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Monday, February 26, 2007

L'Artisan Parfumeur- Bois Farine



I have a weird relationship with Bois Farine from L'Artisan. I've almost purchased a full bottle several times, both in store and online, but every time I stop and question myself. First, there's the issue of having to spray a substantial amount just to get the fragrance to stick for more than twenty minutes. Then comes the perfume itself.

I'm not getting the promised fennel seeds in the opening. For me it always starts with the flowery flour. It's one of the most curious notes I've come across. It's gourmand, for sure, like a flour-dusted sweet dough. The sweetness is subtle and milky, like a memory from childhood that I can't quite place. The floral part isn't heady. It's blended with milk and flour, not too feminine, but I don't know how many men want to smell like this.

It's a comforting scent, but yet carries itself in a very prim and proper way. It remains fully clothed and never disintegrates into flannel PJs and bunny slippers the way many comfort scents tend to do. There's something familiar in the pastry kitchen part, but the soft and smooth woody finish keeps a distance.

The problem is, that it's not me. Maybe it's the "me" that I could have been, had I been born somewhere else. Maybe it's the person I would have been  with a different life experience, different desires and interests. I guess Bois Farine is nicer, warmer and softer than me .

Maybe if I bought the bottle and wore it often enough I could become that other person. I'm just not sure I want to.

Image: pastrypal.com

3 comments:

  1. Oh, don't I know all about it.... I keep returning to Bois Farine, stand over it like a lovelorn suitor in the perfumery, but I just can't bring myself to buy a bottle. I even resisted it when it was available at half-price! I love it, but I'm pretty certain it will probably grate on my nerves if I wear it often. And still I keep trying it and sniffing it. Rather like mooning after a guy you know would be hell to live with....

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  2. Ha, ha, dina..!
    Maybe, fennel and peanut butter are tempting but weird...

    I love it, and wear it, but NOT everyone knows what to think of this, it's so odd...

    A great number of folk expect a girl to smell like flowers, or 'sugar and spice', and THEN we show up smelling like...this.
    They are stymied.

    Too bad for them !
    More for us.

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  3. Dinazad- I'm using sample after sample, considering and reconsidering. I just know that I shouldn't, but can't stay away.

    Chaya- I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes (often? always?) I just don't want to smell like a vanilla garden. Some people just don't get it.

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