Jean Naté After Bath Splash is another terrific product from my youth that seems to have disappeared from Canadian drugstores. Happily, it is everywhere in the US! At $10 for a huge bottle, how could I not get it? I used to love the splash, the spray cologne and even the powder. It was the perfect hot summer day solution- post bath or shower, you just pour some from the gigantic 15oz bottle into your  hands and literally splash it all over your body, head to toe. I suppose “lemony” is the predominant “note” in Jean Naté but it is surprisingly complex without being complicated or “challenging”. It is, after all, meant to be cooling and calming post bathing. And it is. It is actually so soft that by the time you’ve dressed and had a coffee (or crawled into bed- I love Jean Naté at the end of the day…) you are left with just a delicious smelling skin scent that won’t interfere with any perfume you feel like wearing. But, I’d forgotten about the subtle yumminess that is left behind on the skin after the lemony engergizing burst wafts away. There is a soft sweetness and I swear, last night I kept smelling my arms and I was sure I smelled a green mossy base of some kind. A dry oakmoss-y scent that smells, well, kind of expensive.

Jean Naté is in the Diorella, Ô de Lancome, Eau Sauvage, Eau de Rochas and even 4711 citrus eau de cologne vibe – European citrus with an unmistakably American perfumery clean musk vibe. I love musks and I love the way a soft clean musk makes me feel. Add a little bit of lavender and a sweetness from vanilla or tonka for a soft sexy vibe. I used it after my shower and then wore some Guerlain Jicky eau de parfum, and the citrus and lavender from Jicky were a perfect foil for the whisper of Jean Naté left on my skin. And, by whisper, I mean, someone would have to bury their nose in your skin to detect it. If Jean Naté is anything, it’s soft and inoffensive. I may even detect a slightly powdery scent, but just barely. It kind of manages to be all things at once, while being super soft and perfect.

Maybe it’s the nostalgic throwback to the perfumes of my youth that makes me love these kinds of scents so much? Hm, I don’t think so, because Jean Naté actually smells good. There is, of course, alcohol, which is what gives that “cooling” feeling, but there is some aloe and glycerin there too so it actually feels soft and silky on the skin as well. Yummy.