Bio' Rêve Eau de Toilette Sensuelle Bio (2008) {Fragrance Review} {Green Products}
Eau de Toilette Sensuelle by Bio' Rêve is part of a new generation of natural fragrances which aim to be developed outside of the purview of the petrochemical industry regarding the essences it uses while getting further away from simplistic aromatherapy blends and closer to aesthetically-constrained fragrance-composing. Bio' Rêve (Bio Dream) is a French brand which has released a number of Eco-certified compositions since 2008. Their aim is to associate "the pure tradition of French perfumery" with an organic creed using a palette of raw materials devoid of the substances which have triggered public health concerns, including synthetic musks, Phthalates and Parabens, but not limited to these 3 most famous scare-mongering ingredients which they advertise most clearly. The company also mentions that they exclude Phenoxyethanol, glycol ethers, Polyethylene glycol (PEG). The packaging of their fragrances inform consumers that they are constituted of 100% natural ingredients and 81% organic ingredients. Progresses in the domain of natural and organic perfumery are quite rapid in France it seems and perfumes tend to become more and more satisfying each year although some are still technological letdowns (I am thinking of a Snö Bioflowers deodorant I tried in 2009.) It becomes therefore interesting to be increasingly able to apply the criteria of complexity, structure, diffusion and lasting power to natural perfumes, in 2010 even more so than in 2008.
Notes: lemon, clementine, organic geranium rosewood, ginger, neroli, davana, patchouli...
Eau de Toilette Sensuelle opens on a delicious Coca-Cola note going in the direction of a Coca-Cola flavored sucker and then quickly enters dark, complex vanilla territory. It smells after a while like a spiced up Coca-Cola vanilla float with citrusy accents and dashes of clove and cinnamon.
The dark Davana note brings a smell comparable to that of rummy Christmas pudding with raisins to the perfume. Sensuelle also makes me think of orange and spices.
The composition is light-bodied, pales soon enough while keeping your skin discreetly scented with spices dusted with brown sugar.
The longer drydown is perhaps surprisingly lasting, albeit in a low-tuned fashion. It is ambery and manages to take on a delightful glow overtime. The patchouli is very subtle and even minuscule at first but overtime takes on an air of Angel by Thierry Mugler - without it being too obvious - thanks to the gourmand treatment of the patchouli contrasted with the crème-brûlée nuance of the vanilla.
It feels to this perfume-wearer like a throwback to an archaic experience minus the presence of natural animal substances.
The animalistic musk, civet, or ambergris are conspicuously absent from this contemporary vegan take on a natural perfume with their notes which would have been used traditionally as fixatives helping the fragrance be more lasting and more deeply sensual, not to mention more sexual.
It is therefore a cleaned-up natural perfume both chemically and morally, hitting on all the virtuous olfactory notes that adepts of the green life can expect.
The gourmand twist is either very French or deemed very much desirable in this day and age dominated by sexy-gourmand scents.
People who are curious about finding a sophisticated natural fragrance will note in passing that things have improved since the time of straightforward medicinal smells but will have to look more in the direction of Olivia Giacobetti's work for house Honoré des Prés in 2010 for state-of-the-art natural fragrances carrying more of an aesthetic manifesto in their pockets (they are not organic though.)
Appropriate for: vegans, vegetarians, pregnant women, natural lifestyle adepts
Genre: Unisex
The Takeaway: A natural organic interpretation of a discreetly sensual and gourmand spicy-vanilla-amber-patchouli fragrance.
