Linen Vetiver

Linen Vetiver is clearly an unused mod for one of Creed's Acqua Originale perfumes, Asian Green Tea (2014), ala Julien Rasquinet, that Banana Republic was wise enough to pick off the shelf and put to good use. It's good enough that it has me wondering why Olivier and Erwin passed on it, but then again it would make sense that Creed chose exoticism over more classical French form (a floral chypre) by going for the green tea angle. Linen Vetiver has no tea note; the wispy crab apple of Asian Green Tea is more noticeable in here, while a gentle pear note frames the florals (dominates the far drydown as well). I get a hint of chamomile. There's mainly a sweet and very soft and well-rendered bouquet of iris and hyacinth with a little Hedione-like jasmine tickling the background. There's also no vetiver note to be found anywhere in Linen Vetiver. That must be Banana Republic's marketing team paying homage to Olivier's seemingly strategic habit of excluding the namesake note. They have a sense of humor, let it be said.

It just occurred to me what this sort of reminds me of... Byredo... Bal D’Afrique. They are very much in the same family and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was part of their inspiration while composing this one. Very mild, clean vetiver and freshly washed sheets on the clothesline, catching the breeze under the sun. Much like Bal D’Afrique, this is very enjoyable. Very relaxing easy going and relaxing, in fact. Out of the 3 I have from the Banana Republic Icon collection this is the softest but same as the others, I get pretty good longevity. As you could imagine this can be worn anytime, anywhere, but most suitable for spring and summer days. I love this line, they’re a good bang for your buck and are great to throw in your car or a gym bag without having to worry.

Light airy fresh citrus and clean musky vetiver, the scent is so simple, pleasing and versatile, for both men and women. To my nose, it is like a lighter version of Aqua Celestia Forte MFK, less citrus and musky, like after 2-3 hours dry down of Aqua Celestia Forte, it smells 80% similar to Linen Vertiver. I wear this scent everywhere to work, to gym, to buy groceries,…It is a crowd-pleasing, elegant and effortless scent, clean girl/boy aesthetic. It projects moderately for 3-4 hours and lasts on me the whole day, it is not a strong scent so spray freely on your clothes 👌🏻. I see it is always on sale, so for such a cheap price, I think it is a great steal for people working in the office day to day, and just want to smell nice and clean.

This has the most fantastic clean, effervescent, gently masculine, soapy/green opening (similar to 78 Vintage Green w/o the fig), unfortunately it becomes a barely noticeable skin scent in less than 15 minutes. They use a starchy iris note to create the Linen accord, and a super clean/wearable Vetiver to complete this very clean and bright composition. It basically smells like dryer sheets combined with a soapy/cola but in the absolute best way possible! For whatever reason, this fragrance disappears on my skin almost instantaneously which is why I like to spray on my clothes as I truly do enjoy the scent. If not for the performance, this would be a top notch niche fragrance(especially for the price).

So I have a co worker that also works part time at Banana Republic so he got this for me with his employee discount as a Christmas gift. I went in to BR a week before to check out the fragrances and this is the only one that stuck. I really liked Cypress Cedar but decided I wanted this one. First thing you get is this very clean (as in expensive fabric softener) scent. In the mid it does lean a little more feminine, which I typically don't like but in this case it works. This is a great fragrance and I will be wearing this alot in the warm weather. My fiance approves. Longevity is moderate. I sprayed this at 9:30 am and still get a little whiff here and there. I really love this stuff..