Question:
This just got me thinking...
Sprayed myself with an Eau de Verveine EdT my wife bought during our vacation near Montpellier. Some relatively local producer, "Le Choi de Sophie," a primitive label on a generic atomizer with plastic cap. No big deal aesthetically (but hey, those early de Nicolai bottles also have a totally homespun look about them).
But the juice was good. Natural, refreshing, citrus and verbena, gone in a flash, of course, leaving only the lightest skin scent of citric traces and a bit of musky vanilla (or is that just my skin? )
Somehow this reminded me of Guerlain's Eau de Fleurs de Cedrat, which contains:
Citrus, Verbena (aha!), Cedrat, is also wonderfully refreshing and great and gone just as quickly. Not better than Sophie though. The bottle is much nicer of course, and this was composed by Jacques Guerlain in 1920 upon a visit to the Riviera yaddayadda...
Sophie was €7,20, Jacques is € 58,60.
Now, I have absolutely nothing against Guerlain. Some of my best friends are Guerlains. It just kind of put things in perspective a bit, ya know.
Support your local perfumer.

Answer:
Sobering thought. Still, it IS a very nice shop with friendly helpful staff on the champs that we are supporting with our €41.40 overpayment.
Bloody hell, if sophie turns at profit at €7.20, how much does it cost guerlain to mass produce theirs?......

Answer:
Well, Guerlain probably hires Olivier Creed to handpick the lemon blossoms and "enfleurage" them individually on his original 1748 equipment .

Answer:
Originally Posted by the_good_life Well, Guerlain probably hires Olivier Creed to handpick the lemon blossoms and "enfleurage" them individually on his original 1748 equipment . True dat. The fertilizer they used on those trees were crocodile tears mixed with the essence of purity.
- Rich