Cabotine

3 Reviews

1. 

   zestyLion5

   Reply

   The review below, which explains all the fragrance notes in Cabotine, is very helpful if you want to know what you’re getting into with this perfume! It also helps explain why I like this fragrance so much even though it superficially doesn’t seem to be “my kind” of fragrance. (I love Origins Ginger. If Cabotine is even distantly related, well – that’s why).

   I bought this one unsniffed at Marshall’s because it was very inexpensive. I got a 50 mL bottle for $10, but I also saw a gift set including a 100 mL bottle and lotion for under $20. And yet, this perfume smells expensive to me. Elegant, and expensive.

   I think it’s a great fragrance, if VERY strong. One little spray is plenty, and maybe even too much. It lasts and lasts forever. I love it and highly recommend that you give it a try! But don’t wear it on an airplane.

2. 

   troubledApples7

   Reply

   I’ve always loved Cabotine by Gres, which was created around Ginger Lily in the early 90’s. Fragrantica.com says this about it:

   “The composition is created around the ginger lily, also known as a butterfly lily, a Himalayan large-petalled white flower. Growing in harsh high mountains climate, this plant blooms for only a few weeks in the spring time, and each flower lives only for a few hours, what makes it difficult, almost impossible, to extract the oil. An IFF pioneering researcher, Dr. Braja Mookherjee, found a way to analyse the oil structure using the ‘living-flower’ technique, and to copy the fragrance of the ginger lily, what enabled the industrial production. Cabotine is the first perfume which contains ginger lily in its composition.”

   I went through 2-3 bottles of Cabotine (plus lotion, from gift sets) in the early 90’s, and I wore it almost nonstop to the exclusion of most of the rest of my collection.

   My son played soccer at the time, and it takes me back to crisp cool Fall weather, watching his soccer practices after school — while wearing Cabotine. The scent itself is like being outside in the cool fresh air & greenery. Very bright & energizing & cheerful — reminds me of greenhouses, fresh Spring breezes, and parks.

   I found it rather odd back then that I would become hooked on Cabotine (which I was), since it was *not* my normal taste at all (orientals, gourmands, vanillas, & musks) — but it just kept drawing me back. The sweet delicious ginger note was addictive to me. I just found Cabotine zingy & cheerful — it lifted my mood, gave me a boost — affected me like an aromatherapy oil — took me outside, into the great outdoors, into nature.

   “Limeade, Ginger, and Lily of the Valley” is what Cabotine smells like to me. Very refreshing, cool, crisp, pungent, aromatic, citrus-ginger-green scent. It’s a happy, exuberant, eye-poppingly energetic scent — fresh, outdoorsy, lively, light green, sweet, citrusy, and refreshing.

   Although white florals generally tend to give me a headache, the sweetness of the citrus & ginger in Cabotine round out the florals just enough to keep that from happening — for me.

   Possible distant relatives — the d/c’d Poison Tendre (green bottle flanker). Or Origins Ginger Essence. Or Lancome’s d/c’d AromaTonic, the green one. Also perhaps on the order of Chance Eau Fraiche, Bath & Body Works Beautiful Day, or Bond No 9 High Line, except far zestier & more aromatic. Smells a bit like “Irish Spring” soap too — or, it has that effect.

   Gres Cabotine was supposed to be the “daughter” of Cabochard — a lighter, fresher, younger scent. I like Cabotine *far* better than Cabochard, which is too dark, resiny, & leathery for me. Cabotine is the only Gres I’ve ever liked.

   EDT (& lotion too) are *very strong* & require just a tiny amount — and their lasting power is excellent.

   I just found a great deal on a Cabotine set at Marshall’s — 3.4oz EDT + 6.8oz tube of lotion for $16 — so I bought it, for old times’ sake. I have a dab of the lotion on now — mmm, like a cool refreshing limey-green iced beverage. Still good after all these years.

3. 

   selfishRice5

   Reply

   I never wore this when it was first launched in the 90s so do not know whether the original formulation has been changed, but the initial blast I get upon application is like sharp alcoholic fumes overlaid with cheap citrus notes–as others have noted, very much like an industrial cleaner or perhaps a car freshener.

   Once that unpleasantness fades the fragrance is not that bad at all: a floral blend with an underlying herbal sweetness, quite a lot of sillage, and very decent lasting power for the price.

   Given the unpleasant opening and the fact that what follows does not wow me, I would not repurchase. At the low price it seems to retail for in most places I would definitely suggest giving it a try, persevering past the first 10 minutes, and then making a decision.