Grand Beau

Yesterday I went to Etiket to see what new fragrances they had so I could get samples and choose a new summer fragrance. Tried several fragrances on paper including Grand Beau. After 5-10 mins I was drawn to this scent and asked if I could spray it on my skin. Continued to look around and was having 5-6 samples made and I kept smelling my wrist and was entranced by this scent. Ended buying a full bottle on the spot. This is the first time I do this, I always try before I buy. Today I wore Grand Beau to work and a women from Saudi Arabia stepped into my office and said "It smells amazing in here". So 1 compliment on the first wear. The first blast is pine and juniper berry, it gives a green freshness but not too intense green. It's very well balanced and a beautiful synergy between the pine and berry. The scent opens up slowly for the first hour and the Angelica slowly comes in and mixing very well with the pine and berry. My first impression was this resembles French Lover by Frederic Malle and actually the Sebastian also mentions this in his review. It however differs from French lover with its salty aquatic notes in the background, these are not very prominent and come and go on me. It does resemble being close to the ocean with pine and juniper around. It reflects very well the goal that was given for this fragrance. This is a monster of a fragrance, last 10 plus hours and even after a shower. Silage is good for the first 2-3 hours then it lingers around for another 4-5 hours and then becomes a skin scent that seems to last forever. I could still had a faint smell of this after a shower. This was absolute love at first sniff for me. As usual try before you buy, this is not a mass appealing fragrance. It's a limited edition with only 1350 bottles made but there are also 4 ml samples that seem to be available as well. I am even thinking of buying a second backup bottle, this is how much I enjoy this fragrance. Looking forward to read what you think of this fragrance.

I love the combination of Pine, Juniper and mineral aspects that tie together this scent giving a cleanness almost sharpness to it but also very, very smooth. The seaweed for me is very minimal, it just gives a slight salty touch like seawater residue on your skin after swimming in the ocean. But nothing like Megamare, not that direction. I don't think that I see it as an aquatic either. Much more green, fresh. The Juniper berries pull very gin and tonic and you notice that quite a bit through the opening. Also, something in here makes it project very strong through the first hour and then it settles down. Looking forward in wearing this in Spring/Summer for a better picture. We'll see how the warmer weather brings out other qualities.

This is a juniper masterpiece, the pine and vetiver keeps it away from being the usual gin and tonic. The more this dries down the more I love it! Well blended with the green notes and musk sweeping in towards the end making this very smooth and fresh. Almost reminds me of This Is Not a Blue 1.1 from the house of Histoires de Parfums but there is many differences. This performs well lasting about 10hrs with a decent trail that may last about 4-5hrs before it settles to a skin bomb. I purchased a sample and immediately knew this one was coming home full size.

The more I wore this, the more I loved this. This is the rare juniper dominant fragrance that does not necessarily smell like a gin and tonic: it's more like like a forested ridge near the ocean (the seaweed note here is used very sparingly, thank goodness, but does evoke a seascape). The notes seem very natural, and this also seems exceptionally fresh without having any citrus in it (which surprised me). If only I could afford more than a sample! This would be wonderful in hot weather.

Gentle, piney woodness for me! I get a touch of marine from the seaweed.