Jean Nate by Revlon

Jean Nate is a citrus, fresh, and spicy cologne that makes it wonderful, pleasant, and subtle. It has that vintage touch yet remains always elegant. In my childhood, my grandmother used to wear it (I thought it was the smell of grandma), but recently I spotted it in a perfumery and gifted it to her. I took off about 30ml to try it myself, and what a delightful surprise. It lasts longer than average, with notes that are not synthetic at all but very well crafted. They are slightly sweet and earthy citrus notes at the base, with spices and a musk finish that makes you keep smelling it. It is a delight to apply this after my bath before going to sleep.

Being a citrus fragrance and due to my activities, it does not have much longevity, but it is fresh, light, and slightly sweet (at the exact point, in my opinion), ideal for temperate to hot climates. Sometimes I use it as a body mist after a bath or just before sleeping. At first, it has moderate sillage, and as time passes, it becomes lighter. What I love is that, yes, it is citrusy, but it does not just smell like lemon; it has floral complexity and base notes that I like very much. I could even pass it off as unisex, but it has a certain sweetness that makes it feminine. I have not tried many citrus scents, but none have convinced me as much as Jean Nate for a very reasonable price.

It can still be found in pharmacies and some drugstores, but now it smells like a lifeless, graceless water. They gave it a terrible reformulation; being a fragrance adored by my mother, nowadays she would not even dream of wearing it. I remember it as beautiful, unique, and of supreme charm.

Once I smelled Neroli Portofino. Well, it is not similar but it goes down the same path. It is a light and clean toilet water, a scent of lemon tree with soft woods and a floral touch. On my skin, at the start, it smells like incense, very rich like Champa. I bought one, the large one with the black spherical cap. One might think it does not last because it is not aggressive, but when applied to skin, it soaks into the clothes. It is timeless; I used it at the start of the 90s and today I bought it and wow! There is nothing better for summer. Completely unisex, ideal for extreme heat, it is refreshing!

It remains the same… ideal for those who, for whatever reason, whether because it is cheap and fragrant or for personal delight, have nothing to envy from those expensive citrus perfumes like that luminously blue one with a sky-blue cap (whose trail on the skin lasts as long as this). I wish it became more widespread in Chile… highly recommended for coming out of the bath and for staying at home during summer seasons.

Delicious! A refreshing explosion of citrus, magical for citrus lovers. Then come the spices, ending in exquisite woods that stay with me for a long time; I can’t stop smelling it, I love it! A classic!

The most beautiful memories of my childhood are of when my mother would bathe from head to toe coming out of the shower. She was so fresh, delicious, and smelled of the most expensive and fine perfume there was. It is a pity they reformulated it and now it smells like car air freshener or room spray. My mother used the cologne water or friction after the bath and it lasted all day, leaving her delicious trail wherever she went. Nowadays, not even she likes this divine jewel of her youth anymore; she finds it horrible and would not even joke about gifting it. It is a pity that something so lovely has been altered.

It was my very first perfume ever! My mum bought it for me when I was ten… that’s when my love for scents began; she wore Poison and I wore Jean Nate. Mine was just like the photo, complete with a spray nozzle, and I’ve never seen it again; now they only sell a huge, more diluted bottle. In fact, it was hard to find in that form; I only had one and we never found it again. To me, it’s bergamot, roses, and lavender 🙂

I only remember that huge bottle that was never missing from home; there was always one in any bathroom I visited. It was incredible, as ubiquitous as ‘blue soap’. I never liked it; I used it rarely, but my mum did bathe with Jean Nate.