Reviews of L'Enfant Terrible by Jovoy
Such a vaguely mentholated (and rubbery) ideal (bad) connection of scents as Parfum d'Empire Aziyade, Shiseido Feminite du Bois and Lutens Fille en Aiguille. L'Enfant Terrible by Jovoy is "obdurately" spicy and sticky, without a fair level of texture and with a pungent fruity (apparently peaches and apricot) accord of sandalwood, orange and spices (cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg). The core is hightly resinous and balsamic. The sandalwood's (somewhat gassy) intensity seems to connect this fragrance (with all the plain differences) to scents a la Nasomatto Black Afgano, Les Liquides Imaginaires Fortis and Orto Parisi Boccanera (anyway just in to a more fruity and less darkly oriental way when compared with the overmentioned experiments). The dry down is a destructured fruity-musky take on boring woodiness lacking texture, articulation and elegance. Unfortunately not for me.
L'Enfant Terrible can be dismissed as a copy of Feminite du Bois' fruits, woods, and spices- but there are actually quite a few differences.
L'ET is more masculine, much spicier, airier, and less floral than Feminite du Bois. It's actually far superior compared to the current reformulation of SL's Feminite du Bois IMO. However, it is less dense, not as syrupy, and less full-bodied than the original. It comes across as modern and airy, but not as light as the reformulated FdB. There's apparently quite a lot of cumin in this, which is absent in FdB. The woodiness element is also different in that it has less ISO E. The fruits and sweetness also have a slight clay-like texture reminiscent of dates, which is apparent in Phaedon's Dzhari.
Despite many 'parts' of L'Enfant Terrible differing from Feminite du Bois, the sum is admittedly very similar, especially in the top notes. The main difference is the inclusion of cumin, which makes L'ET quite funky/animalic.
However, if this was released as part of Serge Luten's "Bois" series, which includes other variations on FdB like Bois de Violette and Bois et Fruits, it would end up being my favorite one. That fact alone makes me able to award L'ET with an enthusiastic thumbs up. Being a big Serge Lutens fan, it is ironic though that my favorite variation on FdB would actually be an offering from another house.
L'ET is more masculine, much spicier, airier, and less floral than Feminite du Bois. It's actually far superior compared to the current reformulation of SL's Feminite du Bois IMO. However, it is less dense, not as syrupy, and less full-bodied than the original. It comes across as modern and airy, but not as light as the reformulated FdB. There's apparently quite a lot of cumin in this, which is absent in FdB. The woodiness element is also different in that it has less ISO E. The fruits and sweetness also have a slight clay-like texture reminiscent of dates, which is apparent in Phaedon's Dzhari.
Despite many 'parts' of L'Enfant Terrible differing from Feminite du Bois, the sum is admittedly very similar, especially in the top notes. The main difference is the inclusion of cumin, which makes L'ET quite funky/animalic.
However, if this was released as part of Serge Luten's "Bois" series, which includes other variations on FdB like Bois de Violette and Bois et Fruits, it would end up being my favorite one. That fact alone makes me able to award L'ET with an enthusiastic thumbs up. Being a big Serge Lutens fan, it is ironic though that my favorite variation on FdB would actually be an offering from another house.
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Terrifically identical carbon-copy of Feminité du Bois (later version), perhaps a microscopic tad more woody and balsamic and less flowery, but perhaps that's just me try to find some differences. It would have been a good scent if it was the first, but sadly...
7/10 for the scent itself
2/10 for the fact it's a copy
7/10 for the scent itself
2/10 for the fact it's a copy
The image conjured up is that of a rebellious young child. But the scent in itself is quite the opposite! I get whiff of Nutmeg, Coriander, Sandalwood, Cedar, Orange, Date. This aromatic concoction is spoilt with a touch of cumin which I suppose is where the image of the mischievous child comes to play.
To me, this is the most appealing of the Jovoy fragrances. It starts off a bit harsh with all the spices, but it gradually dries down to a very aromatic and pleasant scent. Perhaps this is creating the vision of a hyper-active child that eventually gets tired and calms down, perhaps even falls asleep. And then the neighbourhood is quiet once again!
To me, this is the most appealing of the Jovoy fragrances. It starts off a bit harsh with all the spices, but it gradually dries down to a very aromatic and pleasant scent. Perhaps this is creating the vision of a hyper-active child that eventually gets tired and calms down, perhaps even falls asleep. And then the neighbourhood is quiet once again!
This is a really interesting fragrance.
Have you ever ate dried dates?!
Using dried dates beside our cup of tea is very common in my country.
There are several different kind of dates.
The color of the ones that used for dried dates are yellow (to almost orange) and they are less sweet than fresh black dates.
This is what makes this fragrance interesting for me because it's exactly the smell of those dried dates with slight sweetness and their dry taste and feeling.
There are some wood and some spices beside this semi sweet smell of dried dates and you can smell them separately and easily because of great quality of the notes.
Actually I'm falling in love with this house just because of great ingredients quality.
The smell is very linear and almost there is no changes but generally I like the smell and the quality of this fragrance.
Both projection and longevity is above average.
It's not great but it's not one of those that disappears after 2-3 hours either.
Have you ever ate dried dates?!
Using dried dates beside our cup of tea is very common in my country.
There are several different kind of dates.
The color of the ones that used for dried dates are yellow (to almost orange) and they are less sweet than fresh black dates.
This is what makes this fragrance interesting for me because it's exactly the smell of those dried dates with slight sweetness and their dry taste and feeling.
There are some wood and some spices beside this semi sweet smell of dried dates and you can smell them separately and easily because of great quality of the notes.
Actually I'm falling in love with this house just because of great ingredients quality.
The smell is very linear and almost there is no changes but generally I like the smell and the quality of this fragrance.
Both projection and longevity is above average.
It's not great but it's not one of those that disappears after 2-3 hours either.
(Oriental) Head: herbaceous, very spicy nutmeg, coriander, cumin; Heart: orange tree, date fruit. Base: musk, sandalwood, cedar wood. Okay, I'm not a big lover of spice and especially cedar so maybe I won't like this. Sniff. Yes, it's not my thing. I can live without this, but he has my total respect for the complex beauty of this perfume. If you're into these ingredients, you can't go wrong, IMO, with a buy.
i didnt find this frag so bad at all .spicy ,woody and fruity ,it also remind me femininite du bois shiseido expecially in his drydown .something good but it didnt impressed me so much to buy a full bottle
Part Of The Name Is Correct L'Enfant Terrible (Bad Child) opens with a slightly waxy glaze under an all-out peppery cumin dirty spice barrage. As the fragrance enters its early heart phase the cumin remains in all its glory sans wax, now joined by a slightly sweet sugary supporting accord with a noticeable cedarwood undertone. During the late dry-down the slightly sweetened dirty spice finally vacates as relatively dry sandalwood-laced musk from the base finishes things off. Projection is below average and longevity is dead center average at 8 hours on skin. L'Enfant Terrible is definitely not my kind of release. As soon as one applies it on skin the peppery cumin comes out in full force and resembles undesirable body odor to the extreme. It appears this is what the nose Jacques Flori was intentionally going for, but I confess I see no reason to want to smell like I haven't showered in a week (or maybe that should be a month with this one). To make things even worse, there is this sweet sugary undertone to the cumin in the heart that makes it even less desirable (if that's possible). This has got to be the date note listed in the official fragrance note list (as I remember dates being quite sweet) but whatever it is I don't like it when combined with the cumin. Finally, the relatively dry sandalwood and slightly animalic musk late dry-down is easily the most desirable part of the overall development and at least finishes things on slightly positive footing, but even this is just a bit off-kilter and off-putting. The bottom line is L'Enfant Terrible aims to shock the wearer and it succeeds in ways one can't possibly imagine. Unfortunately, I was shocked in all the wrong ways and find it quite easy to recommend skipping right past this "poor" 1.5 star out of 5 rated offering from Jovoy at its $180 a 100ml bottle price tag (or any other price tag for that matter). Well, at least they got part of the fragrance *name* right... Terrible!Pros: The late dry-down is tolerabe.Cons: Everything else is an assault to the senses. A BO fest galore!
