Baume du Doge

You awake to the sound of the phone ringing....it's just another damn solicitor. In a daze, you begin to smell jolting traces of orange and cinnamon wafting through the air....is that her? You follow the scent into kitchen where your next fling is brewing some fancy tea for you. You utter a hollow "thanks" before heading up for a cold shower....anything to get her off your mind. The freezing water bites in minty and metallic waves - how much must you endure before you can forget the wild wonders of that day spent by the sea? You can still taste her on your lips and feel her legs wrapped around you...after all these years, she has never left your thoughts. You dry yourself in your room as the amber sun slowly rises through the cedars and your half-opened shades...the soft glow is reminiscent of her ambered skin with the scent of a sweet myrrh and alluring powder. Your every thought is consumed by her visage, your mind oscillates between her honeyed words and immaculate vanilla skin...you can't resist. A few moments later, you hear her voice on the other line..."I've been waiting..." You can hear the ocean's siren song in the background as you declare, "I'm coming...." Day 99 - A distant sunrise Listening to: The Gathering - Gemini III Notes: Well, it has been quite some time since I sampled this fume (several years I believe) and it is funny how my tastes have shifted ever so slightly in that time! I still love this fume, but it didn't wow me like it did the first time around. That being said, this fume opens with a colorful orange and cinnamon liqueur with a dash of cardamom and pepper contrasted with a minty note (watercress?) and the airy and metallic sting of saffron! This flourish of notes calms into a very enticing spiced orange and sweet myrrh that lasts for many hours before picking up a base of fluffy & floral vanilla with a touch of woodiness (cedar is clear but I can't sense the vetiver). Somewhat simpler than I remember, but quite alluring in the right circumstances and should definitely be enjoyed by anyone who likes oranges and cinnamon (and sweets)!

Fierce, dry & woodsy with a twist. My new perfume crush! On first spritz you are clobbered by an arrid, nutty, cedar blast which is almost camphorous & stripping. The sweetness is turned down to background noise - the real volume is reserved for the woods at this stage. It is intense: climbing into a freshly-hewn cedar chest would be tame by comparison. Minutes in & the dry sticks & fragrant woods are starting to mingle with sun-baked earth & clay, a light metallic tinge from the saffron, a peppery edge, some welcome warmth from the cinnamon & playfullness. Now, about that playfullness: I would never have thought that I would find two kinds of toothpaste peeking between the trees in Baume's forest let alone welcome their presence! Diluted Euthymol & a light mint add a freshness & quirky edge to this scent. Surely it must be a camphorous-mint-mirage: cardamon/bergamot/myrrh/+random aniseed-green-sweetness of fennel = transparent minty whisper! I think this is a stroke of genius by Duchaufour. The delicate, warm mint breathes a delicacy into this scent & lifts the whole composition. Baume could so easily have become too hard & bleak if incense had been added, too sickly if dried fruits were present, or too mainstream & cosy-cashmere if he had dolloped on the sugar. This is a perfect balance & blend, very harmonious & natural in feel. Baume plays about on my skin for hours, gradually becoming smoother, sweeter & more resinous but maintaining the vetyver & cedar woodsiness that appealed so much to me at the start. The lasting power is good & the sillage is moderate - tick, tick. Baume is a rare thing: timeless, noble, interesting, wearable & deeply enjoyable. WANT. *it is interesting to note that I find a familiar feel & appeal in Agonist Liquid Crystal. Although they are different in scent-appearance they must be brother (Baume) & sister (LC). Can I bag the whole family, please?

I fluctuate between loving everything about Baume du Dodge to craving something just a little more in it. I think it's a fairly weather dependent fragrance as the resinous notes are very delicately balanced and are either brought out with hints of sweetness in warm weather, or they're completely consumed into oblivion when my skin is dry and the air is cold. Cedar, cardamom, olibanum, saffron in a rather arid and ever so slightly salty composition--feels a lot like hot, sweet desert air when the vanilla and orange decide to stop for a brief visit. Myrrh adds a little mystery, and cedar, a little camphor in the slightly medicinal drydown that other reviewers are experiencing. It's hard not to fall in love with Baume du Dodge, especially if you love woods, spice and resin. I can't help but want just a tiny bit more floral or something with a hint of beauty (but I guess that's in the eye--or nose--of the beholder). I think eventually I may still get myself a full bottle of this great fragrance as it has haunted me for some months and I feel very grounded when I wear it. It's also a little reminiscent of Tauer's L'Air du Desert Marocain. But where Marocain is desert by night, Baume du Doge is the same landscape by day.

Baume is sweet and slightly powdery-musky to begin with, but quickly opens up to reveal a mix of spices, woods, and sweets. There’s cinnamon and cardamom and vanilla and cedar and candied orange peel, but most of all there’s that wonderful sickly-sweetish, sticky, almost petroleum-like smell of myrrh. I could swear there’s some ambrette in the base, too, but maybe it’s just the effect of the myrrh combining with other materials. Once it dries down to the myrrh and vanilla stage, it pretty much stays there, and stays there, and stays there. Bits of sweet sillage come floating around all day long, and it’s still on clothing the next morning. For an EdT, this is powerful stuff. I would classify this perfume as a “myrrh” scent, with a lovely supporting cast. I would recommend it to anyone who loves myrrh, opoponax, and sweet gourmand fragrances.

I am in Love with this scent! The first couple minutes after I dabbed it on I thought, "Oh no, It's too masculine!" Five minutes more and it's settled into a gorgeous spicy, sweet, woody myrhh with barely a touch of a floral aspect I can't put my finger on, but I swear is there. I detect the orange and cinnamon from beginning to end, but they're blended so well with the other ingredients that neither overbears or dominates. Whether a pick me up, a comfort, or a night out this scent is sure to please. Definetly not too masculine. I DO NOT get the Christmas association. I almost didn't try this because of comments about that. Give this fragrance two days of your time and you'll find a Wonderful all-around fragrance. Good Sillage and Longevity