(Updated to include Vetyver.)

L'Occitane en Provence is an international retailer of face an body products based in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region of France. All of their products are made locally and most of the ingredients are sourced locally with notable exceptions like shea butter purchased from Fair Trade women's groups in Africa and Immortelle flowers gathered from traditional sources in Corsica. According to the company, it does not conduct animal testing, and no animal product or by-product, except for beehive products are used in the manufacturing process. Although L'Occitane is chiefly known for their hand, face, and eye creams targeted at women, they do have a number of items for men, including shaving and wet shaving products. Suffice it say that this is a quality company with exceptional products all around. It's on the higher end side of the price scale but it always feels as though that money is well spent and that more of their budget goes into the products and customer satisfaction than into marketing. That is to say that you're not just paying for the name as with other high end brands.

My first experience with L'Occitane was purchasing the Cade after shave balm on whim while in an airport duty free. I was impressed enough with this single product that I immediately purchased the Cade shaving cream and their other three balms available at the time; L'Occitan, Baux, and Cèdre & Oranger. I have continued to purchase and sample and right now own more than I reasonably should. I will go over them by collection and list the items I've tried.

• Baux; after shave balm, EdT, stick deodorant

Baux is described as a "spicy cypress" with incense. In fact, it has a very healthy vanilla note and has been described as Tom Ford Tobacco & Vanilla without the tobacco. Along with the incense, vanilla, and cypress, there are notes of tonka bean, pepper, and cardamom. This is a very masculine scent that is remarkably versatile. It is notable with MLS Drunken Goat and B&M Roam but blends well with just about anything. The EdT has more staying power than the other L'Occitane EdT's and the balm is second only to Cade in performance which is to say top freakin' notch. If one could only afford a single L'Occitane after treatment, this would be a good buy; staying power, versatility, and performance.

• Cade; after shave balm, EdT, shower gel, Cade shave cream (tube), Cade Rich shave cream (jar), moisturizing fluid

Also called "prickly cedar", cade is a juniper bush native throughout the Mediterranean. It produces a sharp, smoky aroma that is thought to have been the original cedar described and cherished by the ancient Greeks. Cade oil is used traditional skin treatments and incense. The balm's fragrance is exquisite with notes of bergamot, cedar, pink pepper, and juniper. Like all L'Occitane balms, Cade is high in shea butter and produces a light balm that "melts" into your face with no greasy residue. It is the cade oil, I believe, that makes this particular balm special. Like magic elixir level special. It has an increased soothing and redness reducing effect. I use it in particularly harsh climes where I may have to shave and then moments later pull on a rough wool sweater and go out in sub-zero weather. The Cade performs admirably every time. Cade has its hardcore fans for a reason. Because Cade.

While the balm is the jewel in the Cade crown, the shower gel, EdT, moisturising fluid, and shave cream (tube) are also top quality. I especially like that the moisturising fluid has an SPF of 15. The shower gel and EdT are a nice complement to the balm and cream but also go well with any dark fougères. Then comes the Cade Rich shaving cream (jar). Hot damn this stuff is good. I have some high quality creams in my rotation; Castle Forbes, Acqua di Parma, Nancy Boy, Santa Maria Novella, and Occam's to name a few. Cade Rich takes the top spot, no question. It's also a bargain when compared to the Castle Forbes/AdP/SMN crowd. A 200ml jar of this piece of heaven is a mere CAD $34.00

• Cédrat; after shave balm, EdT, shower gel, stick deodorant

Cédrat is a citrus bomb named for the emblematic lemon of Corsica. L'Occitane says it better than me: "With its striking appearance and irregular shape, the cedrat is an eminently masculine citrus fruit. Its skin thick and rough, it embodies the very rawness of nature – just like the man it is intended for." That's a bit much but it is a decidedly manly-man citrus unlike its counterpart Cèdre & Oranger. On the nose, it is a bold knock of bergamot and cedrat bark with spicy notes of nutmeg and ginger and a base of cedar and cashmere wood. The performance of the balm is L'Occitane good but not quite Cade-league. It may grow on me yet but has so far not displaced Cèdre & Oranger as my go-to citrus treatment.

• Cèdre & Oranger; after shave balm, EdT, shower gel

Far more refined, complex, and alluring than Cédrat, Cèdre & Oranger is part of L'Occitane's La Collection de Grasse. Named for the world centre of perfumes located in Provence, each item in the Grasse collection features an ampersand between two fragrant notes. Each fragrance of the line was created to unite ingredients from the Mediterranean with ingredients originating from distant countries. An ensemble cast of bergamot, orange, cedar, and pine all share the stage in this romantic epic while vetiver, cardamom, musk, and red berries provide supporting roles. This is an elegant scent compared to Cédrat. The balm performs as well as Baux and the EdT gets me more compliments than any other. The shower gel doesn't measure up to the others in the men's line and I would recommend you try the bar soap instead.

• L'Occitan; after shave balm, EdT, shower gel, roll-on deodorant, bar soap

This one crept up on me. I enjoyed the balm well enough but probably would have ranked it fourth out of my first four. That is, until I discovered the shower gel and EdT. Now I completely understand why this is L'Occitane founder Olivier Baussan's signature scent. The Cade gets me with it's performance first, scent second. The reverse is true of L'Occitan. If I were pressed for a final answer to the full-treatment desert island question, the answer would be Martin de Candre L'Original and everything L'Occitan. The fragrance is a peppery lavender with hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, woods, tonka bean, and musk. This is a clean and natural scent devoid of any toxic perfumery smell. I can wholeheartedly recommend the entire line to lavender fans. If you are, like me, an MdC nut looking for the perfect complement to that soap of soaps, here you go my friends. Start with the shower gel and finish with the EdT, it's divine.

• Mer & Mistral; after shave balm (discontinued), EdT

Another member of the Grasse collection, Mer & Mistral is a unisex aquatic fragrance. The Mistral (master in the Occitan language) is a wind that blows down from the cold mountains of Southern France into the Mediterranean at the Golfe du Lion. The wind shakes up the pine trees and stirs the salty waters of the coast. L'Occitane has done a wonderful job capturing that sense in this fragrance. It opens with lemon and tangerine followed by cypress and pine enriched with rosemary. This light aquatic is likely to get high rotation in my den during the summer months. And for all you MLS The Kraken fans, yes, this is the magic pairing you've been searching for. The balm is not as thick as the Cade/Baux/C&O/L'Occitan league, probably due to less shea butter concentration. This is not the super repair kit or facial Armor-All that Cade is but it still a good performer and more suitable for hot summer days than Cade.

• Vetyver; EdT

I can't understand why they only offer the EdT and don't make a full product line for this scent; it is tremendous and compares favourably to Guerlain Vetiver. This is a woody, masculine, sexy vetiver with notes of bergamot, rosemary, cypress, and nutmeg. It's a versatile, all-season, and lasting scent that I typically use with the wonderful Wholly Kaw Vetivertal. I am dying for them to make a matching balm, at least. I have, as some of you know, an extensive collection of Scandinavian wool sweaters. After sitting in a chest with mothballs all summer, they all smelled of camphor. Vetyver was the scent I chose to hose them down with and now all my winter wear smells rich and manly. This is highly recommended and probably my second favourite non-seasonal EdT after L'Occitan.

TL;DR: Cade Cade L'Occitan Cade.