Liz Earle Botanical Essence Eau De Parfum

I've had the pleasure of sampling quite a few different products from the Liz Earle range over the last few months and have thoroughly enjoyed all of them. The fuss-free skincare line is an absolute pleasure to use and the products I've tried from the range have delivered on their promises and really helped to calm my skin, particularly the Instant Boost Skin Tonic which has become one of my summer essentials. I've heard lots of great things about Liz Earle's debut fragrance recently, so I was delighted when I was sent a bottle of their Botanical Essence to try.

Liz Earle Botanical Essence EDP

Here's what Liz Earle say about their first scent:

For our first ever fragrance we’ve used the finest natural botanical ingredients from around the world and the expert skills of a distinguished perfumer from Grasse, France. We gave him the time to indulge in the age-old art of perfumery, skilfully hand-crafting this complex scent with true passion to create this vibrant, sparkling fragrance translating into warmth and sensuality.

Over 98% directly derived from natural ingredients.

And the notes:

Top notes:  Bergamot, Mandarin, Orange Bigarade, Lemon Cardamom

Heart notes:  Rose absolute, Lavender, Geranium, Coriander, Nutmeg

Base Notes:  Cedarwood, Vetiver, Tonka Bean, Patchouli Oil.

Botanical Essence

Before I go on to tell you my thoughts on the actual scent, I just want to mention how in love I am with the beautifully simple and elegant glass bottle and clean, white box the fragrance is housed in. The bottle looks lovely sitting on my dressing table and the slide out, drawer-like box is a really nice touch. Now on to the important bit, the scent...

The first thing I smell when I spray Botanical Essence is fairly strong citrus notes which I was a bit unsure of when I first tried it. I'm not really sure what I was expecting to smell, but the citrussy burst came as a bit of surprise. There's also quite a strong herbal edge to it which is quite unusual and I have to say, I've not really smelt anything like it before. After the initial strong citrus opening, the scent seems to soften quite quickly and really starts to warm up. It's still got the citrussy/lemony tang to it, but it's a lot more subtle and mellow. I can kind of detect some floral notes, but really can't pick out anything individually. To me it smells quite 'green', fresh but also calming. The dry down is quite similar and also has a slight earthy, muskiness to it which is really pleasant and quite soothing.  

Botanical Essence is described as a complex scent which I'd say is a pretty accurate description. There does seem to be a lot going on, but everything also seems to be balanced and the individual botanical ingredients work together really well to create a scent which is fresh, but also somehow warm and calming.

The simple, elegant box the scent came in

I've mentioned before that I tend to stick with scents which I already know and feel comfortable wearing (mainly light, fruity or floral fragrances). Botanical Essence is way out of my comfort zone, so I'm really quite surprised at how much I like it and enjoy wearing it. For me it's a nice change to what I normally go for and I think it makes a lovely, slightly unusual, summery, daytime scent.

Liz Earle's Botanical Essence is available here and costs £40.35 for a 50ml bottle

Have you tried Botanical Essence? What do you think of it?