Recently during a discussion with friends about – what else? – perfume, a Perfumista friend’s husband said something along the lines of: I only love one smell, I don’t need a woman to smell of perfume, not even the most expensive scent tempts me, I love coconut.
That was so hilarious and at the same time interesting, it inspired me to conduct a little, strictly scientific double-blind study (just affixed two blindfolds on my dear husband, that is our definition of double-blind for today) on the subject at hand.
First a suitable perfume had to be found, pure coconut that was the goal. Many tropical blends that feature coconut fell by the wayside because of their impure (read flower-contaminated) state of blending.
Comptoir Sud Pacifique is a port of first call, when one is on the lookout for foody ingredients and they offer a range of coconut fragrances, but they are all so sweet, I could not bring myself to wear them, there is only so much I can sacrifice for science. Coco Extreme has this suntan lotion vibe that can be very nice, but the coconut is too creamy and thick.
What I envisioned was something fresher, lighter, more reminiscent of the fresh coconut juice, rather than condensed and sweetened coconut cream. Coudray offers a Coco Vanille scent, not totally bad, but still not what I was looking for, again too many flowers contaminating the coconut.
Did you know that when you do a notes search on First in Fragrance for Coconut, Etat Libre d’Orange’s Sécretions Magnifiques comes up? Now that would be a lovely surprise for my friends coconut-loving husband, wouldn’t it?
The search continued for a while (I also found lovely things like Lostmarc’h Aod or several other beach inspired scents that are lovely for summer, but not exactly what I was looking for), until I struck gold in my own sample box.
Enter the lovely Ines, who sent me a generous care-package some time ago, and in it I found the perfect test material – Honoré des Pres Love Coco. Pure, natural, unadulterated coconut, perfect for my purposes, it hits all the right spots with me.
Created in 2010 by Olivia Giacobetti (score!) it is a natural, organic perfume as are all the Honoré des Pres scents. Notes include coriander leaves and seeds, coconut milk, tonka bean, vanilla and cedar.
What makes Love Coco so different from everything else I encountered in the coconut sector, is its fresh rawness, its vegetal purity that is a far cry from sugary sweet vanilla coconuts of old. It does smell distinctly of coconuts, of the fresh juice that tastes spectacular (one of the few things I love that are actually healthy! 😉 ), tempered with a little greenness, rather than spiciness of coriander and a backdrop of woody, maybe vetiver notes. Only later does it get a little softer and sweeter, vanilla, but discreetly, adds to its round and smooth drydown. It last for about four hours on me, I only have a dabber sample, but I suspect this would be even better when sprayed.
Okay, so I have found a coconut that charms me, but how does it fare with the subject of this study (aka the only male old enough to be subjected to such tests in my house). As I said, I double-blinded the poor guy with two scarfs (unscented, a hard thing to come by in my house!) and proceeded to stick my arm under his nose. He was under strict instructions to only respond in terms of emotions evoked. That means: tell me how you like it.
Cries of “Get those things off my eyes and let me get up already!” aside, I am proud to say the study was a full success. The subject unanimously (how else) spoke in favor of Love Coco.
Conclusion: Men love Coconut.
To broaden the base on which this study stands I might expand my scope of test subjects just a little, but other than that, I am certain, this study is solid and not to be disputed.
Olfactoria's Travels 
The study seems solid to me, too. 🙂
I’m so glad you like it! *doing a little happy dance*
I love what OG did for HdP with this coffee line – I’m not sure I’d be able to wear Les Carottes, but Love Coco and especially Vamp a NY are great. Vamp a NY is my favourite of the line and at the moment, most craved tuberose.
I am curious to try Les Carottes as well, I am expecting a sample from a friend.
Vamp would be great if it weren’t for the tuberose. 😉 It is still not my favorite note…
But I really love Coco now, for summer it seems perfect! Thank you for introducing me to the line! 🙂
Love the pictures you added 😀
You have a good point by the way – coconut perfumes are very scarce unless you want the super sweet desserts with a hint of coconut. I will have to seek out Love Coco one day and see what effect that side of the tropics has on me… It’s a bit of a wonder Chanel hasn’t sued over that name yet, by the way 🙂
Thank you, Guus!
I thought the exact same thing! But Chanel maybe thinks the line is not important enough to warrant the lawyer’s fees. 😉
Your post is very encouraging! I happen to love coconut notes in fragrances but have been a bit wary of diving into a coconutty fragrance for fear of it being deemed too girlish etc. etc. Not that everything should depend on what men like, but men are human beings, too, and I trust their judgment 🙂
On the Honoré des Pres website it says that Love Coconut is the perfect antidote to exoctic dangers – in my mind Love Coconut sounds more like the perfect antidote to everyday boredom -yay!
Another encouraging thing is that according to the website again Honoré des Pres products appear to be available in several places in the greater Copenhagen area. For that reason alone I’m already interested.
Smelling of carrots…..?……hmm…..must keep an open mind there. I do love vegetables and carrots in particular, but that might be taking things a bit far, although I do like foody notes in fragrances.
That is great that Honore des Pres is available in your area!
I think it is a really nice coconut scent, without being girly at all!
You are right men are human beings too, but I would never trust their judgment when it comes to perfume, at least not the men I know personally! Dear God, I would smell of Cool Water Woman and L’Eau d’Issey all the time! 😉
In the interest of honesty I have never investigated into what the men I know personally like or do not like in perfume – and none have ever volunteered their opinion on what I wore. Why is that, I wonder….Well, I happen to like L’eau d’Issey on others (or one friend in particular, rather) and I did, briefly however – very very quickly tired of it I have to admit – own Cool Water Woman, but then I sometimes do think that my brain is more masculine than most women’s 😉 If that makes sense. But in general – no, I like to make my own decisions when it comes to perfume, clothes, makeup and all that good stuff 🙂
Me too! I wouldn’t want to unnerve him with my choices, but if I only listened to him…well, you can imagine. 😉
Yes, I can, men need far less details than we women imagine – what they seem to care about is the end result 🙂
Just my luck that this is the one HdP I haven’t tried…and usually, coconut is a deal-breaker, precisely because it’s turned into dessert, rather than that lovely fresh coconut scent of the Real Deal…
It sounds like you found Love Potion no. XI – since Penhaligon’s has no. 9 and bacon is no. 10 for non-vegetarian males of my acquaintance!
I liked Vamp à NY, but not enough on my skin, so I passed it on to my sister. I very much liked Love Les Carottes – and Marie, if you like the scent of green+carrot, or certain phases of Iris Silver Mist, you might like that, too!
But fresh, unadulterated coconut? Take me to those tropics! 😀
It will never beat bacon, that is for sure! 😉
I loke Love Coco enough to have put it on my summer wishlist. If I happen to get it, I will send you some.
T, I definitely like green and I like carrot – so “check” to that one. I’m not familiar with Iris Silver Mist, but I looooooove iris, so if carrot in perfume is anything like iris, I’m in! And I will be investigating this line when I get back into my Copenhagen commuter routine after Easter.
You’re thinking of Amaranthine, right? It’s yummy, really really yummy.
I love what you’re willing to do for science, Olfactoria! Keep up the good work!
Yes, it is a life full of sacrifice…;)
Interesting! My husband hates coconut. :))
Oh no, that totally throws over my study!!!
Perhaps he’s just a statistical anomally. 😉
*anomaly
Probably! 🙂
Oooh! This is a study that I would like to participate in! I never before had a craving for coconut (fragrance) until recently, out of no where (I’m a long-time fan of snacking on unsweetened dried coconut flakes). Bronze Goddess, while utterly delightful, doesn’t sate my coconut longing—but this sounds like it just might. I actually really liked Vamp, just not quite enough to commit to a bottle.
Coco is calling me!
We are on the same wavelength again, never before have I experienced the slightest interest in coconut, and now we both do WITHOUT having talked about it!!! 😀
Coco is calling me too!
Isn’t that weird? Yet it’s not the first time we’ve totally been on the same page about something, totally out of the blue! 🙂
That only strengthens my theory…;)
Loved reading this! Coconut, who knew? I have suspected that it’s actually “femme fatale” perfumes that turn men off the most. Maybe you could try Cadjmere in your next experiement and see if the same applies to coconut milk? 🙂
Cadjmere – I have a yet unsniffed sample of this, must try it tomorrow.
Oh dear! And just when I had convinced myself (but not really) that I had finally found a perfect coconut from DSH. I suppose I will just have to sample Love Coco. Darn. 😉
I never tried the DSH coconut! Sounds interesting!
I love coconut in fragrance, but didn’t care for Love Coco too much. I think it was the coriander that just made me think “Thai food”! I should give it another try. Pacifica’s Indian Coconut Nectar is quite nice, but a little sweeter than Love Coco. I also like Harajuku Lovers “G” and Yves Rocher Coconut. And I’m ashamed to admit, CSP Vanille Coco – sometimes you just want to smell like cotton candy and I’ve never gotten so many compliments as when I wear that.
The Yves Rocher line could be a well priced coco alternative, especially for body care items. thanks for the tip! 🙂
Interesting! I’ll have to test this theory on my DH. 🙂 I have the Yves Rocher Coconut – it’s a fairly good rendition, and inexpensive! Would love to try Love Coco.
There are many coconut fans out there! I wouldn’t have thought!
Thought of another one I have – Nicolai’s Cococabana…
Thank you, Karin, I’ll keep that in mind.
Is “the husband” still blindfolded and tied to a chair or did you yet relieve him?
ha ha!
I thought I’d leave him until the next experiment…
I like coconut, I like the smell of the coconut – but I still think an adult woman shouldn’t use a coconut parfum…
Anyway, Birgit, I guess you know that you can get HdP in Vienna ?
I don’t actually! Filz am Graben again? Please tell me! (I need to get out more…)
Now and again even a grown woman can enjoy a little carefree coconut-ism, I think. 😉
I admit, I have somewhere a coconut scented bodymilk…
BTW, it’s “Inked” at Bauernmarkt 15 – I’m happy I still can surprise you (parfumwise).
Inked, aha! Thank you, will definitely take a look when I am in the city next time. Thank you! 🙂
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Lovely review, i HAVE to check this one out!
Thank you! 🙂
It is very nice for summer!
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