Petits Papiers

A lovely, very literal, interpretation of the source material. To differentiate it from its peers (Benjoin Bohème, Papier d'Armenie, Caftan, Vanille Benjoin, Benjoin 19, Labdanum 18) is a bit of an academic exercise. Each has their emphasis in a slightly different place, varied performance and sillage, and each a slightly different treatment to the sweet vanillic aspect of benzoin... Petit Papiers goes in a smokey direction that differentiates it amongst it's benzoin-based peers. It hints at the smell of real burning papier d'armenie or pure benzoin siam resin incense smoldering away. On drydown the warm sweetness lets up and becomes a light vanillic backdrop that eventually disappears entirely, and the slightly spicey, balsamic patchouli develops a sense of dryness thats a bit dusty and mineralic. The effect of this is quite realistic to the scent of a pure almond of benzoin resin. One thing I'm perplexed by is the crooked bottle top which seems visible even in the image on this page. Mad et Liens metalwork is absolutely charming and unique in its rustic way, (I am in love with the metal box the bottle came in... its really fantastic) but when it comes to the bottle and labeling— everything is a bit crooked and the bottle top being tilted feels like a defective off-the-shelf item and is not so nice. My immediate reaction was the try and bend it back, then unscrewing it to discover its actually a rather pedestrian spray bottle rather than a sealed perfume bottle. This kind of diffuser is fairly unusual for an EDP and it produces quite a different plume than most bottles, it's very much like a spray of water - a very fine mist. The particles are so small that its not really a targeted/directional spray but rather a cloud of parfum that is bit difficult to capture and therefor feels wasteful as the mist evaporates in the air around you. In the end I adore any and all Benzoin-celebrating fragrances and I'm glad to add it to my collection as a satisfying contribution.

My first sampling of the house of Mad et Len is Petits Papiers, the 2017 release exclusive to Luckyscent as part of their 15th anniversary, and to quote their description, “inspired by ‘Papiers d’Armenie,’ benzoin-coated incense papers that took France by storm in the late nineteenth century.” These papers would be burned, spreading their sweet resinous scent. It open with a strong cinnamon-like spiciness that rather quickly fades into a sweet, resinous blend dominated by benzoin, but also including guaiac wood, paper, and patchouli. The dry down feels split between the sweetness of the benzoin and guaiac and the incense-like dryness. It’s elegant: a semi-sweet nod to gourmands while mainly being non-gourmand and resin-dominant, providing really nice experience and a great first impression of the house. I give this high marks for the blend want to try it again after some time. And while I wouldn’t call it wholly unique, it hits different spots from other resinous fragrances. The “Big Red” cinnamon chewing gum comparison is valid, at least for the opening, as it’s an especially spicy experience for several minutes, in contrast to, say, MFK Grand Soir or Fort & Manle Suleyman Le Magnifique in which their cinnamon aspect is less spicy but more consistent throughout, more akin to a “baked goods” type of cinnamon. The pricing is $165 for 50ml, manageable enough if it’s something that you love but certainly less so if you’re blasé toward it, but it’s not a loud performer, fine on longevity but moderate on projection. As always, a dabber sample is far from ideal but I applied enough of it to have what I estimate to be a fairly good idea of performance, even after several hours of wearing. Overall, quite a nice resinous scent! 8 out of 10

I’ve already gone through one bottle of this amazing scent. I love the smoky & woody, burnt notes of this perfume. It’s this perfume that taught me to look for scents with guaiac wood & benzoin notes. I thought that it would be too masculine on me but surprisingly it is quite the opposite. It is perfect for the fall & winter months if looking for a distinctly different scent from the usual gourmand vanillas that permeate the winter. I found the spillage to be moderate & it lasted at least for 6-8 hours on me.

Gorgeous perfume. One of my favorites! It has all stuff I love. It comes across as Incense like, which is just fine with me. I am in love with this House. So many great perfumes!! This one definitely stands out in my collection of hundreds.

I got a sample of this after eagerly following its release and restocking. It wasn't what I had expected. I thought the paper note would be more dominant. The first application was a blast of incense/smoke and then patchouli on my skin. This quickly mellowed out to a warm, syrupy vanilla. (Which is great if you love vanilla!) I just was taken aback by it. Someone already pointed that out on the Nobile review, which I was hoping wouldn't be the case for me, but it was. Keep in mind this is coming from someone who does not care for sweets and finds most desserts too rich. Overall it was too sweet, to sticky, too vanilla for me. Not enough paper, woods and spice.

Beautiful, subtly smoky, aromatic resin mist - but dissipates all too soon. Its mysterious and grown-up aura reminds me strongly of Guerlain's Bois d'Armenie, and perhaps they do both share a tang of almost-camphorous, smouldering brazier before a solid base of warm golden vanilla-tinged and solid gaiac wood goodness kicks in. Testing from a tiny dabber left me both impressed and frustrated - and I sense this might do far, far better when sprayed - but it seemed very, very quiet overall to me, hovering very close to the skin throughout, and with the really interesting spicy/papery notes of the open not lasting much past an hour or two, though the sweeter and more conventional base hanging on for a surprisingly impressive 6-7h total. Seems a little redundant to me if you have the Guerlain - but if not, this is an intensely civilised, reflective, introverted scent in the same vein. Not a barnstormer, then, but quietly impressive.

Petits Papiers is an eau de parfum homage to Armenian burning papers which were popular in France in the late 19th century and can still be found today. These small "papiers d'armenie" are coated in benzoin resin and burned like incense. Mad et Len did an uncanny job recreating the cinnamic aroma of these burnt papers, and being a fanatic for olibinum and opoponax, I just had to get a full bottle of this to add to my resin perfume collection.. Smokey, sweet, woody, burnt resins on charcoal. Original, mesmerizing fragrance. Well done. You will get the cinnamon note of Big Red chewing gum....this is from the benzyl cinnamate which is found in benzoin and copaiba balsam. There are also burnt paper ash and vanillic undertones. Contains high quality ingredients and the packaging is unique (the industrial box is like cast iron that has been hand-soldered together).

This sounded like it would be another scent like my beloved Bois d’Armanie, but it isn’t. It goes on very like BdA, but changes rapidly to charred wood, smoke and spiced vanilla, mostly cinnamon bark. It's not red hots, but a fairly plain spice, not rich or lush. It’s okay, but it’s not really something I’d buy. The charred wood even has that greenish sour edge of something you’d pull out of a fire-pit, and the vanilla aspect is thin, lacking body. I get no resins and the copaiba is missing completely. I also don’t smell gaiac or patchouli in any distinct manner. Mostly just eh. Thin, somehow comes off as synthetic on my skin. Bois d'Armenie is one of my all-time top 5; this, I won't even finish the sample vial.