You know that feeling at the end of the day when you finally rest on your sofa, relax your mind, don’t think about anything else but feeling comfortable with you and your glass of gin? Bois d’Ebene gives me that moment.
Bois d’Ebene starts with captivating woody and refreshing aromatic notes that remind me of gin.
Smelling the top notes is like taking the first sip of the gin. The juniper on the top is clear and straightforward. Its particular green and herbaceous notes are a tad bitter, yet it accentuates the woody and musky backbone. Juniper’s terpenic element creates an effervescent effect that somehow balances other heavier notes in the composition, making the perfume translucent and lighter.
Half glass through. The smell of feathery musk hovers around the juniper, slowly settle on the skin. The musks smell powdery with a hint of fruitiness. The juniper’s green and woody scent linger and blend nicely with the musks, creating a woody and creamy texture on the skin.
At this stage, the woods and ambers start to become more vivid. Bois d’Ebene’s woods remind me a lot of vetiver and cedar–it is smoky, earthy, and a little bit creamy and balsamic. Later on, I realized that this might be the effect of guaiac wood and cypriol as they are written in the official description.
The guaiac wood and cypriol play an essential part in Bois d’Ebene. The woods are not very commonly highlighted in perfumery, although the usage is widespread. Guaiac wood can be put in overdose, whereas cypriol is powerful even in small quantities. However, both woods are multifaceted by themselves.
Bois d’Ebene highlights the attractive feature of guaiac wood: the earthy and smoky vetiver facet.
It blends pleasantly with other ambers and musks material that opens up and magnifies guaiac wood’s balsamic and ambery quality, almost vanilla-ish. The result is a wood, smoky, yet creamy with a hint of honey sweetness.
The cypriol (oh, I love this material) is elegantly placed here. It gives a solid woody core and, at the same time, unveils a structure around the backbone. The cypriol in Bois d’Ebene has a soft yet rich woody character and diffusive. It keeps the woody character endures from the beginning to the end, tenacious and constant.
Finishing my gin. There’s the cabreuva oil—a woody material with balsamic and floral undertones. It gives an impactful push to the ambery and balsamic notes in the perfume, and at the same time, form a lovely floral ambiance. It provides a flow of air to this woody composition, making the fragrance breathe and develop smoothly.
Last but not least, a touch of patchouli perfecting the wood. Patchouli’s sweet and earthy notes complement the guaiac wood and cypriol’s sweet-woody undertones. Its herbaceous trait gives complexity and dimension to the fragrance, rich and deep.
Aurelien Guichard, the nose and the founder of Matiere Premier did a fabulous job with Bois d’Ebene. The woods in Bois d’Ebene is amazingly well constructed. He successfully highlights and amplifies the real persona of the woods.
Bois d’Ebene is complex, has many olfactive facets, yet everything is clean and in order.
Bois d’Ebene (and other fragrances from Matiere Premier, seriously) is exceptionally performing. It creates an elegant woody atmosphere and not overwhelming. Instead, Bois d’Ebene is very calm and charming, comfortable and reassuring.
I am very much impressed with this fragrance because it maintains its character from the beginning to the very end. Bois d’Ebene dries down on the skin after 6 hours, persistently woody and balsamic. The dry down still has the natural woods’ richness–a little bit dry, floral, ambery, and balsamic.
It’s a woody fragrance; can women pull it off? I’d say, yes, definitely! The balance between the woods and the sweet-balsamic notes makes it unisex and elegant to be paired with daily office attire or a casual outfit.
I’ve tried to wear Bois d’Ebene in a hot and humid country (read: Indonesia) and Paris during winter. Both have equally long staying power and excellent projection. However, I enjoyed the juniper notes on top a little bit longer in winter. Au contraire, the scent went straight to the woody and ambery facet in a hotter climate.
I can’t wait to experience other fragrances from Matiere Premier. I have smelled them all, and they are fantastic: pleasing and powerful. Any idea of which one I should write next? I have my second favorite already, but it can wait if you have something else in mind 😉
I guess you shouldn’t hesitate to try Matiere Premier perfumes because it is worth it. I personally like their custom set’s bottle, an adorable 6 ml spray bottle, a very reasonable amount to be used several times to really immerse in the fragrance before deciding the full bottle. They have a custom set of 3x6ml and 6x6ml that you can buy on their website.
See you on my next Matiere Premier post!
Cheers,
Gia.
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Disclaimer: Samples are sent by the brand (thank you!) with no obligations. Pictures and words are mines 🙂
