Grain de Plaisir (1998)
by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier

Grain De Plaisir is pretty bizarre indeed. It's all about lemon and celery with herbal and woody undertones. Very aromatic, somehow compelling but maybe a bit too odd. This is the kind of fragrance that smells good (well, sort of) but I would never feel comfortable to wear. Let me put it simple, would you wear your celery salad in pinzimonio?

7th July, 2011. (Last Edited: 5th August, 2011.)

Grain de Plaisir arrives in a resounding blast of citrus and celery seed. There’s also something vaguely sweet and vegetal underneath, and it’s all very discordant.

A dense nutty/doughy accord emerges after a few minutes, while the sharp celery smoothes out and integrates with the tart, chirpy citrus. A dark burnt sugar note and a bit of amber work their way out of the background while the citrus slowly fades and the doughy accord sweetens. The remaining citrus note is still discordant, and grows outright sour as it recedes. What remains is a dark, honeyed amber accord that somehow reminds me of burnt pastry, perhaps baklava.

It seems to me that Serge Lutens’s Mandarine-Mandarin dries down in a similar direction, though with more finesse and complexity. Grain de Plaisir tries (maybe a bit too hard?) to be interesting, but never fully manages to pull itself together.

17th December, 2009.

Maitre Pafumeur et Gantier Grain de Plaisir

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier was formed in 1988 Jean Laporte, after his stint at L'Artisan. M. Laporte's vision for MPG was to create a line that hearkened back to Paris of the 17th century. These scents almost all have that sense of being from another time. Grain de Plaisir was one of the last scents M. Laporte designed before turning over the reins at MPG to Jean-Paul Millet Lage. Grain de Plaisir feels like a blast of freshness that one could belive being worn by a male courtier of the 17th century. The top of Grain de Plaisir is the most amazing citrus herbal mix. It is mostly lemon but I also detect some grapefruit along with a very green note which according to the note list is celery seed. This is the bite of lemon with a blend of green that is beautiful. The top of this lasts for an amazingly long time on me, which is unusual for citrus scents but this top is still in control on my skin two hours after application. Since the top is the best part of this scent, this duration is a good thing. The descent in to the heart begins with an almost minty pine accord which mixes with the remains of the citrus and celery quite nicely. The base is a sweet amber which is nice contrast to the tart beginning. Grain de Plaisir translates as a "moment of pleasure". For me this is much more than a moment of pleasure and the top notes of this are spectacular.

4th April, 2009.

opens with a herbal blast covered with citrus which is just refreshing to say the least. soon this scent progresses into a dense powdery note..something like iris but its not..the herbal touch still hovering over this powdery note soon begins to pale and rests on a cool mint note. the basenotes is quite thin in comparison with the opening and then then the dense basenotes...neverthless, a winner. a unique green scent with very controlled herbal note and a mint flavored base note. a wonderful scent for spring/summer which would linger exuding really pleasant notes. are their better scents out there? yes, but not many with a nice mint note except for Green Valley

13rd October, 2008.

I tested this from an official carded sample. I kept staring at it trying to decipher the French; restraining myself from looking stuff up online about it. I wanted to go into this one without prejudice or forethought. I wanted to like this. The card had a familiar looking plant I swear was a celery stalk.

I looooove citrus scents. Lacoste (original) is such a lemony scent and I love it. Homme de Gres is a dry lemon/wood scent and I love it. Creed's Royal Water is an elegant citrusy scent and I like it.

Grain de Plaisir made me gag at the start. Pledge wood cleaner. BAM! Right there. Then it dried down into herbs. There's the celery! Oh please not I love the smell of celery but only in cooking; especially when I help my mother in the fall to make her amazing chicken noodle soup.

Pleasant scent, I'd never wear it which is the purpose of perfumes.

11th September, 2008.

I can't add much, other than to say it is wonderful. The initial punch is strong, and if you are patient, you will be rewarded with a nice scent all day long.

16th May, 2008.