Nirvana French Grey Elizabeth and James
Hey Crew, Elizabeth and James Nirvana French Grey “is a chic and mesmerizing fresh floral with an aphrodisiac allure. Notes of honeyed neroli mingle with wisps of clean lavender, then slowly melt into a sensual musk for a truly unforgettable fragrance” according to the advertising spiel. It’s a shorthand look at a fragrance that is bout 200 times better than it ever needed to be. For any of you who missed this brand, it’s the Olsen Twins fashion label named for their (at the time) less famous siblings.
The perfume brand spanned only four years 2013-17 but it was a sensation. Their bottles are svelte, modern, ultra cool take on the CHANEL vintage canisters are a perfect reimagining. Comfortable in the hand, fits easily in a bag and has a hearty whiff of budget priced luxury. They also produced both EdP and roller ball oils in their original two offerings, which I thought was very cool.
If those other lavenders have left you clacking your mouth and recoiling then Nirvana French Grey could be the gateway. At this price, 50ml is less than a 2ml decant of some of the pricey niche.
Nirvana French Grey by Elizabeth and James 2017
FragranceNet (where it is practically free) gives these featured accords:
Neroli, Lavender, Musk
While I admire their brevity my (not very fine instrument of a) nose smells more. Maybe I’m fantasizing BUT when they undersell Nirvana French Grey so lightly I thought you might like a deeper look.
So yes, The opening is neroli and lavender but I smell also the grassy oiliness of vetiver and that smooth green of cardamom adding a green heft. It’s a very sophisticated look at lavender and misses most of the vanilla centric tropes like CHANEL Jersey, Caron Pour un Homme and Le Male. It also misses the heavily aromatic boat like Cologne Nocturne, Eau Folle and Rehab. What I am smelling is as refreshing as a summer breeze and elegant as you can imagine.
While there is white musk aplenty I’m also guessing there is some sort of resinous balsam holding up the base. Maybe mastic, a very small dot of myrrh and I could be reacting to the opening shill but some beeswax could also be hiding in there. To be fair it’s probably some created molecule that has a scent profile that hits all this bells and whistles.
Totally unisex, as the whole line is created to be. Longevity and sillage are moderate to low. After 20 minutes Nirvana French Grey becomes a soft focus wash that is better than it sounds. If you’ve spritzed on your way to work there will be very little magic left by lunchtime. Just a hint of lovely.
Ann wrote about Nirvana Bourbon and Surrender To Chance has samples of Bourbon too.
If you’re lucky you can still find some Elizabeth and James fragrances at the discounters.
Are you even slightly tempted?
Portia xx
FYI I’m away this and next week with Jin and his family. I’ll do my very best to get here and reply to comments. PROMISE!
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