New Frédéric Malle Dans Tes Bras Notes & Info - Page 2

Steamed milk. Hmm...that's a new one. Cannot agree but then again, I'm not big steamed milk drinker.

Isn't Bois d'Orage neat? Love the way it kind of explodes with angelica notes at the top and then becomes this 80's powerhouse style fragrance, but still luxurious.




Thanks for the clarification K.

Funny - in interviews, Roucel is saying DTB is 'inspired' by Apres L'Ondee which I know you own. I don't 'get' any association at all!


You're welcome Helg (from one hairspray lover to another)!

He must have meant to say L'Heure Bleu, it's almost as if the LHB formula is at the core of Insolence.

On my skin, after the top notes disappears, Dans tes Bras smells exactly like when I shampoo my dog using one brand I can't even remember. Perhaps it is the combination of the shampoo and the wet dog smell... which is not at all unpleasant, mind you.

I found this to be Roucel's worst work. Completely disgusting and unwearable.

I agree with most of Mike's review. I bought myself a bottle for my birthday on Friday and wore it for the first time yesterday.
I found the violet on my skin to be more sharply delineated than it seems others have. The development into the heart of this moves along gradually as first the cashmeran comes in and intensifies before I get the sandalwood underneath. The white musk in the base comes in very lightly and really ties this off nicely as the drydown is a soft mix of the musk and cashmeran.
I get the accord of sun-kissed skin at the end and it is beautiful to my nose.
This is very much a skin scent on me and it does last a good 12 hours on me.
As for whether it is feminine or not it feels completely unisex on me.
I have to applaud Roucel for taking such a bold step away from Musc Ravageur and creating something totally different. It would have been so easy to do a variation on the MR theme and hear the plaudits roll in.
Honestly, I like this on first sniff better than I liked MR the first time I sniffed it.
As always Mike great review and thanks.

First of all, another wonderful MP23 review. There is no question that this scent is interesting, but I had written off wearability. On the other hand, you (SMM) found it both wearable and bottle-worthy. And unisex. So I guess I'm wondering if you feel this scent is suitable for at least occasional office wear in a moderately scent-tolerant workplace. I can do "interesting" - just not "shocking" or "controversial".

I think Roucel can do many different types of scents. Look at the wild range in styles from the scents he's help create: (Hypnose Homme, Iris Silver Mist, Voyage by Nautica, Musc Ravageur, Adidas Natural Vitality). I hate some of them, feel indifferent by most of them and absolutely love some also.

Thanks SMM.


Thanks RedneckPerfumisto.

Wearability is hard to generalize. I wear tons of weird stuff to my office, but that's me (not you) and that's my office (where I am usually not around people that much).

I don't think DTB is so strong that it would come across as 'shocking' in a social situation. Maybe if someone was very, very close to you. DTB wears very close. But what it lacks in sillage it definitely makes up for in 'interesting'.

No - for sure it's Apres L'Ondee. It's explained here in the review of DTB on The Scented Salamander blog: http://www.mimifroufrou.com/scenteds...ans_tes_b.html

great review that I read with interest, as I have a sample winging its way to me as we speak. not sure if this sounds like a scent for me, as I usually go for lush, sensual fragrances and this one sounds rather "minimalist" as you say, abstract or cerebral.
but I'm up for sampling! anything's possible.

If you receive it before Friday, wear it for Halloween.

I'd love to hear what you think about it.

The Scented Salamander piece is written rather poorly, to the point of confusion. I think that what they were trying to say is that Roucel worked a "Guerlain perfumery lineage study" for DTB with AL'O, which he also did for Insolence. But the "Guerlain perfumery lineage study" he did for Insolence is clearly based on L'Heure Bleu. Smell it for yourself. The original FM article in The Independent is miss-represented by the SS. Roucel or Malle never said Insolence was based on AL'O.
"Frederic Malle explained in an article in the Independent that perfumer Maurice Roucel drew inspiration from the Guerlain classic from 1906, Après L'Ondée to compose Dans Tes Bras (In Your Arms/Embrace). This is at least the second time that Roucel has shown explicit interest in paying homage to that perfume and in this manner, in perpetuating a perfumery lineage that has been somewhat neglected; he already did that perfumery study with Insolence. It is also interestingly the second time that Editions de Parfums by Frederic Malle publishes a work derived from Après L'Ondée: the first one was L'Eau D'Hiver by Jean-Claude Ellena.

I keep coming into this thread saying I agree with Mike. Which again I agree with Mike. Everybody's workplace is different. I would not hesitate to wear this to work. For you that might be different. The one thing DTB has going for it is it wears very close to the skin so you're unlikely to be knocking anyone over with the sillage. I also think this scent is interesting without running the potential of being offensive and in a "moderately scent-tolerant workplace" might be the perfect compromise when you want to wear and sniff something interesting for the day but not worry about its effect on your co-workers.
I'll be interested to hear what you think after you try it.

A very enlightening review. I can say for sure this is not my kind of fragrance - hairspray, violets, skin scents, every one a big nono . But I really appreciate your sensible and sensuous description.

t_g_l.

I'm wearing this to the office today and it works just perfect as it stays relatively close to the skin. A wonderful fragrance; earthy, green and damp at first, then getting smooth and almost creamy.

mikeeee!!!! yoooo hoooo!!!!!! got it!

I am very surprised by this one. here is what immediately came to mind for me.
I can't think notes. This one definitely does not make me think of individual notes at all, but of full blown memories. I am getting a collage of memories from when I was in art school in manhattan. I got a whiff of the topnote and BAM! what did I think? GESSO. ever prime a canvas with that white gooey stuff called gesso? For me, my first wearing of Dans tes Bras gives me gesso. Which is rather remarkable since I haven't primed a canvas for at least five years and before that it was decades. This memory inducing quality makes the description of this scent as abstract an accurate one.

Well, then of course it took me by the hand, this haunter, and brought me back to the huge studio space at School of Visual Arts in the east twenties where I had life drawing classes for six hour stretches and met one of the loves of my life...
That is wear the salty skin scent comes in...oh wow.
youthful, lusty sweaty skin. a clean smell, a ready for anything kind of smell. an open optimistic smell. I think I might cry writing this, the way it brings me back to my pre mommy self.

This is not a masculine nor is it a feminine, it is a human scent. Or maybe a scent of the two coming together. It's not sensual in the lush way of some of my other favorites, it's not dirty sexy, but rather it is sexy in a bright and healthy sort of way.

I love the salt. It makes me want to lick my arm.

I agree with Mike that the opening is synthetic and maybe weird. Why do I want to spray gesso on my arm? But that dissolves quickly into the human salty aspect that is marvelous and natural. I'll wear it tonight, and yes, I'll wear it for Halloween.

Dans tes Bras....I think I need you.

So glad to hear you like it rtamara41 and it's evoking some really cool memories for you.

I've never smelled Gesso, but I can imagine it has a very chalk-like mineral smell to it, perhaps?

from wikipedia, you pegged the chalk like mineral smell, but I wonder if the ammonia and formaldehyde component relates to your hairspray description:

Modern acrylic "gesso" is actually a combination of calcium carbonate with an acrylic polymer medium latex, a pigment and other chemicals that ensure flexibility, and ensure long archival life. It is sold premixed for both sizing and priming a canvas for painting. While it does contain calcium carbonate (CaCO3) to increase the absorbency of the primer coat, Titanium dioxide or titanium white is often added as the whitening agent. This allows the "gesso" to remain flexible enough to use on canvas.... Acrylic gesso can be odorous, due to the presence of ammonia and/or formaldehyde which are added in small amounts as preservatives against spoilage.

oh dear god, you know you have become really obsessive when you google gesso descriptions to post on a fragrance board to further explore and communicate your experience of a newly released perfume to other obsessed people from all over the world.


but yeah, I'm digging this Dans Tes Bras
nice walk down memory lane

LOL

We understand sweetie....we understand.

I totally agree. I had this thought, when I first applied it.

I still remember the first time I smelled Cumming (which CB did) and I think I almost threw up right there in Sephora. But much later on I came to appreciate the strangeness of it.

However I think DTB is a little more substantial than CB's scents and although it might not be for you, I am glad you had a reaction to it. Atleast it didn't leave you indifferent.

So here's my draft review after a couple of days' wear (not yet posted in the Directory):

thanks for the preview. I think I am going to pass on a buy of this one. l like MR, tried to like Bois D'Orage (maybe will try again) and am interested on black Spices, but this, no.

I have not sampled this perfume yet, but now I have a very good idea of what I may expect from it. I myself believe in waiting before I come up with the final verdict - even when it's only for myself. Good review; thank you, Vibert!

Thanks for your review Vibert!

I read very few of the threads on Basenotes these days, but this is a good one. It's refreshing to see a well written review and thoughtful discussion of a fragrance that challenges us to find new vocabulary and new ways of interpreting perfumes. Thanks to all who have participated - its been a good read. Now, I think I'll go find a sample of this.

One brief point alluded to by Mike: I find myself sampling perfumes much more than I actually purchase or even "wear" my fragrances these days. Maybe its my inherently short attention span, but I find much more interest in sampling and sniffing than I do in owning these days. Sure I love "coming home" to some old favorites, but I tend to wear fragrances for a week, then move on to the next. Interesting. Maybe it is this search for new experiences and novelty.

-Slim

Just a note: the modestly revised review is now available on the Basenotes Directory.

Isn't it nice to realize we're not alone in this Slim?

Actually, I have been adventurously sampling since I started as a Basenotes member. It's just that now I have amassed such a large amount, thanks to many BN peeps (last time I counted it was + 180 samples in my pile). However there are certain fragrances that are now part of my life, I wear them repeatedly and I don't always post them in the SOTD threads (Shalimar, Habit Rouge, CdG parfum) - so yes, it is like 'coming home' when I wear those.

I sampled this today while in the area, and all I can say is it brought me back of memories of tripping in my high school days

Not a scent I could wear at all.

Just adding my opinion to the mix. This scent has been ANNOYING me enormously all day long as I sample it today.

To my nose it is all that is BAD about 80s hair salons... perming solution, tint, toner, hairspray and chemicals. Its is almost asphyxiating - much like inhaling the searing hot air inside a steaming sauna.
I can't imagine myself wearing this again.

I wanted to like Dans Tes Bras because I respect Maurice Roucel's work. I just found it so repulsive I had to wash it off. It just plain stinks to my nose.

To me it's mostly black pepper. The sales assistant was trying to convince me it was one I must have because it's part of a set with musc ravageur, but I was quite happy to extricate myself from les bras never to return... the opposite of seductive seemed this scent.

First impressions were negative. I thought that it is very synthetic, sparkling and weird.
But later on when I tried it on the skin I started to like Dans Tes Bras.
I have never smelled such a naturally smelling saltines which is not sour. In minerally saltines of Eau de Marveilles or vetiverish saltines of Sel de Vetiver I feel some gap between a scent and skin.
In Dans Tes Bras the gap fades: it's a scent of skin, of salty skin.

p.s. by the way am I hallucinating or what, but I feel Roucel's signature here. Some echoes from Guerlain's L'Instant

I have worn it a few times today for the first time in a large application (thanks mp!) and it just reconfirmed my impressions from those tiny 1ml samples. To me all these references to super mario-mushroom patches and the supposed intellectual superiority of its composition are way overblown. Dan Tes Bras smells like salty ozonic violets (hairspray opening) with generic white musk and little evolution. Thankfully, the clove does its part in making sure the heart accord doesnt get too salty. I detect a high dose of synthetic materials operating within - the juice literally oozes robot innard liquids. This is not going to impress anyone looking for high-definition natural smelling ingredients. I will give it some more time but so far its the least impressive of the modern violet/violet+iris scents (stephen jones, love in black, ava luxe midnight violet).

The drydown is quite magnificent, it smells like female skin affter a hot bath, a little sweat, clean skin, and feminine essence, quite simply, lovely. The opening...sweet sweaty mushrooms aren't really sexy.

I really love Dans tes bras, even it's so expensive. Dtb is not some kinds of scents that "hit" you right in the face. It just stays very close on your skin, in a very long time, just like your second skin, clean, pure, dry, fresh, and quite "human".

I've been sampling Dans Tes Bras (thanks Mike P!) and I'm really baffled by it. One thing that I've noticed is sometimes vanilla notes (heliotrope in this case) aren't integrated into a composition tightly, and you don't notice them "on the inhale". You notice the heliotrope only when you exhale. Very strange. I breathe in and get a strange violet, musty delicate scent. Then as I exhale, I practically taste Oreo cookies. Weird.

What you are probably getting is a huge dollop of woody cashmeran, slightly sweet heliotrope and white musk = oreo cookies (albeit slightly salted).

Like it but not sure if I love it. Any one here can encourage me to buy this and that I will wear this frequently enough (you guys have a change of heart)?

I have this and like it quite a bit as I do all of his offerings.

How do you rate projection, longevity between other FM?
Projection like vetiver extraordinaire / Hiver?

Seasons and application?

More a mood scent?

Really exited for this one, I really like the notes. Thanks for sharing

Just thought I'd throw my opinion in here, even though the thread is pretty old now.

To the OP, Mike! I'm so glad you wrote such a long and detailed account of your experience and interest in Dans tes Bras. To me, this is one of the best fragrances on the planet. At times, it's challenging, but otherwise it's so unique and magnetic that it could never be boring.

I won't go into the notes, because others have described them in previous posts, but the overall vibe is the best part. At times it smells like a hippy, other times like a female pirate at sea, and then sometimes even like nag champa incense or your mother's hands after doing the dishes with palmolive dish soap. Although it's a weird fragrance, it's also comforting and there are no "bad notes" to turn you off like Secretions Magnifiques by ELDO. Dans tes Bras has all these wonderful associations for me, and it lasts super long with moderate sillage.

I suggest this scent for anyone looking for something unique that pushes the envelope. Maurice Roucel truly is one of the most innovative perfumers on the scene right now, and Dans tes Bras is a perfect example of where perfumery should go - in a new direction. I suppose it's only natural that it's sometimes regarded as a love or hate kind of fragrance. If you wore Dans tes Bras with confidence though, no one would turn their nose.

Thanks L'Aventurier.

Wow, it looks like my seperate thread got merged with Jaime's thread. I forgot about this one...I still do not own a bottle but when I was at Barney's (at the BN Vegas meetup) I doused myself with DTB, it's so wonderfully strange.

I sampled Dans Tes Bras yesterday on my skin, and can still smell it today on my shirt. Just few notes:

- it really is very unique, smells very niche and level above most designer scents as far as quality of ingredients go
- top notes are not very pleasant and I agree that it smells kinda like mushrooms
- middle notes and basenotes to me smells like some kind of expensive soap or clothes after washing
- I strongly prefer basenotes to middlenotes which I prefer to top notes
- longevity is 12 hours, sillage just average
- most similiar but still far from it designer scent would be Prada Infusion D Homme (Prada smelling more soapy and sweet)
- my girlfriends reaction was: "Not bad but you have much better and interesting fragrances"
- its intriguing smell and I am still smelling my wrist but I dont see myself paying its price tag (right now I would pay maybe 40 euros per 50ml)

After first wearing I'd give it 3.5/5 overall, and 4.5/5 for originality. I will keep trying later, so maybe I will change my mind.