Hey Hey Crew,
Want to read what’s NEW NEW NEW!! L’Occitane will be releasing a brand new fragrance in the Collection de Grasse series in Australia during August 2014 and we have a special preview pack here at APJ! Woo Hoo! And today we will have FOUR winners!
Mer & Mistral by L’Occitane en Provence 2014
Karine Dubreuil
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon, tangerine
Heart: Cypress, pine, rosemary
Base: White amber, cedar, musk
From the USA L’Occitane site: A fresh breeze passes through the town of Grasse, which lies between the mountains and the sea. The mistral wind from the mountains, filled with the scents of the foliage in its path, blends with air from the Mediterranean, laden with sea spray. Inspired by this Provençal breeze, La Collection de Grasse introduces Mer & Mistral, an aquatic fragrance with soft ripples of aromatic notes. Zesty top notes of lemon and mandarin give way to a generous heart of cypress, pine and rosemary, so emblematic of the Mediterranean coast.
On my skin Mer & Mistral opens VERY fresh, good old fashioned, mens locker room in the 1990s: citrus and salty sea breeze. You know I am against fragrant gender boundaries but my scent memory is so strong with this style of fragrance because it takes me right back to my days in the gym, hanging their with mates or partner, hitting the showers and then in the locker room the guy getting dressed right next to me spritzing 4 or 5 times. It smells as much like a Mediterranean seaside resort town as it can without adding the bad smells, this is pure and fresh and even the herbal greenery is washed out in the sunshine of summer. I can imagine Mer & Mistral becoming a very easy wear go-to for anyone who needs to cool and refresh, or who wants to smell that way. It’s like a salty lemonade in India, I know it sounds weird but it is crazy delicious and here I am wearing it as a fragrance. What it does smell like to me is a subtle version of the current fragrance that I spritz through the bathrooms and laundry every Wednesday after I’ve finished cleaning, GANT Liquid.
The opening is big and fresh then Mer & Mistral calms to a lovely clean green woodsy fragrance and this part of its life last really well. Anyone who loves to smell like they recently bathed and are totally calm and cool will enjoy wearing L’Occitane’s latest. Where it ends is a slow overtake by the musks and a minimal warming through with the amber, otherwise Mer & Mistral stays very poised. I like the part about 2-3 hours in when everything gets a lovely powdery feeling, so cuddly soft. After about 5-6 hours depending I lose almost everything but my skin still smells as if it’s fresh from the pool/bath/shower and fit.
Mer & Mistral has a very CdG synthetic effect but on a softer, less combative level and I don’t feel courageous wearing it. Just healthy, happy and clean. I like it.
Whatever you do today, be nice to yourself. A little forgiving and very loving. You are worth it.
Portia xx
Neroli & Orchidee + Mer & Mistral: L’Occitane GIVEAWAY
WHAT CAN YOU WIN?
This week we will have 4 winners who will each get:
1 x 5ml decant of Mer & Mistral by L’Occitane (from my sample bottle)
1 x 5ml decant of Neroli & Orchidee by L’Occitane (from my sample bottle)
P&H Anywhere in the world
HOW DO YOU WIN?
Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.
You must tell me how you follow APJ
and
Please tell me your favourite fresh fragrance, or why you would like to try this one.
Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Mer & Mistral, Neroli & Orchidee #GIVEAWAY @LOCCITANE @LOCCITANE_au http://wp.me/p3PURw-2VX #Perfume
HOUSEKEEPING
Entries Close Sunday 20th July 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 24th July 2014 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.
I follow by e-mail and I’d love to try this because I love the rush of trying on new fragrances. 🙂
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Patty Pong,
I’m with you. LOVE new frags
Portia xx
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I spritzed this the other day (it’s already out in Japan), intrigued in case it was a necessary marine, and I agree: it’s kind of nice, actually. But also I agree about the locker room thing. A bit too obvious in that respect, a bit too much of a throwback. Having said that, I would quite happily be chatting to someone wearing this: you could certainly do a LOT worse.
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Neil Chapman,
You are so right. This would make me smile in reminiscence if someone chatting to me in the gym spritzed Mer & Mistral. Those frags were popular for over a decade for a reason, guys smelled good in them. Or maybe the guys that I thought were good wore them?
Probably not aimed at us anyway, but our buff young buddies.
Portia xx
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Hi! I follow via Feedly (rss) and on Twitter. Tweeted the formula.
I like the 4711 cologne!
Fingers crossed.
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Hi there Passercula,
One of my favourite things is putting a teaspoon or so of 4711 in the bath just before I get in. GORGEOUS!!
Portia xx
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Hi Portia,
I follow by Bloglovin, and my favourite fresh fragrance is Crabtree & Evelyn Himalayan Blue! Sadly d/c but a lovely tea, citrus and pepper scent for warm weather.
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How annoying to have a fave discontinued. GRRR!
Portia xx
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I can’t too much, discovered it after the fact! 🙂 xx
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*can’t complain, that is
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by email ! ninfeo mio is my summer fav 🙂
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XX
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We do not have a fave fresh! now that I echo Annamaria about Himalayan Blue/C&E…just bought all 5 main items this month – we have handcreme to go, and I THINK there is a boxed mini somewhere…gotta search Ebay! pcfallon has 25% off now :-)They are local GA folks, and NICE~~~~ 🙂 SO! we need to explore! THANK YOU!! 🙂
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PS – following on FB, e-mail. and blog 🙂
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Nice one Hotlanta Linda.
Portia xx
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I follow by APJ by email and facebook
Favorite scent L’EAU D’ISSEY POUR HOMME – ISSEY MIYAKE
I’d love to try this new fragrance as I’m always buying new fragrances for myself and gifts
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Hey Buddy, welcome to the APJ family.
Portia xx
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Thanks for a very interesting give-away!
I follow by email.
My favourite scent for summer: MFK – APOM pour femme. I love it.
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WOW! The big guns for summer. Great choice.
Portia xx
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Chanel N°22 is not bad either in summer… 😉
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I found out about this contest through MyMickers Fragrance on Facebook. I own a bottle of the discontinued L’occitane 4 Voleurs and think it’s a wonderful pine scent. I want to try Mer & Mistral since it also has pine and cypress, which I also love. My favorite fresh scent is L’humaniste. A wonderful lemon and spice smell.
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Welcome Bradley to the APJ family. I hope you have a long and happy time here.
Portia xx
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My favorite Fresh fragrance is mandarino di amalfi by Tom Ford. Got me a decant and it is so fresh for summer. I follow by email 🙂
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Qqqqh, the newish one? Nice.
Portia xx
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Ohh, this scent sounds heavenly to me! I follow via email and FB. My favourite fresh scent is Cipresso di Toscani by Acqua di Parma
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Wow. the Cipresso di Toscana looks lovely. Is it very Bertrand Duchaufour?
Portia xx
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It is very well-balanced scent indeed…simple and realistic
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I follow via e mail and my favourite fresh scent is White Linen Breeze by Lauder
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That is the cleanest and freshest of them all Rene Groyer.
Portia xx
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My favorite fresh fragrance is Ginestra by Santa Maria Novella. I just acquired a bottle of this when I was last in Florence. It’s a gorgeous fresh floral. I follow you via email.
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How lucky you are to have recently been to the lovely Florence. What a magical city.
Portia xx
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Lovely name, Mer & Mistral. I adore Penhaligon’s Juniper Sling for a hit of summer zing, it smells exactly like the drink with pink pepper! I follow by email. 🙂
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YAY! Juniper Sling is great fun. I wish it lasted longer on my skin but spritz & respritz can be fun too.
Portia xx
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I follow via email and also get updates from a facebook page so I don’t miss anything! My fave fresh scent is Moringa by the Body Shop, it’s so unusually intriguing and moreish.
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Aha! I can go try that at my local Body Shop, cool.
Portia xx
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I follow by email, and my current favorite fresh fragrance is Thierry Mugler Cologne. I am also excited to try these because despite reading your wonderful reviews, I have not had a chance to try anything from L’Occitane yet! Thank you for the giveaway 🙂
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Thierry Mugler is a superstar Nemo, I love his frags. You must get yourself into a L’Occitane. They are great frags at super prices.
Portia xx
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I have been searching for a replacement to my very unsophisticated Giorgio Red, I love fresh, clean but feminine scents. I’ve have a long list to test which I do every week but no replacement yet. Any suggestions welcome.
I follow on facebook.
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Hey sam,
I’ve not smelt Giorgio Red. Anyone?
Portia xx
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I follow via email and I LOVE my Davidoff cool water for women.
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What a great classic clean frag Caroline Hannesssen.
Portia xx
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follow by email
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YAY!! I need a story too please Linda Hynson
Portia x
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follow by email and on Twitter @narellerock
I love my Issey Miyake perfume, a fragrance that doesn’t give me a headache like some of the others do!
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Hey Narelle Rock,
Which Issey Miyake is that?
Portia xx
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Hallo, Portia!
Generous draw again – huge thanks!
My fresh faves are humble and well-known – the ‘teas’ of Bvlgari, Un Jardin Sur Le Nil, Acqua Universalis and Concentree Pamplemousse Rose (the more intense version of the more famous Eau Pamplemousse Rose by Hermes).
Over the last 2 years, I try to find some fresh salty fragrances, but only Sel de Vetiver made its way to my heart so far. That’s why I would like to try Mer & Mistral.
I follow by email and on FB, and I am from Bulgaria, EU.
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Hey there Lyubov,
Sel & Vetiver is a wonderful scent, I have a little 10ml travel bottle here. Thanks for the reminder.
Portia xx
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I love Ralph Lauren’s Romance,
Makes my senses dance!
A fresh and summer scent,
It’s heaven sent!
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Hi Laura Scriven,
I think I tried Romance but can’t remember. What does it smell like?
Portia x
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Follow via FB.
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Follow via Email
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Thank you for the lovely words of loving ourselves. 🙂
It’s really strange I am only now learning to do that…
P.S. I’m a wordpress follower.
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YAY! Today is the start of the life where you love yourself, like yourself and treat yourself as well as you can.
Preachy, I know, but you are not alone in coming late to understanding Ines.
Portia xx
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I followed on email
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Thanks Chantelle,
Story?
Portia xx
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I tweeted
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My favorite fresh perfume is Guerlain’s Eau de Cologne Imperiale. It never fails to cheer me up. So fresh and zingy.
Thanks for the giveaway. I follow by email.
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Hiya Puhfume,
I went through a decant of Guerlain Cologne Imperial so quickly and bought a bottle which I’ve not yet opened. Thanks fore the reminder.
Portia xx
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I’d love to find a new one, all my scents are boring now!
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love to win to smell ohhh so pretty
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Follow via email. Favourite scent is White Linen Breeze by Lauder
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Follow bloglines, like lemon tangerine
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I just adore and I mean adore See by Chloe. It is a lovely scent that works wonderfully with my skin
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