Fil de Soie (2007)
by L'Atelier Bohème

Fil de Soie by L’Atelier Bohême starts off with an aromatic bang. It is sharp, herbal and quite interesting. Unfortunately, this doesn’t last. Woody tones (mostly sandalwood but particularly the patchouli) take over. Cedar is hard to detect. Then leather kicks in, starting soft and buttery and getting sweeter. The patchouli ramps up the sweetness and heaviness, and we wind up with a leather/patchouli experience. I make it sound like an old hippie leather vest – far from it. The scent is done with charm and style – but it is not my style at all. Too much patchouli, too sweet for me.

12nd November, 2008.

At first burst from the bottle, this took me right to childhood and the fecal-sweet (not unpleasant) smell of long-gone-off bottles at the back of dressers belonging to elderly female relatives. That gave way to a bright sharp pepper with an insistent lacy transparent sweet, like cotton candy dissolving on my tongue. This is completely new to me, certainly like nothing I own. There's a plasticky (to me) note that I always get from Jim Beam whisky and various woods (like cedar), it must be my puzzled nose but I swear I get petrochemicals from some woods- let me add that I like it. Not Jim Beam, I hate Jim Beam, but I love this smell. The sweetness dries off a little, the woody sage-y notes are cut-grass pungent, and clean without any of that nasty standard pretend water-smell that's everywhere nowdays. The pepper stays, if you like pepper you want to sample this.

This was one of a pile of samples I had been testing at the very disciplined rate of one every 2 or 3 days. None of them made me jump up and down, until this, and then it was love. I have that happy "found a good one" buzz, can't keep my wrist away from my nose, and shouldn't be surprised that it's the one guy-scent among all my girly samples. I sometimes think I should quit testing women's scents altogether, but someday there'll be another Miss Dior, and I won't want to miss it.

Meanwhile, I shall wait for a prudent coupla days, and then get me a full-size bottle of this standout. I don't get how a scent can be creamy and sharp at the same time, but this is and it's lovely.

23rd September, 2008.

Argh... words escape me about this one. It has that Dial soap smell and nothing else. Nothing provocative or inspiring. Must be the patchouli and leather mixture. Gah, seriously the second sniff still reminds me of Dial soap. Or a box of crayons...

29th June, 2008.