Hello, friends! Today I will tell you about a very unusual fragrance brand - Le Jardin Retrouve,
which can be translated as a new-found garden.
This perfume house was founded by a perfumer of Russian origin named Yuri Hutsatz
who created many fragrances for such perfume houses as, for example, Carven and Estee Lauder, and has made a huge contribution in perfumery in general.
The brand existed under the guidance of Yuri and his wife Arlette from 1975 until 2012, when Arlette passed away.
This perfume house can be called both old and new, because it is rightfully considered the first niche perfume house,
and at the same time, these fragrances were re-released last year, and the brand was completely updated and restarted
by Yuri's son, Michel Gusatz and his wife Clara, who was engaged in the design of the brand.
They completely revised the concept of the brand, modernized the formulas of fragrances, but at the same time the formulas remained as close to the originals of Yuri as possible.
And what seems most important to me, they put an emphasis on the environmental friendliness of the brand -
the only option of their packaging is a refillable bottle, in order to avoid a vicious circle from buying to throwing away expensive bottles again and again.
Every time a person buys a refill or a discovery set on the Le Jardin Retrouve website, they donate funds for planting one tree.
And these fragrances can only be purchased online.
One of the sources of inspiration for the brand were gardens, so almost every scent is named after a garden.
If you'd like to know more about the history of this perfume house, under this video I'll leave links to two articles on the fragrantica website,
and also a link to the official website of the brand where you can order samples, including three free samples.
I got these samples in a very unusual packaging - i think i read somewhere that these bags were made of a vintage fabric that Michel's mother brought from India many years ago.
I love the look and i think that this is a really unique approach to the packaging.
And look at these gorgeous sample boxes!
These feature the description on the back side and Clara Feder's art on the front.
And now let's jump straight to the review of these fragrances,
and the first of them is Cuir de Russie (Russian leather) - a fragrance inspired by Nijinsky's dance in soft leather boots.
Surprisingly fresh, tender and floral leathery scent, without a hint of tar traditionally present in Cuir de Russie perfumes.
Fresh notes here smell of tulips, daffodils and soap, with bright crunchy and juicy greens.
This fragrance has a vintage aura, but it does not create a sensation of dust or mustiness, it just smells elegant and a bit old-fashioned.
It has a sensation of aldehydes, crispy cucumber, violets and light suede,
and perhaps this is the most delicate and fresh leather of those leather fragrances in classical style that I have ever tried.
Rose Trocadéro is a bright, red, velvety essential-oil rose with candy citrus, inspired by the Parisian gardens.
At the start, it reminds me of the taste of a rose elixir, a juice made of rose petals I once tasted in Bulgaria and the aroma of flowering rose hips.
It seems to me that fresh notes of this fragrance smell more of a dog rose than of an actual rose.
Over time, bright and harsh green nuances appear, like the aroma of mashed leaves,
and the density of the smell also increases with time - if at first it feels like clear fresh rose water, then after half an hour it's a sticky, dense and thick sugary rose elixir.
Next fragrance is Verveine d'Été - the summer verbena.
A wonderful sparkling citrusy green cologne inspired by the gardens of St. Petersburg.
It's the aroma of lemon verbena and crispy greens.
Perhaps someone will find it too ordinary, but personally I see perfection in detail here -
simple, understandable beauty and genuine, authentic feeling of natural components.
The lemon here is candy-like, but still not overly sweet, with prominent vetiver and oakmoss in the base.
Perhaps, this is the most neat, but at the same time one of the brightest and sparkling fragrances in this collection.
I tried many similar perfumes from such brands as L'Occitane or Guerlain, but this is the best in my honest opinion. Timeless and classy!
Sandalwood Sacré is the first ever fragrance created by Yuri for his perfume house and it was inspired by his journeys to India.
It definitely has a rare vintage mood, i bet almost no one releases such heavily retro inspired perfumes nowadays.
And this is the wonderful case when all the components of the fragrance are very familiar to me, but together they merge into a wonderful unique melody,
a special accord that it's very difficult to separate in my mind and recognize any of these notes.
A wonderful balance between the soapy neroli and musk and the earthiness of the woods, patchouli and moss.
"Gentleman's sandalwood soap" would be the exact phrase to describe this scent!
Tubéreuse Trianon is a bright and sweet narcotic tuberose, telling the story of the Versailles gardens.
Tuberose, jasmine, ylang - an intoxicating firework of white flowers and a little bit of dryish spices and woods.
This aroma is very creamy, roundish and as if enveloping into a fragrant fog.
Together with the Trocadero Rose this is probably the most potent and most modern feeling fragrance of all these that don't make me think directly of vintage and classic perfumes,
although they're both slightly old-fashioned in a good sense, both very feminine and narcotic floral.
This tuberose has a remarkable base: powdery, earthy (but not dusty at all!), i suppose it's the oakmoss that shines here, but i may be wrong.
Anyway, it's a perfect, heavenly match with heavy white floral notes. This is a fragrance exclusively for tuberose lovers.
Citron Boboli - florentine lemons, very cool and wet scent, as if after a rain, with a bit of florals that smell like pollen, and LOTS of zesty citruses.
These citruses have the same fresh candy sweetness as Verveine d'Été, but much more bitterness and zest here,
bright spices, especially cloves, and an incredibly realistic St. John's wort note, greenish, powdery and bright yellow, which I have never encountered in perfumery before.
For me it is the perfect gentleman's citrusy aroma - dusty, spicy and very unusual, and for some reason I have a slight sense of the smell of cocoa beans when this fragrance settles down.
And the last fragrance is Eau des Délices (Water of delights).
It is a citrusy and oakmossy composition with a little hint of cilantro, dedicated to "The Garden of Earthly Delights" painting by Hieronymus Bosch.
It is a calmer, even more classic perfume than Verveine d'Été, and somewhat similar to it.
Its dusty oakmoss is a bit like in Eau d'Hadrien by Annick Goutal, but it's only a distant resemblance.
If Verveine d'Été is the sparkling aroma of the present days, then Eau des Délices for me is the fragrance of beautiful memories of the past,
because of the noble dustiness of oak moss in this perfume.
In general, it is certainly obvious that the emphasis in these fragrances is made on the beautiful features of natural fragrant materials and their pure natural feel,
that is only slightly embellished with synthetics; on simple but beautiful compositions;
on an atmosphere of noble vintage, and this is certainly a new life for these perfumes.
I think these perfumes are very easy to understand, so all perfume lovers, even the newbies, will see and understand this simple pure beauty in these compositions.
In my opinion, now, when there are so many similar fragrances in the perfume market, such unusual scents will be very much in demand among fans of such vintage feel, so now is a very appropriate time for a new life for the brand.
My favorite of these is definitely the Verveine d'Été, also Cuir de Russie, Tubéreuse Trianon and Rose Trocadéro.
And, of course, if you like the perfect simplicity and fragrant feel in the spirit of the middle of the twentieth century, or you're a vintage collector, I think these fragrances are just right for you,
and don't miss a chance to get your free samples of these amazing perfumes, I will leave the link under the video for you!
I hope you've enjoyed this video, if you did, please give it a thumbs up, comment below if you have any thoughts about this brand and subscribe to my channel!
Thank you so much for watching, and see you next time! xx Anisia
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