Caudalie Huile Divine - Divine Oil, or Check Payot Elixir (2013) {Perfume Review} {Beauty Notes - Hair - Bath & Body}
This is a new body and hair oil by Caudalie, Huile Divine - Divine Oil, a brand we're a fan of usually. We're doing a quickie review based on its scent alone because despite what brand founder Mathilde Laurent states,...
“A blend of skincare and fragrance, nectar of the vine and scent of rose, a tempting escape into alluring sensations, here is my latest creation. Its essence is divine,” the scent here, in our opinion is a bit of a problem.
Official notes are: rose, grapefruit, spicy pink pepper, cedar, vanilla, and white musk. They say "The composition is modern and infinitely desirable."
On skin, the scent is about a cosmetic, woody rose with powdery accents of violet and generally tends to smell a bit too old-fashioned, and well generic, thanks to its overdose of landromat white musks. Although if you're not too particular about the originality of your rose accords and not concerned with overdosing on musks, then it smells closest to Sonia Rykiel for Woman, not for Men. We think it's a bit too perfumey for a skin care oil. It is also liable to giving you a headache, like it did for me.
For a better experience with a scented oil we'd be readier to call "divine" thanks to its myrrh note and even under-advertized natural osmanthus essence is Payot Elixir, Huile aux Extraits de Myrrhe et d'Amyris. Immediate reaction of adoption instead of rejection.
The market is literally swimming in beauty oils, so it's going to rely on perfume to try to be distinctive and lovable. The positive aspect of it is that you have more options. In general, we recommend trying to get or DIY one with essential oils as they have actives and are not synthetic.
