Là-Bas

This paints a picture of a dusky mystery salesperson of elixirs, jarred organs, dried herbs, talismans for protection, and other mystical ephemera, who approaches you on a dark and moonless night. They charm you into joining them at a night circus where you smoke and drink with strangers, their faces distorted by wine, shadows and shock. The night goes on forever and you forget where you came from and where you were going. La Bas clearly does something to my imagination that not every fragrance is capable of. I smelled FM Promise and can totally see the comparison, Promise was very beautiful, but the story in my mind takes shape without the bite of an apple. I like to wear La Bas for dimly lit romantic dates or when I feel moody and the only place to hide is behind the pages of a book.

My new favorite...I keep going back to it. Beautiful, elegant fragrance leaning more masculine. Not as "aggressive" as the notes may suggest...easy to wear and good for day or night.

쮸은 향이 남.. 프로미스v2다움 비교적 feminine하게 느껴질 여지가 있음 진입장벽은 프로미스보다 낮고 오프닝이 살짝 아쉽긴 하지만 다 쓰고 한 바틀 더 살듯

"Place Saint-Sulpice transported to the Upper East Side", let's see what it looks like. Anyone who has lived in the sixth arrondissement of Paris knows that it doesn't always smell like a rose (or more like a Mabillon than a Saint-Sulpice), but we forgive them: this is a very, very beautiful one. Not a grandmother's rose, a bit floaty: quite the opposite. A beautiful rose with several facets, well oiled, well sweetened, well alive, well piquant. It must be because of this patchouli, which they don't use much, but it seems to me to be one of the richest and densest of all their fragrances. It's both aromatic and sweet, woody and floral, remembrance and contemporary, so I have to admit that the picture is very pleasant. But next time someone gets attached to a piece of writing from this place, give me something to read about the 84 bus and the butts in the fountain. Or the haunting smells of coffee, garden, exhaust fumes and shoes; of the Marché de la Poésie, I don't know, go and read Perec and his Tentative d'épuisement d'un lieu parisien, come up with something a little less cliché and oriented towards rich American francophiles, please.

A nice rose/patchouli with a dry leathery (I'd say IBQ) twist that edges on, yet never fully becomes, dirty. I also get a slightly fruity bubblegummy resin impression throughout. Definitely familiar territory for Ropion and it's nothing groundbreaking within the rose/patch style but it's well-composed, quite strong, and of good quality (yet still quite overpriced).

Smells like something a middle aged doctor who was really hot in his youth would wear. Maybe he's still hot now. It pulls medicinal on me but I can't stop bringing my wrist to my nose for it. Pairs well with: Roads - Portishead

Leather fragrances are always a bit much for me, but this is the leather I'd wear if I wore leather. Smoky, smooth, savory, almost metallic, yet there's also something pink in here (raspberry or rose). The best kind of weird.

Portrait of a lady with manure (in a good way)

smells like the sweat of a hot person

Inspired by the Huysmans novel, and meant to transport the wearer to “Saint Sulpice church in Paris's 6th Arrondissement uprooted and transported to NYC's upper east side, ” I think I can...eventually... smell all of these inspirations in Là-Bas. However, this scent opens on a bit of an iffy note for me and it’s initially not what I expected: it’s a fruity rose that thinks pretty highly of itself and makes me think of Rita Skeeter’s platinum curls, bejeweled spectacles, and crimson nails. I don't love it at this stage. But in the blink of an eye, it becomes this profane, unholy fog of oakmoss, birch tar, musky leather, and smoky vanilla black mass of a thing, and it truly does conjure visions of disillusioned writers, gothic horror, and mystical murders. Imagine if Rita Skeeter unzipped her human suit and out stepped a glamorous, chain-smoking demon tabloid reporter who writes decadent, scandalous musings about all the astrologists, alchemists, fortune-tellers, mediums, faith healers, exorcisers, necromancers, wizards, and satanists of the time. Gossip is the devil’s telephone and all that, and if this fiendish, fascinating fragrance is ringing, I am gonna take that call every time.

An attractive, unisex Frankenstein’s creation of a flower. Honestly, I think the title “leather petals” suits this scent far better than LP itself. Carbonated smoke, lemon rind, and cool, waxy black leather. The top notes of lemon and rosemary reflexively make me think “grilled chicken,” but there is fortunately nothing bbq about La Bas. The closest scent cousin I can think of is Dries van Noten’s Voodoo Chile, which also does a sexy, inedible rosemary. Mental Snapshot: Mad scientist in a leather lab coat. Impossible taxidermy animals, preserved in bell jars. Smoking roses clawing out of stainless-steel vases. And a damn good gin and tonic. Not your worst date. tl;dr: leather petals 🧥🥀

I generally dislike reviews that try to place you in a scene because usually they are just a regurgitation of objects suggested by the listed notes. But spraying this puts me in such a particular place that I am going to let go of my reservations. This smells like you are somewhere in post-Soviet space and you've just hailed a ride and a Lada pulls up. The driver is wearing a leather jacket (of course) and he smokes in his car (of course) and there's a "raspberry" scented cardboard air-freshener hanging from the mirror. Put on some 80's italo disco (eg. Silent Circle) for complete immersion. Despite the nostalgia I'm not a fan. I'd rather get a ride where there is no ashtray.

My greatest fragrance love, currently unsurpassed. Tart rose jam, bitter green, smooth leather, a hint of skank, and a spicy, velvety patchouli that projects it into a delicate cloud around you. Marketed as masculine, but perfectly unisex. And not unisex in a "stripped of femininity" way, unisex in a balanced way. It becomes sweeter on me over the day, especially with heat and when worn directly on skin. Endlessly interesting. There's a reason Ropion has continued to revisit this composition, including most recently for his own brand. It's not laziness, it's an obsession.

A fine example of a leather-rose fragrance. Probably my favourite genre of fragrance, hence I'm biased, but whenever I smell this I'm transported to a mystical Winter's day - something about the composition smells faintly like incense burning in a vast cathedral. There's a fine, airy smokiness with hints of spice, counterbalancing the tart rose note that reads like drops of rose water added to an alchemic tincture. This fragrance has a mood of introspection and solitude, somehow managing to be beautifully delicate yet complex. A highlight from the RdF line.

This is such a unique perfume, it's so grounding to me- probably my association. I love the opening notes of lemon, rosemary, like a fizzy light oakmoss too. The grounding note is definitely leather, which somehow works so well. Makes me feel incredible, it's rare a perfume can have such light qualities with leather, this is so expertly crafted.

No need to beat around the bush or provide any real break up of this scent. This is FM Promise, only milder and lacking the sharp, tart apple note in the opening. Otherwise, it’s virtually the same perfume.

Ropion recycled his formula of the previous work Promise released under Malle. It is a less aggressive Promise minus the apple note. I am not going to start on my thoughts on recycling formula here....

Agree; this is FM Promise reformulated. Minus apple. Nothing new, and insulting he put this out ‘twice’... but it does smell good.

Has that nice combination of leather and flowers I like. Might have to come back to this one.