Let us start with the description and celebration of this wonderful perfume, “Cote d’Azur” from the brand Oribe. Later on, we clear up all the misconceptions people (e.g. myself) have (had) about the fragrance and the brand.
The perfume transports lightness in the sense of ease and effortlessness, combined with pure elegance rooted in wealth. It is a wonderful perfume, one that never becomes overwhelming and one never tires of. It shows the momentary perfection of summer and the cool elegance in a French Restaurant at the sea at the Cote d’Azur, when you drink either a prickly lemonade or champagne whilst waiting for your seafood.
“Cote d’Azur” represents life at its best. It gives that special feeling of being at the right place at the right time. Everybody knows this feeling will not stay forever, but one cherishes it every time one has the chance to live it.
The scent notes of the perfume, according to the Oribe website, are Calabrian bergamot, white butterfly jasmine and sandalwood. The parfumo platform names many more: blackcurrant, sicilian orange, lemon, Calabrian bergamot, white gingerlily, blue cyclamen, tuberose, amber, sandalwood, and vetiver.
To me Oribe’s „Cote d‘Azur“ embodies mainly fresh lemon and orange, but generously sprinkled with icing sugar. The blackcurrant I smell as well and very clearly the jasmine. If you ever have been in the South of France, you will remember all those jasmine hedges in gardens and also wild ones. Very different kinds of jasmine, but all smell wonderful. The perfume gives summer vibes generously.
To me, it is the ultimate scent of the Cote d’Azur and the upscale and sophisticated South of France. The Cote d’Azur is not tourist friendly. There is basically no public transport (try to come from Nice to St. Tropez without a car or a helicopter!) and the whole area is more kind to rich people. Those who do not have to carry their luggage and are fully taken care of by staff. It must be cool, living like that. The smell is captured in Oribe’s “Cote d’Azur”. Exactly that effortlessness and elegance in a bottle.
The colour of the perfume is a transparent yellow/orange.
My first Oribe products came as a blindbuy a few years ago, a body peeling and a hand soap. I bought both together in a heftily reduced value pack at one of my favourite online stores, not realizing that Oribe was famous for their exclusive line of hair care products. When the products arrived, I was a bit disappointed by the colours of the packaging, black and a brownish ochre. I had no expectations when I opened the handwash and used it; but the wonderful scent immediately hit me and I saw the products now with very different eyes. In a first recherche I understood that Oribe is a famous hair care brand. I bought their hair care products as well and put the brand in the category: best hair care line from the Cote d’Azur and the whole South of France.
All their products smell a bit like “Cote d’Azur”. The perfume is stronger and more present and was only created in 2014, 6 years after the hair care line. I do not know if the perfume was based on the scent of the products, or if Oribe added the scent to the products after the perfume was created.
Only when doing some more fact finding for this blogpost, I noted at last that Oribe is not at all from France. Oribe Canales, the founder of the brand Oribe, came originally from Cuba and made his career in the USA. The was a very famous hairstylist for many years, created hair care products since 1995, and founded finally his own high-class brand Oribe in 2008 together with Daniel Karner.
The noses behind the perfume “Cote d’Azur” are Jerome Epinette and Pierre Wulff. Jerome Epinette is one of those few super-perfumers, who won many prices and worked for the company Robertet in France and in the USA. Pierre Wulff is half Swedish, a perfumer who stayed often more in the background. Especially the perfume co-creations of Jerome Epinette and Pierre Wulff are of the highest quality. To me, Oribe’s “Cote d’Azur” is the best of all.
The brand Oribe created 2 other perfumes, “Desertland” and “Valley of Flowers” in 2021. Both are nice scents and worth trying.
The ultimate scent of the Cote d’Azur, unrivalled in tone and perfection in my opinion, was created by the brand of a famous Cuban-American hair stylist. Often people complain that a certain perfume smells like hairspray, and that is a death sentence for a perfume. Here we have the opposite.
Everybody in his or her right mind would like to smell like the Oribe hair care products and even more so like the perfume. Chapeau, Mr. Oribe Canales! You created something very special and outstanding with “Cote d’Azur”.