VERONIQUE GABAI
EAU D’AZUR
2025
PERFUMER
Pierre Negrin
lemon
cardamom
petitgrain
orange
neroli
lavender
frankincense
amber
Vetiver
musk
‘Discover the fresh scent of Eau d’Azur, a luxury Mediterranean perfume that captures the sunshine, spirit, and sensuality of life along the Côte d’Azur. This extraordinary fragrance brings together the crisp elegance of a cologne with the depth and intensity of an oud perfume, delivering unforgettable freshness that lingers like a warm Mediterranean breeze.’ – Veronique Gabai
Eau D’Azur has a lovely opening, but ultimately, goes in a direction that I didn’t enjoy.
From the first moments, this opens with sharp citrus. I smell mostly mandarin for a few moments, but it’s a tad less sweet and less orange, than for example Guerlain Mandarine Basilic & Zara Candy Festival. More Terre D’Hermes Eau Givrée than the EDT or Parfum. It’s more modern as well, but mostly very bright, musky, almost aldedydic, before quickly growing more floral. Up until that moment, I was going to say that I think Eau D’Azur perfectly suits fans of currently mega-popular Ex Nihilo Blue Talisman.
However, as time passes, within the first hour, the citrus takes a backseat and Eau D’Azur gets to be a full-on neroli on my skin. Not far of from your average Tom Ford Neroli Portofino or Bvlgari Wood Neroli; I feel like it’s more floral though. Soapy, green, hyper-bright, almost crunchy, sharp neroli. It does make for a refreshing wear, but I would prefer quite a few other neroli-forward ones, as they tend to wear a bit softer.
Which is especially true when it comes to the drydown, and this is where Eau D’Azur lost me. I get a harsher, almost bitter, astringent green amberwoody quality here, reminiscent of a (‘less-masculine’) Frederic Malle Uncut Gem or even some hints of the base of (much less sweet) Goldfield & Banks Ingenous Ginger, but less pleasant here.
I’m going to be totally honest here; I was quite enjoying the fragrance; got distracted while working from home for a bit; walked into the kitchen at one point and was like: ‘What is that smell, this smells pretty bad’. And it turned out, it was how Eau D’Azur had evolved. Still a bit sour, green stems, with screechy woods. Unfortunately, the final hours of this Gabai ruin the pleasant opening hour or two.
