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demosi – :
Libertine is annoying from the fussy top to the insipid stuff inside the bottle. So there are supposed to be citrus notes? Passion fruit and even rose notes?? As if!
There’s oak moss and a strange hint of lovage or celery make this fragrance rather sharp and savory in the worst way. The opening is slightly floral but sour, the dry down is similar to weak vegetable stock. Maybe my bottle has turned – I almost hope it has, because no way could this olfactory mess be intended.
To call it masculine would be kind, but it certainly isn’t feminine.
Libertine is rather nasty in a “why would anyone make a perfume like that?” way. It’s the worst perfume I’ve smelled in a while, hands down.
vova998 – :
Good. Elegant. Somewhat masculine. It smells of guelder-rose essence oil (Viburnum opulus). Similar to Romance by Ralph Lauren, but without the rose.
Romance – roses = Libertine.
Romeo5036 – :
The House of Vivienne Westwood is quickly becoming one of my favs. Boudoir and Anglomania have been in rotation as of late, and after the addition of Let It Rock, I knew I needed to collect them all. I quickly learned this unicorn came with a hefty price tag, but after all the reviews I kept in my search. I found a bottle for about $40 and purchased that quick. I do have to say, working off of the notion I would be getting a nice light fruity tropic, I was kinda shocked. At first I thought the bottle had turned but I realized it wasn’t that same “rancid meat” smell that unfortunately I have been privy too. I don’t get any citrus at all. No Pineapple, no Rose, no Honeysuckle….. whatI do get is an overwhelming green, almost “parsley” like smell for about 3 hours until it fades off into a soft Passionfruit. I have plenty of vintages with Oak Moss that do not smell this way on me, so I know it can not be that. I would be curious to know if anyone else smells this or if there is any feedback on what this might be. I don’t hate this scent, and it’s such an oddball that I will keep it as it intrigues me. For me this is an “occasion” perfume, great for days like today, St. Patrick’s Day. This is now gone to the front of the class as the Greenest Scent I Own!
gia11978 – :
Libertine
Vivienne Westwood
Top Notes
Pineapple Grapefruit Passion Fruit
Middle Notes
Bergamot Rose Lily of the Valley Honeysuckle
Base Notes
Patchouli Oak Moss Amber Musk
An exotic blend of green notes and fruit, which I found highly unusual for a perfume, but quirky and very enjoyable as a designer perfume from the house of Vivienne Westwood who is already a big name in exotic smelling scents (I.e. Boudoir) almost at the level of Thierry Mugler. The bottle though. Seriously? Same old design as Boudoir. The fragrance is quite good and long lasting with chypre and Oriental as well as fruity floral nuance. Feminine but also unisex. Fresh and warm, well-rounded, complex, and a statement perfume. Good for making an impression on a date or at a serious networking get-together.
The first spritz is strong lemony orange citrus. Then one detects all the sweet fruit. Delicious pineapple and passion fruit. This opening is summery and feminine, very standard stuff. The freshness eventually fades into a floral note of rose and honeysuckle, already transforming itself into the green thing it later becomes. I smell the patchouli bush, green leaves, something akin to cabbage and rosebush. Then there’s the amber and musky dry drown. The dry down is more unisex as Vivienne Westwood is prone to formulate in her perfumes. It’s also quite narcotic and autumnal. Smells really good with a very spicy-green aura.
A perfume that can be worn for business wear as well. This is something that Vivienne herself would wear. It’s absolutely gorgeous even if it’s not as mind blowing as other green fragrances or Orientals. The pineapple and passion fruit in the top I believe is what makes it so different. Usually the floral notes would stand out more than the florals but here the fruit is dominant before ‘dropping’ into green and musky notes.
A beauty
buy viagra cheap – :
I love this! I love the earthy and musky scent it leaves on my skin. I do not get a lot of citrus-only a strong shot of pineapple on the initial spray. Very sexy and warm on the dry down. So so hard to find at a price that doesn’t break the bank. Am actively looking for a bottle if anyone in the US has one they are willing to part with!
Irina1985 – :
I think it is not citrus smell as I have so many citrus note perfume. It is very unique, but not my kind of smell. It is more towards earthy and musk tone.
audi 200 20v – :
To sweet citrusy syrupy pineapple fruit juice and spicy-soapy on me. I bought this by accident instead of Boudoir.
kai182 – :
I had a bottle of this and I kind of enjoyed it until I realized why it smelled so familiar. With my chemistry, it smells like an Indian restaurant mixed with a bar of soap.
I like Indian restaurants, and I like soap…but together? Nope, doesn’t work. I won’t be lathering up with samosas anytime soon.
welder74 – :
I am so sad that this has been discontinued : (
Libertine has a gorgeous mixture of slightly creamy citrus and what I can only describe as ‘spring garden smell’! The beginning starts of quite strongly, which can be initially off putting, but softens a lot in the dry down.
ivan0808 – :
In 2000 VW wasted no time in launching the second perfume from a line with so much promise. Libertine delivered one of the last oakmoss laden chypres to hit the market. It reminds me of the windy October day I found it at a closeout store.
Viburnum and lilac are not listed and are there. Instead of peach, passion fruit, pineapple and apple are the fruits used in one of the most exotic chypres ever created. Shakespeare would love this back to the country creation. Ah, the soft comfortable pink rose at its heart! It is a very English springtime, with lots of strange green notes popping up. Given the course of the chypre, this was the next phase.
Then came the oakmoss resriction and Libertine was yanked from the shelves. What a shame it didnt get more time…It is worth the search if you enjoy strange fruit from the queen of punk!
gudzok – :
I am a lover of this fragrance. It goes on strong, but softens and then hangs on forever on clothing. It smells divine, and I see it being worn by a beautiful, elegantly insouciant thirty-something girl — picture Carmen Kass motoring through the countryside in an Aston Martin convertible. Perfect.
sofia127 – :
Really liked Libertine. Except it was too strong and it gave me headaches. Gave my bottle away. 🙁
Vanessababe – :
it starts with strong bergamot,citrus scent.it almost smells like a cologne for men.I don’t like the sourness in this perfume.there’s nothing sweet to delicate the scent.even after fading away the first sharp notes,the floral bouquet has nothing special to offer.I don’t like the chypre thing I smell here.
it’s not bad,but I won’t wear it.the name reminds me of a song by Mylene Farmer;that’s why I was so curious to try it.
Balamut – :
I had this one and it faded so quickly that it was difficult to tell what one was wearing. I remember citrus and lightweight. I didn’t like the scent on me. It might be nice on others but it’s not for me.
vfvekz333 – :
Oh how I miss Libertine! I love this fresh, sexy citrus fragrance. The zesty notes are perfectly balanced by the middle floral notes and the musk and amber add the necessary punch to take this above a typical citrus fragrance. Please bring this back!!
casowdecofido – :
Long, long ago, when I was just a pint-sized child, my mother used to wear her hair in a “cinnamon twist” formation on top of her head. This was apparently the fashion at the time, so she’d go to the beauty parlor to get this fancy thing done to her hair over the course of several hours. I’m unsure still to this day how she managed to make it last through multiple days punctuated by nights of sleeping and, I presume, showers or baths, but she did. One thing is clear: she used a product which has nary touched my golden locks: the dreaded hairspray.
I sometimes receive nice-sized cannisters of hairspray along with the irresistible gwps which I have been lured into acquiring through making the minimum purchase at one of my frighteningly numerous online shopping emporia. But I never know what to do with them. I cannot imagine wanting my hair to stay in place in the way that hairspray is specifically designed to make it do. So I usually think about what to do with the cans but then don’t really end up taking any action, since I don’t know anyone else who uses this product either.
Sometimes people compare perfumes to hairspray, and it took some real digging into the deepest, darkest crevices of my olfactory memory bank to pinpoint exactly what it is that Vivienne Westwood LIBERTINE smells like to me: my mother’s hairspray back in the day when she wore her hair piled up on her head in a cinnamon bun-meets-beehive sculpture of sorts. In “The Guide”, in her review of Guerlain IRIS GANACHE, TS identifies “what’s wrong” with INSOLENCE as “hairspray and terror,” which naturally raises the question why in the world it should have received five stars and been touted as a masterpiece. On the other hand, that apparent disparity is not any more inconsistent than many of the other comments vs. star allocations in “The Guide” (cough, cough).
To me, a perfume which smells like hairspray is quite far from a five-star masterpiece, and LIBERTINE is a fragrance that I expect to wear about as often as I reach for a can of hair shellac. I should add, however, that there is some development here. As it dries down, LIBERTINE begins to smell, more specifically, like burnt hairspray, as though someone decided to apply a hot curling iron to her hair to touch up a do that had already been liberally sprayed. Désolée.
krasnaztx – :
I tried out Libertine by Vivienne Westwood, based on all the ultra-positive reviews on perfume blogs. Ack Ack Ack! It is truly the worst thing I’ve ever worn. It starts out smelling like a department store or one of those stinky magazine ads that you have to rip out and toss in the outside trash before you gag. After the first shock to my system it smelled like gasoline mixed with the eye-watering stink of the candle and potpourri aisle at Target. I desperately wanted to wash it off, especially because I was losing my appetite for dinner (thankfully I was home, alone), but I thought I would wait it out in case something better happened. It didn’t. The next stage was the stench of onion rings and funnel cakes cooked in rancid oil. While it did bring back memories of the Grange Fair it wasn’t quite what I had in mind.
I guess it only proves that chaq’une a son gout.
Trigun – :
Definitely “citric leather”, and it feels “fresh” after it has dried down. It’s very easy to wear to work, because it’s both energizing and grounding. Sillage is not overwhelming (again, perfect for work), and longevity is decent. It feels very unique from the other leather fragrances I’ve smelled, and I cherish it within my collection!
bookashka123 – :
Clean, sheer, but very faint nicely citric leather. Delicious if I press my nose to my wrist, but very little oomph. Still, I like it enough to forgive it’s lack of sillage.
ivan13e – :
It is quite interesting, and has a great sillage. It´s true that is not so feminine, but it´s very elegant, and gives the person who wears it a special charm. And for who are interested, you can buy it by the offical page of Vivienne Westwood or into the official shop in London. Thanks, cheers.
nervoza999 – :
I ABSOLUTELY Love this perfume. It’s aroma mesmorises me. I am so disappointed I no longer can purchase this anywhere. I really hope they relaunch it!
Hucik-94 – :
On my skin, lily of the valley really stands out and sort of chokes all the other notes. All I get is a powdery, soft, slightly soapy lily of the valley.
It is nice and feminine, but innocently tame, while the name suggests something else…
plq369Diobtetty – :
This is the strangest fragrance that I’ve tried so far – it has a life of its own, this bad boy libertine is playing tricks on me! ..
I got the strange herb smell others talk about at the very beginning, very odd , very off putting , to be honest, but an hour or two later the yellow fruits show up quite fresh & natural , the passionfruit keeps everything bittersweet. The strange herb smell turns more into that musky skin scent smell that other family member, Boudior has.
The honeysuckle shows up later as my skin brings to life this strange potion, other white florals are brought forth with time, there also seems to be the sourness of grapefruit always present along with some spiciness ..
This fragrance has to rise off my skin to be beautiful , when I inhale too closely at the surface wearing this , that’s when Libertine seems strange to me.
If I sound confused here about this scent , its because I am , at the same time I’m totally intrigued by it.
I love Libertine’s bottle & name , which immediately brings to mind The Libertine with Johnny Depp, one of my very favorite movies ever.
jagnat – :
I like it, I love it! It has the same bubble gum note as Boudoir. Sparkling, sour and vital, juicy and herbal at first. It doesn’t have the skankiness of Boudoir and it’s less sweet, but I see two of them quite similar. Boudoir is sultry, dusty, indecent but calm, and Libertine is lighter but louder, refreshing like a wind and rain and lightning during a storm. It’s like they share the same blood, but have different personalities. Libertine, while being cold and fruity, still has its class. So don’t forget it’s a chypre after all 😉
Митяй95 – :
SOS my fellow perfume lovers! I have been seeking high and low to test all of the VW prefume without success here in Australia- the land down under! Would anyone be kind enough to share some of these amazing fragrance with me? I am happy to share my extensive collections for trade-have lots of other fragrance as you can see in my profile.
Please message me! 🙂
BigDaddy – :
The first Chypre Fruity I can agree with. The citrus is first to be noticed, and then the fruity notes. These fruity notes are clear, transparent, dewy, not sugared or overpowering. I don’t find the perfume too sour-too Chypre-but the Passion Fruit (Maracuja) is naturally bitter, and is presented well in the perfume, and it’s little sharp scent hangs around during the whole time of wear. I wore it today, such a beastly hot and windy day, and I did not catch any notions of the middle floral notes.. only the fun bergamot..wich combined well with the Passion Fruit, actually. It arrived to the dry down too soon for me. I could only feel the amber in the base because of the slight powdery feeling in the drydown. It’s my type of drydown too, all those notes are favorites of mine, one could think it’d be heavy, but it’s delicate and kind. Overall, I don’t find the perfume too different, I find it a pleasant, well balanced scent. Enjoy everyone!
vpetrov – :
Thanks to lovely Asilverfire, I got to try Libertine.
A very strange scent.
For me it sharply smells of shambala herb that I often use in cooking.No sweetness, no passion fruit, no pineapple I was hoping for…It softened up a bit after an hour, but shambala was unmistakeable and I don`t want to smell like soup!LOL
I am going to try it again a little bit later, see if something clicks…
app885Unlogrere – :
wow, great scent !!!
but what a shame it doesn´t last at ALL on my skin.
suekunjup – :
I love each drop of it. This is original, unique gorgeos parfum. I wear it every time i need to impress.
elman05 – :
I always suspected that deep down I was a closet romantic! Unfortunatly Libertine is not for me…on my skin it becames sour and I felt I had to wash it off. I think it has an edge masculine note, I don’t detect any feminity on it. It is certainly original and unique (for which i’m thankfull).
It represents my idea of a Libertine, looks great from afar…not so atractive at close range.
VladKan45 – :
I found this on a clearance table the other day and picked it up. I’m still deciding what I think about it…I’ve only worn it twice so far…
For the most part, I enjoy it. Initially I get the passion fruit, pineapple, and honeysuckle…in about that order. Interesting mix of floral & fruit, and something, well, something else…
There is something about it that turns me off, just a little, and I can’t figure out what it is exactly. It persists from the opening notes all the way to the base notes, and I’ve never smelled this in another perfume. If I had to come up with adjectives to describe this elusive note that I can’t deciper, it would be musty (NOT to be mistaken with musky) and spicy mixed together. Maybe even mildew-y…like clothes that got wet and dried naturally. It baffles me, as none of the notes listed even hint at this.
I’m going to keep wearing it and see if I “fall” for it. It lasts a long time (about six hours on me) and I agree completely with others that have said it’s very difficult to classify. I’m glad I got a good deal on it! 🙂
spoorosnile – :
What an interesting fragrance. I enjoy wearing it. It is fruity, yet not sweet or citrusy. And yes, it’s got floral notes, but it is not a floral–it’s not flowery at all. When it is all said and done, it stays on the skin with an interesting blend of patchouli and musk, but it isn’t heavy. None of that really makes any sense, and that is the beauty of this one. There are a lot of scents in this perfume but no one particular scent stands front and center. I think it is a perfume that is blended wonderfully and probably doesn’t get the attention it deserves. I agree with Rebella that this is a wiley perfume that is difficult to ‘pin down’ with certainty. And that is exactly what makes it so fun to wear.
david04 – :
The lowtalker of perfumes. Very, very soft, almost not there, but still with sillage. But anyhow a wonderful, different fragrance. I feel naugthy, with a inncent touch to it.
I think its a good one to use if you are going someplace you dont want to annoy anyone, but still want to smell special.
alexey.goodnet – :
I was part of a market research focus group that helped to create this scent. I helped to pick the name! While I’m a pretty conventional florals gal, I really liked the honey tones to this scent, it was quite original. Am disappointed to see that it appears to be discontinued. So much for my taste and expertise in perfume!
tamojnya – :
Beautiful, sexy scent. Why Vivienne Westwood stoped producet them ? Indeed,censor custom? 🙂
max_julia – :
By the way, this one is really tricky. It smells in different ways eaach time I wear it. Today it´s as masculin that a female fragrance could be I think, without being a mens fragrance… Almost no flowers or fruits at all, but a lot of leather, honey and moss… I have to put this one on my husband, I think he can wear it without it being taken as a feminine perfume…
Today it isn´t anything english with it, I rather imagine an aristocratic french -male- libertine on his way to the next an very naughty adventure…
Bodychemistry is so exciting!
shulseptlek – :
After having it for a while I discover a discret but unmistakenly masculin note. Wich ofcourse does the fragrance even more exating and complex.
Mifodiy55 – :
Finally I´ve got it! 🙂 And it smells delicous, feminin and soft. Fruity but not overwhelmingly sweet, I think it´s a refined fragrance. All put together for me it´s a really english kind of perfume, as I think all of Vivenne Westwood´s perfumes are. Remind me of some other fragrances, but still with a personal and very seductive twist.