Eau So Fresh

As we get older, our tastes adapt with new thinking and life experience, but as new generations come through the ranks and with their new ideas and new dynamics, general tastes also change on all of our outlooks. Not wanting to engage necessarily with what has gone before, but to carve a new line in the sand. Maybe this is one reason why several perfume companies are updating, or reinterpreting classic scents for our new world. Bring it on and find out more in Eau So Fresh.

Several brands of perfumery have gone back to their heritage in order to mover forward- to reinterpret for a newer world and make it more appropriate. Or to take a favourite and add another element to give choice or bring in new fans. Not classics, which in a scent stable are sacrosanct, but looking at classics that need a little let’s say..side steep. Taking core ideas and bringing new facets to the table. Or another added benefit is layering perfumes form the same story, adding new facets created by you the wearer.

A wonderful and perfect example of this trend is the new fragrance from Cartier Déclaration Haute Fraîcheur. Using the original Déclaration Eau de Toilette as a base point (a celebration of nature) step into a world of fresh green vibrant delicious scent.

Opening with a literal burst of unusual fresh citrus (citrus leaf) which brings an ultra fresh vibrancy to the start of the fragrance, almost a tenacity of spirit of intention if you like, that is delicious.

This melds perfectly with a heart made of soft spicy cardamon, like a seamless move from top to middle, as if the fresh brightness moves gently into a soft light warm, as the cardamom here has being used with a ‘light hand’ so its a soft spicy green note rather than a strong spice note.

Then, this soft almost green cardamom falls into a woody base again done with such a ‘gentle touch’ of the perfumer, that it’s soft and woody with a tiny facet of spice that sometimes is smelt in cedar wood, and so what is left is this green yet warming woody facet.

The overall feeling of this fragrance is of green botanical and fresh wood faceted with light spice but it’s the ‘greeness’ of its overall bouquet that quite literally stops you in your tracks. From the citrus leaves the lift initially into the freshness, in the way the cardamom has been utilised to the soft spice and young wood feel of the base, this is no ordinary mens fragrance

Yes, it is a mens fragrance, but women will love to wear it too. Not only that dichotomy, if you like, but also, the questions of who and when to wear it comes with a sense of contrast too. It would be the perfect day fragrance, but also spritz away at in the evening for a lift before a night out. It’s both casual and also elegantly refined, so could be a weekend scent or a formal fragrance.

Mathilde Laurent (from 2005, Cartier,’s in-house perfumer ) melded so gently these fractions together and this perfume is an ode to her talent, her ubber clever blending and finesse; a genius of a light touch mixed with expertise.

Very much created as a stand alone or used to layer as a new facet to the rest of the Déclaration collection, for a unique olfactory signature for each and every wearer.

This is a perfect piece of understated great green botanical. This citrus woody soft spice fragrance melded by a pair of hands that knows the craft of perfumery; skill shown to form a scent that in so many ways has contradictions yet at the same time is blended to perfection. One powerful burst of this elixir on your skin and you will understand why.

Cartier Déclaration Haute Fraîcheur is available in February exclusively at John Lewis.

If you enjoyed reading Eau So Fresh then why not read Pulling at my Heart Strings Here.

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