Description
To their collection La Collection de Grasse, L’Occitane en Provence adds two new fragrances this spring. The unisex edition is called Mer & Mistral, while the floral fragrance for women was named after its main ingredients, Neroli & Orchidee. La Collection de Grasse is inspired by the fragrant city of Provence, Grasse, capital of perfumery. Each fragrance of the collection was created with the intention to unite ingredients from the Mediterranean with ingredients originating from distant countries. Together with the two new fragrances presented in spring 2014 is that the collection now includes.
Mer & Mistral is a unisex fragrance, which blends aquatic notes with aromatic union of cypress, rosemary and pine. Purity that comes from sea aromas and aquatic notes is elevated by freshness of Mistral. Strength of this wind lifts up fragrant tree needles and plays with them in the air by mixing them with scents of salty sea aromas and fresh, aromatic herbs. The composition that illustrates union of the sea and the wind Mistral opens with a citrus union of lemon and tangerine followed by cypress and pine in the heart enriched with rosemary. The base is sensual and tame, created of white amber, cedar and musk. Perfumer is Karine Dubreuil.
Bluish flacon suggests the color of the sea and waves, and is available as 75ml Eau de Toilette. Assortment of the Mer & Mistral collection includes shower gel 175ml, fresh body lotion 175ml and aftershave gel 75ml.
mshaulskiy – :
Starts off very aquatic and citrusy; lots of lemon notes. On drydown it becomes much sweeter but still in an aquatic way: the citrus notes leave and are replaced by some sort of floral. The basenotes smell of musk with aquatic notes, sort of like ambergris. Very unisex and androgynous; doesn’t lean masculine or feminine overall. Sillage and longevity are both moderate but leaning strong. Overall it’s a pleasant scent but a bit sweet/feminine-leaning at times: it is perfectly unisex but I prefer overtly masculine-leaning fragrances. In any case, I like it.
4/5
Oh and it smells nothing like Cool Water (I own both). Also, it’s far more natural smelling than Cool Water.
Andres58 – :
Meh. I Personally don’t like it. ‘Twas my first perfume after years of wearing body sprays. The cool, sharp citrus smell is nice, but it’s not the problem. The problem is that it’s very soft, barely noticeable, and doesn’t last very long. I live in Indonesia, a tropical humid country. Perfumes evaporate quickly here. Not suitable at all.
urf507elipseskism – :
Truly a unisex scent, strictly in the middle, doesn’t lean either way, at least to me. Great for hot’n’humid weather. The body lotion has actual cooling effect, makes the skin feel tingly for 10-15 minutes or so.
pro100ykyrok – :
I bought this today after trying it out for a day. I love it, it smells like summer and has good staying power on me. It smells sexy as hell imo
валерия – :
Ok, this has more than a passing resemblance to Davidoff’s Cool Water. I passed through my Cool Water phase 26 years ago without ever feeling an inclination to revisit it. Therefore quite why Mer & Mistral has attracted my attention is a surprise to say the least.
I have sampled it 3 or 4 times now, and I still can’t decide what it is that’s behind my albeit mild curiosity. Maybe I like it – even if I don’t yet know it. Perhaps it’s just I can’t decide how much I like it.
Having said that, when I tried it again yesterday, I deliberately went to Debenhams to compare it with CW. I learned several things: the Davidoff smells less pleasant than I remembered (no doubt after reformulation), the Mer & Mistral smells closer to my memory of original CW, and the M&M is far too expensive – especially when compared to CW online prices.
I can understand anyone having a preference for aquatics. It happens not to be mine. In any case a gin drinker will not have the same perspective on bourbon as a whiskey drinker, right? I just struggle to escape the impression that aquatics all seem the same. As someone that was raised by the seaside I know the aromas of the coastline – and they are not necessarily those of a so called “aquatic”. They probably remind me more of the gym than the beach. Like so much in this life, it is less about what is before our eyes and nose, and more about what goes on between the ears.
If Mer & Mistral was half the price I might wear it. Occasionally. But at present, it doesn’t make sense. All the same (and for the record), I’ll say that I actually do like Mer & Mistral. Probably.
SSA__74 – :
Light aquatic fragrance with a grass shadow, which is vivid in summer and is less evident in colder season. It reminds of Calanques EDT by the same company, though Mer & Mistral is far more simple. As my friend commented on it, “typical aroma of many hygiene products”. Safe and fresh unisex. Stays close to skin. Good for sports, i guess.
UPD: on my skin it lasts less than two hours, while on my men’s skin it lives for 7 hours. Even then it remains crispy, but stays close to skin. Seems to work better on men’s skin.
PS. I’m really upset with that popular marketing approach, implemented in La Collection de Grasse: simple compositions in pricey 100ml bottles. I think, the price is unreasonably high for these products.
lhy634speagoessenda – :
I tried this one and almost instantly reminded me of Calanques (also from L’Occitane, released in 2010 but discontinued).
Since I really enjoyed Calanques, I bought Mer & Mistral. Lovely salt scent, really has this “beach” vibe.
zanbor – :
I expected better.
I find it banal and repetitive, it looks like a lot of fresh men’s fragrances of the 90’s (one above all: Cool Water by Davidoff).
Do not feel the smell of the sea, salt, citrus fruits and aromatic herbs but a banal composition, synthetic, flat, smooth and a tad too pungent.
Not for me!
gulia-68 – :
Mmm.. I tried this yesterday and I like it very much. It smells like fresh rain and sea breeze. IMO it’s good for Summer. I almost purchased it, but figured I should wait a while since I have enough frags at the moment. But I will put it on my wishlist right away. Worth a try, but be warned that it’s similar to a lot of other typical fresh, almost cucumbery scents as: Clean frags, Kenzo L’eau par Kenzo, Jo Malone – Rain & Angelica, Marc Jacobs splash Rain etc so don’t expect anything revolutionary. But it’s good!