Pays Dogon

I just received this fragrance this week from a giveaway from Cafleurebon.com and a thanks to Isabelle Michaud! Anyway, I am really impressed on her interpretation of a vetiver scent. I find this vetiver to be somewhat earthy. Comes off strong for the first half hour then it dries down rather quickly and stays a very pleasing skin scent for the remainder of its 6-8 hour life. You can tell this is a quality niche fragrance made with better ingredients than most of my other vetiver fragrances. The notes for me are a spiced vetiver warmed by the hibiscus. The spices mixed with the earthy vetiver almost give a sweet piney/fir vibe which I was not expecting, but really enjoy! An edit to the review... Yes, after using this many times I find the star of the fragrance is the dried hibiscus! So gorgeous! Lightly smokey maybe from the vetiver and a lovely sweet fir vibe... Just love it!

Pays Dogon smells quite similar to Timbuktu on me, except it is sweeter, warmer, less dirty, a tad less medicinal and more inviting. If Timbuktu opens up boozy then sits down with a sharp glance of incense before revealing his characteristic vetiver, Pays Dogon envelopes the air with the warmth of exotic floral and spices and wafting her vetiver in an imaginary landscape. If Timbuktu stays close to skin then Pays Dogon projects a bit more. Both are perfect for the crisp chilly weather of late winter to spring but I prefer Pays Dogon as she is more office friendly. Plus the perfume is developed by an artisan perfumer from my city Montreal and the price point is so good that I'm more than happy to support the brand :)

Beautiful vetiver/guaiac centered fragrance, with the interesting use of hibiscus and cypriol. It opens with a dark earthy vetiver, with probably some pine. Then, it morphs into a peppery/smoky vetiver, supported by a subtle hibiscus note, vaguely reminding me of L'Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu. The base is a guaiac wood leaning towards the sweet side because of patchouli and the cypriol. It has good projection in the first 2 hours, then becomes moderate for another 3-4 hours, with heavy whiffs every now and then. I can still smell it as a skin scent after 11-12hrs (!!). It's beautifully crafted. A lesson of parfumery. One of the best vetiver fragrances around. Spring/Fall days, 30+

My favourite from the house. I love everything about this. Sampled, but will buy a full bottle in the future. Fresh, spicy, peppery with a beautiful hibiscus note. Then the woods pop up in the dry down. Very well blended. Leans masculine but definitely unisex. Can be worn year round, but perfect for Fall/Winter/Spring. As an EDP, longevity and sillage is average. I get about 5-6 hours. Scent - 10/10 Performance - 6/10

This fragrance is absolutely masterful, like all the Montsillage fragrances. Best reserved for cooler weather, it evokes a dry desert warmth so powerfully that today, enveloped in this scent, I felt warm despite being out walking in the rain on a cold, misty day. To me, this is a perfect example of perfume as work of art, rather than simply a nice smell.

I adore this. It's a woody and earthy fragrance with a lot of personnality without being too out there. It's dry and fresh. I wore it for several days and i still cant stop smelling my arm when i wear it. I will definitely buy a full bottle.

Another beautiful creation from Monsillage! A great take on vetiver! Spicy, deep, mysterious, smoky. Really gorgeous!

Geranium has to be part of this scent profile, because that is one thing I smell...a green geranium that is amazing. I smell a spicy geranium plant and vetiver mix. Nice opening, but not Timbuktu yet. Will continue on later. This is a very nice scent...the cypriol and hibiscus blend very well. Again, I can't stop thinking this smells like a fantastic geranium...but I get other notes as well. The peppery opening could be slightly off-putting, but it doesn't stay around too long and the rest of the scent is well worth the price of the pepper admission. Since I dislike vanilla, I'm always happy to find a scent that doesn't have vanilla in it, yet manages to impart some of the warmth that vanilla can add. Bought a FB...adding more impressions later. EDIT I recently sold this. I got tired of the hibiscus in it...but that isn't the main reason I sold it. I found 1# nota di viaggio (rites of passage) by Meo Fusciuni. It has the pepper/geranium/citrus/vetiver that I didn't know I really wanted. The Meo Fusciuni pushes every button this did for me, and pushes even more. I'd recommend giving it a look if you love Pays Dogon

To my nose this is mostly cypriol and vetiver with some guaiacwood. A touch smoky but mostly just earthy wood with a little spice. Rather dry and desiccated. Not too sweet, if there were a note lending more sweetness i think it would lean into unisex territory. As it is, this is a bit masculine to my nose. I quite enjoy the scent nonetheless.

I get an interesting grassy suppleness from this—like grassy suede with a sweet, almost plasticky undertone like gummy berries or red licorice. The first time I tested this I got a sharp, ashy accord that really dominated, but this time around I'm getting more of a grassy leather scent than ashy wood. And then there's that synthetic berry note, which buoys up the rustic, grassy core like a cheerful little shock-absorber. The more I sample from this brand, the more I want to tell them to rename themselves and redesign their bottles - both of which are far too nondescript and perfunctory for the level of effort and artistry they've put into the scents themselves.

This is a smoky-rooty vetiver with a strong patchouli note, and noticeable cypriol. It is somewhat linear and smells of an accord of vetiver-patchouli-cypriol, uncompromising but also somewhat flat and one-dimensional. Quite green and earthy; reasonable presence and good persistence. The quality is there, but it suffers from a lack of note separation, limited complexity, and the accord is agreeable but not quite engaging or novel. The late dry-down is more refined; a hint of guaiac wood, with a vague creamy aspect. Worth a try for anyone after a smoky-rooty vetiver. A bit more modernised compared to Villoresi Vetiver or Route du Vetiver, and less avant-garde than stuff like Lampblack. 3/5

This is my third Monsillage bottle in their lineup. I am a big fan of Guerlain and Monsillage reminds me of the way that they construct their fragrances. Very good ingredients and masterfully combined in such a way that you never know how you're going to experience a wearing. I find modern perfumery rather boring but Monsillage is taking risks and reviving the golden age of vintage fragrances that we long for. Mme Michaud creations are works of art she definitely has my attention.

This is my third Monsillage bottle in their lineup. I am a big fan of Guerlain and Monsillage reminds me of the way that they construct their fragrances. Very good ingredients and masterfully combined in such a way that you never know how you're going to experience a wearing. I find modern perfumery rather boring but Monsillage is taking risks and reviving the golden age of vintage fragrances that we long for. Mme Michaud creations are works of art she definitely has my attention.

I can't dislike this perfume because I like ALL the notes of it and Monsillage's perfume are always very well done and beautiful. I adore the cypriol note that is not often use in perfume. Pays Dogon is spicy, woody and ''vetivery''. Isabelle perfume's have the power to make me travel. That's precious.

I stumbled across this one on VarageSale and decided to blind buy it. Thankfully I did. This is an interesting take on vetiver, dry, smokey, lightly sweet. The hibiscus gives it a bitter sense that is amazingly done. This is how a Niche product should be, unique, intriguing and wearable.

This is my new bae. Better late than never.