Calm

The Fragrance That Helped Me During The Cremation Of An Old Friend – Maria Candida Gentile Exultat

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Not too long ago I attended the ceremony before the cremation of an old friend and colleague. We had shared very good and really bad times together. My friend and I were the same age of fifty which made his death extra confronting and painful.

When you turn fifty and look at your life not all of us are where we had dreamed we would be. It can be disappointing. I know from personal experience although life has given me very unexpected gifts. In his life my friend had chosen to follow a bumpy uneven and at times difficult path to walk.

While dressing for the cremation it felt a bit frivolous to think about what scent to wear. I did not feel like wearing a fragrance. My lost friend was not interested in scent and I did not want to impose my fragrance on other people. But as perfume is not only an adornment to me, I decided to wear a calming, quiet and serene scent, Maria Candida Gentile Exultat. There was not a church mass but it felt like the right scent to wear due to its connection with the Church of San Lorenzo in Rome.  A visit to the Church of San Lorenzo during the hour of vespers inspired Maria Candida Gentile to create Exultat according to the official website.

Incense plays an important part in Exultat. As incense is used in mass to purify and sanctify, it felt like the right thing to wear. The combination of violet, woods and frankincense makes it both a spiritual and calming scent. It helps you stay in the moment and close to yourself. Scent can help us a little in coping with difficult times and Exultat helped me a bit on that particular day because of it’s calming qualities.

Losing a loved one can be devastating I know from experience as I have lost my mother not very long ago. I can only imagine what it must feel like for his family and other loved ones he has left behind. He and his laugh stay with us in our memory.

(Notes: Top Note: Frankincense, Orange, Bitter Orange, Lime
Heart Note: Violet, Violet Leaves Base Note: Woods, Vetiver, Texas Cedar wood)

A beautiful In Memoriam was written in Dutch by Peter Mabelus.

Habit Rouge L’Eau Perfume Review Budget Beauty Pick

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Habit Rouge L'Eau

A beautiful fragrance does not have to be expensive. One of the fragrances I recently found on my search for affordable budget friendly fragrances is Habit Rouge L’Eau.*

Habit Rouge L’Eau starts off with a fresh incredibly crisp citrus bitter orange note. Powdery iris appears after a few minutes to dissappear quickly and not return. Clean jasmine which reminds of expensive soap is to be smelled later. The longevity of the citrus is amazing as it happily lasts a whole hour on my skin. Which is one of the reasons I like to wear this fragrance. An ugly chemical off note appears which could be a side effect of the hazelnut note when this note becomes noticable. Airy luminous clean musk with a vanilla touch closely lingers on my skin for the next 4 to 5 hours to disappear and return on and off afterwards.  As a whole Habit Rouge L’Eau stays close to the skin.

If Habit Rouge L’Eau would have a colour it would be white and as texture high quality recently washed and ironed expensive high quality cotton.

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Who would wear this? And for what occasion?  Habit Rouge L’Eau leans towards masculine but can easily be worn by man and woman. All the bodily (read sex) appeal which can be so prominent in other Guerlain classic fragrances like Shalimar or Heritage has been left out of this fragrance. It is a good fragrance if you have a job interview or as office wear. Wearing it will make you feel very well dressed in an elegant finely cut business suit.

What does it do? Habit Rouge L’Eau could be a good choice if you want to concentrate and focus without any distractions to get a serious job done. I find it quite calming as well.

To me it feels like all notes are very well kept into place with incredible restraint which reflects on the fragrance making it unimaginative. Although nicely balanced and well made I find it can be a bit too lineair. But for its bargain price at discount stores it is worthwhile to try if you want an uncomplicated and office friendly fragrance.  If you are looking for a good introduction to more complex and interesting Guerlain fragrances like the original Shalimar or Habit Rouge this would be a good way to start. It would make an excellent gift for this purpose as well.

Habit Rouge EAZ

In short: Habit Rouge L’Eau is an invigorating, luminous, elegant and uncomplicated fragrance well worth a try. But at times and to some it could be too linear and feel too restrained. It can be an excellent introduction to other classic Guerlain fragrances like Shalimar and Habit Rouge.

Did you try this Habit Rouge flanker L’eau? Would you like to try it?

Notes: (from Fragantica website) jasmine, patchouli, vanille, bitter orange, hazelnut and green notes

Launched: 2011

Perfumer: Thierry Wasser

Perfume Family: Oriental

Status: still in production but bottle design is about to change (with thanks to Monsieur Guerlain for this information)

Produced by: LVMH

Origin of sample: my own bottle

Price: 35 euro for 50 ml edt at an online Dutch discount store

*I am starting a new topic on this website, the Budget Beauty Pick of the Week. My aim is to find and write about affordable budget friendly fragrances. One of the first ones is Habit Rouge L’Eau Eau de Toilette. This is obviously a flanker of the classic Guerlain Habit Rouge. I am not a fan of the original Habit Rouge as the citrus top note turns sour on my skin but I really enjoyed wearing the L’Eau version these past few weeks.

*Read more about the original Guerlain Habit Rouge and all its variations on the Monsieur Guerlain website.