I stepped briefly into a L’Occitane shop at lunch time the other day because Immortelle de Corse has finally reached Australian shores. My interest was piqued by Kevin’s review on NST last year.
Actually I have nothing to add to his review so this post is really just to bring it to people’s attention again if you have so far missed it. Immortelle de Corse features immortelle (helichrysum; curry plant), burnt sugar and black tea. I found it a seamless balance of those three things, with a dry, slightly powdery element uniting them all. Towards the end I noticed a floral element peeping out.
Until now I have never found a L’Occitane fragrance that has not fallen apart after on my skin after 20 minutes. I love the verbena foaming bath, and so do my kids. We are on our third large bottle. But after a short and pleasant opening, the verbena fragrance becomes thin, sour and weedy on me. And I have had similar experiences with other L’O fragrances I have tried.
But Immortelle hangs together beautifully, and it lasts and lasts. One spritz gripped my skin all afternoon, and I was worried when I got back to work that my colleagues would be wondering where on earth I had been. It was about an hour before Immortelle’s initial intensity began to subside.
Immortelle de Corse is not my kind of thing but if it is yours, you might want to give it a go if you have a chance. If you already have, do comment. Kevin smelled it on a Friday and by Monday had his own bottle.
beauty on the outside 
Hi annemarie, I was surprised at the end of the post when you said it was your kind of thing because it seemed positive up till then. Was it just a bit too strong and not very wearable?
Sorry, I didn’t make much sense did I? No, I didn’t like it much, but I admired it because it seems to be well put together, and full of character and interest. I read it as quite curry like, and I don’t seem to be able to connect with that style of thing. I really wanted to like Dior’s Eau Noire and Parfum d’Empire’s Fougere Bengale but made no headway with either, although FB smells lovely on one of my friends. Immortelle de Corse seemed to me good enough to take its place in that company, but I’d love to know what others think!
Oh, no that’s fine annemarie. Not a criticism, just interested. I can totally understand admiring a perfume without really liking it.
The L’Occitane line doesn’t fall apart on my skin, it just hasn’t done much for me so far. That is, until I smelled their LE Verveine Soleil and snagged a bottle for myself at 50% off. It’s simple, refreshing summer happiness and works far better on my skin than their Green Tea.
Last Saturday I tried Immortelle (also motivated by Kevin’s review) and although I liked it, it was completely outshone by Eau des Baux. Wow that’s some good stuff. I can’t stop thinking about it, and could easily see a bottle in my future.
Hmmm … I wonder if I have seen those. I’m going to check them out. I suspect that what I see in Australia can be different from what they carry in other countries. Anyway, it’s a fun shop to browse in.
Oh, I think this sounds like just my kind of thing— I will be hunting a sample (or maybe even a bottle) down pronto. 🙂
I adore that curry note, but I wonder, is it rendered here similar to the way it is in Eau Noire???
To be honest I can’t remember. I’ll have to dig out my Eau Noire sample. I think I got a stronger burnt sugar note from Immortelle, and on the whole, the Dior is the more refined and classical. As you’d expect from Dior. Hefty price difference too!
I recall trying this after reading Kevin’s review, too. It wasn’t for me, but I only tried a spray from the bottle in the shop. The best L’Occitane’s I’ve found are the Miel e Citron (constantly being discontinued and reintroduced) and Labdanum (being discontinued). Suffice to say I’d be reluctant to fall in love with any of them!
Good point – why bother giving them your loyalty? Now you mention it, I have not seen that Miel e Citron for a while.
Crabtree and Evelyn (or Elephant, as my daughter and I call it) do a lovely line of citron products but no perfume, alas.