I’ve mentioned a few times that I am fortunate to have a lavender farm nearby. I am extra fortunate that they let me irritate them with my questions. They get a return when they put me to work while I make my queries. Last fall I got an awakening while I was helping the owner prepare the fields for winter. Once you get to this part of the season the lavender is almost exclusively the green herbal scent with almost no hint of the flower. It was fun enjoying the natural base note of lavender without all that powdery flower power. I have probably spent more time talking about that since the experience tuned me into it. I haven’t been able to visit the farm this year, but Bastide Lavande in Love reminded me of last fall’s expedition.
Frederic and Shirin Fekkai
Bastide is the brand overseen by Shirin and Frederic Fekkai. Over the last few years they have created a nice line of perfume based on their home in Provence France. They are mostly sunnier styles of fragrance. For Lavande in Love they wanted to focus on lavender which is one of the famous exports of the region. The Provencal Lavender is highly prized in perfumery. What they achieve in Lavande in Love is to enhance that herbal nature.
The lavender is present right at the start and it has that slightly powdery floral quality intact. The rest of the development is the sequential diminishment of it to allow that herbal quality a chance to shine. The first modifier is lime. What comes with it is a hint that this lavender is in Provence not Maryland as a slight breeze of ozonic sea spray blows through. As it dies down the herbal piece is amplified through rosemary and clary sage. They create a vibrant green accord with the lavender holding it together.
Lavande in Love has 8-10 hour longevity and average sillage.
I feel certain this will be better in the warmer weather. Yet in these early days of fall it served to remind me of last year in the lavender field.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample supplied by Neiman-Marcus.
–Mark Behnke
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