Le Petit Grain
Miller Harris (2008)

Like a swimming in a river under the sun with your friends, drinking milky teas in summertime picnics, pale blue ribbons, white cotton, smell of orange and lemon in an ancient garden...the scent has a very refined quality to that sort of nature in a bottle if that makes any sense. It is very fresh and refined and earthy all in one. The initial spray is a sigh with an "eyes rolling back into my head" moment. It is fresh, green and citrusy. The dry down is distinctly warm, because of the dominat woody, but not stuffy at all because they are beautifully balanced out by the fresher, brighter notes. Even though this is a harmoniously married scent, with my chemistry there is a slight spicy vibe. Sillage is decent and longevity is about 5 hours on my skin.

How wonderful to finally let this supporting player in so many wonderful citrus scents have center stage.

Very dry, very restrained citrus. The quality is what one might find in a Guerlain. The petitgrain is in this case supported by the neroli, not the other way around, as is so often the case.

The citrus notes (bergamot, lemon) are surrounded by the classic eau de cologne ingredients from the incarnation of this genre in the 17th century (rosemary, thyme, lavender, tarragon).

Very masculine, very Mediterranean, for the assured gentleman (Cary Grant, Roger Moore). Suprising it took so long for someone to have a "duh" moment and think of giving a starring role to this always reliable supporting note.

One of the very best of the Miller Harris line and highly recommended.

Le Petit Grain opens with a very natural lemon and bitter orange tandem with aromatic lavender and mint-like green rosemary support. Moving to the early heart, the lemon recedes, while the aromatic lavender and floral bitter orange gain strength, joining an emerging dominant woody green rose-like petitgrain that takes the fore with grassy, slightly woody vetiver providing additional support. During the late dry-down the composition turns much woodier, as the vetiver takes center stage with subtle oakmoss support through the finish. Projection is average but longevity outstanding at over 15 hours on skin.

I received a bottle of Le Petit Grain as a generous gift from a friend who will remain anonymous a while back (you know who you are), but I had never sniffed the perfume before and it never popped on my radar previously for trial. The first time I sprayed it on skin I knew my friend had chosen a "winner," but the composition appeared to be a bit of a "one trick pony," so to speak. Now having worn the perfume many times over, I can safely say that just isn't the case. Sure, as one might expect with a name "Le Petit Grain," petitgrain plays a very large role in the key mid-section of the composition's development, but after further review just as prominent as the petitgrain, is fine floral bitter orange that pairs perfectly with the ingredient. Additionally, while the bitter orange and petitgrain are the most easily identifiable, the aromatic lavender early and woody vetiver late are key to making the composition stand out over many other high quality petitgrain driven compositions. Ultimately, Le Petit Grain succeeds at providing the wearer a very pleasant smelling fresh, aromatic offering that is quite versatile, while providing a few twists along the way to keep one intrigued throughout the journey. The bottom line is Le Petit Grain is another winner from underrated perfumer Lyn Harris, earning it an "excellent" 4 stars out of 5 rating and a strong recommendation to all. It goes without saying my friend chose well and I am very grateful to now have this wonderful perfume in my collection.

To me this is a take on the classic Eau de Cologne arrangement (neroli, orange blossom, orange leaves etc.), with bergamot to complete the sour/bitter feel of it. This is Lyn Harris' homage to the orange tree, from the flowers to the leaves to the earth downwards.

To me I definitely like the top with the bitter green orange-citrus smell... and I think what makes this interesting is the use of lavender and other very aromatic, very Mediterranean herbs to accompany it. It's almost as if both fresh and dried cooking herbs have been added here giving it a fresh, green and herbal feel.

I keep saying to myself that Eau d'Orange Vert by Hermès was always the best green/bitter orange scent I ever encountered, and in fact I now nearly judge every other fragrance by that standard. That said, I think this one is really nice. It's an Eau de Parfum, but I sometimes wished it would last a little longer on my skin.

Still, l really do like this house and I certainly admire and appreciate Lyn Harris' passion for using natural ingredients... that's something which makes her perfumes smell undeniably natural!

Very nice. Reminds me a lot of vintage Monsieur Balmain, which I adore. I believe the vintage Balmain is still cheaper than Le Petit Grain, though a bit more rare. Either way, nice citrus scent.

According to the Miller Harris sales pitch, Le Petit Grain pays homage to the classic cologne. For about 95% of the time, it's a lavish tribute, a bold eulogy for the traditional and humble cologne. It is only in the last vestiges of my lengthy coupling with LPG that I become just a trifle irked at its naked form. By then it is shorn of accompaniment, and it does feel a little shrill and demanding.

However, there is a great deal of pleasure to be derived from Le Petit Grain, and it is doing it more justice to focus on the very charming form that it adopts from the very moment it bedecks my skin. The sharp falsetto citrus feels clean, bracing and precise - and yet it still appears three dimensional.It is the subsequent conjoining of divergent orange notes that provide a bitter cable for this twisted citric flex. It is a presence that is discerned in all that is good from here on in.

The sheer hutzpah and luminosity of the early development reminds me of Chanel's Pour Monsieur, and although it is no fragrant synonym, it is an indication of the company it is keeping. For all its potency and obvious use of quality ingredients, there remains a simplicity about LPG that ensures that the comparison with a venerable cologne can indeed be made. It takes a good hour before the background herbal elements can be properly detected, and even with that glorius citrus flex twisting through it, it adds a necessary roughness to the previously faultless sheen.

It is rare to find a citrus fragrance having so much horsepower and stamina, and it continues to evolve, twist,and give until the very end.

That it does finally run out of dancing partners in the last hour or so, is more of an observation than a criticism. More creations like this please Ms Harris.

This was the second Miller Harris fragrance that I tried, and I'm glad I did. MH totally redeemed itself from the first one I tried Fleurs De Sel, which I didn't care for enough to wear it out. LPG starts off with these huge bursts of dried oranges and pine. It has a certain tangy-ness to it, usually I dislike tangy fragrances but this is tangy and sweet simultaneously. One can argue that it smells like Orange Pledge, but to be honest -- that's one cleaning product that I would wear proudly! Sillage is pretty poor, I only get it coming about 4 inches off my skin at best, while at the same time it's more concentrated than a cologne so it does have that certain ability to create a sort of vapor in the air as most perfumes do from time to time. Meaning that the sillage basically comes and goes with this one, depending on where you spray, how you move the area of your body where you sprayed it, and the climate that you are in.LPG is definitely bottle worthy, I think I would get more out of it with a full sized atomizer as well rather than the decant I have. Just a wonderful inoffensive orange perfume that smells very natural.

Top: sweet orange, angelica racine, bergamot from Italy and Sicilian lemon. Rosemary, red thyme, French tarragon and lavender. Heart: petigrain essence and Tunisian neroli Base: oak-moss, vetiver and patchouli leavesThis is a very fine scent. The opening is bright, refreshing, and very citrusy. The herbs quickly join in. Thyme and tarragon are especially noticeable, but not overdone. Rosemary then appears with its typical minty-pine freshness. Then, the beating mellow orange heart becomes apparent, and it is lovely. And finally, the dry-down is very satisfying, containing cushy vetiver and a lightly salted moss note.