Philippine Houseboy

From what I gather: THIS was released under the name "Fils de Dieu du riz et des argumes" (child of god, rice and citruses). And, if you look closely you can see that on the label of the bottle in the picture above. I will be contacting ELdO and finding out if this is the same fragrance or if they did release two (or one with two different labels)! I also do not see what all the hubbub is about. Just because this is (or might be) called "Phillipine Houseboy" how on EARTH is that racist?! No deprecating remarks were made about Filipinos...IN FACT, if anything this celebrates their beauty, sweetness and hard working ethic! It is not like they called it "Underaged Filipino Sex Slave" or anything...or (God forbid) LAZY Phillipine Houseboy! LIGHTEN UP PEOPLE!! And... I personally do not care what a scent is bottled like or named, as long as it smells good (or at least original)!! I am currently awaiting a sample of this but from what I've heard, it is a spicy citrus scent accented with fresh greens and slightly tropical. I might add here, that EVERY ELdO scent I own or have smelled (and that is all of them, but Bendelerious, Josephine Baker, this and Bijou Romantique) have been fantastic!! Yes, that includes Secretions too! ;-)

This is a surprisingly inviting and well executed offering from EDLO. Built primarily around the mojito and coconut notes, Houseboy introduces the spices of cardamom, cinnamon and coriander to dispel any suggestion that this is just another 'copacabana' tropical indulgence. The mojito is the dominant note on me and gives a boozy accord that when combined with spices, is suggestive of a long cold cocktail on a hot and humid afternoon. I guess this forms the inspiration for the controversial name. Houseboy sits fairly close to the skin as you would expect with this type of fragrance with good longevity (5hrs plus). It could be comfortably worn by men and women of all ages during the summer months, especially when the humidity is high. With summer almost upon my northern fragrantican friends, I can highly recommend sampling this.

The scent is gorgeous...though the longevity and the silage leave something to be desired, but scent wise, I really love the scent, it reminds me of my childhood, the green scent, fresh and uplifting, it's shisho and mojito... So the effect for me is green, and lush,but I don't find any connection with Philippine boy. With such a provocative name, no wonder it stirred up controversy, though I don't find it insulting, especially when we read the description... And to be honest, even though they changed the name, i specifically went out and search for Philippine Houseboy and I'm glad I did.

Well, to me It's just a fragrance, don't care about the name, and It smells heavenly good, so...I love It, It's perfect for warm and sunny spring afternoon, I'm definitely going to buy It!

Here's a review, I hope you find it helpful. Philippine Houseboy is the most challenging fragrance I've tried so far. The fragrance starts with a blast of lime, coriander and ginger. The heart is dominated by coconut. A big coconut that is accompanied with the coriander and lime. I dislike this fragrance and had to compare it with Secretions Magnifiques just to see which one I like less (Secretions won my little private ugly-race, but fortunately, it also brought out the rose note in Philippine Houseboy)! I've never been to Asia or eaten Philippine food, but seeing a picture of rice and lime really helped me to bear this fragrance. The "rice note" is very well presented and I really have to take my hat off for R. Schwieger for that. And if you sniff very closely, you can detect jasmine in the heart notes. It's minuscule but it's there. Philippine Houseboy is a laudable example of how perfumes can widen one's own boundaries outside the actual world of perfumes. The fragrance finishes off with a soft, almost vanilla-like tonka and musk. It probably encapsulates the essence of Philippine cuisine very well. :)