L'Humaniste

A long-time favorite of mine, it's good to see L'Humaniste flaunting a healthy 4.38 rating over here at Fragrantica. I love rooting for fragrances that manage to do two things equally well--smell completely unique and smell really good. L'Humaniste, with its accurate and cold gin and tonic opening and creamy juniper-and-cardamom citrus notes in the heart is a pleasure to wear, and it really doesn't smell like anything else that's out there. However, references to Chanel's Allure Homme Edition Blanche are valid, as it does take on a creamy citrus quality similar to AHEB, especially as it dries down. Still, L'Humaniste is probably the more interesting of the two, as it has greater complexity than the Chanel, a lot of which is attributable to the spicy aromatics that compose its heart. L'Humaniste is a great casual scent, but it also works when you want to get a little dressed up too, as the gin and tonic opening and spicy citrus notes have enough pizazz to present something that generally feels more special than ordinary. The most common complaint I've heard about L'Humaniste concerns its projection and longevity, but honestly, I have never had any issues in this area. I get 8 hours plus every time and it always projects very well, creating a scent cloud that radiates a good two or three feet out there. I'd take performance complaints with a grain of salt. If you're someone who demands insane projection and a fragrance that sticks to your skin four showers and a bubble bath later, then yes--you might find it has performance issues. But if you're not of the nuclear powerhouse ilk and you just require that a fragrance gets out there a little bit so that it's noticeable in close proximity and holds on long enough to get you through your day, then you'll surely be happy with L'Humaniste. I've tried almost every Frapin that's available and L'Humaniste is still my favorite by a wide margin (and I like a lot of their offerings). I'd like to recommend it as a blind buy, but due to its price I can't. Instead, it's highly recommended for sampling. Final rating: 9/10

A great scent to wear during the spring and summer, L'Humaniste opens up with a bright, effervescent fizziness reminiscent of a gin 'n tonic with a good twist of lemon in the mix. But this one remains a perfume first and foremost, and avoids the typical pitfall of many 'booze-based' fragrances, that is, that you end up smelling like an alcoholic or someone who had a drink spilled on himself. The gin adds a unique element to L'Humaniste, but never becomes overbearing. After a while, a creamy quality (similar to Allure Homme Edition Blanche) comes into play with the lemons and the heart of L'Humaniste remains like this for several hours; an aromatic and creamy blend of citrus notes and gin. All in all, L'Humaniste is a quality fragrance with a unique character that still manages to have a potentially popular, mass-market appeal. In other words, it smells good, and not just weird or like something you'd wear maybe once or twice a year when you're feeling sassy. It's gotten some complaints for smelling "generic," but those complaints mainly seem to come from people who don't like appealing, fresh citrus fragrances to begin with...so who cares? One issue of contention that pops up again and again with L'Humaniste is its longevity. Reports vary greatly. I typically get 8 to 10 solid hours with it, though others report less than 2. While I'm not sure why this is the case, my recommendation would be to test it out in the store if possible to see how it performs on you. I don't know if the longevity issues are based on batch variations, skin chemistry, or bad samples being passed around, but whatever the case, there seems to be inconsistency regarding its longevity. 2 thumbs way up for this winner from Frapin.

If you are afraid of experiencing performance issues with this fragrance, this review is not intended to guarantee you that you won’t. You might. But in my experience, while it sits close to the skin for much of its life, it actually will stick around for up to 8 hours or so. Nonetheless, none of that matters, because fragrances are not “products” with “features”, like putting a TB of storage in a new iPhone. Performance is not a feature. It is a byproduct; more importantly, a subjective variable! L’Humaniste has been a favorite of mine for many years, because of the way it makes me feel and how perfectly it suits the occasions I wear it for. It is uplifting, bright, mouthwatering, and simply delightful. It will most likely make you smile at first spray. Sidonie Lancesseur created this perfectly the way it is. If you are still concerned about the performance, let me ask you this: how could we expect high longevity from a natural-smelling, citrusy, herbal, and spirit-y fresh fragrance? That is akin to wearing a t-shirt on a cold snowy day and getting frustrated that it’s not keeping you warm. Choose the right fragrance for the right occasion! I hope you try it, and enjoy it as much as I do!

L’Humaniste has gorgeous opening, with blast of juniper berry/gin with light citrus background all-around sweet and aromatic. When mid comes around I get vetiver and pink pepper added to the mix while the citrus is gone. With drydown I get faintly oakmoss and juniper berry. Yup, this makes me happy pretty much every time I wear this and look like a dummy constantly burying my nose to my arm to get better wafts of it and having this grin in my face afterwards. I would love if L’Humaniste had better longevity, it is moderate and with decent sillage. From opening I would have thought it would stay longer and project way more but it does tame rather quickly, at times on very hot days I wonder if this could get bit unbearable if it’s put on rather heavily. As more of a bright scent it does great in summer and has enough meat to it to work in spring also. It has nice balance of bright and herbal feel and some sweetness so it doesn’t get that dry feeling that doesn’t seem to work well with me. L’Humaniste has grown on me, from ok to great and now I’m starting to think if I’d eventually like to have bottle of this around as I haven’t yet found anything that has same kind of feeling as this.

This is one of those fragrances where I instantly fell in love with it from the moment I smelled it on a paper strip. To me it smells like a summer cocktail, even though I find it suitable to wear in winter/colder months as well because of its powderiness. I'd say it's a mojito but instead of lime and mint, it has lemon and juniper. In the opening it starts out with lemon, juniper and booziness (so gin, apparently). The peppers (pink, black and cardamom) aren't harsh in the composition, but they do give it the extra kick. The scent quickly becomes slightly powdery (in a good way) due to the peony coming into play. When it dries down, the lemon takes a step back so you're left with a slightly powdery juniper cocktail. Despite what others state, on me the longevity is pretty nice. About 8 hours I'd say. The fragrance becomes a skin scent rather fast however, so the projection is not all that great. But that doesn't really bother me all that much :) Last but not least, Fragrantica is the only website where I see L'Humaniste categorised as a men's fragrance instead of unisex. No idea why, this can most certainly be worn by a lady as well!

Fragrance -L'Humaniste Frapin Bottle from - 2016 L'Humaniste opens on my skin with a clean,positive, timeless,slightly spicy and uplifting citruses with dominant lemon laying on top of a bit elegant gin. Soon enough,juniper berries with a wisper of some kind of green magic starts to emerge,and bring some coolness into the game. This all leads into a mossy,woody and slightly sweet base with dominant gin. L'Humaniste is a beautiful scent,there is no question about it.However,the performance could be better. Longevity - 6/10(5-6 hours) Silage/Projection - 6,5/10(moderate projection for the first 1 hour,than sits closer to skin for the duration of the scent's evolution) Weather - best in spring and summer. Age - 22+ Compliments(low-medium-high) - medium to high Scent - 9/10 Main notes according to me - gin,lemon,cardamom,moss,pepper,juniper berries. The drydown is mossy,woody and slightly sweet and I get some moss,woodiness,gin and tonka. Emotions -fresh yet elegant,clean,positive,timeless, uplifting. Occasion -For more or less any ocasion when you just want to smell nice and clean. Could be a nice signature scent.

I would call this the perfect introverted cologne. Its pleasant (really pleasant), typical but not typical (unique in its own way), non offensive but far from boring, and it's mostly intimate. Its a fragrance in which another discovers on another, and is not bombarded by it. Some will find it underwhelming because of that reason, I would call it reserved. What I get mostly is a wonderful ginger note, with gin (juniper?) with a nice woody background and a subtle spice (cardamom) at the dry down. There's a citrus blast in the opening that meshes well with the ginger and gin but is mostly short lived. Now it doesn't list ginger as a note but I can swear it feel like it has it in it's ingredients. I would say average longevity is around 4-5 hours and I do wished it lasted longer. Sillage is minimal to moderate, it projects mostly for the first hour and then becomes a closer scent bubble. Is it worth the price? Not sure for most due to its performance, but for me I'd say yes based on the scent profile and how I feel wearing it. Sample first.

Lemon and cardamom over moss and creamy woods A lot of people seem to compare this to Edition Blanche, primarily due to the fusion of creamy and bright lemony facets. Beyond this, the similarity is minimal, the Chanel ending on clear oriental inspired vanilla sandalwood (nonetheless lovely), while l’Humaniste is fundamentally a fresh citrusy mossy fougere. The main elements I get here: a lemon -bergamot slightly aldehydic zingy opening bound through the use of fresh spice cardamom and clean abstract floral notes to a gin accord and finally a retro mossy fuzzy creamy tonka/coumarin and evernyl/oakmoss substitute base. There is a clean watery effect probably coming from ambroxan like material but also a fuzzy clean musky texture to it. Overall beautiful blend, the way the composition has been smoothed out and polished is clearly the mark of a master perfumer. The vividness of the gin accord and balance between different elements justifies the price for me.

Recently I was looking forward to try this perfume on. It seemed to be something different than usual cologne. And finally I got a decant. What can I say - it's realy an exquisite piece of work! Although opening was a bit bland for me (well, usual lemon and pepper thing), what I experienced next was great. Cold and transparent feeling, both suitable to be described as ice in winter or ice in your summer cocktail, creamy juniper aroma, all brought up with strong boozy power. Fierceness and flame! Even pepper was not agressive - plus for me. Overall, I find this perfume joyful, pleasant, high quality and definitely not boring. It‘s a lovely cologne for unique personalities. It‘s suitable for all seasons and occasions. Definitely could be someone‘s signature scent. And you don‘t have to be a man to wear this. For me it looks even better for woman to wear it.

The top opens with fresh, zingy citrus/cardamom/pepper combo, giving a beautiful impression of grapefruit. Shortly after, stunning creamy white florals will come as support (here sold as peony, but probably the same accord that Schoen sells as freesia), and then take the lead. In the base, it slowly shift to a very nice spicy/woody juniper note. I love it, one of the most beautiful creations for summer. Its freshness, counterbalanced by the creamy florals and green woodiness in the base makes of this one a very accomplished fragrance, kind of a Summer-y flanker of Ormonde Man. Projection is average/good, quite noticeable in the first couple of hours. Its not-so-great longevity will be forgiven in view of the beauty of this scent. My sample will transform into a full bottle for sure. Warm and hot days, 25+, leans masculine.

I had received my 2ML sample today. This fragrance has been compared to Edition Blanche by Chanel but I only see a 15% comparison. Both start off with a very lemony, citrusy vibe. Edition Blanche is very in your face potent lemon pepper but L'Humaniste is a really nice gentle amalfi lemon blended with cardamom & bergamot. L'humaniste mids still consist of a amalfi lemon vibe mixed with the mids like the juniper berries & thyme. The mids also bring out the Gin. The Gin comes through like a ton of bricks. The drydown will give you Gin & Soft amalfi lemon. It is an extremely pleasing drydown and will definitely please people around you... That's if they can pick up the SOFT projection and poor longevity. 9/10 edit: Drydown is near exactly the same as Abercrombie & Fitches Fierce

What a beautiful fragrance. Unique, elegant, and bold. Upon first spray, it reminds me of Cartier decleration. But it only lasts for about 20 30 minutes. After it dries down it develops into a beautiful smell. Slightly sweet, woody and spicy. Not super spicy but tone down. Its probably that gin and citruses combined together and juniper berries and cardamom that have that sweet smell to it. This can be a great signature scent. Its very unique fragrance and great for spring and summer maybe all year round. This is one of those fragrances I called it high-class citrus fragrance. It's not overpowering not a beastmode fragrance but has great performance and longevity. This is a full bottle worthy to me. Great job Frapin.

Great spring/summer scent, exquisite composition and presentation combined with below average performance (that of between EDC and EDT, not EDP) in both projection and longevity. A more likable scent from Frapin house but lack of performance is really a deal breaker for some (not for me though). I did try Summer Bottled from Parfums Vintage which was a very close with much better performance clone but I still prefer Frapin. Bottle worthy? It depends on what you are looking for. Most people who expect a beast mode here will be writing disappointed reviews (don't know why though as lack of performance is a known fact). If you are looking for niche, elegant, unique yet likable scent - check this one out!!! :)

L'Humaniste starts off with a load of sparkling lemon and juniper which, together, does give it a "gin & tonic" vibe. However, this quickly dries down to a mossy aromatic fougere that loses almost all of the effervescence from the opening while still maintaining traces of lemon. After a some time, L'Humaniste completely leaves the lemony opening and green mid behind to showcase its tonka bean base, turning into a sweet and creamy musk that is reminiscent of something in between Curve and La Nuit de l'Homme. I can say that the quality and composition in this fragrance is truly unmatched. From the opening to the drydown, every level of L’Humaniste is wonderfully balanced and exquisitely pleasant.

The creamy cardamon in this really reminds me of Carner Barcelona D600, and then the pink pepper/citrus tonka smell is similar to Allure Homme Edition Blanche, really great scent. Opens up wih a very bright lemon vibe with that gin/juniper berry smell which kind of blends in with the lemon to the stage where it just adds more realistic sourness to the lemon rather than smelling like alcohol as such. It then dries down and the cardamon comes out a lot, with the creamy smell coming from tonka bean. Really great smelling fragrance, seems very potent by how shiny it looks on skin for a long time but the performance isn't so great, however it's a very fresh scent so it'd work well in summer heat.

L’Humaniste is my one of favourite fresh warm weather perfumes. It’s very unique and has that wow factor. Open with a uplifting gin like juniper berry and spicy lemon accord. I really like how the cardamom note work here. Drydown is very addictive, fleeting floral and tonka sweetness is a nice touch and compliment very well the overall theme. When it’s come to compliments I will rate this in the same league as Aventus. Lot of people seems to complain about the performance, surprisingly and luckily it works on my skin very well. I’m able to get around 8 hours with decent projection, this is good enough for a fresh/aquatic perfume. Worth every penny and highly recommend.

Perhaps it's the gin talking, but this is one of the more sophisticated scents I've encountered. Every review I've come across knocks it for poor longevity; a debate I'm comfortable sidestepping. L'humaniste is putting its money on the quality of the blend, which is simply outstanding. The gin note is noticeable, particularly in the opening, but at no point in the wear do I feel it dominating, nor do I feel the other notes merely in service to the scent's boozy component. There's just something so... adult about it. The citrus, gin, spices, cream, tonka... Everything slaps. A rare fragrance where a different aspect is always prominent but never loses its cohesion.

L'Humaniste has to be one of the most aptly named fragrances in the history of perfumery. Opening with the freshness of citrus lightly dusted with pink pepper, the fragrance offers an aura of sophistication and class. Unlike many contemporary offerings, it is not at all overpowering, and even might be described as light and transparent. What a few others describe as poor projection comes across instead as gentlemanly and agreeable. When the wearer and those in his company catch a whiff of L'Humaniste, its subtle complexity stimulates the intellect. L'Humaniste: A gentleman AND a scholar. Very well done.

This is my first niche fragrance and I'm quite impressed with this scent. The similarities to Blanche are definitely noticeable. L'Humaniste smells more cleaner and crisper. For the first 45 minutes after spraying you get a lemon margarita smell. After a while the spices and tonka bean come in to balance out the sharpness of the citrus's. This scent ends up smelling like a sweet creamy lemon margarita. Projection is slightly below average but the sillage is fantastic. The only bad thing about this fragrance is the longevity and price. I only get 4-5 hours on my skin. I give this fragrance a 8/10.

In my opinion this is a lemony take on a gin and tonic!🍋 This opens with a burst of lemon, and immediately reminds of a Summer holiday in the Mediterranean! The gin and aromatic notes are also quite prominent in the opening. As it dries down I get a creamy lemon over woods and oakmoss. I really love this, and I know it will get a lot of use as the weather continues to warm up. In my opinion this is unisex, leaning masculine, particularly as it dries down. I'm a female and I really enjoy wearing this one. As far as longevity, this is pretty decent I get about six hours out of it.