Bois Farine (2003)
by L'Artisan Parfumeur

To me, this scent is the lower-priced older sister of L'Eau D'Hiver, from Frederic Malle. Sweet, minimal, but with different notes, the feeling of a spare elegant oriental remains. The flour note central to Bois Farine, is actually from a wood, not wheat, so to my nose the resemblance is not that strong. Also, Bois Farine, opens with a dry odd notes that is hard to describe, but soon settles down to a sheer comforting woody sweetness. Interestingly, I never thought of Bois Farine as nutty, as other reviews have mentioned. A sample will not fail to intrigue you...must be smelled.

10th August, 2011.

I think all the talk about peanut butter had me a little nervous, and this sample kept getting shoved to the bottom of the pile.

Ahhhhhhhh, how wrong I was! This is my version of a comfort scent. Well blended (another JC Ellena), using minimal notes that stand out, but creating a sum that it better than it's parts.
The opening is fennel for sure, with the iris note rising (pun intended) into the smell of a country kitchen during baking. Flour is easily imagined, but this is a doughy iris note that is very promanant. It warms into the most natural and comforting smell - the kind that only can come out of a bakery or kitchen. Soft sandalwood then creeps in. The combination, and the whole experience, is just cozy and warm - not gourmand, but just a comfort-of-home type smell.

Lovely. Almost more of a smell or experience rather than a perfume, but I wasn't bothered by that at all. This one has a similar feel to another Ellena scent, L'Eau d'Hiver, but I like the Farine much better.

15th May, 2011.

A bit of a different style from L'Artisan, a change of pace from all the spicy and incensy stuff. Bois Farine opens with an extremely pleasant and different aroma. It's powdery, sweet in a slightly gourmand way. Kind of reminds me of some sort of cracker. It has a nutiness too, and somewhat of a creamy vanilla smell. I wanna say there's citrus there too, but I'm not so sure. After researching the 'fennel seed' note, one that I'm not familiar with, it turns out that this is what I'm smelling.

As it dries, it becomes a little less sweet, a lot more faint. The iris note in this is different. It isn't overplayed, it isn't real powdery or bitter as iris can be. And, the base is very woody, but oh so faint. This scent ends up getting really close to the skin. But, boy is it lovely smell. The longevity, I can't quite distinguish. I had a sample, wore it a few times, and could only really smell it for about 6 hours. Though, I had like this "un-neutral" smell on my skin, that lasted forever, but it wasn't much of anything. Kind of like a faint blueberry and floral smell. It was hard to figure out, harder to smell, but what was left, was pleasant. Projection is average, better on clothing, but ends up as a skin scent for most of the time.

Overall, I think this is one of the better L'Artisan fragrances for sure. It's very unisex, so either sex could pull it off. It's versatile and unique. Think peanut butter, grape or blueberry jelly, and some soft florals.

14th April, 2011.

Okay, when I dabbed on Bois Farine and let it dry, I couldn't stop laughing. It seriously smells just like peanuts. Or, almond cookies of some sort. Not sweet like Marzipan, just straight up Planter's peanuts with some woods thrown in the mix. As it dries down I get more iris and woods towards the end but that peanut smell never leaves. It's not the kind of fragrance I'd wear, but Bois Farine is a reminder of how amazing fragrances are when it comes to conjuring up different smells or images. Good longevity and sillage; very unique and enjoyable.

25th March, 2011. (Last Edited: 28th March, 2011.)

Le rêve de l’écureuil. Wearing Bois farine reminds me of the poetic name of a dessert I once tasted in France. What can a squirrel dream of, when winter days are getting shorter, trees are getting bare and cold creeps into his hole? I suppose he’d dream of nuts, nuts, nuts…
Grounded hazelnuts, walnuts, chestnuts, almonds (maybe not peanuts, as everybody here seems to point out, but I guess it is something to do with different food culture: I’m not accustomed to peanut butter’s taste and couldn’t say what it smells like): these notes gently hit my nostrils in the opening of the fragrance, along with bittersweetly piquant, vagously liquorice-y Umbelliferae seeds- aniseed, fennel and cumin that spice it up just a bit. Then some flowers emerge, powdery iris, to give light and softness to the woods sourrounding. In the drydown, the woods gently receed and give way to a note that I hate, everywhere but here: soft and clean white musks, warm, comfy with a faint plushy fur scent, like a squirrel’s belly..
Definitely an exceptionally gentle, subtle and conforting fragrance that, according to Maitre Ellena’s aesthetic choices (and to the nature of dreams and squirrels), lasts for just a while and disappears in the forest...

29th November, 2010. (Last Edited: 15th February, 2011.)

If you like this, but dislike the pricetag, you must try "Max Mara" by Max Mara, which is a über-sweetened version of "Bois Farine". Both perfumes are "Floral Woody Musk's". But the sugared "Max Mara" has a nicer price-tag to it. You simply must try this! You will get a lot of perfume for the money if you buy "Max Mara" (which is also one my signature-fragrances - love love love !!!).

11th October, 2010.