Acorelle perfumes is a French brand of natural perfume, made with organic alcohol, with a large selection of different fragrances.
Deviating from my usual structure with packaging-texture-ingredients and so on, for these Acorelle perfume reviews, I’ve put everything on one page and will try to describe each fragrance individually as best possible.
How am I able to write Acorelle perfume reviews about so many different fragrances, that must have cost a small fortune in perfume bottles?! Well, Acorelle sells a sample pack with nine tester vials. Brilliant, right? These nine organic perfumes are divided in three categories, labeled “energizing”, “balancing” and “soothing”.
In the energizing scents, we have:
- “Jardin des Thes” – Tea Garden,
- “Chypre Essentiel” (which I find hard to translate), and
- “Terre de Cedre” – Land of Cedar or Cedar Earth.
In the balancing scents:
- “R de Rose” – R is for Rose,
- “Absolu Tiare” – Tiare Absolute, and
- “Vanille Ambree” – Amberish Vanilla.
Last but not least, the soothing fragrances are called:
- “Orchidee Blanche” – White Orchid,
- “Lotus Bambou” – which kind of speaks for itself, and
- “Verveine Agrume”, which is Citrus Verbena.
So what is Acorelle Perfume made of?
In case you’re wondering what these natural fragrances are made of, here is Acorelle’s very own description.
Acorelle is a truly innovative brand. Established in SW France less than 10 years ago, they have created a the first truly organic perfumes we have ever seen. The base is alcohol made from organically grown wheat, and all of the fragrance materials are 100% natural. Acorelle perfumes are paraben-free, phtalates-free, without substances that bioaccumulate, chemical fixers, or animal ingredients.
Acorelle Perfume Review – What was my experience?
Obviously, everyone has their own thing going on when it comes to fragrances, and some of the scents suited me better than others. Perfume being such a matter of personal taste, the sample pack is a great way to discover these nine fragrances. Each vial contains more than enough to try it out for a good period of time (at least a few days, if not more).
One thing is important to keep in mind when it comes to natural fragrances. Natural perfume will never have the same staying power as a perfume or cologne made with synthetic components. Nature’s beauty is much more fragile, volatile and short-lived than synthetic components created in a laboratory.
Purchasing a natural perfume, because you don’t want to immerse yourself in synthetic chemicals, and then complaining it doesn’t last long is like putting real fruit in your kitchen counter’s fruit basket instead of plastic apples, only to complain they start going bad after a week or so. Perhaps that’s a bit of an odd comparison, since perfume doesn’t “go bad”, but it conveys the idea.
If you’re used to a synthetic blend lingering on your scarf for weeks, I’m begging you not to expect that from a natural scent – it wouldn’t be fair and you’d be disappointed. 😉 Accepting that your natural perfume dissipates and disappears faster than its synthetic counterparts – it is just the price to pay for wearing a natural perfume.
White Orchid
The white orchid natural fragrance by Acorelle was the first one I tired. I was pleasantly surprised by a a tingling, sophisticated yet playful, and kind of sweet and fruity aroma. At first it seemed a bit overly sweet, then it grew on me. I think it’s a sexy fragrance in a cheerful and rather saccharine way.
- Top notes: orange, honeysuckle, peach.
- Heart notes: rose, lily of the valley.
- Base notes: cedar, vanilla, musk.
INGREDIENTS: ALCOHOL, PARFUM, AQUA, ISOEUGENOL, BUTYLPHENYL METHYLPROPIONAL, LIMONENE, LINALOOL.
Compare to:
Miss Dior Cherie, with which it seems to share the sweet factor. Perhaps also Promesse by Cacharel, without the heavier fruity undertones.
Terre de Cedre
My first impression here was that this natural fragrance by Acorelle is the most ‘masculine’ one. However, after testing that theory on my husband, it turned out to be way too feminine for him. I have to admit I bypassed this perfume at first, maybe because I’ve never had a perfume with a distinct cedar/woodsy/green opening before. Then I came running back to it, for its lovely warm and sultry sweet base notes. The scent has something very soothing, yet energizing – most of the energizing happens in the opening, whereas the soothing part kicks in once it settles on my skin. I’d say it inspires self-confidence, or as the official French Acorelle website says: “strength and courage”.
- Top notes: bergamot, lemon, ginger.
- Heart notes: cardamom, peach, cinnamon.
- Base notes: cedar, vetiver, sandalwood.
INGREDIENTS: ALCOHOL**, PARFUM, CENTAUREA CYANUS WATER*, BENZYL BENZOATE, CINNAMAL, CINNAMYL ALCOHOL, CITRAL, CITRONELLOL, EUGENOL, GERANIOL, LIMONENE, LINALOOL.
* Ingredients from organic agriculture
**Derived from organically grown ingredients
100% of the ingredients are of natural origin
92% of the ingredients come from organic agriculture
Compare to:
I am at a loss here – very difficult for me to say, I don’t think I’ve never owned any synthetic perfumes like this one.
R de Rose
Amazing – it is really a rose perfume! I love roses. Obviously, to enjoy this fragrance, roses have to be your thing, as there is very little ambiguity around the composition of this natural perfume. Perhaps it has a few additional notes that are not as obvious to the untrained nose, but the main body of the scent: ‘roses’.
- Top notes: rosebud, leechee.
- Heart notes: rose, geranium, freesia.
- Base notes: raspberry.
INGREDIENTS: ALCOHOL**, ROSA DAMASCENA FLOWER WATER*, PARFUM, CITRAL, CITRONELLOL, GERANIOL, LIMONENE, LINALOOL.
* Ingredients from organic agriculture
**Derived from organically grown ingredients
100% of the ingredients are of natural origin
90% of the ingredients come from organic agriculture
Compare to:
Paris by YSL – that was a no brainer. I’ve never owner Paris by YSL, only smelled it in stores, but the connection was immediate.
Chypre Essentiel
Apparently I have this thing with chypre scents, where they always smell sort of business-y to me. The kind of fragrance a business woman would wear, not too sweet and definitely not too feminine, because in a man’s world, you can’t let your cute-factor get in the way of being taken seriously. Unfortunately, I personally need a perfume to have some kind of sweet or sultry dimension. I can’t help but think of the movie Working Girl when I smell a chypre – though it wouldn’t be the adorable Melanie Griffith who would wear it, but rather the dominant and slightly bitchy boss, Sigourney Weaver. Actually, I would love to wear a chypre, and I’ve tried, but it feels off – maybe I’m too much of a marshmallow. I do respect a good woman who can pull it off without being mean, like Sigourney Weaver. 😀
- Top notes: lemon, cilantro.
- Heart notes: rose, geranium, green cardamom, ylang-ylang.
- Base notes: vanilla, patchouli, vetiver.
INGREDIENTS : ALCOHOL **, PARFUM, CENTAUREA CYANUS WATER*, BENZYL BENZOATE, BENZYL SALICYLATE, CITRAL, CITRONELLOL, EUGENOL, GERANIOL, LIMONENE, LINALOOL.
* Ingredients from organic agriculture
** Derived from organically grown ingredients
100% of the ingredients are of natural origin
85% of the ingredients come from organic agriculture
Compare to:
Someone in a review online mentions Chanel’s Coromandel. I thought of the older perfume Calandre by Paco Rabane, which after some Googling appears to indeed be described as a “chypre” scent. I had a collectors’ miniature of Calandre once. Of course, Calandre was created in 1969, in full synthetic chemicals-boom, with all possible artificial components you can imagine. It has a staying power of weeks, and makes Acorelle’s Chypre Essentiel smell like a volatile breeze, but hey, as mentioned earlier, that’s the deal with natural scents.
Absolu Tiare
Buttery soft, tropical and suave. Sun, sand and that third “s”… was it sea, or something else? 😉
Amber Vanilla
Powdery and with the vanilla this scent obviously has tropical notes as well, but overall I find it a bit more sophisticated. Where Absolu Tiare is all waving palm trees, surf and sunscreen, Amber Vanilla is the exotic ingredients prancing out of a parfumerie in Paris.
Lotus Bamboo
Very Zen, fresh and green like an eau de cologne. Would probably be fantastic as a pick-me-up on a hot day. There must be more than just one famous perfume to compare this one to, but I can’t think of any names. CK one by Calvin Klein perhaps.
Vetiver Citrus
Goodness, I love this scent. Not as a perfume, it is way too green and not sensual enough for my taste. It does something to my nerves though – I can almost feel the tension leaving my body when smelling Vetiver Citrus. I spray this one before bedtime and drift away…
These scents are all inspired by one or more botanical olfactory botanical miracles.
