Gennivre, L’Artiste du Diable

[anomie]

Hyson tea leaf, pale mint, sugar cane, orange blossom, lemongrass, and honey.

Mmm. Clean and lovely on a muggy day. Crisp and light, with just enough sweetness - I'm definitely getting the sugar cane and the lemongrass, with the tea grounding them both. I may have to use some to make body wash, it's so beautiful.

Also, on my skin, it's got a heck of a throw. Which is good!

[gaai]

I got a half imp of this to sniff, try and decide if I want a bottle........but I'm not sure yet.

It's a very lovely blend: fresh, lemon-y and a little sweet, but I don't know if I'll wear it much.

I would've loved for the mint to stay with me a little longer.....in about 2 minutes after it hits my skin it's gone

I'll have to test it a couple more times, but right now I'm thinking it's too citrussy for me to wear on 'any-ol'-day' and too perfumey to wear to the gym.......

[Beatrice33]

I wasn't sure about this one last night when I madly slathered after receiving my package, but somehow I knew I should return to it. Today it's really growing on me. I'm getting the tea, mint and orange blossom, seamlessly blended so that it's hard to separate the notes. The honey and sugar cane are not obvious to me but must be in the background sweetening it up a bit. I'm not getting the lemongrass, but then again, this is really well blended and I can't quite tell what I'm smelling. Overall, it's a smooth, refreshing balance between sweet and tart, flowery and citrus. I think I will wear this a lot in the warmer months and will be keeping it around for spring.

 

Edited for spelling -- I really should FINISH my first cup of coffee before I write anything.

Edited September 15, 2006 by Beatrice33

[noumenon]

This is a really spectacular black tea with mint scent...It's as if I was drinking this instead of sniffing it! It's almost exactly like F5, and a kissing cousin with Embalming Fluid.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 3/5

Summarised in a word or two: Minty tea with lemon and honey.

 

Pre-review thoughts: Moroccan Mint tea? That would be wonderful.

 

In the imp: Orange blossom and tea leaf. Nice, but faint.

 

On skin, wet: Lemongrass and honey. So far, no mint or sugar cane in sight.

 

On skin, dry: Very slowly, the mint starts to appear, but it's a very mellow, warm mint. The honey and lemongrass are still the dominant notes, and as much as I'd hope, this isn't sweet at all. On the contrary, it's musky without any musk. It's very much a close-to-the-skin scent on me, with very little throw, and it fades away completely within about an hour. Granted, I only used a drop because the bottle's for a decant circle, but a drop's usually more than enough for one wrist.

 

Conclusion/Notes: Nice, but a little too thick on the honey and lemongrass for me to really enjoy. Besides, I'd have to slather to smell it more than a few inches from my wrist, so maybe it's for the best.

Edited September 17, 2006 by Aredhel

[L-z_Empress]

I thought I would love this one, but I was soooo wrong. Although, I don't know if it's the actual scent or if my chemistry is just mucking it up. At first it is dry, dusty cedar which of course is totally unappealing. After 30 minutes or so I catch whiffs of a slightly sweet mint which is actually rather pleasant (except that it fades 20 minutes later), but if I put my nose up to my wrist when I am smelling the mint, I smell nothing but the cedar scent. I think this one is going up for sale/swap....

[hepkitten]

On me, this scent becomes black tea with honey. The mint and citrus are just the *tiniest* note of sharpness in the background. It's warm and soothing, without being too domestic.

 

I absolutely love this one. Lots and lots.

[sarahmarie]

Whoa!

 

This one is so distinct and unique! It smells very much like sweetened mint tea, and the honey makes it a rounded sweetness without overpowering everything (honey can be pretty bad on my skin). The touch of citrus-y goodness is just right.

 

Very cool.

[Alchemy21599]

I received an imp of this scent from my lovely decanter

 

In the vial: sweetened green tea

 

Wet: Green tea, herbs and a wisp of mint

 

Dry: I love tea scents and this is divine. I need a bottle ASAP.

[Dinah]

Honey notes and me often don't get along - however, I figured since I love mint tea with honey, I wouldn't mind the honey here since it would 'belong', if that makes sense to anyone.

 

In the bottle, this scent is perfection - the ideal blend of fresh, soothing mint and the sweetness of the honey.

 

On my skin, however, the mint disappears completely and all I am left with is honey and orange blossom. I smell like honey candy and, sadly, it's just too sweet for me.

[Inanna9]

Mint is a big fat tease, I swear.

 

This is such a lovely delicate fragrance, and the mint upon application is Hea-ven-ly. I'm not kidding. The initial hit of tea and lemon and mint with a teeny sweet touch of honey is so perfect, that were it to stay that way, I would wear nothing else. No kidding. It's beautiful.

 

But of course the mint skedaddles within five minutes. I will try slathering more next time, but it's still all right, because what this morphs into is also very pretty. The honey and orange blossom emerge on me and thankfully the tea sticks around to balance out the thick sweetness. Someone described this as Usher's pretty little sister or something like that, and I agree. I may need to get more, especially if it requires slathering.

 

And one day I will find the perfect mint blend. ::shakes fist at mint::

[LittleGreyKitten]

This gets so much better on my skin. I guess maybe it's to make up for my skin chemistry wrecking several other scents for me that I got in this batch. Anyway, Gennivre smells funky-nasty in the bottle, and also wet, but when it dries it gets way better. This harsh, bitter edge evaporates, and it becomes much more tea-mint-sugar, thank god. It really surprised me how much it transformed, actually- the difference between wet and dry was immense. Anyway, dry it's a nice blend, and hopefully will be one I reach for some. I wish the mint was more noticeable. I love mint.

 

4 out of 5.

[QueenFae]

Interesting, a very complex scent! I first notice the tea leaf and the mint, so the blend has an overall herbally feel to it. There is a lovely lemon - honey undertone, and I can detect that gorgeous honey note that Beth used in Honey Moon. There is something about this one that reminds me of Snow White, like a similar undertone or something. I really like the combination of tea and honey in this; it's quite soothing. I'm no sure yet if I'll be keeping my bottle of this one, but this is a scent I might wear from time to time.

[harmonyfb]

On my skin, wet or dry, this is a very sharp tea scent; it smells like tea that's been allowed to steep too long. ::sigh:: This is the first tea-based fragrance that didn't smell good on me. Off to swap.

[themerrybaker]

I love Beth's tea scents: Spirits of the Dead and Satan & Friends are two of my faves. Gennivre is a welcome variation on the type - honey and mint in lieu of linden etc.. Purchasing a big bottle, however, will depend on the fullness of my "tank" of tea scents when CD is about to vanish.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this one is like a black tea with *LOTS* of sweet honey and sugar added.

 

On me... the honey is the main thing that I notice on my skin, with an extra helping of sugar. Insanely sweet. Golden, sticky-sweet honey. It also smells a bit like sweet flower pollen.

 

Gennivre is all warm and super-sweet honey. Not as complex as I thought that it would be, very simple and kind of sickeningly sweet after a while.

Edited December 22, 2006 by Blood onmy hands

[smallvoice]

Blood onmy Hands NAILED what I was smelling from this scent- Pollen. Thank you! I couldn't place it until I read your review!

 

I do not get honey from this one. It smells sharp and herbal, and I don't even get the lemon out of it. Or mint. It's just... so strange. I think Gennivre was the scent I was anticipating loving the most, so I'm sort of baffled about what is making this go so wonky on me. And I'm more than a little crushed. The sweet pollen is nice, but I really wanted it to be this lovely, clean tea scent. Ah, well.

[Emu Nymph]

I was worried about this one because of the surger. But this scent takes on an almost nice tea scent. And I love tea. So this one it becoming on of my fast favorites.

[minnalavender]

Oh man... I'm gonna be so broooooke by the time the Carnival rolls out of town...

 

My favorite sweet tea scent yet - better than Dorian, White Rabbit, any of them on me. In the bottle, the mint really pops, but on my skin it vanishes quickly, leaving the sweet honey lemony tea goodness. Mmmmmmm. Another "compulsively sniffing wrists" blend! This is crisp, fresh, classic, perfect for daytime wear, esp. in the summer.

 

Unfortunately I slathered it on and it went away completely after only an hour! My skin eats certain gentle notes, damn skin. So I'm def. getting a 5ml bottle to decant into a rollerbottle and slather myself with the teatime goodness of Gennivre, because she's too beautiful to miss out on (and I'll burn through this decant like Sherman went through Georgia).

[magikalcrab]

This one is simply AMAZING. There are no words. Apart from "when do I get paid so I can order more," that is.

 

At the moment, it's all lemongrass and tea leaf, but still, I adore it too much for words. I can get the tiniest bit of honey in the throw. Very light and really very sweet and lively.

 

In short, Gennivre is brilliant!

[maijasu]

I get tea, lemongrass, and honey with an initial blast of mint from this. It's really lovely, and it would be a great refreshing scent for summer. I'm craving autumnal scents right now, but I think I'll be getting a bottle of Gennivre next summer before the Carnaval rolls out of town.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is sweet mint tea and citrus with a touch of honey. When first on this is soft mint and herbs, very light and fresh. This doesn't change much on me (and that's fine). It mellows into a lovely warm, close to the skin tea scent with hints of honey and lemon. This is really nice! Fresh, light and comforting at the same time. This will be great to wear in warm weather and is also a good everyday type of scent. I'm so glad I got this character from the Carnaval!

[fiddlehead]

This is a very beautiful tea scent. It reminds me quite a lot of White Rabbit but without the nose-stinging pepper. I'm going to compare the two side by side but, yeah. It was familiar when I put it on and that's why! I really like both White Rabbit and this. They're clean smelling without being ozone-y or too floral.

 

 

ETA: This dried down to a very light minty scent. No tea left. Not at all like White Rabbit in the later stages. It's nearly gone now, and I slathered it on when I got out of the shower about 30 minutes ago.

Edited September 30, 2006 by fiddlehead

[cuervosueno]

I really really wanted to like this.

 

 

In imp: cleaning fluid.

 

On my skin: still kind of like that, but now I smell honey, a scent I like. I can also smell the orange blossom. I get orange blosom and honey and the sharpness (cleaning fluid note) of lemongrass. Where is the tea leaf and mint? I think I smell sugar cane too because I get a bit of a whiff of something like Hungry Ghost Moon.

 

But the sharpness comes back. While it finally settles down into a faint lemon honey scent, I'm left with that sharp lemongrass for too long. And I never get the mint or tea.

 

Damn! I don’t think this is going to play nice with me. Off to swaps, sadly.

[juniperus]

Bottle: lemongrass, and the tea, and honey - this is sippable, makes me want to put the kettle on

Wet: sweet, lemongrass dominant, and something here that's twinge-ing my sinuses.

Dry: something here is hitting me like an aquatic. the mint? the sugar? this isn't morphing much, just softening.

Later: fading dead away, in fact. but that's ok, because so did that errant, mean, ouchie note.