Fil De Soie by L'Atelier Bohème, 2007

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.