Neonatura Cocoon by Yves Rocher : Perfume Review

The first days of March seem to be harsher, darker and colder than the last half of February, which hardly comes as a surprise, because as we all know, March has a reputation to uphold... So what better scent to kick off the patchouli themed series of reviews, than Yves Rocher’s Neonatura Cocoon? In case the name wasn’t suggestive enough already, this is a supremely comforting perfume. Cleverly, the comfort experienced by using this scent already begins at the bottle: smooth and pebble shaped, it fits perfectly into one hand. It is even rather fun to use – its spray mechanism neatly hidden under a soft silicone cover that feels soft to the touch. (Side Note: Leaving it on your desk might lead to confusion… I keep mistaking it for my ergonomic cordless mouse while writing this!!)

First brought to my attention by readers of Fragrance Bouquet, I sought this out at the Yves Rocher boutique and fell in love. That is, I fell in love when I actually managed to identify it! It is rather problematic, but Neonatura Cocoon comes in exactly the same bottle as Neonatura Souffle, with only color differences to set them apart! Both bottles have the name Neonatura clearly marked, but neither is marked as “Cocoon” or “Souffle”! Taking a look at the website, one can eventually find that the lighter colored bottled (sand-beige tones) is Souffle and the dark, coffee-bean brown bottle is Cocoon. Phew!

Now, on to the scent itself: Like most delicious comforts in life, simplicity does it. Yes, Neonatura Cocoon is rather simple. Not only is it rather linear with little to no development over time, it is also a scent which focuses on few notes only, as though entirely made of warm, enveloping base notes. Extremely yummy, it gently hugs the skin with the scent of vanilla, cacao, patchouli and coffee. The central aspect is of course patchouli, which is in this case extremely earthy, moist and slightly chocolate-nuanced, mirroring the scent of my preferred patchouli essential oil that I use for perfuming my nourishing home-made body oils. As time goes by, I find that the patchouli becomes stronger and attains a slightly dirty character which I enjoy. The vanilla is sweet and delicious, adding definite sensuality and “glossiness” to the scent, if that makes any sense. Even though the vanilla itself is sweet and rather edible, it is used so considerately among the other notes, its sweetness only serves to give the fragrance roundness and voluptuousness, rather than rendering it a sweet gourmand. The cacao note in turn, is minutely powdery and beautifully dark, pure and round, perfectly complementing as well as intensifying the chocolaty nuances of the patchouli. As for the coffee, well, the official website doesn’t officially list it, but it is definitely there to my nose. Exuding the tantalizing fragrance of a mild, slightly caramel nuanced roast, the scent of coffee underscores the rising dirtiness of the patchouli and adds a masculine edge to Neonatura Cocoon. In fact, I think that this comforting and sensual warm fragrance will suit both men and women equally beautifully.

Neonatura Cocoon comes with a host of ancillary products, including a cute, rose colored solid, marketed as “Neonatura Cocoon Cream Perfume”. I would most definitely hesitate to try the deodorant (that’s a little friendly hint for the readers who do not have Yves Rocher boutiques nearby and are ordering from catalogues!) since I can’t quite imagine the slightly dirty aspects of patchouli and coffee being ideal for the armpit area…. However, I have tried the bath/shower gel, and it is definitely worth looking into if you love the fragrance. While its scent is neither as long-lasting nor strong enough to perfume my clothes (as do other ancillary products I have tried from brands such as Prada, Mugler and YSL), it is simply a pleasure to shower with it in winter time. It really feels luxurious to have the bathroom filled with this warm, sensuous fragrance. It does leave a lovely whisper of the signature scent on the skin and I find that immediately applying the perfume afterwards creates stronger sillage and improves the longevity.

Images: www.yves-rocher.com and Flickr by Dave_Boyer

Perfume Randomness and Unrelated Excitement

Good evening! Today I am writing another little personal update, along with some random perfume thoughts and questions. Many of you have asked about the event I was organizing... Your inquiries warmed my heart :) The event itself was the first annual Cultural Festival... Considering it was the first, there was so much anticipation in the air: the outcome would determine whether the festival would become a tradition to be continued for years to come, or something to be left behind in sadness. My nerves were shattered on the days leading to the event and on the day itself I was a livewire. But I needn’t have worried! The event was not just extremely successful – it was amazing! I do not mean to bore you with non-perfume related details, but I guess I am still so drunk on the success I felt the need to share. I do not know whether any of my board members or committee members ever visit my blog, but if you do: thank you for all your extremely hard work! We did it! I will never forget this day as long as I live. For those of you wondering: I wore Opium FdS on the day... It’s not what my mind would have chosen – that would have been L’Eau Trois – but it is what my heart commanded and I had to obey, gladly I might add.

More excitement: I have a visitor from another country as a guest at the moment, a very special person who came to visit me especially for the festival and together we are traveling to Paris this Monday for three days. Visiting Paris was something of a promise I had made to myself – a little luxury, a little gift for all the hard work that has gone in this year. I do not know whether it will be relaxing as I am planning to visit all the perfumeries I have been longing to see with my own eyes for so long... I have to admit my top two destinations are probably the House of Guerlain and Parfums Caron. (Thank you Christine for your guide, it is invaluable to a first-time Paris visitor with little time on their hands and an ambitious sniffing agenda!) If you have any requests, like things you would like me to investigate while there, please post as a comment here or email me and I will do my best to comply. I am excited, but also slightly stressed. Do you ever have that? Stress before a trip? I always do, it is ridiculous.

So what else has been going on these days? Or rather, what has been going on perfume-wise? Well, first of all I’ve had a disappointment... I think the original Jean-Louis Scherrer perfume has been reformulated - for what I have found in a shop recently smells like a shadow of what I remember it to be. (and I do have a very good fragrance memory...) I am planning to telephone some kindly family member to see if I still have any of the good old stuff back home. I would love to review it, and if I am lucky enough to still have some dregs of the original, I’ll have it sent over and then I can do a side-by-side comparison. Furthermore, following Jenavira’s suggestion, I went to the Yves-Rocher store to sniff Neonatura Cocoon. I did not manage to find it and the SA was unfriendly enough to put me off asking for further information unfortunately. But what I did find was the Elixir de Parfum of Comme une Evidence which is absolutely fabulous. If you happen upon Comme une Evidence please, bypass the EdT concentration completely (it is horrible, really no relation at all between the two) and head for the Elixir, which is to die for. I am buying this as soon as possible – the only reason why it is not in my loving arms already is the fact that the SA really was rather obnoxious and I was not going to give her the pleasure of handing her any money. Finally, I have a request: Do any of you have some information on Les Beaux Arts by Christian Peschke? There are two fragrances, La Dolce and La Vita and their bottles can be seen here. I am afraid that the picture does not do them justice, they are very impressive in real life. I hope one of you has more information on them than I do, but if I get no responses on them I promise to investigate further and report back to you in a couple of weeks time, when I have time to revisit the boutique where I found them. They are quite expensive at around 240 euro each and I am very, very curious about the jus inside.

Pictures of Cultural Festival 2007, personal collection, thanks to J.J.S