Saint Honoré

Sebastian "The Perfume Guy" recently did a clip on gourmand fragrances. He raved about this perfume. And I usually align with Sebastian's sentiments and fragrance preferences. So, I blind-bought a full 100ml bottle at a great price. Undoubtedly, this nutty, hazelnut, orange blossom, vanilla fragrance is like NOTHING most people have sniffed or tested, to date. To my nose, this perfume is absolutely, positively wonderful. However, I can see how this is NOT a perfume for everyone, nor is it a safe blind-buy. This fragrance opens with a very nutty, woody, strong hazelnut note. Yup, the opening is a VERY strong, intense, dense, nutty note that is lifted just a bit with the perfect addition of bergamot. The initial notes are not like opening a bag of hazelnut flavored coffee. There is zero "artificial" smelling hazelnut here but a fragrance note that smells more like fresh hazelnuts just released from their cracked shells. The opening smells a bit earthy, or organic. And yes, there is the nuttiness of unshelled hazelnuts. And something to my nose smells like "earth." I imagine this note is the sandalwood, amber and musk combination. With development, creamy, lactonic, milky notes emerge, as do some woody, musky notes. And vanilla. There's definitely a bit of vanilla in the base. However, to me it's the impeccably perfect way in which all the notes are BLENDED that make this fragrance magical! Darn, this stuff smells so good! Cannot stop sniffing my wrists and forearms-smile. Longevity is good and silage is minimal. On me, this fragrance does perform as a skin scent with little throw. So, I'm ecstatic I snagged a full 100ml bottle for a shred under $200 USD. EDITED TO ADD: I'm enjoying the perfume. The opening hazelnut note lasts forever and can become a bit cloying over time. I find I'm happier with this fragrance when I sparingly spray it/apply it. Also, the bottle ATOMIZER is among the BEST I've ever tried! Hat's off to Nicolai Parfumeur for this! Love!!

I also am surprised this perfume isn’t more popular. I just bought a full size bottle. The opening is a powerful cinnamon scent to me, closely followed by Christmas smells. I get nutmeg and a tiny bit of Siberian cedar. It reminds me sometimes of craft stores here in the US that often sell cinnamon scented things. But it is decidedly more elegant than that, there’s a depth and richness to the spices and what at first is instantly associated with Christmas turns into a milky creamy musk- a very wearable cozy sweater. If this had the strong spice all the way through it would be too much- but it rounds out to hover in the background as a sort of subliminal message in the cozy musk. Longevity is amazing. It certainly is the more expensive, refined gourmand of all the gourmands so popular right now. To me it’s the stuff of great classic fragrances. I wouldn’t grab it in summer but as soon as September started I decided to commit. Smelling it on a blotter or in the bottle is not the same as letting it develop on the skin- once on the skin it doesn’t scream Christmas as the other blends come out. I really adore this fragrance. After wearing it yesterday and going to sleep, waking up in the morning there is this delightful milky vanilla musk with just a whisper of nutmeg.

From the very first whiffs, I detect orange accompanied by spices (bergamot, but also clove?). Within just a few minutes, milky notes blended with incense pleasantly take over. After ten minutes, vanilla slowly emerges, evoking something reminiscent of orange and hazelnut bread. A few hours later, it feels like a delicate orange almond paste, paired with a hint of a wood fire. On my skin, it needs to be reapplied after about four hours if you want the scent to continue projecting into the space. Otherwise, it becomes more of a skin scent. It’s gourmand, but with barely any sweetness. I really like it. _________ FRANÇAIS Dès les premières effluves, je sens l’orange accompagnée d’épices (bergamote, mais aussi clou de girofle ?). Après quelques minutes à peine, des notes laiteuses accompagnées d’encens viennent agréablement prendre le dessus. En dix minutes, la vanille apparaît doucement, avec ce qui rappelle un pain à l’orange et aux noisettes. Après quelques heures, j’ai l’impression de sentir une délicate pâte d’amande à l’orange accompagnée d’un feu de bois. Sur ma peau, il faut en remettre après quatre heures environ si on veut continuer de projeter l’odeur dans l’espace. Autrement, parfum de peau. C’est gourmand, mais avec à peine de sucre. J’aime beaucoup.

Ok, this is interesting, and not quite what I expected, in a good way. It opens with a BLAST of bergamot with black pepper. I love black pepper essence in perfumery, but if you don't, beware that in first 5mins you get a lot of it (I am curious how nobody has commented on that). then it turns first with hazelnuts, which I do get quite distinctly, and sweetens with vanilla, and then...I get Blanche Bête! Really the commentators below who complain about the floral notes in their gourmand are right - that combo of milk with orange blossom and cocoa and vanilla to me is really like in Blanche Bête. i see all the comparisons with Sandalsun by Hermetica and I have both FB of BB and of Sandalsun, so compared all three on my skin - mmmm, really much closer to BB... Sandalsun is more resinous with myrrh and and more nutty and has a touch of sourness of fresh cocoa pod flash, Saint Honore and BB are really sweet-spicy, deeply lactonic and with the touch of white florals. Ordered a bottle immediately because I found it for a great price...

Saint Honoré by Nicolai Parfumeur Createur is so good! I'm mostly getting a semi-sweet hazelnut syrup with a delicate, natural orange blossom note. The bergamot isn't that zesty and acidic and it reminds me of the bergamot in earl grey tea. A soft woody notes slowly grows as the dry down progresses. 10 years ago this fragrance would have been classified as a gourmand, but now I think it is a versatile, sweet, nutty, woody floral with gourmand qualities, which makes Saint Honoré a good candidate for a signature scent. I agree with other reviewers who say this smells like the winter holiday season (because of hazelnut chocolates or liqueur), but I think this will work well in the warmer seasons as well. On me, SH stays close to the skin, but I get at least 8 hours of wear time. Also, I am not getting any cinnamon, maybe a random touch of spice, but cinnamon, no. This is going on my full bottle list. 4.5/5