Gennivre, L’Artiste du Diable

[kunoichi]

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

In the bottle, this is an interesting scent, with warmth and coolness mixed together with a touch fruity, but it is rather hard to describe. On my skin, however, this is a cool, light, sweet minty orange scent mingled against a warm backing of honey and tea - it's deliciously lovely - and when I sniff my wrist I can smell the minty edge to the scent, but otherwise I can smell the warm, comforting sweet honey wafting up to my nose. After a few hours, this fades to a sweet, soft honey and although the fruity mint tea has faded, it is quite lovely.

[reynardine]

First applied, I was getting light tea and mint. But then the sugar cane and orange blossom came out and made me fall in love. This is a GORGEOUS scent. It fades into a sweet, soft honey after awhile. Spring/summer scent for sure. Rather light on me, will probably get bottle so I can slather.

[tailoredshirt]

This is straight up mint tea with honey. It is pretty, but nothing earth-shattering. I think it will be nice for summer, when I want to wear something light and herbal.

 

ETA: I think my skin was eating scents for a while there, because I retested this today and loved it a lot. It is still mint tea with honey, but it's sweeter, stronger, and more interesting this time. It is actually reminding me a lot of Bengal, which is strange since Bengal doesn't actually remind me of tea. I think the honey note must be the same.

Edited June 23, 2010 by tailoredshirt

[milica]

This is beautiful tea scent that I was afraid to try for a long time (sugar cane).

 

On me, this is green tea with light mint and a tiny bit of sweetness. I love love love tea scents! This one worked out pretty well and is perfect for summer, goes on the top of the summer bottle shopping list!

[skyelyric]

In the bottle this is so lovely, it's cold tea with fresh mint and only a tiny bit of sweetness. Gennivre strikes me as something that might make a good unisex/men's scent.

 

Unfortunately on my skin it disappears almost instantly, though it's lovely just to waft the bottle under my nose as a pick-me-up.

[MonkeysInk]

I got this one as a sniffie and there were just a few drops, enough for me to wear it one time. All I'm getting is honey and tea leaf, like a little bite of bitter behind the honey. I always like the idea of honey scents, but they never seem to smell very good on my skin. This was extremely light - I had to press my nose against my arm to get any of the scent. I'm glad I got to smell this one and will not be purchasing a larger one.

 

 

[Suusje]

I was a bit scared of this one, pale mint, regular mint, any type of mint is not something I enjoy very often. And this one was quite the strong mint at first. But it quickly takes a step back and the tea comes forward with some honey and just a tiny bit of mint in the background. Very pretty!

[Schmoozy]

 

Instant love. Sweetened mint tea with honey, followed by blasts of spicy orange blossom and lemongrass. It's cooling, refreshing, sweet yet spicy and really minty.

 

[Molls]

Gennivre is lovely - mint tea and honey. Unfortunately it is very light on me, and I just don't see myself reaching for it, so I think I'll let her find a home where she will be more loved...

[animalcule]

Strong sweet honey (smells just like the real thing), lemony mint, and delicate florals which makes this more perfume-y than drinkable. I love it. Luckily I bought a whooooole bottle.

 

It's a mild scent but still quite strong with a lot of throw on me.

[malibusunny]

on me, this is tea, honey, and something slightly citrus but not sharp. this smells so good to me right now -- even better than when I first sniffed it in an imp, probably because it is aged. it's feminine without being bossy about it -- I'm very glad I swapped for it!

[calivianya]

Gennivre is almost astringent lemon cleaner in the imp, so I was hesitant about putting it on my skin. I'm glad I did, though.

 

The tea blooms almost immediately upon application, and the mint adds a cold feeling to this scent. The lemongrass, unfortunately, is fairly strong, but I find that it doesn't make this scent an automatic no. Imagine, a lemongrass blend that's wearable! I start to smell the orange blossom after a few minutes, and orange blossom really is not a favorite note. It brings this blend back into the somewhat astringent category for me, which is a shame.

[KittyHawk]

Gennivre is a very pleasant spring/summer scent on me--tea and orange blossom are the strongest notes, but the honey and lemongrass are detectable as well. It's light, fresh, and clean, with a hint of floral. I'm glad I have a tester of this, but I don't think I'll spring for a bottle when the Carnaval comes back into town.

[Gin]

Honey and I are not friends, no matter how hard I try. Gennivre is all bad honey and mint tea at first. It dies down to soft honey and powder. This is probably gorgeous on other people, but not me.

[brilliantcat]

In the bottle: Mint tea.

 

Immediately after application: Getting more of the citrus on my skin. It's a sugared citrus tea with mint and a smidge of honey. Yum!

 

Warming up: The honey has gone powdery. This seems to happen with some of the lab's honey notes. Bah.

 

Fading: Hmm, no more powdery honey. Nice sugary tea.

 

Faded: Average throw, average to long wear.

 

Overall: Very pretty at the beginning and then got weirdly powdery as it warmed, then got lovely again at the end. I doubt it's something I'm willing to deal with as I have other light, summer, tea scents I like.

 

Rating: 2.5/5.

[elinox]

First Sniff: Buttered popcorn, yummy!

 

Initial Wet Application: Still buttered popcorn with some sort of earthy blend behind it.

 

Beginning Dry Down (first 15 minutes) & Dry: At one point, after I reapplied this after the first 5 minutes, I was getting lipstick: that fake, warm plastic scent. It was distant, but I could pick up on it despite the popcorn. Later, the popcorn smell came back to the forefront and despite being light on my skin, I think the honey and sugar cane are keeping this warm and inviting. It definitely reminds me of the sweet bite of fresh honey: not my kind of sweet, but still liquid sugar!

 

My Reaction: The full description of this is chilling, but all I got from the tester was warm, tasty popcorn with some dry earth. There’s also a faint whiff of smoke underneath it all too. Unfortunately, since this was limited addition and the test from the imp was so tiny, I probably won’t be able to track down any more of this once it’s gone completely. I am loving the buttered popcorn smell though, yummy!

 

Rating: 3

[MadameGorgon]

The is to the quite amazing Usagi, I got to try the lovely Gennivre. I'm an artist, so this blend appealed to me on that level.

 

The notes in this one are almost pure win. I say "almost" because tea can be iffy on me.

 

First sniff in the imp: Herm. I usually do NOT get a cleaning fluid vibe from lemony scents, but I did with this blend. Not an auspicious start.

 

But, if I've learned anything about BPALs its that they MUST be skin tested.

 

So I dabbed on a bit. Wow! It blooms into a beautiful sweet, minty, citrus tea! Gorgeous.

 

But oh, no! Here comes the tea. It stomps all over the more delicate aromas and leaves me with a not nearly so lovely perfume-y (in a bad way) smell.

 

I wish I could enjoy the tea scents because I'm a dedicated tea drinker, but this just doesn't work on me. Dang. Thought I would love this one from the description.

[tharsei-thanate]

Oh wowww, this girl is yummy.

 

I thought this would be a light scent, but first applied it's all heavy, dark, gooey honey, then the honey is poured over orange blossoms, and finally the orange blossom and honey mixture is added to a hot cup of tea.

 

Eventually the tea, unstirred, is drunk and there are globs of tea-and-orange scented honey left over in the cup.

 

Further on I can detect a hint of warm mint that adds a lovely touch to the tea-and-orange honey. Very nice!

 

I'm happy with my imp for the time being, but Gennivre is definitely a blend to consider when the Carnaval comes back.

[Missy_killer]

To my nose: I smell cold, honeyed tea with small smidges of mint here and there. I wanna say that it's a very floral tea, I'm guessing it might be the orange blossom that gives that vibe.

 

On: I wonder if this is the same type of honey used in Womb Furie? ..It smells a little bit like Playdough, just like WF does. The honey with mint is all I can smell. No hard edges here at all, like a little ball of playdough dipped in mint.

Then the orange blossom peeks out. A soft little citrus that's way too shy to break through the minty honey-ball. After a couple of minutes the orange blossom has gained enough confidence to break up the honey and mint. Now all I can smell is orange! The honey and mint are hiding behind the orange's back.

 

After about 30 min: I smell honey and vanilla with a tiny dab of lemon instead of orange. Where's the vanilla coming from?!

 

Two hours later: Cold, mint tea with milk, sweetend with honey.

 

Edited because of spelling boo boo's.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Missy_killer

[bellumed]

Nothing that hasn't been said, but I'll throw my comment on the pile: honeyed mint tea. Not overly strong but delicious!

[Gwydion]

In bottle:  Unusual and reminiscent of  a garden in early spring.  The tea leaf and lemongrass lend it an herbal, mint, and savoury weight vaguely resembling a certain Thai style soup I am fond of.   The floral and sweet elements balance beautifully with the herbal.  It is delicate and lovely and a pale green sort of scent.  Wet: Even more herbal on the skin.  I didn't expect to like this, but I really do.  It's more complex than ingredients might suggest and unexpected.  As it warms the mint comes out more, suggesting early spring chill.  It's a lovely mint note, but possibly a little too strong on me.  Dry: Soft savoury tea leaf green.