Sans Artifice

Ah, finally a bottle of 'Sans Artifice' is mine. And this one was hard to get! Givenchy is giving some meaning to the word exclusive here. Just one shop in my country has this scent line and it was rather hard to find out about it. Also a scent reviewer in Korea mentioned that only two shops in all South Korea sell this line so, if you want exclusive literally, go for this;) But now about the scent: this one was odd. I thought I would like it when I read the scent notes and could get a sample of the scent last year. It was quite a stressful time, and I got lots of other samples at the same time, so I just sprayed this once, hastely thought hm, yeah, nice, fresh, non-spectacular... and put it aside. For some unknown reason, the scent and this short-formed memory I had of it popped up in my mind a month ago, and I suddenly wanted to try it again. I got it out of my sample box, was in a quiet and relaxed, positive mood, and now it felt so different! A fresh blast of ginger and bergamot (yes, the notes given here are not complete, the full scent pyramide is: Baihao-Yinzhen-tea, ginger, bergamot, rose centifolia, cedarwood and white musk. And I disagree with the scent description given here: here it says 'green, fresh, warm spicy' - ah, no! If I should tag it I would rather say: fresh, citrusy, creamy, musky) combined with an almost powdery tea note. But a different tea note, it reminded me of very high-quality white teas, like silver needle tea. The fresh citrusy notes blend wonderfully together with this soft tea note and get accompanied soon by only the idea of fresh pink rose blossom and a refreshing kind of unsweet, creamy white musk note. It all blends together very well to a fresh, citrusy, slighty creamy scent that smells like the epitome of modern, fresh, elegant understatement. It is a very suble scent and I guess many would immediately throw it out as boring and/or 'no sillage, no longevity'. I see it differently. It is subtle but my husband could still clearly smell (and like!) it on my neck in the morning, when I put two sprays of it on the night before. But it's a scent you can smell when you get near a person, nothing that has a room-filling sillage and beats people over the head from afar.Yet it is so very elegant and fresh and at the same time relaxing it supporting a good mood and feeling. I know it's labeled unisex but I would still see it more on the feminine side. So after almost dismissing this in a hasty mood the first time, I fell in love with it the second round and now even decided to make the effort to find and buy a full bottle of this hard to find exclusiveness.

I got a sample of this with a purchase on the grey market. Had not been aware of this one beforehand. After trying it out, I immediately started trying to hunt one down. Reading old reviews on here, this thing was difficult to locate a few years ago when it was actually still in production. It's even tougher currently, but I managed to track one down. I really like this one. I generally like tea frags, and after smelling this the first time, the citrus, ginger and tea combo in here has me hooked. This might sound strange, but on my skin, this gives me vibes of Rye Bread. That isn't a bad thing for me; it is a very aromatic, fresh, herbal, slightly spicy scent. Very linear - starts where it finishes pretty much. And projection isn't it's calling card, though it does stick around as a skin scent for several hours. If you can find this for somewhere in the $90-110 range, you like tea and citrus based scents, and you want something that won't be mistaken for many other bottles, then this might be for you.

I do not feel the note breakdown is accurate at all and there is more to this fragrance then what is given.... My thoughts if you care.... This is a hard to find fragrance. A friend shared a sample with me as he had finally located the bottle himself after long time searching. So I was fortunate to get my nose on this and gave it a fair wearing.. Now what do I smell....? I get mint and citrus right off the top. I did not get "tea and ginger" to my nose. I do feel it is a white floral type tea instead of say black or pekoe type tea. It is maybe green tea leaf if that at all. I pick up faint floral which I think is jasmine in the background giving it a very pleasing and light wear. Its beautifully done and I feel it leans feminine but definitely delightful as unisex. This is a calming fragrance. It is not challenging, but it is for relaxing and where would I smell this? I'm glad you asked... This is a luxury hotel and going to the spa to get a massage and pampered. This is the smell of fresh linens with white floral or jasmine type flowers in a clean vase on a table nearby. It is sunshine basking on your skin while someone cares for your skin with a massage of oils. Sparkling cleanliness. It is white in color and light, airy, and sparkling. Clean... Fresh... Inoffensive... gorgeous luxury. Outstanding scent profile.

No true tea nor ginger—Nice aquatic citrus. *The store notes say it's about white tea & rose centifolia

لا اعتقد ان هذا العطر جيد اولا لاتغتر بالنوتات المذكورة، النوتة الابرز هي نوتة فاكهية عامة غير معرفة، تقريبا فاكهية بيضاء سكرية بالتالي اذا كنت تبحث عن عطر حمضي منعش فليس هذا هو الشاي لا اشمه بصراحة ولا الزنجبيل. ليس سيء يمشي الحال ولكن ليس جذاب ولا يوجد هناك نوتة طاغية، مما يجعله يبدو مالغ وممل. وقد اتقبل هذه الرائحة من عطر ب ٢٠-٣٠ دولار ولكن ليس بهذا السعر. حتى الجودة متوسطة الرائحة عادية ٥/١٠ لاسيء ولا جيد السعر مقابل الجودة ٣/١٠ - I don’t think this fragrance is good First, don’t be fooled by the listed notes. The most dominant note is an undefined fruity accord, basically a white, sugary fruitiness So if you’re looking for a fresh citrus fragrance, this is not it I don’t smell any tea or ginger at all. It’s not bad, it’s wearable, but not attractive and there’s no dominant note, which makes it feel dull and bland I could accept this scent from a $20–30 fragrance, but not at this price. Even the quality feels average Scent 5/10, neither bad nor good Price to quality 3/10