Couvent des Minimes Cologne of Love (Eau Aimable) & Matines

Couvent des Mimimes hotel and spa in Provence. Source: splendia.com

Couvent des Minimes hotel and spa in Provence. Source: splendia.com

I’m always on the lookout for a bargain basement gem, but they’re not very easy to find. So I decided to look at two newer releases from Couvent des Minimes, a brand with a very solid line of body products and one cult favorite fragrance, the boozy vanilla Eau de Missions. Their latest creations are Eau Aimable (or Cologne of Love), and Matines (or Cologne of the Morning). One of them is worth trying if you’re looking for a bargain floral.

EAU AIMABLE — COLOGNE OF LOVE:

Source: Ulta

Source: Ulta

Like many of the Couvent des Minimes fragrances, Cologne of Love has a few different names. The actual bottle says Eau Aimable, but Couvent des Minimes’ American and British websites call it Botanical Cologne of Love. (I’ll use both names from this point forth.) Regardless of title, it’s a light eau de cologne with an orange label that is centered on fresh, non-indolic, neroli-like orange blossoms. On its website, Aimable’s description and notes read, in part, as follows:

Botanical Cologne of Love gives a feeling of well-being and serenity. [¶] Thanks to its Original Recipe combining Orange Blossom, a source of softness, with 5 Plants selected for their beneficial properties, this exquisite, sparkling, scented water perfumes the skin with a soft and soothing fragrance. The skin is fresh and perfumed, the body is enveloped in softness.

INGREDIENTS
•Orange Blossom: source of softness
•Bergamot, Mandarin: sources of serenity
•Wild Rose: source of hydration
•Nasturtium: source of radiance
•Petitgrain: source of harmony

Photo: my own.

Photo: my own.

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Couvent des Minimes Eau des Missions Cologne

Source: footage.shutterstock.com

Source: footage.shutterstock.com

The buzz on Couvent des Minimes‘ Eau des Missions Cologne was loud, excited, and almost uniformly insistent: it was a bargain beauty that was an exact copy of Guerlain‘s very expensive Spiritueuse Double Vanille (“SDV“.) Or so everyone said, from perfume groups to Fragrantica reviews. One major reason for all the excitement was the price. Guerlain’s boozy, smoky, dark vanilla costs $260 for 75 ml. Eau de Missions is $38 for 100 ml, with smaller bottles available for even less on eBay. By the admittedly crazy, skewed standards of the niche world, that made Eau de Missions practically “free.” So, I bought one of the eBay bottles to see what all the fuss was about. And it’s true, there are strong similarities to SDV. However, unlike everyone else, I don’t think the two fragrances are identical.  Continue reading