Eau de Cartier EdT is a unisex citrus aromatic fragrance, created by Christine Nagel for Cartier and released in 2001.
Eau de Cartier is described by the brand as “the purity of floral freshness around a violet, warmed by a wood-amber accord.”
A BRIEF HISTORY OF PALMOLIVE
I’ll just give you the spoiler now — Eau de Cartier EdT smells quite a bit like Palmolive dish soap. Not the new “Fusion Clean” different colored Palmolives, but the OG. The one that I grew up watching Madge, the manicurist, use to soak ladies’ hands. You know, the one where she says “you’re soaking in it!” and the ladies recoil momentarily, only to realize how good Palmolive makes their hands feel.
I was really affected by this commercial as a child. I used to ask my mother all the time why we didn’t use Palmolive. This was in the 1970’s. We were a Dawn household. This may have been because it worked better, or it may have been because I grew up in the shadow of Procter & Gamble’s Cincinnati headquarters, and at Kroger grocery (another Cincinnati company) the P&G products seemed to always have the best displays. My mom said that Dawn was better at removing grease from the dishes. A claim I was familiar with, because the Dawn commercial said that “Dawn takes grease out of your way.” However, I also knew that “Palmolive softens your hands as you do the dishes.” I knew this because of Madge. When I became an adult and was shopping for my own dishwashing liquid (which was not as exciting as I had once imagined it would be), I chose the soft hands, and Palmolive. You can soak in it.
Palmolive is made by the Colgate-Palmolive company. Palmolive got its name because back in 1898 it was made with palm oil and olive oil. You won’t find those ingredients listed on the bottle anymore, and I’m not sure if they were there in the 1970’s, during Madge’s time on my TV. But Palmolive was intended to enhance your dishwashing experience by being gentle on your hands. And I think that Palmolive was successful in elevating the experience of washing dishes — in addition to its less-harsh effects on skin, it had a brilliant, deep green color like an emerald, it was thick and viscous, almost like a lotion, and it had an extraordinarily pleasant smell.
Perfuming consumer products is a big deal. Nearly everything that we buy is scented in some way or another. People won’t buy a product if it smells bad, and will often (maybe even subconsciously) favor a product if it smells particularly good. Even “unscented” products often have fragrance added — these masking fragrances are used to neutralize the scents of active ingredients in products to give the perception that the product is scent-free. Not long ago, I wrote about how superstar perfumer Christophe Laudamiel got his start in perfumery attending Procter & Gamble’s in-house perfumery school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Procter & Gamble is one of the largest fragrance manufacturers in the world, and employs many, many perfumers, although most of their creations are destined for cleaning and personal care products, not for perfumes. The same is true for all major manufacturers of household goods. So the scent of Palmolive was very deliberately created and maintained.
WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS?
Funny you should ask…. I’m about to get to the point here.
Recently, on Reddit, a user asked in the fragrance forum “Palmolive has a new scent. Where can I find an old bottle?” Now, people come onto fragrance forums pretty regularly asking users to recommend a perfume (or “cologne”, if the person is male) which smells like X, where X is anything that you can imagine that has a scent. Often it’s a body wash or hair product, but sometimes it’s something else. The rest of us, snobbish as we are about fragrance, say that there is no perfume to match the “generic” smell of these mundane products, as though their scents aren’t worthy of being “chosen.” But the truth is that these products are very carefully and intentionally scented to be pleasant and desirable, and the people who scent them are no less talented than the perfumers at any fragrance house. They just have jobs that are considerably less romantique. If we’re being honest, more people are familiar with the smell of Palmolive and have chosen to allow it into their lives than have chosen any of the top-selling perfumes.
Although few people could describe the smell of Palmolive off the tops of their heads, many (if not most) people have some recollection of it, and would recognize it. That’s the experience that I had when I first smelled Eau de Cartier (the Eau de Toilette, which is a different scent than the Eau de Parfum). Now, you might be thinking that comparing a fragrance to a dish detergent is a bad thing, but I’m proposing that it’s not. Another thing that people commonly request on fragrance forums is a fragrance that smells “clean and fresh.” The original scent of Palmolive definitely fits that bill. It’s a very pleasant scent. And it is actually quite suitable for personal wear, in fact, Palmolive used to make soaps that had the same fragrance.
Now usually, when people ask for the fragrance of a body wash, or a shampoo, there’s little that can be done to help them. But when someone was asking about the scent of Palmolive, I knew exactly what scent would scratch that itch. Eau de Cartier EdT. Does it smell ex•act•ly like the old-school Palmolive? No, of course not. It smells very similar, but better.
EAU DE CARTIER FRAGRANCE REVIEW
Eau de Cartier is a violet leaf fragrance. It could be the reference for violet leaf accord. Sweet and green, more vegetal than floral, diffusive and airy, a little bit salty. That’s the opening of Eau de Cartier. There is an undertone of floral — almost like an aftertaste — that smells like part-violet, part-iris. And there is an overtone of silver metal, just the slightest metallic sheen, like the softly metallic smell of epsom salts.
The opening is this violet leaf, along with a bright yuzu. Both of these can be piercing notes, but here they are perfectly blended, smooth and sparkling. There is just a hint of cedar and lavender, which adds a bit of soapiness. The fragrance breathes well, and it feels like everything is perfectly placed. I do feel that it smells a lot like Palmolive — but Pamolive on a perfect day. The sun is shining through the window, the birds are chirping, I only have one plate to wash, and it’s a Raynaud Duchesse, so it’s a pleasure to be washing it really, because it’s a sign that my life is so perfect in every way.
In the drydown, there is a fresh, sunny cedar, and a lovely, light amber. At this point, I can clearly make out the most vegetal aspects of violet leaf, which, to me, smells like smallage. Smallage is an herb that is closely related to celery, and has a similar smell. It is even more fragrant than celery, and smells especially like the celery leaves and seeds. This “celery” aspect is just a very small part of the overall fragrance, but it is there. The soapiness is still present also, but it never gets powdery. The fragrance has a lovely airiness about it that makes me think of soap bubbles.
EAU DE CARTIER DETAILS AND FINAL THOUGHTS
Eau de Cartier is a beautiful, clean, light, and airy fragrance. Perfectly balanced, neither too green nor too sweet, somehow bright and at the same time oh-so-smooth. Like a perfect soap, it would smell lovely in all conditions, and would be equally suited for either a man or a woman. Not too perfumey, and not too soapy, a little luxurious but in no way pretentious, I find it to be just right.
Now this is the part where I’ll lose some people. Eau de Cartier has a nice projection, low-moderate, detectable by those closest to you. After 90 minutes though, it’s a skin scent. I can detect its pleasant smell for about three hours on my skin. And my skin holds perfume nicely.
I personally have no problem with a fragrance that lasts three or four hours. That means I can invite more friends to the party, so to speak. If I wear Eau de Cartier in the morning, I can comfortably wear an entirely different scent in the late afternoon and evening. For me, this is perfect, because I’m fickle and like to change scents often. Also, I work in healthcare, and I love some grand-old-florals, so I can wear something like Eau de Cartier in the morning to work, and go effortlessly full-diva for dinnertime by just applying another scent. Also, there are times when I just want to “squeeze in a scent” sometime between two others, like when I’m going to a late meeting or dinner al fresco, but I still want to be able to put on a luscious gourmand at bedtime. So I like to keep some scents in my arsenal that are quick-on, quick-off, immediate gratification.
However, in this age where people seem to value longevity of a fragrance so highly, and talk about “performance” like they’re shopping for a racecar, this short lifespan of the fragrance will deter some people, I’m sure. My own opinion is that Eau de Cartier is inexpensive enough, and the opening pleasant enough, that I personally would have no problem with reapplying it throughout the day. In fact, it would be a pleasure.
Eau de Cartier EdT is available for $95 per 100mL bottle at cartier.com.
