Le Revenant

[ellebelle]

LE REVENANT
Comme les anges à l'oeil fauve,
Je reviendrai dans ton alcôve
Et vers toi glisserai sans bruit
Avec les ombres de la nuit;

Et je te donnerai, ma brune,
Des baisers froids comme la lune
Et des caresses de serpent
Autour d'une fosse rampant.

Quand viendra le matin livide,
Tu trouveras ma place vide,
Où jusqu'au soir il fera froid.

Comme d'autres par la tendresse,
Sur ta vie et sur ta jeunesse,
Moi, je veux régner par l'effroi.

- - -

Like angels with wild beast's eyes
I shall return to your bedroom
And silently glide toward you
With the shadows of the night;

And, dark beauty, I shall give you
Kisses cold as the moon
And the caresses of a snake
That crawls around a grave.

When the livid morning comes,
You'll find my place empty,
And it will be cold there till night.

I wish to hold sway over
Your life and youth by fear,
As others do by tenderness.

-- Charles Baudelaire, translation by William Aggeler.

A shroud of gardenia, narcissus, and sandalwood with ambrette seed, white cognac, muguet, davana, and white musk.

On me, this is almost all white musk, all the time with a touch of high white florals. I was hoping for that rich cognac smell, but I don't get any of that.

[Aleah]

Normally I love sweet florals, but I think this one is a little too sweet even for me . . . on me it is mostly gardenia, I don't smell much of anything else.

 

Edit - After an hour or so, this because really nice! Was no where as strong and sweet as it was when first applied. More of the musk came out, I really liked it!

Edited October 7, 2011 by Aleah

[Lucretia]

This is all florals at first, mainly gardenia. But I have to say I really like the dry down! I get more musk and the ambrette and it's just a really pretty classy kind of scent. There's also something green smelling, like leaves or cut stems that I'm not sure I can pinpoint. I can tell I'm going to wear this a lot!

[Ghost of a Rose]

My imp is a decant from schackjj, The Goddess of Decanters (to borrow a quote from another participant in our decant circle.)

 

In the imp: Oil is clear, with just the palest tinge of yellow. The scent is strongly floral, with gardenia and lily-of-the-valley (muguet) predominating, and with a deeper musky undertone. I can already tell that I'm going to want a full bottle of this.

 

On me, wet: It is softer on me, with a surprising, delicate, lemony note that is quite lovely and sparkling combined with the flowers. The florals are more subdued and no particular type of flower stands out. The deeper notes are in hiding. It is a light, bright, scent.

 

On me, just dried: Pretty much the same except that the florals have gotten stronger, especially the gardenia.

 

After 30 minutes: Now very soft, mostly gardenia. The lemony note is gone.

 

After 1 hour: Mostly gardenia, with hints of musk and (white?) sandalwood. I've loved this all along, and now it is even more beautiful.

 

After 3 hours: The sandalwood and musk are now also equal to the gardenia in strength, but the scent is quite faint.

 

After 4 hours: The scent on my wrist is virtually gone, leaving just a ghostly lingering memory of gardenia.

 

Verdict: A gorgeous, elegant, floral fragrance. The flower notes are so natural, and all of the notes blend together very beautifully. Yep, I'm definitely getting a full bottle of this.

 

My rating: 5 stars

[Leopard403]

On me, this is all gardenia. Like sticking your face right into a bloom. Which is EXACTLY what I hoped for.

[Little Bird]

I love gardenia, but the narcissus and white musk here make this too sharp and perfumey for me. It has a good dose of creamy, tropical gardenia, but it just doesn't work for me with the added perfumey floral notes. I was curious about the white cognac, but don't smell anything boozy here.

[V294]

Why HELLO gardenia. This is really pretty. I'm a fan of gardenia and here it has some complexity enough to put it in possible bottle contention. A very white scent. The gardenia is softening an oh, I think this might just be morphing into something fantastic. Time will tell....

[Incendiare]

This is one that I was looking forward to. When I first open the vial, I am hit with a classic white floral, yet there is something underlying off about it in the background. The off note kind of lingers in the air even after I put the cap back on. When I sniff the wand up close though, it's elegant gardenia all the way. It's sweeter than I expected. I thought the sandalwood and ambrette seed were going to put a damper on the sweetness of the florals but I guess not. Not complaining though! It's beautiful. Actually even nicer than I expected. The white musk ties everything together in this blend wonderfully.

[angelamaria]

In tester: green. The sandalwood and gardenia notes are most recognizable.

 

Wet on skin: hmmm. I'm not sure what this note that I am smelling is--maybe the white cognac, as it has a slightly liquor-y sort of feel. Gardenia, and slightly green, rich. This is quite pretty! Somewhat unexpected, to be honest. Good, strong throw. I think I will have to retest if the drydown is good--I have a feeling that this will be one of those blends where a little will go a long way, on me, and will just grow stronger as it ages.

 

Dry: the white musk has gone faintly grandmothery. Aside from that, I get gardenia, that note that I assumed was white cognac, and a hint of sandalwood. It's a pretty, floral blend, well blended.

 

Verdict: probably a pass, but as I did get a bottle unsniffed anyway, I'll age my bottle to see how it develops later on.

[taramarie]

In the bottle, Le Revenant is all narcissus. Wet on my skin, it's narcissus and a little bit of white musk in the background. It's pretty, but not what I was after. I'll age it for a year then try it again.

[countessmouse]

On occasion, narcissus likes to try and throw that sour smell jasmine does on me but this time the gardenia wouldn't let it happen (yay!). Mostly sweet floral led by gardenia at first, it's now being toned down by the white musk and something slightly fruity (the davana?). Very pretty.

[tajana]

This one is quite musky on me! Right off the bat I get a fair but of ambrette and clean white musk along with the florals. Unfortunately, I don't like narcissus much, and that's the floral that sticks out most to me here. The throw is surprisingly powerful for what I expected would be an ephemeral scent, and the scent that wafts up is quite pretty - crisp muguet and creamy gardenia musk. But when I take a closer whiff, I get a nose full of uncomfortable narcissus.

[theseagrows]

WHOA floral!! i love florals, but this is very strong and sweet.it's pretty much gardenia, muguet and maybe a hint of sandalwood on my skin. perhaps in the drydown it will mellow out and be nice, but this stage is far too strong for my tastes. maybe if the white musk was stronger and there was less gardenia, i could do this scent, but right now it's too strong and is giving me a bit of a headache.

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant circle

 

Initial Thoughts: I think at the time I must have jumped for the gardenia after seeing that the musk was white. Now I see the sandalwood and ambrette seed and am thinking perhaps I shouldn't have...

 

In the vial: Lots of sandalwood and amber, gentled with a chilly floral note.

 

Wet: Hello, musk. Hello, amber. Of course you come out first. I get a boozy element from the cognac, and an overall sweetness, but not in-your-face florals.

 

Drydown: After a bit of monkeying around, it seems to be settling into a musky gardenia. There's a hint of another cool white floral in the background.

 

Verdict: It turned out better than I thought, but I don't think I need a bottle. I have other scents that showcase gardenia better.

[edenssixthday]

Le Revenant - Oh wow, this is a really heady floral. There's a trace of sandalwood far, far beneath the florals, but it's basically a really strong floral that's very heady and cloying.

[surlygurl]

The notes looked lovely, so I got a decant. Little did I know that the mix of heady florals would turn into something resembling jasmine on me. That bad jasmine that smells like all those GC imps in my swap box

 

I really wish I could smell single notes of the florals and figure out who the culprit is. I love the notes individually, but the combo is not working on me.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Many florals sprinkled with cognac and musk, only lightly.

 

Wet: The narcissus and muget are doing what they usually do, turning sharp and nasty.

 

The dry-down: Yep, that brown musky scent from the muget, aided and abetted by the narcissus, has over-ridden all the other notes, alas. I was hoping for a lovely gardenia and sandalwood scent, backed by the musk.

[ami226]

On the skin: Lovely scent! I can't smell this one when I sniff my arm up close, but I seem to catch the scent better further away. Definitely a white scent. Lovely lovely florals that make me think of high end soap. Beautiful.

[boxinghelena]

Le Revenant:

 

What the Hell? Where is the gardenia? I like gardenia. The only reason I bought a bottle was because of all the gardenia-love reviews. I think whatever note that ruined this one for me killed gardenia. It was rotting decay on me?? To the point where I had to wash it off. My husband smelled my wrist last night and said it didn't smell like decay to him, that it smelled really nice.

 

I thought I had washed it all off last night but this morning, I did finally detect a faded gardenia.

[zankoku_zen]

White musk, white florals and a trace of wet wool.

 

BOO to gardenia.

 

Boo.

[surf-tormented]

This is all sandalwood on me in the bottle and wet on my skin. But then as it dries the flowers come out, along with a smokey cognac. It isn't that loud on my skin, it seems unisex if anything, pretty sexy. Musky and resiny, without the floral being too much. It gets better the longer it's on my skin too. Since I got a tester of this, I am seeking out to swap for a partial bottle. I find this one perfect for Valentine's Day too, it's very romantic.

[milo]

Right away I'm getting a high pitched perfumey smell, very much like a cheap 70's cologne. Pretty much stays the same as time goes on, aggressive white florals with cheap musk. Not for me.

[Gin]

Le Revenant is amazing, lush floral. It's a little high-pitched for a minute (is that the narcissus?) but it quickly calms down. I love magnolia, so I think this is a keeper.

[AEris]

I really liked this at first, but all of the sweetly fresh floral notes that flirted with me disappeared after a few minutes. What's left is an uninteresting sharp bitter jasmine note that doesn't really love me all that much. Oh well!

[porcelina]

the lab sent me le revenant by mistake (was supposed to be nocturnal reverie). with the glowers and the cognac and the white musk, i would never have selected it on my own!

 

oof. this is a sharp white floral, fresh dewy petals but no greenery, and white white musk. it's a high floral perfume; it tickles my nose. it smells, i dunno, fancy? there is the barest whiff of ambrette seed… dusty sandalwood underneath it all. not for me!