Marotte

[VioletChaos]

Golden pear, amber, fig leaf, oakmoss, bronze musk, mahogany, patchouli, and a smattering of glittering pyrite.

of the three Le Mat scents, this is the one i've been least sure about. still, my curiosity is peaked. let's get on with it then, shall we???

in the bottle: fig, pear and a metallic finish of what must be the pyrite.

wet on skin: uh oh. it's threatening to become shampoo on me. there's still hope, of course, but oakmoss, i'm looking at you.

dry down: well, the oakmoss has left town and fortunately taken the shampoo aspect with it. *whew*! what's left is something puzzling. bronze musk? amber? pyrite? not sure.

in all: this is one that i think will require aging before a final verdict can be made. but i'm hopeful!

ETA: it's a while later and Marotte has turned into this scent that i envision Grande Dames of the 1940's would wear. i'm not normally interested in the scents that smell like "perfume", but this is certainly an exception. not a scent for every day, but one to wear when getting dressed up in total finery and going out for a night on the town. the sort of scent that forced men to hold doors open for you. THAT'S Marotte. Edited August 2, 2009 by Shollin

[hkhm]

bottle: fig and pear with a nice bright wood note.

 

wet: this is faintly metallic when wet, but very softly so. the fruit has vanished, in it's place is moss and musk and patchouli.

 

dry: this dries to a very golden fruit and metallic scent. the metal is soft and shiny, not brash.

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the bottle, I pick up the pear definitely and a bit of fig.

 

Wet on the skin, it's pear, amber, and patchouli. I concur that there is a metallic tinge to it as well. As it begins to dry and settle on my skin, I'm left with patchouli, musk, moss, and spicy pear. It's going a bit powdery on my skin.

 

Fully dry, the patchouli is gone and I am back to pear and fig and wood. No more spice or musk. Very soft scent once fully dry.

 

On my skin, this dries to a very gender-neutral blend.

[Rheliwen]

The pear is definitely golden, all the way. It starts off heavy on the pear and gradually allows in the mellow fig and metallic wood. This isn't ozoney or aquatic, but it has a lingering memory of those. Mostly it's pear, fig, and something a little non-descript earthy.

 

It also fades really quickly. It's actually a really unique scent and one I can't completely compare to anything else.

[twilighteyes]

In the bottle: The pear stands out the most. The amber, patchouli, and oakmoss are all blended together nicely to make it warm and earthy.

 

On my skin: Pear and Amber. Mahogany, patchouli and oakmoss again blended together nicely and making it a deeper, darker scent.

 

My favorite of the three.

[GreenSpine]

The pear leads this one for me, too - it's an amazing note, definitely golden. The musk, metallic and patchouli notes are also very prominent, with amber lurking in the background. Overall, it's definitely fruity, but I wouldn't call it a foody blend.

 

I didn't expect to like this one so much. It's got my nose completely glued to my wrist and I'm sniffing myself in public. But I suppose if I'm going to smell like a fool, might as well look like one too.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Interesting and beautiful juxtaposition of Fruit, Wood and Earthy notes.

 

No Florals are listed and I don't think any are in here. Pear seems to be the topnote. Pear bulstered by Oakmoss and they are on top of the other basenotes.

 

 

Edited April 17, 2009 by Heavenlyrabbit

[GoldenRubee]

In the bottle it is very strong but sweet. The sweetness comes from the golden pear, and the very strong deep scent is from the mahogany, patchouli and amber. There is a slight hint of fig but it is barely discernible. I love oakmoss and can definitely smell this once I apply it. It blends with the other deep notes and brings out the warmth and earthiness. After wearing it for 30 minutes or so, it does start to smell richer and sweeter. I think that with aging it is going to develop into a really beautiful scent.

[norskette]

In the bottle, mmm pure pears and a slightly resinous base note. On me: pears and amber- oh yes, the amber comes out strong after about 10 minutes of wear. An hour later I still get a strong warm fruity musk that lingers on and on. A must-slather fragrance. I absolutely love this sweet warm essence!

[msbcozad]

Of the three Fools, I thought Marotte would be my favorite because of the pear and amber. I think I may have issues with oakmoss, though, as it's pulling the blend into heavier territory. There's something fiery in here which reminds me a tiny bit of the effect of Fire Phoenix. No idea what's causing that.

 

This is a sophisticated, adult blend. Nothing foolish here.

Edited April 21, 2009 by MelanieSuzanne

[Dark Alice]

Wet: Fresh, green....pear..., ashy, fresh cut green pear.

 

Drydown...this mellows into a lovely amber with fresh cut pear. I love it...I may have to try and find myself a partial bottle

[drmomof2boys]

Sweet and crisp! A perfect, just-ripe pear! I was worried about this one because of the patchouli, but I don't get any patchouli! Yay! I hardly get any mahogany, either. Not sure if it's the bronze musk or the pyrite that gives this such a crispness. Stays true when worn and drying down. Sadly, it fades to barely-there after less than an hour. But it was very nice while it lasted!

[greenranger]

It starts off pear, musk, and patchouli. I think I can detect something metallic...

 

Another yummy one. With Amber in it, it will probably keep getting better for a while on me as well. Amber is never at its best for me till a few months have passed.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this smells wonderfully juicy, sweet, and crisp. I thought of red apples, but I guess that I must be smelling the pear.

 

On my skin, this is still dominated by the pear. I usually amp amber (and bpal's amber tends to turn to baby powder), but all I can smell is the crisp pear and a bit of perfumey musk.

 

With all of the listed notes, I thought that this would be more of a complex scent. I also thought that it would be darker and more earthy, with the mahogany and patchouli. But it's not, and I'm complaining . I really love that crisp pear note (which still smells like red apples to me, lol).

 

Mixing Marotte, Coxcomb, & Motley together (I mixed a couple drops of each together in a vial): Smells like musk and fruit. On my skin, the combined musks seem to amp up and this is a very warm scent. There's a hint of pear and redcurrant drowning underneath the musks. As it dries down, it's warm musk and baby powder, which is weird, because neither of the three original scents went powdery on their own :/. After a half hour, this is powdery musk and an earthy, burnt rubber smell. Like the Red Rose/White Rose set, I much prefer the scents separately. Separately, Marotte, Coxcomb, and Motley are all loves for me. Together, they morph into an uber-musk that just smells cheap and strange on my skin.

[CreamyJade]

In the bottle: Pear! Sweet juicy golden pear! Also, there's something reminiscent of Snow, Glass & Apples in the mix, the crispness of the scent.

Wet on skin: More lovely pear, along with slight woods and something deep & green.

Dry on skin: Oh man. This is lovely! It's pear, but balanced with wood, amber & something tangy that makes this blend a very beautiful blend.

Final thoughts: Woah! I thought I'd be all over Motley, but it's Marotte that makes me crazy. I'm not fond of overly fruit scents, but I love pear notes (Lune Noire & Black Moon!) and this blend is just too pretty!

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Pear plus a very deep rich amber perfumey scent that smells like Opium (the brand of perfume, not the drug).

 

Immediately on skin: This smells so perfumey as soon as it’s on my skin. The pear virtually disappears and it’s all amber-y and dark. I can smell the amber, musk and mahogany all mixed together, plus a touch of oakmoss.

 

After a little while: This gets a little lighter as it dries down, but it still stays very perfumey on me. The top of this blend features a hint of pear and some oakmoss, and the base is rich and dark with a lot of amber, dark wood, and musk. I don’t really get the patchouli though.

 

Overall Impressions: This is a darker blend than I was expecting but looking at the notes I shouldn’t be surprised. This blend has a really rich, deep, perfumey base to it with a lot of amber, dark mahogany and musk with top notes of pear and oakmoss slightly blending in. This has an overall dark feel to it, but I can kind of feel a sparkling tone in my nose. This is very pretty, but not for me.

 

[femmefatale]

At first I loved this. It was all ripe pear with a hint of resin. But as it dried, the pear faded and it morphed into something more complex and perfumey. It's still pretty, but I miss my pear.

This dries down to a very elegant and classy scent. I might keep my decant, but I doubt I'll spring for the set, unless I love the other 2.

[AliBabble]

in the bottle this is pear mixed with something strange. revisiting the notes, i'm guessing it's the bronze musk, because it smells metallic. there's something elegant and heady about this oil, although it is basically a sunny pear scent. it's like a plain little pear all dressed up in furs and jewels. this scent is really odd and schizophrenic, but it works. i'd say it's basically a sophisticated pear scent. as it dries the amber makes a very quiet appearance...a resin-y pear. a gilded pear. nice.

[marared]

Initial impression is floral wood - not strong overpowering wood, but definitely wood. The pear comes out a minute later. Yep, pear and wood. And musk. Kind of a nice mix, actually. I'm not sure I'd want to wear this right off the bat, but I think this one will age well.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Deep orangey amber colour. Sweet, fruity, earthy, warm, musky. Lots of bright juicy pear on top, but loads of boozey (Smut-y) musk, oakmoss, patchouli, and wood below. Amber is present, too. Smells slightly soapy-cologney.

 

Wet: Pear! Oddly sharp, metallic - reminds me of the oil/metal notes in Galvanic Googles - must be the pyrite? Very nice, if a bit masculine - I think it's responsible for 'cologney' aspect. More herbal, too - fig leaf? And less deeply earthy/dark.

 

Dry: It's going more soapy/sharp/cologney, but not unpleasantly, just STRONGLY. The pear is holding pretty well, too, and the musk is amping a bit. Only lightly boozy/smutty now; overall less sweet and more like Arabian musk.

 

Later: The musk/oakmoss/patchouli/mahagony (not a super strong presence, but there) combo in this, along with the herbal fig leaf note and juicy sweet-tartness of the pear reminds me ALOT of The Wild Hunt (unreleased). The patchouli notes is definitely DIRTY and head-shoppy, but in a way that's just so appealing.

 

Summary: This would be so sexy on man! The pear and pyrite (or at least, the metallic glittering aspect - it's still cologney) do fade and the earthy notes and musk amp, but otherwise this one doesn't morph much. Good throw.

 

I am not very experienced with ambers, but this one is pretty light on me, more of a rich perfumey warmth than anything, and it doesn't go powdery at all. If you have issues with ambers, don't be afraid.

 

[catattack]

Imp: Herbal and antiseptic

Wet: Medicinal in a not so good way.

Drydown: It was harsh and smelled of chemicals.

Overall: I never got any of the goodness the other reviewers spoke of. I never got pear, musk, fig, nada!

[Lamia]

This starts acceptably, smelling like ... like ... you know the fruit section of a salad buffet? Washed-out fruity sweetness, and the strongest scent is always the cantaloupe? Yeah, that's it.

 

It turns very quickly, becoming grainy and dusty over the fruit. It seems that Beth's pear & I can go both ways, and this time it wasn't successful. As I review the ingredients, I notice amber - blargh, I can only wear "red" and "black" amber - "plain" amber and "white" amber don't do well on my skin.

 

Ah well. This is my least favorite of the LeMat series. I have to try them layered, apparently.

[Seismogenic]

Pyrite. Seriously. Pyrite! As a geologist, need I say anything else about why I wanted to give this one a test? (Oh yeah, the other notes do sound really good too. But mostly, pyrite.)

 

In the imp: Sweet and juicy, like some sort of red fruit (which is odd, since there aren't any red fruits listed).

 

Wet on skin: Still sweet and juicy like some sort of fruit, though the fruit doesn't immediately strike me as being red anymore. There is definitely something rather metallic lurking in the background, too.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, this is still juicy and fruity, but the wood and moss are starting to fill in the backdrop. The metallic mineral aspect is still something lingering in the back, but it's undeniably there. At one hour in, however, the fruitiness has faded to near zero, and what's left is a blend of wood, moss, a bit of patchouli, and a littler bit of musk, with a decidedly metal-mineral thing still lurking in the shadows.

 

Five hours later: Similar to the one hour mark in terms of how it's blended, though somewhat fainter: dusty and earthy wood and moss and patchouli, with maybe some musk and maybe some of the metal mineral left.

 

End of the day: Dry wood, oakmoss, and maybe a little bit of musk.

 

Overall: I looked up what a marotte is, and Wikipedia says it's the wooden stick with some sort of metal ornament on top that jesters use in their shows. The drydown of this scent nails that - mossy wood with a small amount of something metallic. I was quite pleased by the pyrite note itself, in that it did smell like mineral metal, but left out the rotten egg aspect of genuine pyrite; not to mention I was pleased that it stuck around so long. I also do like wood and moss notes, so I enjoyed this overall even after all the various fruits burned off.

Edited May 2, 2009 by Seismogenic

[sunshinedaisybliss]

 

Completely delicious! As others have said, the pear is strongest on my skin.. it reminds me of The Perilous Parlor - same kind of pear except that in Marotte it's a golden woody kind of pear rather than the sweet vanilla pear of TPP.

 

Patchouli, thankfully, is not strong here - although it does feature more after about an hour on my skin than it did at first. I'm loving the heady mix of the oakmoss, musk and mahogany. I do get what people are saying about the 'metallic edge' but on me it's not sharp at all.. everything here is beautifully blended and very soft. After 3 hours on my skin, I'm still getting beautiful woody pear and amber.

 

Gorgeous on its own, but even better when layered with the other two (Motley and Coxcomb).

[ivyandpeony]

This has the lightest throw of the three scents from Le Mat. I get lots of pear when it's wet, but as it dries down the pear recedes a good bit and allows the spicier, more resinous notes to bloom. So it's definitely not a sweet pear scent like The Perilous Parlor, or even as sweet as Endymion is on me, yet it's definitely feminine enough for a woman to wear. I didn't get any impressions of pyrite, although trying three scents at once can sometimes interfere with picking up the subtle pleasures of a scent like this one Definitely a keeper, though!