L'Occitane's new Arlésienne is the brand's first pillar fragrance for women in a good long while (they've been occupied with La Collection de Grasse and limited editions and whatnot). It reportedly celebrates the women of Arles in Provence, and draws inspiration from traditional Arlésienne dress and the Venus of Arles; it was introduced in conjunction with a Christian Lacroix exhibit, L’Arlésienne, at the Chapelle de la Charité.
The opening of the Eau de Toilette is fruity and tart (rhubarb, maybe?) and vivid — it's a happy fragrance, and even happier on a paper blotter, where the top notes linger and a whiff of pale leafy green is more obvious. On skin, the tang of the top notes is over too soon, then Arlésienne is a modern cosmetic-powder floral, mid-weight, with a touch of saffron and a bit of a peppery bite. The emphasis is on the rose, but the rose is not so dominant that you'd smell it and classify it as a rose fragrance, which is just as well since L'Occitane has plenty of rose fragrances already (the notes for Arlésienne: saffron, mandarin, rose, lily of the valley, violet, tonka bean and sandalwood). The base is pale woods, ever-so-slightly earthy, not particularly sweet (or at least, less sweet than many modern cosmetic-powder florals).
The lasting power is decent enough for an Eau de Toilette, but I would not expect it to make it through your work day without another spritz.
The Solid Perfume loses much of the radiance of the Eau de Toilette's opening, but the dry down is warmer and woodier, and a tad earthier. A spray of the Eau de Toilette over a schmear of the solid created a perfect middle ground: the top notes lasted longer and the dry down had enough warmth to stand up to cool weather.
Verdict: Arlésienne is romantic and feminine, and a good fit with L'Occitane's holiday advertising. It's not perfumista bait, really, but it's very pretty. I would call it a spring fragrance; its impressive range of cheerfully-packaged and highly giftable ancillary products perhaps explains why it's launching now. Next time I'm in the mall I will be testing the body oil (below left) and hand cream (below second from right).
L'Occitane Arlésienne is available in 75 ml Eau de Toilette ($50) and in 10 g Solid Perfume ($12). Matching products (some of which are limited edition, and also some of which are not on the US site as of yet) include 75 ml Body Oil ($36), 50 ml Hair Mist ($25), 30 ml Hand Creme ($12) plus Lip Balm, Beauty Milk, Perfumed Candle, Scented Soap, Beautifying Powder and Shower Creme.
Tomorrow I'll have a giveaway with the Eau de Toilette, Solid Perfume, Beauty Milk and Candle.
Oooh, you make it sound really attractive. I was going to ignore it… I want to test it now.
J, you can probably ignore it — it’s pretty but it’s not genius! I will probably want the hand cream, although right now have several of theirs that I haven’t used up yet so I ought to skip it.
I’m going to Westfield tomorrow; there’s a nice little L’Occitane store there; I’ll just pop in.
I don’t know if L’Occitane is as generous in the US as it is in the UK: we’re constantly getting lovely freebies from them: travel-size tubes of hand cream and other products, without purchase. It’s rather nice, really.
Gosh — I don’t know if anyone else is having such luck in the US, but I’m sure not!!
No freebie luck for me either. I do get to sniff some of the pre-launch items and once, I was able to buy a few items that somehow were aready registered in their inventory as as available for sale.
What a shame! Wonder why we’re getting such special treatment here.
I love the vessel for the candle. Might have to give this a sniff.
They did a really nice job on the packaging. The candle smells lovely in the jar but I’m not going to burn it since I’m doing the giveaway tomorrow…
L’Occitane occupies a decent section of my collection and while the staying power isn’t always the greatest, I really love the scents I own. This sounds really good, especially since I was wearing Love, Chloe the other day and lamenting the wonderful trend of ‘cosmetic powder perfumes’ I was really enjoying that seemed to have come to an end. So glad there’s another one to try and all those products sound great, particularly the hair mist and candle.
This is more youthful than Love, Chloe, and yes, probably not as long lasting.
I do think the Hair Mist is one of the limited editions, so try soon if you want it.
BTW, I went to the L’Occitaine website to look something up, and they seem to be advertising a “today only – private winter sale.” (No affiliation.) Might be worth checking for anyone who has been planning to buy something.
I was trying to figure out what I tried there recently that I liked – maybe the Verbena? (Or was it the rose or mimosa?) It didn’t smell like what it was supposed to smell like, but it smelled very good, and so much better than what so many department store brands are settling for these days.
Thanks so much, was on their site this morning and missed that entirely.
And also missed their yearly verbena limited edition entirely this year — the Frisson or whatever.
That might have been the one I tried. If so, it didn’t smell anything like verbena but it was lovely. There’s a store on F street near the Museum of American Art now.
Interesting, thanks! Should be a store next weekend & will see if they still have a tester.
I see that Ambre & Santal shower gel and body lotion are on sale. Has anyone tried these? Are they heavier on the amber or the sandalwood? I remember Kevin had a favorable review of the edit.
I have not tried the body products, but the scent was way more ambre than santal…
Their verbena stuff is just lovely, the only L’O stuff I buy. (Or not – the last few times I’ve been in Sydney for work I’ve deliberately chosen a hotel that has L’O Verbena products in the bathrooms, and yes, I scoop them up and bring them home. How sad is that!)
But while I love the Verbena bath and body range, the fragrance always seems top loaded to me: nice at first but thin and baseless after half an hour or so. That’s my impression of a lot of L’O fragrances, but I’ll give Arlesienne a try.
I will probably ignore it, thanks for the review though!
Plenty of fish in the sea anyway
I tried this just yesterday and did not like it one bit – I think the fruity/floral category is a tough one for me. I do wish I could find some ‘fumes in this category that I could enjoy. It is helpful, however, to read the review and understand what notes you’re picking out for next sniff.
My favorite (and I do horde this) is their honey shower gel. Last time I bought some it was not out on the shelves but in their basement so I’d definitely recommend asking for it as it just might not be out for some reason. Odd.
Oh, and I wouldn’t have even called this one a fruity floral, despite the fruity notes.
I know they used to make a honey that everyone loved, and then they made a honey that people didn’t like as well — but I get confused about the names & which was which!
Thanks so much for reviewing this, Robin! I tried this perfume, and I perceived it as rose, a tiny bit of violet, and a big dip from L’Occitane’s peony vat. I find peonies to be mesmerizing visually, but they smell annoying generic in perfume to me. I didn’t smell anything fruity at the top and I didn’t get any peppery notes.
I found the body milk to be much more complex, but as with most heavily fragranced lotions, it burned on contact with my skin
I didn’t smell any base notes, just lingering L’Occitane peony.
The pepper, I’m guessing, is mostly pink pepper, and I wish there was more violet — I hardly notice it on skin although on paper it does stand out. They do like peony over there and totally agree it makes everything smell the same; without the powder I do not think this would be nearly as nice (to me, obviously, since you did not find it nice).
But wow, really, it burns your skin but the fragrance doesn’t? I wonder what ingredient is causing that?
I know a good violet is hard to do, but their violet creme in the tin, not the tube, was wonderful. I had alot of people asking what I was wearing. I don’t know why don’t don’t do a full blown violet scent. From what I recall, their Ambre & Santal was pretty good. I felt like it was a dry Amber. Their Almond oil is a wonderful winter treat.
Ah, wonder if they still have that? I have the one in the tube.
Yes! I want them to do a full-blown violet scent.
Ever try their Delice des Fleurs from 2011? Candied violets and sugared rose petals, it reminds me of the macarons at Laduree in Paris. Lovely if you like gentle gourmands.
Ah, yes folks have mentioned that one. I missed it when it was around.
It was limited edition, wasn’t it?
Yes, it was their Christmas/holiday scent that year.
Thank you to everyone for the review and the comments. I let L’Occitane fall off my radar. I loved stopping at the airport L’Occitane in the days when I traveled more often. The lavender hand cream was a great treat. I miss it! Time to find a store near me and give Arlésienne a try. And thanks for the link to the info on the Lacroix in Arles exhibit. Lovely!
I did like them better back when the products were a bit cheaper…this one isn’t as expensive as some of the others (La Collection de Grasse and the series they did before that).
“Cosmetic powder. ” Sigh. Sigh, I say. It’s a ridiculous note in a perfume.
I like cosmetic powder, but of course not everyone does!
It’s a scent that feels claustrophobic to me. Like sitting in a car on a very humid hot afternoon with a lady wearing a lot of face powder. Clinging and suffocating and narsty.
That’s me. Not everyone.