I confess I know absolutely nothing about the Liz Earle brand other than that they were purchased by Avon earlier this year. They're based in the UK and apparently known for their skincare, and they might well be widely adored — my skincare routine was fixed years ago, and I do not stray. Anyway, they released their first fragrance, Botanical Essence No. 1, last year, and this is one of those rare times when I'm reviewing a fragrance only because a PR company sent me a bottle — I had never seen Botanical Essence No. 1 in a store and had no plans to seek it out. Since it turns out to be a fragrance I love, I'm glad it showed up in the mail, and I'll be very sorry to see it go.1
Botanical Essence No. 1 is "over 98% directly derived from natural ingredients", and we all know natural ingredients are usually not as potent or long-lasting as synthetic ingredients, right? The press release recommends that you "spritz all over or spray above and let the mist envelop you", so the first time I tried Botanical Essence No. 1, I sprayed with more abandon than I normally would, and was promptly overwhelmed. Two things went through my mind simultaneously: one, I was going to have to take a shower, pronto, and two, what on earth is in that other 2%? But no, it calmed rapidly, and it calmed into a familiar, and to me, very comforting, smell: leafy green sparkling citrus and herbs, outdoorsy and fresh, with a hint of spice.
Farther on, there's a light rose, still very green and leafy and herbal, over a mossy-earthy-woody base which darkens and warms the longer it is on skin. Botanical Essence No. 1 smells like a retro fresh citrus chypre — I immediately thought of Eau de Guerlain and Ô de Lancôme, and it's also been widely compared to Clarins Eau Dynamisante, a fragrance that has been on the market since 1987 and that I still have never smelled.2 Botanical Essence No. 1 isn't as mossy as Eau de Guerlain, and it isn't as fresh as Ô de Lancôme; the dry down is slightly darker than either.3 As advertised, it smells like natural materials, so it's fresh without any big fake "air freshener" notes, and although it's being marketed as a women's fragrance, to my nose it's entirely unisex.
I love a fresh citrus chypre. My old standbys, other than Eau de Guerlain, are Dior Eau Sauvage and Chanel Cristalle Eau de Toilette, and as much as I enjoyed wearing Botanical Essence No. 1, I can't say I feel the need to buy a bottle given how many fragrances I already own in this category. If you're looking for an old-school fresh citrus chypre, do give it a try. I found the lasting power to be about the same as other fragrances in this category: lavishly applied, expect it to last about half the day.
Liz Earle Botanical Essence No. 1 was developed by perfumer Jean Charles Niel, and the notes include bergamot, mandarin, bitter orange, lemon, cardamom, rose absolute, lavender, geranium, coriander, nutmeg, cedar, vetiver, tonka bean and patchouli. It is available in 50 ml Eau de Parfum, $78. It launches in the US in July, and will be sold at the Liz Earle website and at Studio BeautyMix at Fred Segal in Santa Monica.
1. As regular readers know, we give away all full-sized products we receive for review. Look for a giveaway some time in the next few weeks.
2. Botanical Essence No. 1 was sold for a time on QVC in the UK, and there are 407 reviews of it there, many of them positive, many of them negative. Many of them mention Eau Dynamisante, and there are also mentions of Ô de Lancôme and Diorella. Many reviewers complain about the lasting power, and there are also complaints that it is "too masculine" and "too synthetic-smelling".
3. With the proviso that my Eau de Guerlain and Ô de Lancôme are both rather old — I do not know whether one or both has been reformulated.
Thanks for reviewing this fragrance! I love Liz Earle’s Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, which has a delightful Eucalyptus, rosemary, chamomile, and hops fragrance that makes me think of it as a grown-up–and gentle–version of the Noxzema cream I used as a kid. Their Superskin concentrate oil also smells heavenly. I hadn’t heard that they were bought by Avon and hope they won’t reformulate their products. I’ll try to score a sample of this once it comes out.
Avon says it will continue to operate as a separate brand. Can’t comment otherwise since I don’t know the products anyway, but that cleanser sounds nice!
I second that about the cleanser and superskin concentrate. Both smell absolutely divine, and the latter especially is a godsend. Whenever I apply it before bedtime, the next morning I swear I look years younger (at 28, I’m relatively young anyway, but I look about 12 when I apply this stuff!). I also really like the superskin moisturizer. It makes my skin so soft and I love that it doesn’t really have a smell to it.
Interesting that some of the commenters on QVC said that it was too synthetic smelling when there are 98% natural ingredients. Though perhaps that 2% you mentioned is a strong-smelling synthetic!? Ha!
Total segway from your post, but curious about your skin routine! I use Renee Rouleau, which I love, but it’s terribly expensive. Have tried other lines, but always come back to it.
It is very odd how often that came up. It does not smell synthetic to me at all — either they are crazy or I am crazy.
My very basic (and not at all expensive) skincare regimen:
I wash with the very cheap Alpha Hydrox Foaming Face Wash, which I discovered via MakeupAlley, and which does not have any AHA — it’s just meant to prep for treatment. I also use Alba Sea Algae Enzyme scrub a few times a week.
Every other night, Retin-A. I have it shipped from overseas (really I beg friends/family who are traveling to ship it to me) and only pay about $10 a tube — if you have to get it at a pharmacy in the US, it’s considerably more.
In the morning, Skinceuticals C+E Ferulic serum, or sometimes the Skinceuticals Phloretin CF serum. I buy the trial sizes on eBay and they’re not that expensive.
Most days, that’s it. If I’m very dry, I might follow with a cheap Rosewater + Glycerin spray; if I’m so dry that that isn’t enough, I follow with Body Time Gota Kola eye gel (used as a moisturizer), and if I’m outrageously dry, I add some jojoba oil to the Gota Kola, or I sometimes use a concoction I mix myself that has jojoba, vitamin e, green tea extract, aloe and some other stuff.
Robin, do you think a guy could pull this off?
I am tempted as you mention Eau Sauvage….
Also to piggyback on the skincare regime (I know, I am a guy and I am not supposed to do any of this.. but I do and I love it!)
As June is the month with less sun here, I am starting my yearly “peel”…. what I do is apply 10% glycolic moisturizing gel (Peter Thomas Roth’s) before I go to bed. I do this for a whole month or so. I used to use RoC’s retinol creams (the mildest ones) from age 30 to 35, but 2 years ago I changed for the Gycolic, as they were not as effective anymore… And I am loving it!
Daily regime is washing with glicerine soap and moisturizing either with Avene cream for intolerant skin (atopic dermatitis in the cold months) or Kiehls’ Baobab’s Fortifying cream.
A guy could absolutely pull it off, although it isn’t as conventionally masculine as Dior Eau Sauvage, and it’s a deeper scent…don’t think you’d necessarily love it just because you loved ES.
I have never done a glycolic peel…the Retin-A peels off all my skin anyway 😉
Nice review Robin, thanks a lot. I’m a big fan of Eau de Rochas, both pour femme and pour homme. Does this one smell like any of them? I have the feeling it is similar to Eau de Rochas pour femme…
Robin, I just received my sample of LE Botanical Essence No. 1
It arrived with my bill (Long story short, I bought it in london and a friend will bring the perfume to Buenos Aires in about 3 weeks).
The customs office does not block samples it seems. But you never know here.
Well, I sprayed it on and I was with my mom, and she said that it reminded her of O de Lancome. (I read Truffles review and the description is very accurate, Clarins, Magriffe,O de lancome)
I do not get MaGriffe but at first the citrus DOES remind me of Eau Sauvage. And yes, clarins is there too.
Clarins Eau Dynamisante smells like Posh Ladies Who Lunch to me… this does not smell as much of that…hehehehe I think I can pull it off!
Thank you Robin I dont think I would have ever run into this if not for your review!
I’m so glad you find it wearable…but do you love it??
I need to try that Alpha Hydrox cleanser. Have seen their products, but have never used them. Laughing about the overseas Retin A purchases. Anything to save a few $, huh? Love it. 🙂 Never tried Skinceuticals, either. So many skincare products out there. It seems that once I find a routine that works, though, it gets harder and harder to shop around for new stuff. Whenever I try something new, I tend to break out! But that Renee Rouleau, even though the products are awesome, they’re pricey. Would love to find drugstore brands that work well. You know, like Dove soap or Noxema. Ha!
For me it is more than I few bucks…the one time I paid in a pharmacy here, it was well over $100! Ridiculous.
I’d love to hear other people’s skincare routines, but yeah, not sure it’s really relevant here.
A thought – totally NOT a perfume topic, but perhaps this could be an off-topic open forum sometime – have people share their skincare regimen and ask questions/advice if they want. Perhaps not appropriate for NST, though. Maybe if we say something like, what are the best smelling skincare products? 😉
Like Yogaprof, I swear by Liz Earle skincare routine and I hope Avon won’t change anything. Liz Earle has a great customer care, I hope that stays the same, too.
With my last purchase, I received a sample of the fragrance, and I liked it. It reminded me of a body lotion I loved and used quite a few years ago, from Biotherm; the cream was hosted in a bright yellow packaging and the scent never failed to make me happy.
I don’t think I need a bottle of Botanical essence n. 1, but I am quite enjoying my sample!
Biotherm Eau Vitaminee, maybe?
Yes! That’s it!Thanks! 🙂
I hate it when a name slips away, memory and thighs don’t improve with age, do they?
“….memory and thighs don’t improve with age…”
ROTFL! That was classic and deserves to be cross-stitched and framed!
Agreed!
Ha! So true.
Very interesting review and article, Robin. Thanks! I would have said that I *don’t* have scents in this category and would try this, except I’ve just bought a bottle of Jicky EdP, which is proving to be very light and fleeting, almost in the eau category itself! And this is on skin that holds scent for days and through showers!
Rappleyea – Did you buy new?
I have a bottle of edt from the early 2000’s that lasts nearly all day – and this from skin that can’t hold a scent worth a dime. But then, classic Guerlain scents (eaux excluded, of course) usually last all day on me. Wonder if the Edp/Pdt have been reformulated…
Unfortunately, this is a brand new bottle. It smells great, smells like Jicky, but doesn’t last. It is literally the first time I’ve ever had this happen.
Oh, congrats on your new Jicky!
Have you tried Jicky before (an earlier formulation?) I ask because I have had the same experience with Jicky extrait that I bought in the mid-1990’s. I had noticed when testing that the EdT seemed rather fleeting on me, so I bought extrait, hoping it would last longer. Unfortunately, it did not. Within an hour or two I could not tell that I had put anything on, even cramming my wrist up to my nose!. I have had this problem with other fragrances (my skin just does not hold scent), but not usually with Guerlains. Shalimar, Vol de Nuit, Liu, Parure, and Apres l’Ondee all last well on me, even in EdT. The only other Guerlain I’ve noticed it with is Chant d’Aromes–it completely disappeared on me within an hour; even the SA couldn’t smell it on my wrist anymore. Needless to say, I did not buy it.
I know, without doubt, that Guerlain has watered down its edts whilst it has been reformulating them, because I have been conducting my own experiments and been testing new and old versions of Chant d’Aromes and Mitsy . The older frags still pack a wallop. The current ones are more of a cologne strength (! NOT strong!). My beloved CdA just disappears and the Mitsy is a ghost of itself. Think the modern Mitsy will be better in edp, but Guerlain only make CdA in the edt, so that sucks. I miss so much my old Chamade – I have this in the edp and parfum, but even the parfum is to some extent weaker now. And I do love the Liz Earle, but also wish that was more powerful, although it lasts longer than you think it will. It most definitely does not smell synthetic!
Glad someone else does not think it smells synthetic.
Eau Dynamisante is a fantastic scent. I’ll admit I’ve never bought a full bottle, but I’ve been the past lucky recipient of many delux samples from a few Clarins SAs I used to deal with at my local Macy’s. I believe I have a mini bottle of ED stored away somewhere, still in its box. Would be happy to extract some for you if I can find it. It’s from the very early 2000’s, when Mr Clarins was still living. Contact me if you’d like me to look for it!
Thanks so much for the offer! Am planning a mall trip this coming weekend, and if they don’t have a tester I might take you up on it.
Nice review, Robin. This sounds good, but I’m not sure it’ll ever cross my path. I have two questions:
1. You mention that the lasting power is good, but how would this perform in very hot weather? Seems it could be a little dark for that?
2. I see no oak moss listed in the notes, but would you say it’s as mossy as Cristalle edt?
I wore it all this last weekend…was fine in heat & humidity; it’s not so dark as all that. Maybe not so much of a hot weather refresher as something like Cristalle, though…would have to wait until August to test that.
I was very surprised when I first tried it — it’s distinctly mossy, but no moss listed in the notes. Only later did I notice that it has a list of ingredients on the outer box that’s far more detailed than what you see on most fragrances. Tree moss is listed near the very end of a long list — you would not think there was enough for it to smell mossy, but it does. To me not as mossy as original Cristalle EdT though, no. Also note that nowhere in the press materials do they call it a chypre, although to me it’s way more of a chypre than nearly anything they call a chypre these days.
Absolutely agree with you, its definitely a chypre. But it does mellow down with a sort of sweetness in the background. The fragrance it most reminds me of is one that Decleor used to make (and which I still mourn), called Arome Tonique – very similar citrussy top notes, complimented with deep florals and supported by mossy woodiness. I would rather like to wear the Liz Earle every day (especially after a bath) as a cologne and then layer other scents on top – but I can’t afford to be so extravagant at nearly £40 per bottle! It came out in the UK about November last year and I bought it from the Liz Earle website as soon as it was released. I believe QVC also offered it at around the same time.
I have not smelled that Decleor either, although I’ve heard of it.
I’m slightly puzzled by your saying it was released last year, R, because I went in search of this fragrance after reading about its being launched. in one of the Sunday papers, I think. And that was only a few weeks ago.
Anyway, I got a sample of it in John Lewis at the time (the SA was really nice and generous) and I liked it to begin with because, like you, I’m fond of citrus chypres, but then something started ‘bothering’ me. I couldn’t put my finger on it (I’m not very good at distinguishing notes), but you have given me the answer: it was the bitter orange. It always makes me a bit nauseous.
I have no idea when it was in stores in the UK (or available directly from LE) but there are reviews of it at QVC as far back as last October. Maybe it was a QVC exclusive for some time? I really don’t know. But sorry you did not like it!
Whoops – meant to post the bit about when I bought it at this point, but put it above! Sorry I’m disorganised. John Lewis here does sell it now because they have LE franchises in some of their stores, but I don’t think it’s available anywhere other than JL or LE.
Thanks!
Oh, interesting. Thanks for the info.
We’ll probably have foul weather again this summer so I won’t be needing a fresh scent. LOL!
I don’t think I could stand Britain’s weather, J.
Can you believe I moved here from Nice? No, neither do I. Blue skies and sea and gorgeous sunshine weren’t enough when I was very young. They would be now.
Blue skies & gorgeous weather go a long way towards making all life’s other annoyances palatable. I left San Diego and returned back east though, so I can’t hardly talk 😉
Robin,
Crtistalle EDT was the first thing I thought of when I sprayed it. I agree that it’s reminiscent of Eau Dynamisante as well. It’s a nicely formulated fresh chypre as you mention.
It’s always nice to find a new chypre, a real one 🙂
I like this too, bought a bottle last year and just went to spray some on! Remember thinking it was more of a summer fragrance (bought mine in October) and yep it is. Yes to the O de Lancome comparison (as I remember it, not how it is now). It is definitely unisex IMHO and the bottle isn’t too girly either. Liz Earle skincare is excellent, and has a fanatical following in the uk which is well deserved. Avon better not mess with it. The cleanser is award winning and I alternate it with Neal’s Yard. By the way would be interested to hear your view of Eau Dynamisante, as well as the new one which is more floral. ED is more of a cologne and I wore it religiously for a while.
I think neither of those brands — Liz Earle or Neal’s Yard — is so well known here, but I don’t really follow skincare so I could be quite wrong.
Will try to get my hands on some ED!
Oh, Neal’s Yard’s stuff is great. Their frankincense cream (for older skins) in particular is fantastic. No, truly.
I remember when they only had one outlet in…, you guessed it…. Neal’s Yard (Covent Garden) back in the ’70s. They’re a traditional herbalist too (there are lots in France still, but hardly any in the UK) *and* their cheese shop is absolutely wonderful. They have several branches around London now (one tiny one in Westfield) and browsing there is always a delight.
I am a fan of Liz Earle skincare, as well as Neal’s Yard and Ren ( whose Moroccon Rose Otto shower gel is a thing of beauty- even for someone like me who is not a big rose fan). So I was thrilled when my local John Lewis opened a Liz Earle concession and I got a sample of this, sprayed it and got ..,.nothing. Bar a faint waft on something like Jean Nate ( which I adored as an adolescent and used my allowance to buy the big splash at CVS- do they still make it?) I was so disappointed! It smells wonderful on others , very like the Clarins ED but with a bit more depth. I am too much a novice to posit on why that might be
Oh, that’s a shame! You must be anosmic to something in there, but couldn’t say what.
I have no idea what it could be but as long as I don’t end up
like my mom who, after a sinus infection 10 or so years ago, became almost completely anosmic- she can smell a faint whiff of a few things but relies on me now to say whether a scent smells like her and to choose things for her. She says it’s an important part of getting dressed and feels naked without it!
Every perfumista’s greatest fear! I hate to even think about it.
I was given a sample yesterday of the Liz Earle No1 essence and think it ‘s beautiful. When you first spray it you get a strong smell of Lemons which is probably why people think it smells like Clarins? It then settles and you can smell the lavender, Geranium, Rose and cardamom. It becomes warm and woody and very sensual. I only put it on my wrists and could smell it for a few hours afterwards. This has now gone on my Christmas list.