Bana Banana

I've had a 10 ml travel size of this for quite some time and for some reason I never wore it often, thinking I wouldn't care much for it. How wrong I was!! The past few times I've worn this I've been repeatedly impressed by its longevity and how beautifully if wafts around me with this delicate, powdery warmth, due to the violet note. I used to be quite 'powder-averse' in my younger years, thinking these types of perfumes smelled too mature, but I now associate scents with a powdery element with comfort and find the scents that lean this way to be some of my most treasured fragrances. Bana Banana is not a superficial, candy-sweet, laffy-taffy banana poolside candy carnival, but rather a contemplative, beautifully constructed homage to the tropical banana plant wrapped in a warm, powdery gauze. I'm gonna need the full bottle and pray they don't discontinue this one! Beautiful work by Celine Ellena! Update: Of course it’s been discontinued. Waaa waaa 😒🙄😭

I got to sample this thanks to the generosity of a wonderful fragrantican. Thank you, Antonia! Bana Banana can be considered a banana only in the very few moments starting from application, when it opens, indeed, as a semi-ripe, realistic banana (peel), with little sweetness but a lot of "pulpiness", if that makes sense. As time goes by, though, the banana subsides and my nose gets none of that banana candy - jelly - popsicle vibe that some have mentioned. Instead, it goes to a duskier - dustier territory, it gets heavier, more rounded and it reminds me of a Zoologist creation. This could belong to the same family as Macaque, Elephant or Panda. All in all, I find it to be a very interesting creation, an artistic one and also quite challenging. Judging by the name, I was expecting a cheekier, in your face kind of playful banana, but you can expect something more substantial instead.

I wasn’t expecting to love this as much as I do. The opening immediately made me smile - it’s playful, unusual and unlike anything else in my collection. The banana doesn’t smell artificial or like banana sweets. Instead, it blends beautifully with the powdery iris and soft musks, creating something comforting, elegant and surprisingly addictive. As it dries down, it becomes creamier and more sophisticated while still keeping that unique character. Every time I wear it, I find myself smelling my wrist because there’s something so intriguing about it. It’s one of those fragrances that makes you wonder, “What am I actually smelling?” in the best possible way. Distinctive without trying too hard. I only wish L’Artisan Parfumeur hadn’t discontinued it. I’m so glad I managed to track down a genuine bottle because this has easily become one of my favourite fragrances.

I am shocked. Gobsmacked. Flabbergasted. I thought this would be a novelty, throw in your suitcase before some tropical vacation, frivolity. Why do I love this so much and why does it work so well for colder weather? First of all, it doesn’t smell like the banana, vanilla ice cream, vodka smoothie that I thought it would. It has more substance, more depth, more richness. The banana element is light, really the leaf, not the fruit. And then, there is the warmth of tonka bean, amber, and nutmeg, giving it a deeply sensuous, snuggly, cocooning, yumminess. It’s really very autumnal. The floral notes: jasmine, iris, violet make it very fresh, breezy, sweet, and the musk and pepper add a little kick. It is so intriguing and unique and surprising and original. I could see crunching through leaves on a sunny Indian summer day with this fragrance and my chunky knits.

I got this when it first came out, sprayed it once and didn’t get past the opening. Recently I came across it again for a very low price and re-purchased. Having become more familiar with l’Artisan fragrances, I have much more understanding and appreciation for it now. (L’Artisans need time to develop on the skin, as well as time to develop in the bottle). The banana bread blast at the beginning, which initially turned me off, I now see as a short-lasting and cheeky attention grab, priming the palate and synapses for the rest of the process to unfold. The creamy green florals and grounding spices create so much warmth and interest. It is truly a comfort to wear. Drydown reminds me of Safran Troublant and poivre piquant- sweet and starchy. I like this one now and am glad I gave it another try.

Love it. Lot's of people griping on here about performance. You must be anosmic, I can smell this hours later. The banana blast does subside, and violet comes forward, but then around two hours in it rebalances and I get the banana in a delicate, creamy haze. Any more banana would ruin it for me. It's true genius to be able to create a photorealistic fruit scent with an accord, and it goes to show that with Celine Ellena, the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. Update - longevity is eternal on my skin, incredible! Update - AP store on Rue St Honoré tell me this is discontinued, they're just selling off the last stock.

To me, this opens with a green banana—a raw, bitter fruit on the cusp of ripening. Fresh and stark at first, the scent deepens into honey-and-pepper notes, growing sweeter and richer as time passes. The effect is that of a banana ripening before your eyes. Another half hour, and a creamy iris emerges, with a hint of musk threaded throughout. These last notes pull the scent darker, adding a touch of mystery and sexiness to the entire composition. To me, this is not an overtly gourmand fragrance, but deliciously intoxicating one nonetheless.

One of the most fun perfumes in my collection and easily a favourite that I never get tired of. I love everything about this, from the name to the bottle and the perfume itself. I have reviewed it before, but felt the need to come back with raving feedback because it is such a pleasure to wear it and always puts a smile on my face. It is starchy, violety, green banana that is delicious without being gourmand. The base reminds me of Cacao porcelana from Atelier Materi, as in you can feel the texture of a creamy plant pod in a jungle.

I really love this one. The way I found out about it is I visited a friend who collects perfume and asked her to show me her weird ones, and Bana Banana was among the ones she chose as "weird". I love anything banana. The opening is unmistakably banana, and even though it gets a bit too powdery/soapy in the drydown, I still think this is a beautiful, high quality composition. The Iris and jasmine give it depth and clarity. I have a very special memory connected to this scent and it will always be one of my favourites.

I really love this fragrance and finally bought a bottle, 2 years after first discovering it. It is one of the most special perfumes I encountered, a very unique blend of banana and violet in perfumery, surprisingly tropical but easy to wear in any setting. I do not own or know Amaranthine from Penhaligon’s, but I hunted it for the concept, until I realised that Bana Banana is everything I wanted Amaranthine to be, luscious green, tropical, wet, natural, facetted, a little powdery.

This is truly so mouthwatering delicious I want to smell it every day! Sweet delicious bananas with a sultry ambery musk base. The violet leaf does peek through giving it some greenness. Longevity is in fact strong for me but mind you I like to drown in this scent and so it often lingers around on my clothes or in my hair for a while. I even like layering this with 2 of my Demeters - Crème Anglaise or Crème Brulee. I smell like a treat!

This is a "dam I love that smell" type fragrance. The Iris-Violet Combo & Banana are the main components to my nose. The last couple of compliments said I smell clean -- what is that? do I usually smell dirty? I don't get the clean aspect but I do get a fantastic banana body powder almost creamy and I love to smell my clean self when I have it on! This banana fragrance is very a-peel-ing. :)

Do not expect the smell of actual banana fruit, the banana note here is sweet and more like banana candy. It's pleasant but just not what I expected. I think it is unisex, and a bit discreet. Like other reviewers had said, this perfume is very powdery, quite long lasting with moderate silage. Nice smelling, quite rare, but not really groundbreaking or making any statement.

This opens with a bold ripe banana fruit, a little powdery, in a starchy kind of way, suggesting the peel of the banana as well. Once the perfume settles, it becomes a sweet starchy, powdery skin covering a cream of bananas and violets, absolutely delicious and playful. I personally love it, the only complaint is the performance.

This is fantastic. Opening is bright, fruity and clearly lean banana that smells exactly like Italian syrup flavoring of the fruit. A warm, musky amber with floral and soft nilla nuances comprises most of the scent profile. Very happy and playful perfume.

The banana note in this smells just like sweet banana flavored candy. No subtle banana flower, really in your face. But amber, jasmine and spicy notes keep it from being a novelty fruit fragrance. Bana Banana combines the foam banana with a huge dollop of balsamic warmth and very classic floral notes to a completely unique scent. Unfortunately there is one thing I dislike about it, and that's the violet leaf. It comes off very sharp on my skin and reminds me of some strong macho colognes in the vein of Fahrenheit. Not the whole fragrance mind you, just the violet leaf. I get that they wanted something to break through all the warm and dense notes, but for my personal taste and skin chemistry something like a zesty citrus would have done the job better. I find it a little disharmonious the way it it. So, not for me. I still appreciate this fragrance very much, Banana is such a cool note that isn't used too often and on top of that it's blended in a new and interesting way here. More literal than Patou's Sira des Indes, but with more dimensions than say CSP Vanille Banane or any old banana body product.

I'm a big old fan of L'artisan Parfumeur - have tried and owned quite a few of their scents and was always impressed how the notes that can be owerpowering in other perfumes smell clean and delicate. This is why I decided to tried Bana Banana - rich ambery banana wouldn't be something that I'd normally go for, but it's fun to try new things. Im not gonna add much new - it smells like banana in the opening and quickly morphs into a mix of sweet and powdery violet and iris. It reminds me of Bois d'Iris by Van Cleef & Arpels, an old-school feminine scent, but I really enjoy the fact there's a banana aftertaste when you smell it from some distance. It gets greener and smokier in the dry down and generally keeps up the tradition of implementing distinct and could-be-heavy notes in an easy and wearable way

This wears two different ways for me, but both with the same performance, which is 3-5 hours of a light 2-4 feet of projection. When I spray this on freshly cleaned skin, the violet leaf and banana flower are at the forefront and I get this powdery green banana which is not how I remembered smelling it in-store. It wears differently after a full day of work or activity, because for me that's when I really get the amber that I remember liking so much. Will update after experimenting a little more. Update: The difference between green/powdery 'nanners and amber/banana candy seems to be body heat. The green side being when my skin is cold, and the amber when I've heated up a bit. Everything else is still the same. I don't think it's for me.

The concept of a banana fragrance was so intriguing I just had to try Bana Banana! I get an immediate waft of sweet banana lolly which is quickly met with a soft violet musk and a mild red spice note that brings it into wearable fragrance territory. The dry down introduces amber and vanilla as a base. Unfortunately by this point the banana note has almost completely faded and it's more of a soft violet-musk-amber fragrance. I've heard this fragrance projects best on warm skin, so I will need to give it another try on a hot day. Bana Banana is an unusually wearable scent. It would suit casual lunches and day outings. Personally I wish the banana note lasted longer, but the opening in itself is worth a test.

Pure fun, breezy enchantment and elemental pleasure. It's banana! It starts out with a burst of fresh banana that smells very realistic, very true to the fruit... not candylike. Just like the slices on your breakfast cereal. Brilliant aldehydes give it an airy, sky-ey outdoorsy quality. I wish I were as crazy about the base it dries down to: a neutral, unisex, slightly spiced amber/musk, in which the banana is mostly gone, but lingers as the tiniest hint. The drydown curiously reminds me of... Dana AMBUSH, of all things! Like all the L'Artisans, BANA BANANA is very evanescent, transparent, with not much staying power at all.

Banana laffy taffy opening with some greeness, drying down to powdery musk? Kinda agree with reviewer below, the drydown has an old fashioned muskiness. It does not smell cheap at all though. While I don't hate this perfume, not sure if i really like it. Scent itself is very subtle, almost a skin scent. Edit: I was wrong about it being a skin scent. Gave it a full wear today and it does project creating a nice scent bubble that oddly reminds me of jackfruit. This is actually quite potent. However there must be ambroxan in here as the scent goes in and out for me, as with most of the newer L'Artisan formulations.

A blind buy :) I bought it for the upcoming summer 2022... First impression - a grown up banana perfume! A very realistic banana note that turns into a delicate powdery cloud. I understand now the slight comparison with Teint De Neige. The scent is artsy and well rounded - the banana flower, the skin, both ripe & unripe banana pulp aspects... The bottle is sophisticated and solid weight. Edit: After wearing it for few weeks I can say it's a delicate perfume. It's a fine artistic perfume for a spring/summer day. Very dreamy one. I got my 100ml bottle for 100 euros when L'Artisan Parfumeur had their winter sale.

Never thought I would enjoy any aspect of a banana fragrance until now. Initial spray opens up with that beautiful banana flower that is sweet and green. Super pleasant & unique...then the fragrance develops and I'm introduced to slightly powdery florals and that darn musk. Makes this more of an actual fragrance but I really wish the banana flower stuck around. This would've definitely been my one and only banana fragrance. The dry down changed my mind. I'm soooo over powdery, musky, floral scents.

I smell a ripe banana scent in the opening but it transitions into a milky banana leaf scent within the first 10 minutes. I love the opening and wish it lasted much longer. The fragrance transitions way too soon into powdery iris with a white musk and sheer/airy ambery base, which is also equally nice as the opening but I came to the fragrance for the banana. I would definitely buy the fragrance for the right price. -

Opens with lovely banana taffy and then turns greener. It is not a sickeningly sweet, scent as it’s tempered by the other components. Dry down is predominantly musk to my nose. I’ve only worn this once, but it lasted on my skin all day and into the next. I love banana notes, so this is a win for me. I will need to try this again and post an update. After one wearing, I am inclined to put this on my buy list.

I tried it few hours ago, its a gorgeous light banana smell for 10 to 15 min then it turn into an ambery and smoky smell Do not let the name fool you .. this not what I expected, there is green floral hit come from the violet and iris but it more an amber perfume perfect for the summer night and all year around Playful and sexy

Got my hand on a travel size of this one. Fluffy tropical banana scent :) It's great. I do not regret spending a lot of money on a FB to be honest because it lasts like 1h on my skin. It's a very short lived scent. That is ok for very hot temperature outside. One for the summer heatwaves.

Blast off with a STRONG perfumey makeupy powdery presence and banana. Within 30 minutes, I'm surrounded with that overwhelming perfumey-ness, amber and iris. But banana has faded into the background,and exited stage right. Smells like a makeup powder compact

This isn’t what you’d expect from a banana fragrance. It’s definitely more suitable for autumn vs summer, in my opinion. It’s lovely, very rich and amber-y. Slightly tropical..Smells expensive and high quality. I love it!

Just received a sample of this. Smells like 'Allens Banana Lollies' for the first 10 seconds but then dries down to a musky baby powder. Powder is all I smell now. I still like it but I wish the banana lasted longer.

The scent itself is very playful and unique. Never came across anything like it. It smells a lot like banana milk powder you add to milk for flavouring. Sadly the performance is negligible and disappears in minutes.

I like this. The banana only lasts about 30 minutes and then you get some ambery notes. In the drydown, it's very powdery and pretty. As others have said, I wish the banana lasted longer, but it is a nice scent.

Such a weird perfume! Opens up with a banana candy note and settles into a musky banana. I layer it over Dior's hypnotic poison edt and the mix is just delicious!

Delicately sweet like a light dessert. Easily wearable day or night. Dries down to a very powdery finish. I like it but not for me.

Fruity banana this is not! Bana Banana gives me a tickle of unripe, green banana on top that visits only briefly. There are some quick leafy whiffs, but this all blows away quickly to reveal a warm, fuzzy cushion of amber, musk & a pressed powder iris. I suppose you could say the banana comes back around in the distant drydown, when everything is blended in with you. It’s not Runts or Laffy Taffy. Not to me anyways. Like in cooking, when something bland needs a pick-up, you’d add salt or acidity. This scent seems to be missing something acidic to pick it up. While it is pleasant, it feels unfinished and lacking something bright. A squirt of lemon, lime or orange could have elevated this for me, without it going over the top. It’s pretty bottom heavy. If you like amber-musks, this is a good one for warm weather.

this smells like banana skin, u know the artificial food drops? imagine the smell of those in banana flavour, a bit synthetic, i can appreciate what they've done here, but for some reason it is quite eraser-like if u will, yeah, an eraser, u know the pink ones that smell like different flowers fruits? those in banana scent, yes spot-on it's quite floral actually and very banana-y in the beginning but imo bc the banana itself is simple, once ur brain gets used to the banana and stops smelling it, u can pick up more on the floral and green elements which are pleasant, thankfully it's not overwhelmingly sweet, but there's sweetness going on here. oh, almost forgot, the beginning smells A BIT soapy and reminded me of bathroom/car fresheners.

There is a realistic, under-ripe green banana at the opening. This goes away quickly, in minutes, and a fairly sweet, kind of like dried banana chips smell emerges. Towards the end, 5-6h into the fragrance, it turns into gourmandy territory with the tonka, getting kind of a slightly sickly sweet caramely feel. Its like the lifecycle of a banana from green to overripe. Not a bad parfume per se just not what I was looking for in a banana.

Bana Banana is reminiscent of a biting into a green not quite ripe banana and the fruit has that powdery taste. It has a pretty yet light floral amber nuance that stays nicely tucked in under the powdery veil and stays quite linear. It’s an interesting one, but not for me.

Dissapointed... The opening is really nice, the scent of a greenish banana peel (probably banana flower as stated?) blended with some kind of soapy structure. The opening reminds me a bit of Clean Simply Soap with this greenish banana notes. Then the soapiness developed into powdery iris within the next 30 minutes. The base is left with a sluggish amber/tonka/musk mixture. NOT special at all, and not even very nice either. I feel that when the scent is launched in spring, it would be floral and light, but Bana Banana is suited better for colder month. Not impressed at all, so happy I ordered sample...Try Before you buy. I must say I was looking for some sophisticated version of The Body Shop banana range.

If you are a fan of banana note, you will need to look elsewhere. Only the most fleeting impression of banana is present in the top, and that's if you stretch your imagination. Quite surprised L'Artisan considered this fragrance marketable. A more accurate description would be "Banal Banana".

Opening is a nice burst of realistic banana but as it dries down it becomes sooooo powdery. Like an old school face powder from the 50’s. Super vintage smelling. Banana is completely gone, I get zero tonka or jasmine.

I have sold my full bottle , not my vibe. Waaaay too powdery and odd smelling, not bad but not a must have and not for me. -One of my regretted YouTube made me buy it, lol.

At forst it was beautiful, sweet banana smell, but 1-3 hour later there’s no banana note, just basic women perfume.

It’s a blind buy based on the rarity of banana fragrances and it was not a disappointment: quite the contrary - it’s a refreshingly solid composition from L’Artisan and I am happy to have added it to my collection. It starts from a fresh and new note to me which I would not necessarily associate with banana, but it’s borderline with artificial plastic and yet it is not bothering at all but turns on me into a halo of warm amber fruity tamed exotic sweetness. By association it reminds me L’eau de Rien by Muller Harris, however MH takes you into the woody leathery direction and keeps your head firmly locked in a lamb’s skin suitcase with Indian insence sticks for the time of travel, whereas L’Artisan’s BB creates a fruitier abs airier experience. And my oh my it has a gorgeous development in a late autumn/ winter cold - that is the most adorable cozy and comfortable at the same time slightly sexier (I feel a very subtle nonoffensive animalic note here - the type usually emerging due to a honey element in the composition, although there is non in BB, isn’t it?). I like this scent and it’s growing on me: not sure it’s a pick for the hot weather, but certainly irreplaceable for colder months. FB worthy for me, as I really love spraying and respecting it all over during the day. It doesn’t mean the longevity and projection are poor - those are absolutely brilliantly done by L’Artisan: one can hear it very well and projection is maybe 2 metres of pure exotic bouquet heaven with a gorgeous silage. It’s not intrusively loud but soooo yummm. I keep reaching out for my bottle indecently often. Oh, yes , the violets should not scare anyone off - they are so sweet here and give the “banana” note this creamy and cosmetic / stylish vibe.

Couture tropical! Sultry and complex banana/jasmine perfume. L'Artisan describes this as a "baroque style composition", inspired by 70's founder, Jean LaPorte's, historical creation for a Folies Bergeres costume. To me, the opening of Bana Banana smells like tantalizing, roasted, banana taffy! Kind of a banana 'brulee' treatment - exotic and temporarily mouthwatering. Then during the drydown, the banana becomes more plant-like, milkier and organic. Surrounded by the most sublime jasmine . . . a jasmine that is the luminary of moon-gardens, beloved for its natural indoles. All infused with a thin halo of sunny amber, a jungle waft of greenness - likely the violet leaves, and more. There's even an impression of expensive beach lotions in the distance. Probably from some combination with the musk and a faint chlorine smell, which makes me think of suntanned skin. This is a fun, but sophisticated, banana! Lite to moderate sillage and longevity, although very faint traces of the musk accord lingered through the night. Caribbean-luscious!

A true Gem and a futurist fruit scent for the banana enthusiast. (And fun to say aloud!) It can at once seem unwearable (in most situations) on the opening, unless this fruit excites you (and I understand why, it's the potassium?) If you're on holiday in Mananatra Avaratra, Madagascar, or the Caribbean, with heavy bangles, large designer sunglasses, a head scarf and a cocktail, just throwing your head back laughing, saying 'fuck it darling where's the blow', then this could work perfectly. Though unlike many of the fruit crazy offerings in niche perfume of late, it settles and makes more sense on the drydown, transforming into something unique, tropical, otherworldly and classic in the fruit spectrum of perfume. Earthy, dry musky floral touches with clean quality. It feels like there is so much more to explore in the fruit salad department.

Wow just WOW! Can you say complex. This starts out with a sweet banana candy note and that quickly fades away into a warm sweet amber. This amber is sensual and seductive. I love this fragrance because of how complex it is. And I also love how strong it is. But with that being said. This doesn’t last on my skin. This lasts about 4 hours on my skin and then it disappears to nothing. I would definitely buy again because of how amazing it smells. But I don’t think it’s worth the price considering how little it lasts on my skin. All in all this scent is beautiful and sensual. And different from anything I own. I love it love it love it. Uniqueness: 10/10 Sillage: 4/10 Longevity: 5/10

Wonderful banana note in the open! Tropical, light, white flowers combined with the banana feels just right for summer...but dear lord, what this becomes... The drydown took me back to when my boy was an infant and I was changing diapers a thousand times a day. After an hour of wear, all I smell is Pampers and wet wipes. On the upside, if those are your “Love” notes, this lasts for over 4 hours, and my skin chugs fragrance like it’s doing a keg stand. Projects at arm’s length if you overspray. Otherwise, sticks close to the skin. I absolutely hate it. Bought the little 10ml travel spray from L’Artisan because the samples were sold out. It’s headed for the resale pile.

This one is curious. A masterpiece, in my opinion. A creation that seems to represent an unripe banana. It has this interesting texture—something starchy, slightly powdery—that reminds me of a banana just starting to turn yellow. There’s a beautiful floral undertone, a touch of musk. I actually really like it—it’s the kind of scent I want to keep exploring, like a riddle I can’t quite solve. I panicked when I thought it might be discontinued and grabbed a full bottle 🥰 The only thing that bothers me is that I’m not quite sure when to wear it. It can be slightly overpowering and even a bit suffocating. Probably early, cool spring is the best time for it.

Bana Banana opens with a fruity banana note that quickly transforms into a more complex, sappy banana leaf accord. Jasmine emerges soon after, adding depth and sweetness to the banana aspect. The banana leaf is complemented by violet leaf, giving it a subtle greenness, while nutmeg and tonka bean add warmth without overwhelming the composition. A powdery iris adds a classic and feminine touch to the fragrance, and later fades into a soft, clean musk in the drydown. Bana Banana achieves a balance of depth and richness without heaviness, making it an approachable scent that is suitable for year-round wear.