Thanks to Pure Natural Diva Botanicals you can now feel good about smelling great. This year, perfumer Tania Reuben has released four very well-made scents based on the company’s name. For years, before ever releasing a fragrance, Tania worked to help people be kind to their bodies…and the planet. Having spent years sourcing the purest and highest quality natural raw ingredients, they have created products that really perform, reduce or avoid any toxic or harmful ingredients, and are a business that supports and is run by environmentally and socially conscious principles.

Tania Reuben

Tania grew up in a very Bohemian lifestyle. While growing up with her mother, a hippy and true free spirit, they lived in a teepee, on a dairy farm and she changed schools 17 times. This may sound wonderful to some; but she rebelled at 16, and wanting a “normal” life, set out on her own. She ended up in LA and married a TV writer and became a wife and mother. It was after the birth of her first child in 2009 that she started Pure Natural Diva and discovered her mother was pretty “right on” about the whole natural thing. All four fragrances released this year are EDT concentration and come in 50 ml spray bottles. They are all in a base of organic corn grain alcohol and are also gluten-free.

Wanting to make sure that her first scents aptly defined her company, she released three; each named for one of the parts of the company title along with a subsequent fourth one. Pure lives up to its name. On dabbing this on my hand, I was immediately greeted with a warm vernal wind that contained both the warmth and woody floral beauty of lavender and the rather sharp and bracing aroma of citronella-rich lemongrass. It is a very beautiful pairing, invigorating yet balanced. As it softens and begins to blend with your skin, lemon and lime add a juicy aspect to the lemongrass while cassia and chamomile underscore the lavender, making it less “soapy” and more floral and herbal. Once this finally dries, it smells as if I had rubbed neroli blossoms on my skin. It leaves a lingering of light floral musk and memories of a walk on a sunny day in a field surrounded by herbs and flowers. Delightful! Sillage: fair. Longevity: slightly below average.

Natural was the second scent released and it invites us along on a picnic in a rose-bordered citrus grove. Knowing there would be Moroccan rose in this, I expected an over-the-top floral. What greeted my expectant nostrils was the intense and bristly green of clary sage. The intense herbal aroma meets with a fresh pink grapefruit that keeps it from being too jarring, while adding some sparkle and zest. The rose spotlighted here is demure, sweet and innocent. I can almost imagine the heavy pink blooms radiating their soft and sensual aroma as they shed their outer petals and open further. This rose has a wild beauty to her; yet, she is very refined and elegant. Warm sunny ylang-ylang adds a softness that is so very comfortable and down to earth; yet, it’s exquisitely reserved and never overpowering. Even completely dried, this maintains a green feeling throughout and it lands somewhere between musky and oriental while still maintaining a floral freshness that is neither feminine nor masculine-it’s just right, truly natural and beyond gender associations. Sillage: good. Longevity: slightly above average.

Birgit Wiederstein

Diva was my “pick of the litter”. Even before I opened my sample and sniffed it, the rich dark golden juice let me know it was going to be dark, heady, woody, and musky. I was not disappointed. As the first amber drops melted into my skin I was greeted with smooth and stunning New Caledonian sandalwood lying under dried flowers. Wisps of incense tickled my nose before vanilla, robust and rich, appeared adding warmth depth and sensuality. This perfume contains a most excellent naturally-derived botanical musk made from ambrette seeds and it is just skanky enough to be enticing without being vulgar while maintaining an air of elegance and panache, like a true diva. “Full of soul, sultry and mysterious” is how the perfumer described this. I must concur. This is the perfect fall evening or winter perfume-classy but still just a little sassy! Sillage: very good. Longevity: excellent.

Having tried all of the first three, I was left with Elixir. I saved this for last for a few reasons, but mainly because it was described as “delicious as a lingering morning with an ocean view” I covered my head, closed my eyes and hoped it wasn’t another aquatic. My fears were for naught, this concoction really defies classification. Clear and gently tart, yet slightly sweet, tangerine and red mandarin orange are side-by-side adding a jazzy freshness to the heavy aphrodisiac base note of dark deep vanilla. The very unusual pairing of osmanthus, leathery and apricot-like, with oak moss, sour green and strange, in the heart is simply divine! A refreshing twist of citrus, a healthy dose of mossy green and rich opulent floral notes all come to rest on a soft oriental bed of vanilla with scented gossamer curtains and four large wooden posts. NOW I get the “lingering morning” part. This is a perfect perfume for those who are looking for something unique and “outside the box”. Sillage: above average. Longevity: quite good.

As many of us perfumisti know, most people, even our loved ones, are not as passionate about perfume as we are. My dear friend, who never wore “actual” cologne before meeting me, usually tells me when I hold a freshly spritzed scent strip under his nose, something like this “smells like cologne/perfume”. He also usually finds most oils to smell like “hippies”. When presented with my oil soaked wrists and arms, prior to writing these reviews, he said “Wow! That smells REAL!” Some may find the price point a little high, but after you sniff and try these, the asking price is not really that much more than most mass market designer scents. In fact, for how genuine they are, you are getting a real bargain. You can wear something that smells vaguely of spice and flowers and wood or wear something completely constructed out of real flowers, actual wood and spice essences. And, for those of you who like to layer, there is an accompanying line of body products for the first three scents, all of them just as natural and pure as the perfumes are.

Disclosure: Reviews based on a sampler set sent to me by Pure Natural Diva Botanicals.

Thanks to Tania and Pure Natural Diva Botanicals we have a draw for three sample sets of all four fragrances. This is a US only draw. To be eligible leave a comment on which of these you think would be your favorite and whether you live in the US. The draw will end on October 13, 2013.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

–John Reasinger, Senior Editor