Meera Murugesan is enchanted by the rose scent from a French brand
WHICH woman doesn’t like the scent of roses? It has universal appeal and is often associated with love, romance and passion.
L’Occitane has harnessed this much loved scent in its Roses et Reines range which consists of a Eau de Toilette and a complete bath and body range of soaps, shower gels, shampoos, body lotions and hand and nail creams.
One would be hard pressed to find a better way to do the layering effect and smell of roses all day long. The range uses rose extract derived through enfleurage, a traditional process made innovative by the L’Occitane research team. The freshest of rose petals are steeped in oil, allowing it to become saturated with the natural fragrance of the rose, resulting in a fruitier scent.
The Roses et Reines EDT draws its inspiration from nothing less than royalty. The muses behind the fragrance are the four daughters of the legendary Count of Forcalquier, all of whom cherished the rose and the fragrance has been inspired by the four different roses that the women loved — the Grasse rose, the Bulgarian rose, the Moroccan rose and the Turkish rose. The fragrance brings together the scent of these four delicate flowers and is further enhanced by a unique rose extract from the Haute-Provence in France.
VELVETY SCENT
The first spray of the EDT gives a fresh but rather velvety scent that some would find appealing but I personally thought it too strong. It only started to appeal to me after it had remained on my wrist for some time. Then, it became much more pleasant and certainly a scent that lasted a lot longer on my skin than I had expected it to.
In fact it eventually “mellowed” and developed a subtleness that was very pleasing, almost like smelling the soft, inviting scent of fresh roses and not an enhanced version of it.
The Beautifying Body Milk enriched with rose water has a wonderfully light texture that allows it to literally melt into the skin to moisturise.
It too has the same fragrance inspired by the four roses but in an understated manner that I particularly liked. The only drawback was that I had to use quite a bit to achieve the level of moisturisation I like to have on my very dry skin.
The hand and nail cream is a great product to carry in the handbag. Its texture is rich and nourishing and a little bit goes a long way and the results are instantaneous.
Roses et Reines EDT (75ml) is priced at RM196, the body milk at RM122 (250ml) and the hand and nail cream at RM39 (30ml). Available at L’Occitane boutiques.