Van Cleef & Arpels – California Reverie – Fine and sunny with just the right amount of sweetness – 8/10
Van Cleef & Arpels is best known as a jewellery brand. However, they have surprisingly good perfume selections. Undoubtedly, they produce one of the more underrated higher-end lines. Dubbed the “Collection Extraordinaire,” amongst their impressive offerings worth trying are the powdery-woody Bois d’Iris, the chocolate flecked Orchidee Vanille, and the refined Ambre Imperial.
California Reverie is my favourite from the line, and as the name suggests, the scent promises neverending sunshine and blue sky days for as far as the eye can see. The realistic fresh notes of honeyed neroli and mandarin give a feeling of happiness and buoyancy right off the bat. Almost like you’ve just woken up, and you pull back the curtains to reveal optimistic, bright beams of light from the morning sun pouring in from outside. This brightness never fades, with the honeyed neroli hanging around for most of the composition.
After a few minutes, the other main protagonist in California Reverie, jasmine sambac, joins the party. The jasmine here is slightly indolic. Despite that, California Reverie remains a cheerful and wearable composition all the way through. Accompanying the jasmine is frangipani. It imparts a tropical, fruity and creamy layer, filling out the midsection of the fragrance. The creamy, floral sweet aspects of the jasmine and frangipani blend seamlessly into the base notes of beeswax and vanilla.
The base notes of beeswax and vanilla are light and never overbearing. They both provide an able complement to the fresher top notes and add to the honeyed sweet, creamy facets of California Reverie. Moreover, their sheer quality acts as the perfect anchor to close out the composition, ensuring California Reverie never loses its luminosity. Indeed, they give the perfume a point of difference, providing another layer of appeal from your usual garden-variety freshie.
Van Cleef & Arpels have produced a Wonderful, uplifting scent housed in a simple, elegant bottle. Give California Reverie a sample. It is sure to put a smile onto even the most sullen of dispositions.
Quick Notes:
Launch Year: 2014.
Perfumer: Antoine Maisondieu.
Top notes: Neroli, mandarin.
Heart notes: Jasmine sambac, frangipani.
Base notes: Beeswax, vanilla.
Longevity: 4-6 hours maximum.
Projection: 2 hours moderate.
Season: Spring and summer appropriate.
Price: 75ml EDP, $225AUD. They used to come in 45ml bottles also. However, that size seems to have been phased out.
Alternatives: Gardenia Antigua, Armani Prive. L’Artrian Parfumeur, La Chasse aux Papillons. Dior, Grand Bal.
Have you tried this line? What’s your favourite?