Frederic

[Limelight]

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 always told myself I was going to come back and review this. My bottle is the original 2008 version. As I recall, the patchouli and the dark woods dominated everything. Nice in and of themselves, but nobody else had room to play, so overwhelming were they. I put Frederic away with confidence that he'd improve with age. Now, 6 years later, we meet again, and this time, Frederic has really balanced out. On me, the bay rum/chypre are on top, with the formerly heavy patchouli/woods singing softly behind. The scent is very warm and mildly sweet. This part was a good time! Avast, me hearties, let's go party!!! It really did make me feel romantic and adventurous. Over the next couple of hours, those notes give way to an amber-powdery rose with a bit of musk. I likened this to waking up to a love note the next morning. Can't remember the last time a fragrance gave me imagery. Good stuff, definitely worth the wait.

[stubbornfire]

This has only rested for about half a day (to hell with patience), so with that in mind:

 

I can't pick anything out! ...wait, I lied- I think I found the bay rum? Must be. I think I recognize it from st johns eve. There's something bright in this too- "seaman's chypre" I'd guess. No red currant,no tea rose. There's kind of a deep-ish groundedness I'd blame on the patchouli and/or the dark woods, but nothing like that makes itself known specifically.

 

So.. Mostly just a sailor's cologne type of thing, though a bit grounded. God it's gorgeous. I will definitely need more.

 

 

EDIT: Oh frick, there's the amber and the rose! It just went from 'hey this is pretty nice' to a I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED. Hahaha, oh dear.. I wish my chemistry didn't devour bpal so thoroughly. I wish I could smell like this all day.

Edited June 10, 2015 by stubbornfire

[PersimmonSeeds]

My first review on the forums! Yay!

 

I came to review this one in particular because it took me by surprise.

I had been rushing to get ready for work in the morning and had stopped by my BPAL shrine to swipe on one of my oils. Not paying attention I accidentally swiped Fredric onto my wrists, which I had just received the day prior.

I wasn't bothered and thought today would be a good day to test it out anyway, so I rolled with it.

 

While driving I sniffed my wrist a few times and really couldn't pick up much more than damp wood (mulch minus the cedar??) and something very faint, but akin to fig preserves(maybe the red currant but it was not smelling very red..). It almost had an aquatic and airy twang to it (the chypre maybe?).

It was very light already so I was disappointed and expected my body chemistry to eat it up.

 

Fast forward a few hours and I am at work, busily filing. I really couldn't smell anything on myself and had put on a cardigan, so my wrists were covered.

As I was reaching upwards I suddenly caught a wiff of something sweet and cologny(sp?) but blew it off as one of the guys in the office wearing a cologne that left a trail.

I kept smelling it and I actually really enjoyed it so I sniffed the air a few times but didn't catch much of it. It took me a few minutes to realize it was coming from me as I moved around.

I stuck my nose to my wrist and could not believe what it smelled like!! Surely this was not the Fredric I had put on that morning!

I could instantly tell I was smelling the tea rose perfectly surrounded by the sweetest bay rum, amber, and patchouli. It had transformed completely. It was gorgeous!

The tea rose was slightly powdery but it was not overbearing at all, more fresh and sweet. The amber and bay rum were warm(not too warm, more airy!) and inviting but never turned into a gourmand vanilla note.

The patchouli gave this ground. It leveled everything and deepened the notes, controlling the sweetness and making it slightly masculine.

It was so divine.

A few coworkers noticed it and complimented me, to my delight. I wear 'men's' colognes pretty often and a friend noted this was pretty masculine, just mildly sweet on me.

(Note: I view all scents as unisex but will recognize certain notes as leaning femme or masculine. I will say at this point it is a strongly unisex fragrance.)

After lunch it had stayed the same and I enjoyed every second of it. As the day wound down I noticed it start to change again, this time I was able to catch it as it morphed into something a bit deeper.

The red currant was reemerging but not like it had at the beginning. It was playing with the bay rum and rose. It almost had a 'baked' red currant quality but this fragrance never goes gourmand to me, oddly enough. It was warm but not hot and the chypre seemed to be keeping things cool and airy this entire time.

The dry down was a very cologny experience but never cold or soapy.

I cant really tell when this finally wore off. I kept catching wiffs of the earthy/musky amber up until I took a shower the next morning.

 

I have a new favorite. I am going to need bottles and bottles of this adventure-in-a-bottle ASAP!!

 

The breakdown:

 

In bottle: patchouli and damp wood

 

Wet on skin: Damp wood, something airy(the chypre?), and a faint hint of something akin to earthy fruit preserves(red currant?)

 

Somewhere between application and the dry down: The amber, tea rose, and bay rum come up well blended and grounded by the patchouli.

 

Dry Down: The bay rum fades into the amber and the red currant comes back, not foody or juicy, deepen it. The tea rose and patchouli are in the backseat keeping things earthy.

 

This fades wonderfully and the amber musk seems to be the one left behind.

This never goes gourmand, I stress.

I usually amp rose but this tea rose, though lightly powdered and sweet, does not misbehave thanks to the amber and patchouli.

This wavers in and out of being sweet and cologny, but not in a soapy clean way. More of an alluring, deep cologne that is subtle and pleasant.

I find this highly unisex the majority of the time!

 

This truly lived up to the description for me. It was a strongly Victorian scent romancing the adventures of a pirate!

Edited April 7, 2016 by PersimmonSeeds

[LizziesLuck]

This is something that I would have totally passed up, however someone (actually, I think it was the reviewer above! ^ ) thought it smelled similar to The Painted Rose atmosphere spray, which I have fallen in love with. So here I go, hoping for rose and patchouli with some fruitiness!

 

Wet: Mmm. The bay rum is nice on me in this (it isn't always), the patchouli is there (and lovely), it is a bit fruity...where's the rose at? Come on, rose!

 

 

Dry: Sadface. This is not patchouli and rose and fruit on me. My skin has plucked out the bay rum, woods and musk, making this rather masculine. It's not really my kind of scent, unfortunately. I bet it would smell great on different skin, but it's not sweet enough or feminine enough for me.

[Cali]

I'm getting something that reminds me of Dwarf - though I haven't sniffed that one in years, so don't quote me on that. It's this almost harsh, ston-y metal thing - though, not comparable to the metals in The magician or The robot scarab.

It's overall pretty soft; refined. Charming. Harshly masculine - all the "darker" notes very well blended (I know they're in there thanks to the description, otherwise I might not have guessed them all individually). But the tea rose and red currant giving it something sweet and sexy. What a guy!

 

atm not keeping it, but I recon I'll be redirected to this later on in the future...

[lady-logistikon]

Frederic is wonderful. He's sea-salty without being too cool or brusque. Rather, you get your sea-salt/rum piratical--down to the floorboards of the heaving ship--plus the lovely roses and just a touch (no more!) of currant. This last doesn't read as fruit/berry at all, to me, just adds a sweet sugariness to the floral aspect. 

 

I really think this is a scent that nails the idea on which it's based. Are you/do you want to smell like a Victorian pirate? If you are thinking less Jack Sparrow, more Oscar Wilde with a cutlass, look no further--you have arrived.

Edited April 10 by lady-logistikon

[Weirdgirlpilled]

Mmm yeah. Imagine if Dorian grew up, got a beard on him, ran away from his royal duties and joined a rugged band of pirates. A touch sweet, a touch woody and salty, a touch sexy from the musk and rum. It’s sex appeal in a bottle. I think it’s rather gender neutral, but i’m also very flexible about that stuff. 

 

sillage: medium. it’s not overbearing but it’s definitely noticeable from at least a few feet away.

longevity: 7/10 lasted about 6-7 hours on me- but this is brand new and out of the mail, so take this with a dash of salt.

 

[dancingchair]

2024 version

 

Wet, I get quite a bit of bitter moss (from the chypre, maybe?) but that fades significantly as this settles on my skin. It's definitely salty and maybe a bit aquatic, which I was hoping for, but it doesn't ever veer into soapy or ocean potpourri territory. The rum sweetens the whole thing up without being too boozy. The dark woods make a swoon-worthy base for the other notes. It adds the sense that Frederic is hiding something beneath a happy-go-lucky demeanor. The amber musk is resinous, but not too loud. There is a smokiness in here, but it's smoky in the way that tobacco or incense notes can sometime be smoky. I don't really get much tea rose, which is the note I was most nervous about. I also don't get much red currant, but the rum might be absorbing it?

 

I love this. I was hesitant because a few of the notes can be iffy for me, but I'm glad I took the risk.

[roseus]

I initially get a bracing cologne, which softens a bit into the woods and patchouli as it dries. I'm getting quite a bit of bergamot I assume from the chypre, and just a hint of rosé in the background. Bright and elegant with a somewhat rugged undertone.