Faeu Boulanger

[tinyvulture]

Mushroom gases, swamp mist, green mint, and bog violet.

a light, fruity and citrusy scent that reminds me of childhood. i think that’s because it sorta smells like green kool-aid! (there really should've been a "swamp mist" kool-aid flavor, huh?) i don't smell anything like mushroom, mint, or violet. on me, this is juicy fruit -- mango, melon, grapefruit? -- with a splash of cool water and lots of lemon and lime. wet and summery. Edited August 16, 2008 by Shollin

[furygrrl]

In the imp: Sweet, misty violets...and something almost minty?

 

On wet: I hate saying this but...household cleaner! A *good* cleaner, mind - like method or one of the other enviro-friendly brands that makes pretty smelling stuff - but still, not what I was looking for. ::crosses fingers for a morph on the drydown::

 

Drydown: I'm still getting cleaner in the background (but I'm willing to admit that this may be because I'm actually sniffing around for lingering traces of it). On top is an almost effervescent perfumey-ness - very bright, very sweet, and almost kind of delicate. The words "sparkly" and "fresh" come to mind. The violets are alive and kicking, I'm still able to detect a whisper of mint, and nothing even remotely "boggy" has crashed the party yet.

 

Overall: Not as strongly violet as I'd hoped for, and a bit too aquatic/sweet for my taste, but definitely a nice scent. A good choice for warm weather, going to work, or hanging with friends - very wearable. 3/5

[MeiLin]

In the imp: Overpoweringly sweet violet, to the point of melon.

 

Wet: Did I mention this was sweet? A hint of herbal green peeks out.

 

Dry: Almost disappears like its namesake, leaving behind a wisp of green violet. I smell no earthy or aquatic notes from the swamp mists and mushroom gases.

 

This isn't bad, but it's not really me. Into the swap box.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Pale lemon yellow oil. Fresh, aquatic, herbal. The mint is soft but bright, and the violet is very light and dewy. It's totally a misty, airy-watery scent.

 

Wet: Ahh! I know what this smells like, cucumber! So lovely and fresh and green. It's a touch soapy on my skin, but cleanly so, not unpleasant. It's also a bit more herbal, like being in a garden, though still very aquatic and luminous.

 

Dry: This actually reminds me a fair bit of Sturgeon Moon, which I adore. It's similarly unisex to masculine, as well. It's definitely soapier and more herbal though, as well as more floral. A bit cologne-y.

 

Later: The violet has amped up a fair bit and has a very slight powdery edge - still, this is a well-behaved violet. Most of the airy feel has worn off to reveal a sort of woody base, though this is definitely still very much an aquatic.

 

Summary: In the end, the violet becomes dominant - I would say this is the most violet-y BPAL blend I've tried - making this more unisex to feminine . It has that hint of powder, but overall aquatic feel and freshness of the cucumber and green herbs keep it nicely in check. The herbal-woody base gives this otherwise ethereal blend depth and add to the rustic feel. Good throw, decent lasting power.

 

This is totally not what I expected and a very unique blend overall, though probably layering the right SN violet over Sturgeon Moon would produce a somewhat similar effect. I don't know how much I will wear this but I don't think I can resist getting a bottle!

[AEris]

All I can smell is fruity cucumber, which is definitely not what I was expecting!

 

It's fresh, sweet, and bright. It's sweeter than Gibbous Moon, Blue Moon, and Sturgeon Moon, but there are resounding similarities to each (with my chemistry, anyways).

 

I like this, but I wouldn't wear it often, so I'm going to pass.

 

3.8 out of 5

[Emera]

IN THE IMP: Much like Dian's Bud – fresh cucumber melony, plus the sweet, unobtrusive violet and a sharper, herbal – almost resinous – note. Presumably the mint, but it smells nothing like mint to me. In fact, it smells like…

ON SKIN: JUNIPER. What the…? In about 10 minutes, the mint goes entirely junipery on me, which means that anything else present in the blend has been devoured. Alas. Had to wash it off.

Edited August 28, 2008 by Emera

[Dark Sparkle]

I love to smell FB but unfortunately it turns to sharp soap on my skin and I was hoping for bog mist and violets

[jwhxtna]

IN THE IMP: Right away, I can tell this will not be my kind of thing at all. But it's still very interesting. Very earthy, with mint and violet. It's a strange combo to my nose; I've never smelled anything like this before..

 

WET: It gets deeper and richer. Earthy, herbal, with mint and soft violet.

 

DRY: It turns sweeter, and the violet comes out more. Oh, and it turns powdery and soapy on me. Bah. Again, not my kind of thing at all, but it was a lot of fun to try!

[Czarina]

In the bottle: minty violet.

Wet: violet with a hint of Froot Loops.

Drydown: violet with an herbal note. <sniffs> Oh, there's an aquatic note, but it smells like fresh, sparkling water, not murky boggy water.

 

The mushroom gases are apparently too evanescent for me to discern <coughs>. I mean, I wasn't fast enough to smell them.

[heartlilly]

I didn't really know what to expect from the description of this one. I get really light fruitiness from this. It almost smells like melon, but not quite as sweet. Very happy and bright. This one vaguely reminds me of Fire Pig, although they don't really smell alike.

[voodoocatwoman]

I am a fan of violet so this one is right up my alley. There's a bit of something breezy and fresh (could it be mint? I don't know- if that's what it is, it's very shy) in the background but it keeps peeking around the corner enough to be noticed.

 

Definitely a summer blend. Pretty, fresh and all sparkly.

[livingdead71]

What a sweet smelling swamp! It's a minty violet mist hovering over the cleanest swamp ever. This is one of those scents I think people should try just because it's a cool concept. The image of sweet mist hovering over a swamp also puts me in mind of Wiley's Swamp, though I like this one much better.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Mint and violet with some bitter herbs. Perhaps geranium?

 

Immediately on skin: On me this is very juicy. It almost smells like the fruity violet that I get from Faith, plus a hint of mint and lots of wet green notes. It almost smells like there just may be a fruit note in this (melon perhaps?) or maybe a light amount of orchid. It has almost a bitter citrus bite to it that finishes off the mint/violet/juicy scent in my nose though.

 

After a little while: That fruitiness seems to come out more as I wear this, and now it smells like violet with a lot of melon and a bit of almost sour/sweetness to it. Oh, and a bit of a watery green aquatic undertone. It’s definitely an interesting scent.

 

Overall Impressions: I don’t know what I was expecting from this scent, but it surprised me. This blend is just so fruity and juicy without being overly sweet. There’s a bit of violet which I can for sure pick out, and then that lush fruitiness that smells so much like melon, along with this wet green undertone. It almost reminds me of green tea actually. Anyway, this is a very bright scent and a lot of fun. It smells of iridescent greens and golden purples swirled together in my head.

[Emma2403]

Ooh lovely. But hard to describe: it's a weird mix of juicy green, wild violets and something a little aquatic. I don't really get mint, but so far, I think that's my favourite CD scent together with Faith!

 

A little herbal when it dry downs. Still very pretty!

[Schmoozy]

Herbal, violet, mint and earthy greens.

It's airy, pretty and very feminine. There is a perfume quality to it, which surprises me

because most of the time aquatics are masculine in scent (to my sniffer anyway.)

There is a definite fruit feel, but mostly this is a herbal violet, with mint and greens.

I love it!

[PurringPulsar]

Faeu Boulanger

 

In the imp: fresh mint and something almost reminiscent of cucumber!

Wet on skin: lime? I swear I smell lime here…or something citrus-y. now this smells a bit aquatic.

Dry on skin: ooh, this is very pretty indeed! This smells like a soft minty mist mixed with a hint of something like wet autumn leaves and dewy greenery, and a touch of citrus and ozone (gentle watery airy ozone, nothing stormy here) too. This scent really does evoke mist and dew. It smells wet, cool and humid, amazingly evocative of a cold dewy misty morning. The violet isn’t very strong for now. There’s something almost reminiscent of one of the ice notes Beth uses, the one that smells a bit like cucumber and sugary evergreen notes, except this lacks the sweet evergreens and the frozen feeling-this just feels cool and wet.

After a while: the mint and wet cucumber-y smell does tone down and the violet becomes a bit more apparent. This bog violet note is very different to other BPAL violets, not sweet or dusty-powdery, I’d say this is more like the violet in Crow Moon or City in the Sea. All around this violet note, I smell soft airy ozone. The scent then develops a strange waxy white petal scent, something I usually get in scents with certain lilies or sweet pea, but those notes are not listed. The ozone also starts to go a bit ‘tumble dried’ on me, which I’m not keen on.

Verdict: this was so gorgeous when freshly applied. Mint and mist! Ethereal and delicate wisps of wet, cool vapour with greenery, dew, violet and citrus with the extra freshness of mint and cucumber. No mushrooms. It was pretty much a spot-on mist scent and I was in love. But sadly, this stage was short-lived. Then it turned into a generic violet-y soapy floral with squeaky-clean ozone. Bah. I wanted bottled fog! I loved the start of this scent and thought it was a shame that it turned slightly disappointing at drydown.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Sadly no, despite the lovely first stage.

If you like this, try: Roux Ga Roux, City in the Sea, Crow Moon, Sea of Glass, Dian’s Bud, Squirting Cucumber

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Fresh and lightly floral

 

On Application

This smells really aquatic and fresh with slight floral undertone

 

Dry Down

There is nothing mushroomy or dirty about this scent at all. This would be a lovely summer scent. I do get a bit of violet on drydown but it never takes over.

 

Rating (0-5)

4

[gchris]

in vial: sweet and fresh florals

 

wet: green florals, a little fruity but not citrus

 

dry: this is still very green floral. sweet. has not changed much since the 'wet' stage.

[FallDaze]

In the imp I get a wet, murky and slightly sharp impression. Not a whole lot of mint or violet yet. I can smell them in the backgroung, but it's very faint.

 

Wet it reminds me of a dirtier, less floral Bayou. I see Bayou as a relatively clear body of water with cypress knees and flowers, which Faeu Boulanger is the dark and dirty depths of the swamp, if that makes sense. Still no mint, but the violet is getting a little braver and is starting poke out.

 

After a while the sharpness returns. Very pungent too. Slightly soapy sharp, swampy decaying florals in a hot bog. Very interesting indeed! A nice and nifty scent, just not so much my style.

[hkhm]

bottle: wet greenery with a light mint touch.

 

wet: this has a similar feel to some of the arkham scents, kind of like an evil grapfruit or kumquat scent. there's sort of an afterthought scent of something cucumberish here as well. no mint or violet to speak of.

 

dry: this smells very similar to night-gaunt to me. it's incredibly lovely.

[rayvn1]

As soon as I eased open the imp I was in love! Sweet, fresh mint with flowing water. This is fantastic! I feel more awake just smelling this If I ever need a revitalizing BPAL I know where to turn. This is such a winner! Great throw too. Best mint blend on my skin so far.

[MisterShrapnel]

Ooh yess. A fresh scent that works with me! Sweet, juicy greenery and crushed mint leaves, truly cooling and misty as promised! Something about it reminds me of honeydew melons, and the gentle violets are soo pretty in here. Whereas Ultraviolet was more angles and sharp lines (and I liked that too), this is a swirling vapor. I don't get any shower gel; just dew droplets gathering on delicate, bright green leaves in the shade. And it has very nice throw. I'm going to love this in warmer weather.

[cinnamonster]

I was expecting somethng very unusual from this given the description, mushroom gases, but what I actually get on my skin is a green grassy aquatic, and we hateses the aquatics don'ts we...

 

Still there is something I like about this and I...wow...BAM, there are the violets. It's like they just drove up in a bright red pick-up, music blaring, and screeched to a halt, right in the middle of your immaculate but water-logged lawn, threw out a few beer bottles, and then screeched off again. It's that fast! They're gone, leaving deep tyre tracks behind. But now your lawn smells a bit muddier and your neighbour Mr.Cucumber comes out to tut-tut and help pick up the bottles. I think maybe they ran over and killed the aquatic-headache of hell note. Good job guys

 

 

I don't think I'd buy a bottle of this or even get through more than my half decant, but there might be a day when I try this again.

 

ETA: Later when you look out of your bathroom window you can see your neighbour Mr.Cucumber, only he's wearing ladies clothes, swaying softly and dancing by himself in his kitchen singing...you can call me Lady Cataloupe..

 

 

Edited April 18, 2009 by cinnamonmel

[GardenCat]

A bright violet with a bit of grassy-green! A beautiful summer/spring scent to wear with a flowered skirt!

[donnatron]

Imp: Light and misty. A bit like watery violets. Also a hint of something a bit more earthy; almost dirty.

 

Wet: Is there ozone in this? Like a very, very light touch of it? I get a bit of an ozone haze and then some light violet and a bit of mint. It really evokes that misty quality. Very great and smells more damp than humid.

 

Dry: Ozone, violet and mint. It's okay. It dried down a lot different than I was actually expecting it would. It's not particularly complex on my skin and it kind of reminds me of a toned down Nuclear Winter of all scents. It's very watery and very damp--really reminds me of winters on Vancouver Island or similar.

 

Throw: Mild.

 

Overall: It's okay. It reminds me of quite a few other scents in the BPAL ouevre and I think that's just because a lot of the notes are ones that are okay on my skin but not necessarily superstars. I'll probably pass the imp along because I can't really see a desire to wear this in the future.