Cologne is arguably the oldest form of perfume. Ever since Jean Marie Farina created it in 1709 it has inspired numerous interpretations and continues to do so. That original cologne was lemon, rosemary, and cedar. The variations generally focus on the citrus or the woods; the herbal heart is less enticing to would-be modern cologne designers. Which is a bit disappointing because the perfumers have many more herbal ingredients at their disposal than M. Farina did. When I received my sample of L’Artisan Parfumeur Au Bord de L’Eau I found a cologne which thrived by focusing on the herb which started it all.
Au Bord de L'Eau by Claude Monet
Perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin was not inspired by M. Farina instead he was thinking about Claude Monet’s painting of the same name. The name roughly translates to “by the water” and I expected it to be an aquatic style of perfume. When you look at the painting above you should not notice the water and instead notice the deep green hues elsewhere because it is that which comes closest to defining the perfume named after that. M. Pellegrin creates a typical cologne architecture with many of the classical ingredients except the star of this is rosemary.
Fabrice Pellegrin
M. Pellegrin opens with lilting lemon accord buttressed with bergamot. M. Pellegrin creates a citrus tinted cloud which drifts across the early moments. Then the rosemary arrives with brio. It shoves the citrus out of the way which requires M. Pellegrin to sandwich it with orange blossom and violet. The metallic violet acts like a container for the rosemary while the orange blossom softens the acute edges. Au Bord de L’Eau remains with this accord for much of the time I wore it. I found this remarkably refreshing on the summer days I wore it. The rosemary at this concentration carries a verdant aromaticity which the florals accompany. The base is a mix of usual musks which add some depth to the heart accord in the later stages.
Au Bord de L’Eau has 8-10 hour longevity and average sillage.
I can’t say I thought Monet while I was wearing Au Bord de L’Eau. It would be hard to find anything very Impressionistic about this cologne. Instead it was another innovative artist who I thought of a lot while enjoying Au Bord de L’Eau; M. Farina. I kept thinking this might be what he came up with if he was designing cologne today. By focusing on the herb M. Pellegrin found something worthy of the original cologne.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by L’Artisan Parfumeur.
–Mark Behnke
