Eau Eternelle, the first release from the new independent fragrance house S Poncet, is described as a perfume of “never ending exhilaration.” The S Poncet website lists its notes as lemon, mandarin, grapefruit, petitgrain, lavender, rosemary, patchouli, sandalwood, and moss; additional notes (via Beautyhabit) include jasmine, carnation, lotus, clove, patchouli, and guaiac wood. Its sources of inspiration, according to founder Sabine Poncet, are a child-like painting of swimming fish and memories of Monet’s garden at Giverny.

Eau Eternelle opens on a cluster of citrus-floral top notes with a fizzy, aldehydic kick. Its initial phase also seems to include an ozonic-aquatic note with a hint of melon; it’s not my favorite thing to encounter in any fragrance, but it fades away before long. In the heart of the fragrance, jasmine and lily are most prominent, and I’m wondering whether some rose might be hovering there as well. Eau Eternelle has a slightly mossy base under the extended floral notes. It’s a “perfume-y” perfume, quite feminine, and not as fresh or watery as the description (or the opening notes) would suggest. It has a somewhat old-fashioned sensibility, which is a good thing in my book…

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