L'eau Chic

The name says it all. Patricia de Nicolaï keeps turning out some of the most classically elegant fragrances on the market, and her addition to her “eau” line is as effortlessly chic as a crisp cotton shirt on a summer morning.

The perfumer was inspired by the geranium-scented soaps she used to love as a child in her parents' bathroom. The challenge, she said, was softening the sharp, tangy facets of geranium oil, and making it original without covering it up.

Spearmint and peppermint boost geranium's own cool minty facets; lavender adds its clean, aromatic freshness while in contrast, a duet of hot spices – clove and pimiento – team up with milky sandalwood and the to ground L'Eau Chic in warmth. Roman chamomile, with its herbal, green, boozy, spicy and woody facets, adds sophistication and complexity to the blend.

But just like that indefinable set of qualities that make up chic, L'Eau Chic is more than the sum of its parts: it is bursting with well-bred confidence, with the classic vibe of a scent that could have been used for several generations by a family of slightly eccentric aristocrats, yet bracingly modern. In a word: not only chic, but pretty cool too...

Bourbon geranium, peppermint, spearmint, lavender, sandalwood, Roman chamomile, iris, clove, pimiento, white musks