Question:
Originally Posted by Riannon I do know your secret cravings, eh?
On the right arm: Stephanie Bakouche’s scent:
Notes: grapefruit, bergamot, violet leaves, white thyme, cardamom, lavender, ginger, cedarwood, vanilla and musk.
Deep, deep sigh of pleasure!
First a topnote that makes you wonder if you have made the right choice. Intriguing. Almost disturbing. And I can't stop myself thinking of the first impression some of my best loved Lutens made
After that a veil of dark, yet comforting notes surrounds you. Night, warm and tender. Haunting. A night you will want to last forever.
Made for men? No way, at least Stephanie Bakouche is mine and I will defend any bottle I can lay my hands on with my life!!
I owe the wonderful people of Perfume Posse a sincere 'thank you' for providing the notes on their blog. Hi Riannon! The SB is definitely my favorite too! I love it!

Answer:
Originally Posted by lilybp Hi Riannon! The SB is definitely my favorite too! I love it! My FragranceSister
((((HUGS))))
Wonderful, enigmatic scent, isn't it? I was almost afraid when I first smelled it, so much it was reaching out to me.
Almost too good to be true.
Thank the Lord and great perfumers for wonders like this one!

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Thank you, Riannon, for the great info! Though now I am in deep trouble, because especially after your description of the SB and and PB men's scents, I want to run right out and order samples immediately, but am trying to be restrained (and failing miserably, after the Lutens-fest! Also your fault ) because our family van needs to be replaced.
Ah, well. Perhaps my kids won't mind walking more. It's been a mild winter here so far.

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Originally Posted by ComDiva Thank you, Riannon, for the great info! Though now I am in deep trouble, because especially after your description of the SB and and PB men's scents, I want to run right out and order samples immediately, but am trying to be restrained (and failing miserably, after the Lutens-fest! Also your fault ) because our family van needs to be replaced.
Ah, well. Perhaps my kids won't mind walking more. It's been a mild winter here so far. Oh yes my poor dear! Walking is extremely healthy for children
And think of the joy when they come home to their gorgeous smelling mother!
That alone will make your little darlings jump with delight
BTW, they are looking for a replacement for one of the witches in 'Macbeth'. I do hope they will choose me. I just have everything for that role

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I know it is hard to believe but yesterday's fragrance by Stephanie Bakouche lasted for over ten hours!!
I admit that I applied a very generous amount (or rather: splashed), but even so...
This morning before showering I could still smell her, nose pressed to arm.
Longevity is not something you will have to worry about.
Since Pierre Bourdon disappeared a lot earlier, I applied the third fragrance for women:
created by Francis Kurkdjian, simply named "FK3".
Oh, please MDCI, give your beauties a proper name. They deserve it. Shakespeare might have said:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet."
But for me a name would give these fragrances something extra, the allure they deserve.
(Rhiannon's Song would be nice, I think)
Given notes for FK3: bergamot, mandarin, ylang-ylang, jasmine sambac, tuberose, Turkish rose, wallflower, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla and vetiver.
And thanks to the hard work of dear G, showing signs of addiction already without even sampling yet, I now know that the sandalwood is from India and the vetiver from Haiti.
to G. Good job you did, putting the fragrances on the 'Missing Fragrances List'. Thank you!
Back to FK3. I can almost hear Taoloady muttering about the clattering of the approaching hooves of bankruptcy.
Another scent here that I love *sigh*.
This one has 'French elegance' written al over it. Classic and classy.
And I mean classic in the best sense of the word. My most loved notes of tuberose and jasmine in a marriage with silky soft sandalwood.
Not a harsh note to find. Refined, gorgeous.

And I can imagine this would be lovely on a man as well! Very, very lovely!

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Today a short review of the first fragrance for women created by Francis Kurkdjian, named "FK1".
I will gladly seize the opportunity to copy the notes BrothaG made for the 'Missing Fragranges' list:
Bergamot, Brazilian mandarin, California lemon, ylang-ylang, jasmine, Indian sandalwood, tonka bean, vanilla
More info: "A woodsy floral."
I am a bit puzzled by this fragrance. Maybe you should forget everything you ever read about a fragrance as soon as you are going to try it yourself.
That way you will avoid expectations or biased opinions.
But from the moment I read on several blogs that this scent was so 'surprisingly reminiscent' of Attrape-Coeur, I could not get that thought out of my head.
I have gone through many, many bottles of Guet-Apens, as Attrape-Coeur was called before, so I can say I am very familiair with the scent.
Last weekend I made a parcel for a dear friend, including a small vial with the very last drops of Guet-Apens, so that was an excellent opportunity to test FK1 against it.
And....I could not smell the reminiscence, however hard I tried
Well, here we go with the bodychemistry again!
Don't misunderstand me: this is a lovely scent, soft and comforting. On my skin the emphasis lies very much on the jasmine, Ylang-Ylang and vanilla. Somehow the citrus opening is gone in seconds and the sandalwood.....yes, where is the sandalwood hiding?
A very demure sandalwood at this moment.
But that is the beauty of fragrance. Maybe I will test this again next week and think: ah, there is the sandalwood and....do I smell a hint of Guet-Apens there?
Perfume changing with your skin, your food, your mood. Never boring. What a privilege to smell scents that will always be just that little bit different. Not exactly what you expected but still: beautiful and appealing.
Only a very well made fragrance can give you such an experience.
This one does!!

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Thank you so much for these in-depth reviews, R! You really do them justice by giving them a full try, and the more I read about them, the more anxious I get.....! Especially Stéphanie's "night you will want to last forever".

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The last review from me of a fragrance by Parfums MDCI : the second scent for women created by Francis Kurkdjian: FK2.
And oriental floral
Notes: Litchi, peony, hawthorn, Moroccan and Turkish roses, violet, cedar, musk, vetiver
I have tried this one more than the other scents, simply because it is the one I love least.
But I believe in giving a honest review, simply dismissing a scent because it is not exactly your taste is an insult to the love and care that was put in the creation. I can't create a scent so at least I will have the courtesy to respect the skills of someone who has this gift.
I think it is clear by now: I am not too fond of rose dominated scents. Which is a miracle because I am extremely fond of real roses. My house is always filled with them, one of the advantages of living in the Netherlands and knowing someone who grows them in his hothouse
Writing this I am looking at the vase next to me, filled with bloodred roses and I inhale their fresh, almost green scent. And a light whiff of sweet promises.
Is it so different from the scent wafting from my arm? Warm, sweet but surprisingly: not overwhelming. A rose that keeps its distance somehow. Is it the peony I love so much that is giving this rose a clear and almost clean aura?
I have said it before: if I was forced to pick one rose scent for my perfumecollection, I would choose this one.
Because it is refined, almost capturing the green tones of the real roses next to me.
A clear sunset in winter, almost unexpected streaks of gold and pale pink in the sky. That is what this fragrance reminds me of on this freezing cold day.
I wonder, how will she bloom in summer?

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Well, since I received my samples as well, I wore Stephanie Bakouche's fragrance today. Just like Riannon, I found that this fragrance had a rather different/unusual opening, but then it blooms into a wonderful, warm and sensual fragrance. The final drydown is so comfortable and slightly herbal.
The only con so far is that I don't seem to get a lot of sillage from this fragrance. The longevity though is definitely decent.
I've given the other men's fragrance by Pierre Bourdon a short try on my hand last night. Although I like the drydown better than the initial phase, it wasn't really shocking for me. I'd think of this as a nice orange/citrus scent for spring/summer (evenings). Not too light but not too heavy either.
I'll probably give the women's scents a try in the next few days (and see how my mother likes them), and will report back!

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Hi Riannon, LOVE your dragon and Lady in Blacks. Thanks for the great info and does anyone know what happened to sniff-n-speak?