The Afternoon of a Faun

This is the third of Ralph Schweiger’s creations that I loved at first sniff. I bought this blind despite warnings to the contrary. I have no regrets. That said, I can see how it would not be an easy love. It’s definitely not a crowd-pleaser: my dad told me I smelled like paint. I almost asked him what kind of paint he’d been sniffing so that I could get some for myself. In his defense, I had oversprayed--but it was only 3 sprays! Be warned: this is strong, and the sprayer on the 100ml bottle is quite enthusiastic. I believe it was the oakmoss that my father noticed, as that can have an astringent, almost pissy, smell in excess. But don’t let that deter you! This fragrance is amazing. In moderation--no more than 2 sprays--Afternoon of a Faun is beautiful. I do not know if I have ever smelled anything quite like this. It is equal parts a throwback to classic perfumery and olfactory post-modernism. It smells like Schweiger took a classic rose chypre, drenched it in immortelle, and added a heaping dose of coumarin funk. From the very first spritz, this is all about the immortelle, oakmoss, rose, and coumarin, in that order. Faun’s rose is a jammy rose, very prominent (why is it listed so far down in the pyramid? It’s a mystery), its jammy depth intensified by the maple-floral scent of immortelle. The resulting sweetness is contained by the coumarin and oakmoss, never allowing the perfume to veer into gourmand territory. Schweiger pulls off an incredible balancing act here with the sweet and the savory elements, creating a perfume with PATHOS. I’ve been wearing this nonstop since it arrived: about five wears. I still don’t quite understand it. Yet Faun is seductive enough that I am compelled to keep wearing it, to sniff deeply, to listen closely to the story it is trying to tell. The temperatures here have been about 30-40 degrees American with a lot of humidity. I’m not sure that this is a good spring or summer perfume option as I feel that higher temperatures might overemphasize the sweaty nature of coumarin. I can’t wait to wear this in the fall. The composition is perfect for a New England fall: it smells like walking in the woods when the foliage is in all its red and orange and yellow splendor. The sun is peeking through the trees, and the light has that golden quality it gets in the late afternoon at that time of year. You hike by a maple grove, and the sap from the trees mingles in the air with the smell of all the undergrowth decaying into fresh, loamy soil. Somewhere far away, someone is burning a wood fire (the incense note, which subtle but still present). This wafts--definitely more than an arm’s length!--and it LASTS. I put some of this on at 7 in the morning--and I can still catch whiffs of it on my wrists now at midnight. It’s faded down to a skin scent, something like a caramelized celery (lovage? I really want to say that the coumarin in this comes from lovage, which is one of my favorite eating herbs) but still detectable, with a hint of richness from the resins. Absolutely incredible performance, which goes to show that it IS possible to create a powerhouse with modern ingredients and sell it at a reasonable price. The best part about it is that Ralf Schweiger composed this with Justin Vivian Bond, who identifies as nonbinary! In the fragrance world, gender is everywhere. There are strong gender lines in perfumery, which can be uncomfortable for a person with a complicated gender identity like myself to navigate. Afternoon of a Faun is for the queers! It is neither feminine nor masculine: its chypre heritage was equally popular in both men’s and women’s perfumerie for decades. I love being able to buy a perfume developed with the input of a nonbinary person, and I hope more perfume houses follow Etat’s lead and start developing fragrances especially for trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer fragrance enthusiasts!

I've read several reviews of The Afternoon of a Faun and they are all terrible. Of course they all reference Nijinsky's ballet, and make some attempt to try to align the perfume's visionary artistry and execution with the artistry of the choreography, and they fail. Sorry, I have no intention to insult, it's just the truth. At the end of each piece I find myself more confused than when I started. So, I will forget what I've read and make my own attempt - likely in vain - to describe what's going on with this perfume. What you need to know about this perfume, at least to what my nose can understand to be going on, is that it is trying to setup disparate and difficult notes alongside each other in such a way as to create a pleasing symmetry. It's sort of like a Picasso or a Dali painting: individual, specific images or sections of any work by either artist is going to look "wrong." "That's not in the right spot." "That's not the right color." "That's not the right shape." "Why is her eyeball over there?" "What's that supposed to mean? It makes no sense." "Why was the stroke so heavy there?" And yet when you pull your focus back to take in the painting as a whole, it works... brilliantly. The most legendary of artists have challenged us while presenting something pleasing in its entirety. So, if you haven't seen the ballet on which this perfume is inspired, don't worry - you'll still be able to understand what The Afternoon of a Faun is trying to do if you're familiar with the concept I've described above either in classical visual arts or auditory arts. What will be required of you is the ability to not hone so far onto a specific note that you miss the forest for the trees, which is difficult with this perfume in particular. This perfume takes many notes of really rather unfortunate and challenging natures and juxtaposes them in such a way to make them beautiful; the sum is really much greater than the parts. The opening of bergamot, pepper, and cinnamon f*****g stinks. The myrrh, immortelle, and iris of the heart smell like a compost heap, mostly comprised of someone's vegetable garden, with the lid suddenly lifted after many months and the gaseous plume hitting you square in the face. Pile that on top of the leather, incense, and musk base and you get a stale fart born of a big meal of Indian food. And yet... align all of these notes at just the right time and what you get is sort of a powdery anisic chypre. Warm, deep, mysterious, and alluring. But, it is also a bit standoffish, pushy, rigid and strong, giving-way very slightly in parts as if you have accidentally found chinks in its armor. It's your favorite wonderfully colored and warming wool blanket that if draped over you in just such a way can be a touch itchy. The Afternoon of a Faun is one of the most thought-provoking and emotionally confusing perfumes I have smelled, and it will be a rare or special occasion that I will feel the desire to wear it... and I think the perfume is fine with that. It seems to have the attitude of not giving a damn if I want to wear it, or like it, or not. It's brilliant.

"Afternoon of a Faun" is the name of a french poem which was performed as a ballet dance by Nijinsky in 1912. When Nijinsky danced the story, he created a scandal! This Perfume has a woody, earthy floral smell. The focus point of the aroma is on reminding the forest atmosphere and uses the mix of oakmoss and immortelle for this target. Of course the bold scent of myrrh converts it into the unique case among other woody perfumes. Also I can feel a little leathery and powdery notes that try to make perfume sexy. This perfume can satisfy classic perfumes fans and has an old classic sense in the background. . (فان/faun : موجودی افسانه ای با نیم تنه انسان و شاخ و پاهای بز) . "بعدازظهرِ یک فان" نام شعری فرانسوی اثر "استفان مالارمه" هست. این شعر روایتگر رویای یک فانه. رویای گردشی عصرگاهی که فان در اون به چندتا حوری برمیخوره و از روی هوس دنبالشون میکنه اما تنها چیزی که در نهایت نصیبش میشه شال یکی از حوری هاست ... . این شعر در سال ۱۹۱۲ توسط "واسلاو نیژنسکی" به شکل رقص باله اجرا شد و به دلیل محتوای شهوانی و صحنه هایی با مضامین جنسی که با رقص باله ی کلاسیک تعارض داشت باعث ایجاد جنجال، رسوایی و اعتراض شدید مخاطبان و منتقدان شد. تصویر روی جعبه و لیبلِ عطر اثر "لئون باکست" برای همین اجرا طراحی شده و نیژنسکی رو با گریم و لباس فان نشون میده. . و اما بو... رایحه ای زمینی چوبی بر عطر حکم فرماست و ادویه جات و گل هایی که رز از همشون برجسته تره پس زمینه عطرو خوش آب و رنگ میکنن. عطر با توجه به داستانی که الهام بخش ساختش بوده با بهره بردن از نت هایی مثل خزه بلوط و ایمورتل (که بویی علفی، تلخ/ شیرین و خاکی داره) بر فضای چوبی، جنگلی تاکید میکنه. اما مُر با بوی صمغی ترش و شیرینش برگ برنده ی عطر برای تبدیل رایحه از یک عطر چوبی گلیِ معمولی به رایحه ای متفاوت و یونیک ظاهر میشه. در این بین رگه هایی از چرم و پودر هم سعی در نفسانی جلوه دادن رایحه میکنن اما خیلی در هدفشون موفق نیستن. . ترکیب حس سبز و تلخی گالبانوم مانند عطر با چرم و کمی شیرینی گلی من رو یاد عطر شنل N19 وینتج میندازه و کلیت رایحه کمی برام یادآور بوی حنا هست. عطر حس کهنگیِ آشنایِ عطرهای شیپغ و خزه ایِ کلاسیک رو با خودش داره و میتونه کلاسیک دوست هارو راضی کنه اما نمیشه گفت مطلقا کلاسیکه. . طبع رایحه معتدله و گزینه خوبی برای مصرف در بهار و پاییزه.

wWOWw! Now THIS is a "Special" fragrance! Absolutely GORGEOUS and incredibly unique! Starts very Green and Rose forward reminding me slightly of Moschino's ToyBoy but ONLY in the immediate opening, this soon becomes almost bitter-green, but not in an off-putting way. The Rose note really dances in and out of my senses and its truley intoxicating! Theres a slight Dry, green grassy herbal accord/note with a Mossy nuance. As this begins to dry-down the Immortelle note becomes more descernable and adds a slightly semi-sweet almost buttery richness whuch adds real depth along with the Incense, jasmine and the persistant Bergamont note (IN THE BASE?!😲).. Genius!! The Bergamont in the base keeps the whole composition smelling "Bright" and contrasts BEAUTIFULLY with the rich, syrupy and dry grassiness of the Immortelle.. MAN! this fragrance is really stunning and a work of art! Its been a very long time since Ive been this excited with a purchase, let alone a freakin' blind-buy! A truley Unisex fragrance imo possibly leaning masculine although the beautiful Rose note never really goes away. Dare I say this may be my favorite pick up thus far? The performance is awesome (Thank God!) Ive blind-bought so many fragrances which boast of having great performance which end up practically being skin-scents, but NOT The Afternoon of a Faun! Excellent longevity 8 hours on skin and next day on clothes with slightly above-average projection. I am LOVING this unique scent! So happy with my purchase im honestly thinking bout grabbing a back up even though I already own nearly 200 fragrances! Its THAT good! Plus as we all know, reformulations siply NEUTER our fave fragrances, but it seems as tho The Afternoon of a Faun hasn't suffered much (IF) it has indeed been reformulated. My very first fragrance from Etat Libre d'Orange and I am SUUUPER IMPRESSED to say the least! One if my ONLY 10 out of 10 fragrances next to Ramon Monegals Min Patchouli and a couple others in my collection. I adore this modern Chypre fragrance!

I should preface this review with the fact that 'The Afternoon of a Faun' is without a doubt, my favourite perfume on the planet. It opens with a blast of spicy-sweet green notes, something boozey, and a certain dank earthiness - almost musty. This is a case of the notes adding up to something greater than the sum of their parts. I can smell the steely, earthy orris, the sweet, inky immortelle, the leather, the resins, and the citrus. Altogether though they create a truly bizarre and wonderful olfactory impression. At once damp, dark, dank and green whilst retaining a slight fresh edge, something wild and untamed. As the heart develops the leather and moss join the ever-present immortelle and the frag takes on a drier, dustier face. The orris continues its earthen march and the fragrance reminds me of crushed leaves on a dark forest floor - warm and ever-so-slightly damp. Hints of rotting vegetation, animal musks and musty leather. This has orris that isn't carroty, immortelle that isn't syrupy or curry-like, pepper that isn't overwhelming and harsh. They've somehow managed to take notes that by all logic should clash terribly and made them dance together in one big, debaucherous orgy of leaves, trees and wild things. Sillage is surprisingly good. It's not going to knock anyone out, but you'll catch whiffs of it frequently as you go about your day. Longevity is excellent, and the projection stays strong for a long percentage of wear time. An odd, contrary imp of a fragrance. Enjoy with fine food, fine wine, and the embrace of a fine lover.