Frederic

[blktauna]

Victorian whimsy and piratical romance: a reluctant seaman’s chypre sloshed with a mix of bay rum, patchouli, amber musk, dark woods, tea rose, and red currant.

I really like Frederic.

It starts out a bit salty headshop and woodsy but dries really nice. Everything rounds out into a somewhat pungent but delicious, complex scent.

I can't identify any specific notes after drydown but it lasts over 40 hours which for me is amazing. My skin eats everything.

Not an everyday wear but I will be wearing it often.

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the Bottle

I'm getting worried, as I'm getting a fair bit of incense and patchoulli.

 

On Me

The incense goes somewhere for awhile, initially, and it's patchoulli all the way. Then we get a nice drydown, and the result is a slightly sweet, smoky blend with excellent throw and a masculine kick to it. I'm not getting any booziness, which I'm finding a bit disappointing, it's more like a nice-old-man aftershave hanging around there under the sweet smokiness.

 

On my Partner

My partner said is smells like Old Spice on him, which it did a little... for a few minutes. Not too long after that, and it's morphed into an extremely elegant, masculine-- and VERY intense-- blend on him, reminiscent of Bulgari cologne.

 

I'm completely tripped out as to how different the reactions we've had are! On me, it's cute and quirky and a fun everyday perfume with an excellent throw and a long life. On my partner, it's boardroom executive hotness.

[Little Bird]

I was hoping for woods, patchouli, spicy bay rum, and a hint of sweet tea rose and fruitiness. So, of course, Frederic spites me and smells like cheap men's cologne. The "seaman's chypre" is a fresh, masculine cologne smell, and that combines with the masculine spice of the bay rum. On me, the amber musk gives it an unpleasantly powdery, dry, muskiness in the drydown. It doesn't go powdery on my boy, so your skin chemistry may vary (mine hates bpal's amber). On my boy, this is slightly spicy and slightly clean, but he said he thought it smelled sort of cheap, like a teenage boy's body spray. I did like that more of the patchouli came out on his skin, but my man wasn't taken with it.

 

Frederic isn't a keeper for our household.

[Epiphany]

In the bottle: booze and cologne.

 

Wet on: patchouli, musk, and wood--the initial whiff is a bit how Luperci '08 is on me. --Then it changes very quickly to booze and cologne--the musk and wood disappear (for the time).

 

As it dries, various notes peek their heads out (oh! currant! look! rose!) before melding back in to the overall cologne thing that's going on. I like it, but I'm not sure that it is for me...It has that intense ozone/perfume-y smell that Black Ice had on me (except...more masculine). However, unlike the Black Ice, there are other notes holding this down...the patchouli/wood/musk in particular make this a very gender neutral scent.

 

All in all, I'm fascinated with Frederic...I may have to keep him just because it's such an interesting smelling experience (also, I have hopes that I may someday convince my boyfriend to wear it...). I can really see a sailor smelling like this...I would wear this on days that I want to feel like a crusty sailor...or to the Renaissance Festival whislt got-up in wench gear.

[Victory]

In the bottle, I can smell the wood and sea air but on my skin Frederic is all patchouli and wood and.... bug repellant? God, this is foul. Frederic fades away to just whisps of scent in a matter of a couple of minutes, but it's still all patchouli and wood. (Naturally. These were the notes that had me worried.) I think I'll put him away into a drawer and let him take a time out for six months or so and try again. That did wonders for Herr Drosselmeyer, which I also hate hate hated when fresh.

[GoldenRubee]

Frederic is perfect for me, strong and dark. I love the patchouli, amber and the touch of musky spice. I also got a little bit of a woody scent out of it too. The longer I wear it, the sweeter it gets, and the more the amber warms with my body . When I wear this I always get compliments. I gave a bottle to my son who really likes it, but on him it is spicy and patchouli and not sweet at all.

[suileach]

Just sniffing the imp, unopened, I get a Manly Man scent.

 

Opening it, I expect cologne! Aquatics! Chypre! Bay rum!

 

And I get...peanut butter.

 

There's a faint hint of trodden upon rose somewhere in there, but it's a rose well-coated with peanut butter. I don't know what to blame. The amber musk, perhaps?

[steelxrose]

Frederic is a woodsy-patchouli on me with a hint of aquatics in there for good measure. (I know, quite a mix...) I think I'll age him to see what happens.

[Neely]

I love, love, love Freceric! OMFG! This is fantastic. The Yules didn't work on me, the Valentines either. But Frederic, WOW! I dont' get men's cologne. I get salty air from the high seas, and a bit of dandy's cologne, and a hint of rose. Very nice. The rose doesn't go all old lady either, which I have to worry about. I wish I could have gotten a second bottle. This is sexxor, yes it is! Nice job Beth and the labbies.

[waternight]

In the bottle: Woody-musky with a healthy dose of incense.

Wet: Chypre and dark woods and incense. Incense notes have a tendency to smell a little bit off on me, so I'm hoping the other notes will temper that. There's also a prominent, thick resinous note of the amber-musk. The blend is a bit salty, definitely a "piratey" blend, but piratey over a dandy's scent. The bay rum is present, but not so much in a boozy way, more in a syrupy way, though it's not really sweet. After a bit, the incense does indeed become tempered (thank god!) and the blend becomes much more balanced. A bit later, I get a salty, boozy note, and the amber-musk is a steady and consistent element. The woods are polished, glowing, deeply burnished.

Dry: This dries to a smooth wood, musk, and patchouli blend. Like a proper gentleman who's trying to be naughty. The patchouli amps a bit, and OMG MUSK. Delicious musky musk. Glorious musk.

 

Overall, Frederic is complex and interesting. I love the dry stage, so I think I can weather through the funky incense in the wet stage. Frederic isn't an everyday scent, but I'm glad I have him for when the mood strikes.

[juntarou]

My first BPAL ever! Not a bad one to start with, I think. My first review too!

Sniffing the bottle unopened, I get a lot of patchouli.

 

In the bottle: Patchouli and that chypre thing, I guess? Reminds me of my grandfather's side of the bathroom cabinet. This is not a bad thing at all.

On skin, wet: Same as in the bottle, although a bit more patchouli, I think? Sniffing my wrists compulsively trying to get my untrained nose to detect the other notes

Drying: Still mostly patchouli, but I get whiffs of wood, and.. was that rose? Oh, it's gone... Back to that very mellow and round cologne-y feel. I like how round it is, not sharp at all. The wood comes and goes.

Dry: The patchouli and chypre sort of sat back and mingled with the rest of the notes. It's quite seamless now, and very, very VERY sexy. I can't stop sniffing.

 

A bit later - hey, I think I can smell the currant! The drydown on this is very nice!

The morning after - I keep getting whiffs of something clean and sweet and weird... *sniffs wrist* oh yeah, Frederic! He's a bit tired and stale. Reminds me of dead cologne. I definitely like the earlier stages of it better.

 

All in all, I love Frederic. Even if I won't wear it often, I'm going to keep him for the connotations and the comfort-y feeling I get sniffing it. I'm sort of on my Moon Time right now, so I'll have to give it another try in a couple of weeks to see if it changes.

[theal8r]

Frederic, I wanted to like a lot.

 

In bottle: piney musky -- very masculine scent

Wet: the woods came out very bright, almost piercing on my skin. Very masculine, but with a soapy, unpleasant undertone. A teasing glimpse of the patchouli, but it is too shy to come out to play.

Dry: Masculine cologne, not entirely *un*pleasant, but not the thing I'd wear.

 

I couldn't get my dear love to try this (he literally ran away from me...), but I think it would smell WONDERFUL on the right person.

[sleepingdahlia]

OMG! In the bottle it is very masculine, which I adore yet when I put it on, it doesn't have that heaviness that says give this to your gentleman straightaway. Just can not stop sniffing my wrists, the wood notes are very previlant and it's got such a sweet lingering spiciness. I really would love to slather this on my gentleman friend and would love another bottle to age because I'm betting this will be insanely good down the road! Smells quite warm too, if that sort of description makes sense. ^^

[taramarie]

Wet on my skin, Frederic is rum, musk, and woods. Dry, there's also a hint of tea rose and currant. This is gorgeous.

[Jenesis]

The whole thing just screams manliness and sophistication. It is indeed quite dry, with woods and spices, and thankfully completely free of the sickening "Lynx effect" sweetness that so many masculine scents unfortunately have.

 

Although it is manly, it retains a touch of femininity with the spices and the hint of rose (I normally hate rose, so don't worry, fellow haters, the rose is not prominent at all!). In general it evokes the same feeling as Geek - although the scents are completely dissimilar apart from the woods, it has that same "manly but feminine" feel. I love Geek too, so this is right up my alley!

 

Looking at the notes, I can't smell any rum at all and I have no idea what chypre is, but the musk, woods and patchouli all make themselves known. The rose and currant show up after the drydown as quirky extras, stopping this from smelling too much like aftershave.

[PurringPulsar]

Frederic

 

In the bottle: patchouli and bay rum, a masculine and fresh scent with a darker undertone.

Wet on skin: very, very masculine chypre now, with patchouli and woods, and a bit of musk.

Dry on skin: whoa, this smells manly. Very handsome and dashing but also rugged, just the way that pirates should be. The scent is a tiny bit aquatic from the bay rum (which smells like ‘aquatic’ aftershave on my skin) and there’s also something spicy in here. The scent is very heavy on the patch and woods as well, even though the bay rum dominates. The chypre is also very manly as a scent, I think this is the chypre that has violet, neroli and white musk to it, as well as oak moss? It smells powdery and clean and traditional but not old fashioned. I can also smell hints of rose and currant. Underneath is an endearing sweet amber musk. The scent is a bit salty and seaweed-y, but doesn’t smell like soap or washing powder.

After a while: this loses the initial ‘aftershave’ scent and becomes much more woodsy, darker, a bit spicy too. It still reminds me of a more masculine scent, now I smell much more of the aquatic chypre, the combination of musk, patchouli, moss, labdanum and something like seaweed. There’s something reminiscent of pepper as well. the deep woods are also stronger now. I don’t smell any rose, currant or amber now.

The scent becomes softer but also drier as the woods really become the dominant scent in here. The chypre is still going strong, it’s not as aquatic/bay rummy as before but the scent is still very much a ‘man’ scent and I don’t get much of the amber musk. I think this would be so sexy on a guy. Shame I don’t have any guy to slather it on…

Verdict: Frederic is a charming, charismatic manly scent on me. Very dashing and almost clean cut but with a touch of roughness round the edges, but a little too masculine for me to pull off. What I like about this is that it smells aquatic and evokes the scents of the sea and the kelp and salty spray against ship’s woods, but doesn’t go bad on my skin the way most other pirate scents do. No soap and no detergent here. There is a lot of bay rum and a lot of chypre here with deep patchouli and woods, which makes this a real ‘man’s scent’ on my skin, but the rose, currant and amber musk don’t really come out as much as I hoped they would, to balance the scent out. So whilst I like this scent and find it appealing, it’s not really a ‘me’ scent. Now, if I were to smell this on a man though…mmmm.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Not sure. Pirate Moon is still my favourite pirate scent.

If you like this, try: Calico Jack, Sailor’s Den, Jolly Roger, Mary Read, Baron Samedi, Port Royal

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Patchouli, bay rum, and dark, dark woods. Sharp, strong, and masculine.

 

Sadly not at all workable for my pretty feminine tastes.

[amnerine]

In the imp: Vaguely minty? There was a sort of salty scent to it, woodsy, with some pine-spice that might have been the bay rum. Couldn't smell anything else really.

 

Wet: Musky, sharp and astringent, and then it was...nutty?

 

Drying: Very nutty, it has a bitter and corrosive note I can't place. It's masculine and nothing I'd want on me or a guy I'm interested in.

 

Dry-fade: Woodsy! The scent is getting slightly spicier and sweeter, but still very woodsy. The nutty note is much less but still apparent. There might be a "sea" or aquatic quality to it, but it's hard to tell under the woodsy scent. I can't smell the rose or the red current at ALL which is a disappointment, but it might be my body chem. Either that or this scent is too well blended because I can't pick out the individual notes. Not a scent I want on my guys, but it's very masculine so if you like that kind of thing....

Edited May 6, 2008 by amnerine

[tinyvulture]

Frederic is too masculine for me to wear, but smells good on my husband. It’s a strong cologne, heavy on the patchouli and woods. And if you like the plentiful bay rum of Baron Samedi, this could be the LE for you. I don’t notice the rose or currant at all; there’s really nothing sweet about Frederic. At first I thought he was too strong, but now I think he’s growing on me.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp - hello, patchouli!

 

On my skin, it's heavily patchouli - with just a breath of rose underneath.

 

When it dries, it's still mostly patchouli - but definitely softened by the musks and woods. Not for me, but not the patchouli death that I expected.

[tereshkova2001]

Frederic is strongly woodsy, and the salty notes are also prominent. The rose is a subtle softening influence. Overall, it's definitely masculine, but delightfully so. I had been contemplating ordering Dee, but this is similar enough that I will stick to this one.

[thomasblackthorne]

I was lucky enough to have this in a care package from the amazing AleciaR, as well as most of my reviews from tonight.

 

Imp: I get a lot of the amber musk, not much else, the musk runs right up my nose...

 

Wet: The patchouli has awakened, and mingles nicely with the musk.

 

Drydown: I'm getting an old spice feel again, sadly. I found the tea rose too, it's a nice touch. I like it though, I was just hoping not to smell something familiar. For some reason, I never got woods.

 

Overall: I think my imp will be more than enough for me.

[jentifer]

The bay rum and red currant introduce the amber musk and tea rose, with the darker scents anchoring it, without overpowering. Sort of reminds me of my grandfather's pipe tobacco, minus the cherry.

[greenranger]

This came to me very mysteriously, but, I'll appreciate it!

 

 

In the bottle, bay rum.

 

On me wet, salt spray, bay rum, wood, patchouli and musk. The tea rose and currant might be adding a slight bit of sweetness. Very masculine, but just wearable for me I think. I'd have my guy wear it, if I thought he would.

[Iceblink]

This begins as rum and musk...mmm. I've had problems with bay rum on my skin in the past so I passed over Frederic when it was on sale, but maybe I was too hasty? Hmm. Drying...here comes the salty woods and a LOT of patchouli. Whew! This is pretty manly but not exclusively so. If the currant and rose show up, this might actually be great but I'm not smelling them. It's a very evocative oil though--glad I got to try it!