it soon feels quite – if not, completely – unexciting, and almost kind of mute (I suspect there’s some generic “woody smoothener” used here – some very generic plushy woody base). The longevity is a bit weak, but that’s the price to pay for higher concentrations of natural materials.
So all in all, it’s unquestionably nice. But really only that. For £ 275. Not grounbreaking, not heart-melting, not mind-blowing – just an impeccable everyday vetiver fragrance for office time. Ready to let your rock and rule the printers’ room and the vending machines’ corner. Just as any other good vetiver scent. It can be fantastic for you if you like vetiver, but in no way it can be worthy that price and that pomposity (and come on... for that price, some crap cardboard box? I want my box to be lined in Elton John’s skin!). It does no more and no less than any simple, solid vetiver fragrance (there’s so many of them I can’t even think of a couple of specific names to mention – Guerlain? Carven? Ford’s Grey Vetiver? Heeley? Anyone, really), and I think there is really no standout features that would explain why one should prefer this over others. Clearly, the value lies in the “status symbol” allure of the brand and the presentation. And that has nothing to do with fragrances, so... Anyway if you’re really wealthy and you really like vetiver then go for it, otherwise I see really no need to break the bank for this.
6,5-7/10
So all in all, it’s unquestionably nice. But really only that. For £ 275. Not grounbreaking, not heart-melting, not mind-blowing – just an impeccable everyday vetiver fragrance for office time. Ready to let your rock and rule the printers’ room and the vending machines’ corner. Just as any other good vetiver scent. It can be fantastic for you if you like vetiver, but in no way it can be worthy that price and that pomposity (and come on... for that price, some crap cardboard box? I want my box to be lined in Elton John’s skin!). It does no more and no less than any simple, solid vetiver fragrance (there’s so many of them I can’t even think of a couple of specific names to mention – Guerlain? Carven? Ford’s Grey Vetiver? Heeley? Anyone, really), and I think there is really no standout features that would explain why one should prefer this over others. Clearly, the value lies in the “status symbol” allure of the brand and the presentation. And that has nothing to do with fragrances, so... Anyway if you’re really wealthy and you really like vetiver then go for it, otherwise I see really no need to break the bank for this.
6,5-7/10
