Sale Gosse by Fanny Bal

A dream cologne and there don't seem to be any full bottles for sale anywhere :/ Decant only so far. Judging by my small sample spray, this isn't super diffusive but it is very tenacious. After the first burst of bergamot and citrus topnotes, I get a gorgeous light neroli-violet-bubblegum that's effervescent and citrus-sour like one of those fizzy gummy sweets. Neroli is a classic component of French baby-care products, but the sour-gummy effect is more fun and playful, so that the 'childlike' dimension is indeed more to do with a mood of mischief than anything else. The way Sale Gosse oscillates between fizzy citrus sharpness and bubble-gum floral sweetness is fab, and really pleasant to wear. This would be especially beautiful on younger demographics I think, not because it's juvenile or immature but because it's got that youthful energy. I find the 'nothing groundbreaking' comments frustrating here as elsewhere: truly groundbreaking perfumes are very rare, and often can't be recognised as such until well after their first release. It's a rather pointless comment and definitely irksome as a criticism or put-down, because it doesn't really say anything about what the perfume is like, or whether it's any good. Also, I know from my own experience that small differences between generally similar perfumes can make a massive difference in terms of effect and wear experience, so something being 'similar' to existing perfumes doesn't render it redundant. For all that the market is overcrowded, the human nose's ability to distinguish small differences means that not only are there very few true dupes or copies, but small adjustments and variations can turn a hit into a miss and vice versa. There are lots of interesting complex citrus and neroli perfumes around at the moment, yes, but most of the more recent ones rely on super-powerful musks and woods that tend to flatten the citrus notes to citrus-concentrate staleness, and many of the older ones have been damaged by reformulation. Sale Gosse doesn't have either of these issues, although maybe its absence from the website means it's been discontinued altogether (noooo). Instead, it's an innovative and skilled take on neroli cologne that is clearly working within that genre but also doing some really clever stuff without being aggressively experimental (which can be good too, of course). It's amazingly well balanced, never too loud or artificial-smelling, not knocked off balance by inappropriate fixatives, but with excellent longevity and reasonably good diffusion. I see the logic of only selling a larger 100ml bottle, though, because it does benefit from more sprays than would be typical for me, and in hotter weather probably would need refreshing halfway through the day.

Sale Gosse has really grown on me. At first I practically dismissed it as a kind of weak generic cologne and couldnt find the fun facets of candy and violet. It sat for almost a year untouched. Now its a bit of a revelation. It is a pretty standard cologne, but there are these lovely moments of bubble gum and very specifically violet candy which mixed with citrus is a very appealing fragrance. As others have mentioned the performance is pretty impressive for a citrus. All in all, its a wonderful alternate for a warm day when a bit of whimsy is the only thing that will do.

I left this alone for a few months, and now I've come back to it and discovered two things: 1) despite the notes, it's better in cold weather, because, much like Cologne Indélébile, the base musks are too strong for summer, and the powerful nature of the perfume works wonfefully in the cold. 2) there is bubblegum after all. It's salty-sweet, warm and savoury. Basically, I love this perfume and can't believe I'd somewhat written it off. And it's STRONG. Go easy.

I am finding this one really special , it’s clean , soapy , fresh and develops into something sweet slightly like those violet candies I had as a kid or yes like old fashioned bubble gum that comes in those white tablets. I find it a sweet fresh soapy scent , one of my favourites! It’s also very long lasting and a strong scent to my nose. It’s so yummy , I love it. Great daytime scent !! It’s one you have to get to know by wearing not just spaying on a card.

Oh the pure joy of finding a fragrance that feels like it was made for you. This is one of the most beautiful scents I have ever experienced. Fresh and clean with enough softness to blur the edges of some ingredients that could have left it too sharp. It’s hard for me to do it justice but it’s just so gorgeous and I’ve had more compliments on this one fragrance since I bought it than I’ve had in a lifetime from others. Perfection for me. Thank you Fanny Bal