MY DIVINE FRAGRANCE: CAUDALIE PARFUM DIVIN

The  Search for The Perfect Summer Scent
Summer in Spain:  40 deg Celsius dry heat and a sun that rises at 6:30 AM and sets at 10 PM.

Yes, the heat is definitely on in Europe!

So a month ago I felt I was in dire need of a new perfume, something long-wearing but not overpowering,with a good musky undertone.  The fragrance I was using, a RL Polo Big Pony 3 (Yellow),  just wasn´t cutting it.  I felt that it wasn´t really that long-lasting and  was just meeeh. 

Off I went to fragrantica.com  to search for a perfume that´s musky, warm, perfect for summer, and long lasting.

Oh just in case, note that fragrantica.com is not a perfume shop, it´s like a make-up forum where users rate the items they´ve tried,  but instead of make-ups,  the talk´s all focused on scents and fragrances.  What I like about the site is the variety of reviews,  even small artisanal perfumes from Europe  are reviewed not just the big perfume brands.


Enter Caudalie
After reading on a lot of reviews,  I finally settled on Caudalie´s new fragrance,  Parfum Divin, which was released just this year (2014).  What sold me on this perfume?  Let me enumerate:

1.  It´s a vanilla-based, musky perfume that isn´t  fruity.  I have had it with fruity and citrusy perfumes, they tend to be not so long lasting become slightly sour on my skin after a few hours.

2.  It got amazing reviews both in fragrantica  and in blogs.  It was described by The Sunday Girl so perfectly:

 "Parfum Divin de Caudalie is what I imagine the chic women in the likes of the south of France would use to douse themselves in. A simple but romantic blend of rose, musk and vanilla that is both comforting and oddly uplifting too. I don't tend to enjoy floral fragrances but the simple and soft tones of Parfum Divine de Caudalie is something else. It is almost dreamy in a sense. It's not everyday that a fragrance comes along in which I believe will talk to all ages but Parfum Divine de Caudalie is it. Of course it is similar to the scent used within Caudalie's Divine Oil but it is a little  softer and more refined with a stronger musk kick in my experience. In a nutshell Parfum Divine de Caudalie is a suit all wear everywhere fragrance in one of the most beautiful bottles I have seen this side of 2014."
    
 3.  Although Caudalie is considered a luxury brand in Europe  (up there among the ranks of Clarins, Chanel, Guerlain),  the perfume´s price wasn´t that bad  at about 50€  for a 50 ml bottle.  Definitely more affordable than Chanel perfumes which are 20-30€ more expensive.


Power and Sillage
I purchased my Parfum Divin from the Caudalie online shop in Spain,  and got the item in just four days!

The Parfum Divin comes in a beautiful golden bottle with a wooden cap! Even the bottle looks elegant and understated.

And the smell?  Yes, in a word,  it is divine.

It is warm, sweet, musky,  but not overpowering.  You know how there are perfumes that are good but  are just too strong ( Poison and most Nina Ricci fragrances come to mind)?  Parfum Divin isn´t one of them.  It settles on the skin pretty well, and at the end of the day,  what is left behind is a delectable musky scent that feels oh-so classy.  The sillage isn´t too bad, just moderate, which is good because who wants to be labelled as the walking perfume bomb?  Sillage, in case you haven´t heard of the word,  is a fragrance term used to describe the fragrance trail left by the wearer.  A strong sillage means that it diffuses well around the wearer, meaning it can be smelled by those around her.  But note that sillage has nothing to do with wether the perfume smells great.

I found solid proof of Caudalie´s long lasting smell one Friday when hours after spritzing the perfume, while I was all sweaty and klutzy in my 8 PM fitness class,  I smelled the Perfum Divin on myself.  My though was,  Bongga!  Amoy Perfum Divin ang pawis ko!

Caudalie also has this somewhat cool thing.  Whenever one purchases a Caudalie product,  a code is hidden in the product´s box which you enter in your myCaudalie personal online account,  every product corresponds to some points.  A purchase of Perfum Divin corresponds to 40 points.  And when I reach 120 points  I get to have one fullsized item from  Caudalie´s skincare line sent to me with my next order for free.  Cool, huh!

I honestly think Parfum Divin is my holy grail for perfumes.  Expensive but not unreasonably so.  It is potent so you don´t have to spray too much.  And the smell, oh the smell, its name is so perfect for this product.

Love and Reorder

How much do I love this perfume?  So much that I just ordered a set of Parfum Divin + Huille Divin (Divine Oil) again. 

Why? Because Caudalie has a promo now that for every  purchase of two items of Divin products (except the travel kits) , one gets a free  Sac Divin ( Divine Bag) oh and yes,  I want to try their skincare products (which are really expensive).  And  Caudalie do give free samplers for every purchase.

That Divin bag  is so pretty, no? I rationalize of course:  If by December I still haven´t used up my Parfum Divin,  I can always turn my extra Parfum Divin  into a gift for someone special! 

So, how about you?  What´s the perfume you´re currently loving at the moment?  Do you want to try Caudalie´s  Parfum Divin? :)

P.S.  A Short Note on The Brand

Caudalie (pronounced as kodali) is an upmarket French beauty brand based in Bordeaux, France,   known for its philosophy of making natural, preservative-free cosmetics.  Caudalie,  which has its roots in the vineyard owned by its founders, currently holds patents for Resveratrol, grapeseed polyphenols and Vineferine, potent beauty compounds extracted from grape plants.  

As per Caudalie´s site:

The brand uses natural and environmentally friendly active ingredients with raw materials of controlled origin and Ecocert-certified preservatives. No Caudalie product contains phenoxyethanols, phthalates, mineral oils, sodium laureth sulfate, synthetic colorings or animal ingredients and the products are not tested on animals. In 2005, the company went even further by removing all parabens from its products, and setting up a huge operation to reduce waste by optimizing transport, packaging and waste products to reduce its annual CO2 emissions (-4.7 tonnes of CO2 per year). In general, the cardboard boxes and PCR plastic tubes used to contain the products are recycled by around 50%.