Elixir Charnel Oriental Brulant

An almost unpleasant laquer scent starts this fragrance (maybe the styrax?), or so I thought at first, I love that this site lets you edit reviews. This has really grown on me, and I think it is pretty much the ideal Shalimar for me. I have tried and tried, but I love this more than the classic Shalimar, it is just frankly more lovely. The alcohol-y beginning lasts about 5 minutes until the scent settles into something amazing and warm and subtle. Shalimar-like without the lemon/citrus and heavy powder, more similar to the drydown of Shalimar, the wearable aspects of Shalimar- Elixir Charnel Oriental Brulant is a very guerlain smelling smoky tonka bean/vanilla fragrance. I don't like it as much as the Guerlain Gourmand Elixir but it still is an honor to have in my collection, and I really enjoy wearing it! Not sure I would repurchase, but its just keeps growing on me the longer I have it.... A very subtle, light and pretty powder here for me with a very dark vanilla. I love these Guerlain Elixirs beyond words- it sounds dramatic but it's totally true! As for it not being unique, I disagree; I haven't smelled anything like this besides the already mentioned vague resemblance to the drydown of Shalimar. This is much more wearable than Shalimar in my book and I reach for it MUCH more often, but if you love that scent I would suggest a sample of this one. Lasting power 24+ Shalimar lovers who hate the citrus opening will go nuts Elixir Charnel Oriental Brulant... I have found the new, more expensive guerlains beat the crap out of their cheaper older counterparts. For me, this is the perfect shalimar and Angelique Noire is much better than Champs Elysees. I don't know if I can go back... If anyone wants to get this fragrance off their hands, i would gladly trade for it. Go through my 200ish perfumes and tell me what you want samples/bottles/decants of for trade. Just send me a message if you're interested!

If I could choose one perfume to wear for life, forgetting about money, I would choose Oriental Brûlant. Since its release almost 10 years ago, everytime I wear this perfume I realize I had forgotten about its magic, in the base notes! The top notes are quite gourmand, between orange and almond, maybe borderline too sweet, but the perfume quickly interacts with the skin to give the most gorgeous guerlinade, vanilla + tonka bean + resinous notes + skin = heaven. Some describe this as a younger Shalimar, and I would agree, it is a lot easier to wear and smells very modern at the same time, not soapy and not too powdery. I like to apply it at night, and the base notes are still present the next morning. It projects quite well without ever being strong or overpowering. This perfume manages to surprise me every time, the drydown is just out of this world (my other favorite drydown being Vol De Nuit extrait), anyone can pull this off easily (and I'd love to smell it on a man, if he likes sweet perfumes), it lasts incredibly well and leaves a nice sillage. To me this perfume summarizes Guerlain these last 10 years, a more gourmand direction, while clearly inheriting from Shalimar, L'Heure Bleue, Jicky with the complex evolution and base notes. (I am talking about a 2010-ish bottle, don't know about reformulations) And now it is being discontinued/in a super expensive new bottle, I don't understand this decision at all and I think it will be a long while before I fall for another Guerlain (last time it was Parfum Initial l'Eau, already discontinued!).

This is a lovely, modern take on the Guerlinade. It starts with a slightly spiced, subtle and sweet citrus (I've seen some reviews describe it as giving a bit of a holiday vibe because of that, which I agree with). This clears fairly quickly and segues beautifully into an almondy, coumarinic, vanillic, musky delight. There's some of the scent of styrax (the true liquid of which I kind of feel smells somewhere between sharp vanilla, cinnamon, permanent Sharpie markers, and leather...a hard to pin down note that's beautiful when well integrated!!!), but it's definitely tamed and tempered by the cuddly Guerlain-ness. It feels very much at home with the l'Art et Matieres line in aesthetic--the almond-tonka of Tonka Imperiale, the "chewy" and bittersweet vanilla of Angelique Noire, and the plush sueded/heliotropic feel of Cuir Beluga. I just might like it better than all of those individually, however, in terms of wearability and comfort. The tradeoff, of course, is that it's not quite as bold as any of those. You smell this and think that it really should be one of the scents Guerlain should have readily available at all times. It's a shame that it's not.

At first you get a rather strong dose of benzoine which smells sort of "chemical" but not unpleasant. Just strange. Almonds (or tonka ?) mingle from the beginning, too. A delicious perfume, really ! It is sweet, pleasing and seductive. Perfect if you are on a date with certain plans of spending the night :-) He/She will not be able to resist. OB develops softer, milder in the drydown but still sweet and almondy. The name truefully suggests something smoky. OB overall reminds me of a harem with lovely women eating delicious sweets and the room is perfumed with smoke. Oriental Brulant is not as smoky as Fumerie Turque/Serge Lutens, not as sweet as Loukhoum Parfum Du Soir/Keiko Mecheri and not as almondy as Baiser Du Dragon/Cartier but having less of each superbly mixed a big "more" was the result. OB is a gorgeous oriental-gourmand scent. Longevity is great, I applied it in the morning and still noticed whiffs of it on me at about 5 in the afternoon. Sillage is medium, it is not a loud scent. Unfortunately, OB is part of the exclusive "Les Elixirs Charnel" collection. The price is a true nightmare (around EUR 170-175 for 75ml).

This is my HOLY FREAKIN' GRAIL SCENT. I mean just thinking about sniffing it is making me swoon. Oh my gosh, it's perfection. This is definitely top 5 of all time. I am completely obsessed. It's oriental heaven. And the cost? 100000% worth it. It lasts ALLLLL day and I can NOT stop sniffing myself when I wear it. It's literally oriental (and a tad gourmand) perfection in a bottle. Look NO further. At least try it. You'll thank me later :) What does it smell like? It smells like the most sophisticated, resinous vanilla ice cream in existence, made by a French chef who probably dotes on Marie Antoinette or someone. Lovely edible oriental. The styrax just makes the whole thing so rich and beautiful. Stunning. I have no idea on earth why people are voting this to smell like Bois 1920 La Vaniglia, which smells like a vanilla Yankee Candle mixed with church incense. Ugh. And L'Instant Magic? Lovely, but it smells like almonds and baby powder- literally nothing like Oriental Brulant. There is literally nothing like Oriental Brulant. Sorry! Darn shame they discontinued this beauty!