Rappelle-Toi L'Artisan Parfumeur for women and men

I was really excited to try this fragrance for the gin & sichuan pepper notes but sadly I can't get past the gardenia. It's smells out dated to me, and not unique in any way.

starting off i get gardenia and gin/juniper. it's both creamy and crisp with these notes. next comes the pepper, sandalwood and incense, deepening things a bit. after being on the skin about 15-20 minutes i get honey and the incense is getting stronger. it's quite pretty, but unique. a honeyed gardenia with incense. really loving this one!

Rappelle-toi starts with some indistinguishable fruity juiciness that is overridden by sweetness within a couple of minutes. The tartness of the juicy notes mixes with the sweet notes, but they fail to create a harmonic balance. 20 to 30 minutes later, the fruitiness fades into the background and the fake honey (?) sweetness becomes the even more dominant note, this and some of the other notes seem to create an effect that is reminiscent of coconuts, or a Pina Colada effect, at least to me. The latter part is very unfortunate, because I HATE this specific variety of coconut, as it reminds me of inexpensive body spray or scented candles with fake coconut scent. Cloying and intrusive. If there is a honey note, it's the type that was not created to emulate real honey but the fantasy version of it that is regularly found in scented candles you can buy at a dollar store.

I will post an update for the dry down, but at this point this is a 'Fail' to me.

Batucada was beyond my pay grade but I think I can take a crack at this.

It’s much more than any white floral I’ve tried to date. A mediocre white floral can be flat and wispy, bad ones are armpit rank or headache shrill. This isn’t any of that. It smells thick, three-dimensional, and edible, like I’m the bee, I’ve body slammed a gardenia that’s been baking in the sun and gotten pollen all over my body. The smoke and Sichuan pepper seem to make the flower into something more than what I can normally perceive, like the way bees see their targets in delirious ultraviolet. Maybe to them a gardenia smells like this.

All that said i think it’s too much for me now but I’ll remember it for later. Also, I can’t pick up the gin, but I’m fine with that.

This is thick and chewy. Love it. Initially I get the sweet, syrupy scent of ultra ripe apricots/peaches which is probably the combination of gardenia and honey. Luscious blind buy.

With Rappelle-Toi, Bertrand Duchafour uses a similar approach as with L'Artisan Seville a L'Aube (orange blossom) and Penhaligon's Ostara (Narcissus), with Rappelle-Toi using gardenia as a centerpiece, framed by honey and beeswax. The gardenia, already plush and succulent, is singed with an animalic pepper and rendered even more ripe and sweaty with the products of apiculture, a waxy impasto that thickens the overall feel.

The end result is so sultry, with the milky blooms and velvety petals, oily and mouth-watering, a little bit "Ban de Soleil for the Saint Tropez tan" meets musky temple incense. It is one of the few fragrances that gives a tropical air without it being excessively coconut or two-dimensional jasmine. It grows more sheer and supple over time, never growing oppressive, with this seamless transition from gardenia to creamy sandalwood. This would make a fabulous wear for hot summer nights.

I have a version in a 50ml transparent bottle. Starts with Sichuan pepper indeed! Not much gin to my nose, and If I'm being honest no gin at all. Later on, all I can smell is gardenia, a very creamy gardenia with mushroom nuances. Something indolic yes and something resembling a damp cold room, similar to a fridge in a flower shop.
there is more wax than honey to my taste, a subtle honey note comes to play on the very last stages of a dry-down.
I found some similarities with Ostara. If you like one, you'll perhaps like the other.

smells musty mildew, mold, like an abandoned building after rain on a cool day. kind of smells like wet musty leaves and dirt too. i like it conceptually but its not something i could wear frequently. sad girl fragrance

L'Artisan Parfumeur's Rapelle-Toi ( To Remember ) is a Floral Woody Musk fragrance featuring prominent notes of Indolic Gardenia flower and Milky Animalic Honey made wearable as an everyday scent by infusing gin liquor into the mixture.

In the background, I do notice more animalic touches from the sichuan pepper which is tingling my nosehairs and a whisper of incense smoke adding hints of mysteriousness and masculinity to the fragrance. Behind all those elements, sandalwood is acting as a neutraliser between sweet and fresh. There's also hints of powderiness coming from the musk which could only be detected after the skin has fully dried down onto your skin.

Performance on me is monstrous with 12+hrs of longevity while retaining an arms length of projection. I could wear this fragrance during special occasions or an indoor date regardless of attire. If I were to improve one thing about this fragrance, I would like the fragrance to be more transitional from opening till the dry-down to make it more interesting. Preferably from a sparkly opening to a creamy floral base with the sparkly-ness in the background.

Wow. What a nice opening which I didn't expect, playful and serious at the same time. A gardenia accord, both lotion-like creamy and jasmine-like indolic; a boozy accord, which for me resembles a good honeyed rum rather than gin; some woods, reminiscent of a 5 star hotel lobby with some real cozy junipers in the corners. A vivid image with lots of details.
Then, 10 minutes later, it turns into a simplified soliflore, a generic white floral almost, a shelf at the airport duty-free shop with all the used blotters spread around. Milkyness still remains as a highlight, a faint honey note for support, everything else just gone. And that's pretty much it, on my skin at least.

I sense a lot of indolic jasmine. No incense, no honey.
AlaskanAngel: I quote you

LArtisan Rappelle-Toi: awfully pleasant for a gardenia scent but not a big enough like to sample again or buy. I agree pretty solidly with Pempipot's review below.

another masterpiece from Duchaufour...booze, incense, gardenia and pepper, stirred in a pot of honey. One of my all time favorites. And if a weird scent sits you, this is yours. Weir, but everything in it, is in concert with each other. This is very special...with one of the thickest, richest sandalwood notes, you'll find in perfumery.

On my skin (and to my nose) this opens and settles as just a floral scent. Gardenia and musk. I don't get any spice, incense, or honey. If this hadn't been an offical sample from fragrancenet, I would have thought I received a fake.

Wow this is a gardenia bomb for sure with a lot of honey. It's very very slightly smoky and boozy, but mostly just a sweet sweet waxy gardenia bomb. The blend is smooth and deep. I smell no mango though.

It smells like the skin of ripe mangoes. Not the juicy, dripping flesh but just a whiff of the skin...hinting at the sweetness inside. Very odd since it's not at all what's listed in the notes. I double and triple checked the sample. Definitely Rappelle-Toi. Smooth opening that's a bit strange but moreish. I want to keep smelling it.

The dry down is less intense but more of the same hint of fruit. I'm delighted since I've been on the lookout for a mango fragrance, but haven't had any luck. It's an unexpected hit with me!

EDIT: My SO just smelled it. His verdict: Powdered old lady. Another whiff and I do get sandalwood in the dry down, a bit of fleshy white petals, and a bubble gummy feel that reminds me of Fracas. Not so much mango anymore.

3/10

I've blind bought it, can't actually remember why. It took me some time to write a review about it, because it is so strange.

It is complex and unique, for sure. Not for everyone, for sure.

I've noticed that this is one of the perfumes that change with my hormones the most. Sometimes, I can't stand it and sometimes is just what I need to make me feel better. Definitely works differently in different weather as well. Very sensitive perfume.

The start could be cloying, I have similar relationship with gin as I have with this perfume: sometimes i take one sip and want to puke, on the other occasion, I can drink it all night and love it.
Then it develops, each time differently. I can agree with a lot of reviewers, I can sense floral notes, gardenia and also tuberose, something spicy, bitter and sweet notes at the same time, but it works naturally with my skin. There is definitely an association with being drunk, or maybe on some drugs, something that shocks you at first, but melts you down at the end. It has some sci fi element, like you are hallucinating, but from your heart.

For some people, I believe it seems a bit artificial, but personally, I have a feeling that it bolds my skin scent and I find it sexy.

I love the drydown honey note the most. It is sooo nice and special.

The most funny fact is, that every time someone smells it from the bottle, they react very negatively and repulsive, they won't even try it on. But I get lots of compliments when I wear it (sometimes from that same people!). You have to dare and give it a chance.

I already own Rappelle Toi, Amour Nocturne and Deliria from Explosions d'Emotions line and I am in love with all of them. Like they were made for me, they are special, a bit strange and very intense. Plus, I love the bottles and whole packaging!

This won't be a popular review but I did not like this. So strange, because I usually love everything from L'Artisan and the notes sounded so intriguing and up my alley. But there is a moldy quality that ruins it for me and it's there from start to finish. I catch glimpses of the scent that other reviewers rhapsodize about, but then it's right back to that moldy smell. What a shame.

The opening is so difficult. Too buttery. Rancid wax. And also, the sweetness of decomposing skin. It makes me gag. The dry down is tolerable but it’s also doesn’t have much presence. It’s like gently spiced coconut milk. Not bad, but hard to find on my skin.
This was a disappointing blind buy. I don’t give up easily. I have worn this four consecutive days, and I’lll give it a least another four.

EDIT— I think you have to live with this scent a while to appreciate it. Or perhaps I’ve become anosmic to the troubling elements. Perhaps it helps that I’ve been wearing other gardenia scents lately (Annick Goutal Un Matin d’Orage). Now I get the milky spiced gardenia with a hint of incense. It’s calm and truly comforting.

Rappelle-Toi is an oriental floral. The fragrance opens with a lush floral presentation—unmistakable a raw tuberose—laced with an aggressive, bitter accent underneath. It makes for a very rough transition into the rest of the fragrance as it develops. It reminds you of beholding a dog face woman on a blind-date—whom presumably had a promising body.

As the fragrance matures, the floral presence begins to change and reveal itself as gardenia. It doesn't become much more enjoyable though—the gardenia is very rugged—and imbued by abrasive accents and constitutes that make it feel dirty. It reminds you of some kind of odd shape-shifting scene from Pink Floyd The Wall.

Into the full dry down, the harsh accents miraculously vanish, and the floral presence begins to mellow out. The fragrance gains a subtle sweetness from an accord of incense resins—Amberwood (which you can smell clearly if you try to scrub it off)—and also the honey. It's not a predominant honey note though, but moreso one that only a keen sense can tell is providing highlight and texture.

It reminds you of the transformation and change of heart one experiences after a few drinks. Or in how it calms your fears of what you behold in the opening—it reminds you of an STD scare possibly.

I wanted to try this one because of the sichuan pepper which I’m so fond of. But I wasn’t expecting ANYTHING like this: another incredible complex and fascinating scent from that has become one of my favorite house.

The opening is really peppery, at least to me. The gin is there, and it’s fresh, spicy and only slightly boozy and herbal. It’s just the initial spray thought because soon the whole composition evolves into pure honeyed gardenia. The gin somehow faintly remains to tone down the overall sweetness, but still…. there’s so much honey!

At the end of the day this scent is basically a lovely honeyed gardenia with a more original fresh opening note. It’s a very nice scent indeed, but it’s quite a pity that the interesting initial notes do not stay longer and stronger. They are there none the less and add to the gardenia an interesting side: more watery, more spicy and more intricate.

This is a template L’Artisan scent: classy, beautiful, elegantly balanced, constantly evolving and always with an interesting twist. Well done, as always.

File Rappelle-Toi under acquired taste. You have to like juniper (gin) because the opening is rough. It’s not boozy — it is a pungent green scent on top of a white floral. I don’t pick up incense, but both honey and pepper are present.

Drydown is better but I’m still not on board. I can imagine this working on different people, but both times I have worn Rappelle-Toi I developed a headache. Like hungover sick, which might also be the reason I don’t like gin (my liquor of choice is vodka).

I don’t think this is a safe blind buy, proceed with caution. This is not calming or easy to wear for me, and I suspect others will have the same issue.

Yesterday I was wearing Rappelle-Toi while waking through the huge, Victorian green house in Kew gardens, England. What a treat!
The tropical plants and trees are obviously thriving in there, taking over the whole building it seems.
What surprised me was that Rappelle-Toi was the perfect companion in this English Jungle, able to cut through the dense green-house air with eleganse.
Everytime the heat and humidity felt too intense (I had to spend some extra time in there due to work) I stuck my nose to my arm and got this refreshing, peppery, tea and mango like scent with the most beautiful, white flower nestling in between. So comforting and refreshing at the same time.
So, although the scent opens very sweet and on the heavy side even, it morphs into this creation of great contrasts. Dark/ light, sweet/ zingy, peppery/ soft.
I have no idea how Bertrand Duchaufour achieved this, but when visiting a real jungle some time (always been a dream of mine) I`ll make sure to have a bottle of Rappelle-Toi in the backpack.

Very heady fragrance that is very unisex. I adore this. At first it’s a punch in the face floral but soon quiets to a nice green floral, a bit spicy. It soon dries down nicely to a very spicy green floral, almost masculine floral. Gin, where are you? Don’t get this note at all. What I do get is the honey and incense/ smokiness, this comes out in the drydown and mixes quite well with the floral. This is a very unisex scent, I love it. I got this for a song and a prayer, love when that happens.
Longevity very good
Sillage also very good.

A sweet and floral scent with a veil of mystery. Feel as if i had entered an ancient monastery, i perceive a sense of peace and serenity in this perfume... its development is interesting! perfectly unisex. Good!

Sillage: 7./10
Longevity: 7./10
Scent: 8./10

Overall: 8./10

This scent is gorgeous. To me, it smells like an unripened peach still on the tree. In this scent you get the fruit, and tree and leaves, and a sprinkling of the flowers that didn't bear fruit. I think the blend of gin, gardenia, and honey is one of the best combinations I have smelled in a perfume. It is a little green, slightly sweet and a little fruity. I was always a fan of honey in perfumes (here it is definitely not overpowering like in some) and I thought the gin would be boozier that it is - very fresh and light. This is definitely a light spring to summer scent as I feel the cold weather will just completely choke it into nothingness. Should have bought a bigger bottle, but I will for sure purchase a backup and a backup of a backup. :)

This scent brought a vision of an evening encounter. It starts off innocent enough, that of gin drinks at a casual bar. Adorning the table is a drink glass, filled with water and a fresh-cut gardenia.

The evening continues with more conversation and finding each other's present company engaging.

They agree to take a casual walk outside and enjoy the night air. The gardenia is quickly snatched off the table and they walk outside, continuing to enjoy the current conversation that was started in the bar.

As they walk together, the conversation slowly reveals their liking for each other. Suddenly, a kiss, and they are now wrapped in each other's arms. A warmth fills the both of them. Senses take over, both wishing the night would never end.

Sadly the night ends, both parties had parted in the wee hours of the morning. Though both had left each other for now, what remains is a wonderful memory of that evening and the sensual, unforgettable warm scent of each other's skin.

It’s not exactly what I expected but it is wonderful. Opening is straight up gin and tonic to me with juniper, lime, and a hint of bitterness (like quinine) and an effervescent quality that takes it straight to the head. A gin and tonic that you are drinking in a summer flower garden,

In the heart I think I was expecting a more gardenia prominent scent and the gardenia is there but, for me, the whole thing is so well blended that, a short time into the development, the gardenia, honey, pepper, and incense all merge into a beautiful sweet/spicy/floral accord that is hard to deconstruct into distinct notes. There is also a lurking, background indolic or animalistic note through the heart part of this perfume.Sometimes this comes across to me as an indolic gardenia and at other times like that animalistic note you find in some honeys. There is definite sweetness here but it has a bit of a sharp edge that keeps it from going too sweet.

I tried it first, inside in a highly air conditioned house and, as it dried down, the sandalwood came forward and the whole thing slid slowly into a smooth, soft, warm, slightly waxy, skin scent.

Later I reapplied and this time went out in the 30degree C temps to do messages. In the heat, the dry down was different and developed a sort of tartness to it ( I don’t know why but something about the dry down of this in the heat reminded me of the dry down of my old Must de Cartier.) I think that this may be what some reviewers are referring to as a sour note but, on me, I find it to be a pleasant tartness that freshens the scent up in the heat.

All in all, a complex and wonderful scent .

I should add that this was the version in the old clear bottle that comes in the velvet box not the one in the new packaging. Not sure if that makes a difference to the formulation or not.

.the 4oz bottle is a thing of beauty. But the fragrance is just incredible. MY NOSE, picks up on a borderline grassiness, with honey and booze poured over it. And all the grassiness amounts to a very astringent smelling gin note, period.Thats off the top. And then it evolves into a thing of beauty. If you're a man, wearing this will get compliments, despite what you may think.

Unless you are wearing something that is blatantly effeminate, I think most folks out here in the World, have evolved from thinking most fragrances are gender specific. There are entirely too many great scents out here to even debate what a man should wear versus what women wear.

Im wearing this now. And I already know that the sandalwood, pepper and booze, will keep me from smelling like Joan Collins. And on the other hand, smelling like Joan Collins, probably isnt a bad thing, right?. The drydown, features a big whack of musky sandalwood. All in all, this is a grade A scent.

And I love it even more, because the gardenia isnt all over the wall, so to speak, because the sillage is very moderate and sits close to the skin. Its more of a skin scent than it is, a powerhouse, in oither words. But if you spray a little more than necessary, it will last all day, and it wont gross you out. A masterpiece..

Very feminine take on gardenia, perfect for those who like their florals with sweetness. The honey note starts out very subtle, but becomes more noticeable with time. It eventually takes over in the drydown which, at least on my skin, is mostly honey. Perfect for cooler temperatures.

This was not quite what I hoped it would be. I was so looking forward to the incense which never showed up on me. The gardenia went very jasmine indolic on me. I love gardenias and jasmine in nature but am not keen on either in scents, especially jasmine. This was not a creamy sweet gardenia, but a heavy in the heat of summer indolic animalic jasmine.
My favorite part of the evolution was really the top and very fleeting note. The first five minutes are glorious gin, and it’s the real deal. It is a fresh, limey herbal juniper berry gin with a whiff of pepper and it may not sound appealing but it is. Of course, I do like gin especially gin and tonic. After that the perfume settled into the aforementioned notes.
The very last few hours, as a skin note, it became sweeter, more wood, so the sandalwood hit at the very end.
Overall, a nice scent, not love, but okay. I can see someone else loving it, but not me. The longevity is pretty good, but the silage is low. It stays in a bubble around the body, but does not leave a trail.

Finally got to wear this fragrance on a rainy day!

mmmmm! Swooning right now...

This is how this scent is meant to be worn: During milder weather, as a melancholic remembrace of summer.

Mild weather prolongs the sweet gardenia / "mango" (actually gin and honey that remind me of mango) notes, while keeping the civet funk in check... still sexy and very intimate, but in check ;)

There you have it. This is my update. My review below.

The opening is an explosion of gin and gardenia, and a few minutes in, this lovely concuction begins to develop some heat in the form of honey.

This fragrance carries with it a certain elegance without having many ingredients. It is light, sweet, and sexy. It's a contemporary sweet scent with quite the french estheatic, so be prepaired for a little funk (that's the sexy part) mixed within all the beauty.

I think it's best worn during spring / fall, and I imagine it would be beautiful to wear on a rainy day.

Longevity: 4 - 6 hours, Projection: Low to Moderate.



Now to what Rappelle Toi means to me:

That gin and gardenia explosion is very reminicent of the caustic milk that exudes from the stem of a freshly cut mango.

As this fragrance heats up, and the honey tones arise, I am immediately transported to my childhood: On the weekends, we would go to our country home, and on Satudays we often went to the town square.

I remember sitting at the plaza, biting into a freshly cut sweet mango purchased at the street market, the juice dripping down my hand...

There's a civet undertone, which is reminiscent of salty bodies in the heat of this green little tropical paradise. -Surely B. Duchaufour, was not thinking of a 4 to 9 year old girl's memory when he added this note; - But this is my experience, I am recounting here,

So... It's hot, I'm sitting at the plaza, eating a juicy mango, and then... I hear the church bells toll, it's the end of mass, and as the church doors open, incence fills the air...

Rappelle Toi is my childhood in a bottle:
Sticky, green and lush, perpetual bathing suits from Friday through Sunday. The only time I wore clothes was to go to town: some short shorts and a t-shirt on top of a damp bathingsuit and mangoes all year round.

I tried to recreate the experience, in the tropical garden of my Miami home. -Pictured on my avatar.- BTW, I moved into that place, because the lush garden reminded me of that country home...

And well, all I can say is:
Word of adivise: Do not try this fragrance in the summer. The civet takes over after approx. 2 hours of wear, and it smells as though a very cute furry animal had peed on me.

So this fragrance, in my view, is best worn as a melancholic rememberance of summer, during milder weather. It always brings a smile to my face :)

Rappelle-Toi: What a fitting name! I recommend you buy it, and create some memories of your own... hopefully far sexier than mine... and involving a fresh juiciy mango and a couple of gin cocktails

I've been on an L'Artisan kick lately...After reading the rave reviews on RT, I sprung for a ten dollar sample...Much to my huge dismay, this one is a BIG 'no' on my skin!

Woe, woe is me -- I *SO* wanted to love this one...Unfortunately, I had to scrub it off because it turned super sweet on me, and leaned more toward a synthetic gardenia rather than the gardenias I prefer which are more natural and sometimes with a touch of green...No Sichuan pepper revealed itself, and the gin almost evaporated upon first spray...

*sigh*

Back to the ol' drawing board...

Rappelle-Toi by L'Artisan Parfumeur is quite a daring fragrance. It won't appeal to everyone but then again that's half the fun. Of all the Explosions d'Emotions range, Rappelle-Toi was the only fragrance that was added to L'Artisan Parfumeur's permanent line-up. I suspect that this fragrance was the popular choice.

Rappelle-Toi is a white floral done differently. It opens with a lush and creamy gardenia accord which is further sweetened by honey and gin. For the first few hours of wear this fragrance is super sweet and somewhat bizarre.

The heart throws in some darker notes like sichuan pepper, dusty sandalwood and smoky incense. Rappelle-Toi is an alluring fragrance that you can't stop smelling because it's unlike anything you've ever smelt before.

In order to appreciate this fragrance you do have to like gardenia and honey in large quantities. If you're not a fan of big, loud white florals you probably won't like Rappelle-Toi. Unfortunately my fiance wasn't all too thrilled with this scent yet his opinion did not faze me, I happily spritzed on Rappelle-Toi at the airport before sitting next to him for a four hour flight.

I am pleased to say that Rappelle-Toi has excellent longevity, lasting the entire journey in a pressurized airplane cabin. I probably won't be adding this fragrance to my collection as testing this fragrance whilst sitting next to my fiance was torture enough. However I wouldn't rule out some further testing in the future.

(update) Man, oh man....this is amazing. Right off the top, I did bump into something that almost smacked of something citrus-y...but it was indeed, the gin....which has that acidic bite that anything citrus-based, has. This stuff lasted most of the day on me. I wore it to work, and got a few compliments. I didnt come across the incense. But a co worker did, because she called it out. Ive noticed that my nose will pick different notes up, at different times. So, that would be the case with this scent. Im sure in time, I will smell the incense.

I also get a "snudge" of Dior Addict (2014) in this, for what its worth.

This is what you'd wear with a tux...or on the other end of the spectrum, you're wearing it with a nice pair of jeans (skinnier, for me), a chic pair of slip ons and a very attractive shirt of some sort.

This is a beautiful perfume....period. From my 2nd favorite house after Amouage

I find Rappelle-Toi quite lovely with its woody notes, spicy softness, and gentle floral heart.

Gin is ever so fleeting in the opening. I had to really sniff hard for it to even detect it before it disappeared. The sichuan pepper is quite soft, no harshness but it does lift the perfume and elevate the vaporous woods. And yes, the woods... sandalwood, in beautiful abundance and quite amplified on my skin.

Gardenia is very present but not as a heady floral on my skin. It's incredibly well blended with the sandalwood and accented with honeyed sweetness in delicate measure.

I don't detect coconut as others have mentioned, but instead, a very prominent almond note that lends itself to a creamy, fantasy gardenia, so much so that it reminds me of the drydown accord in Mugler's Alien, but woodier. This even crosses over into Lanvin Oxygene territory with its peppered woods with a wisp of musk and flowers. Yes, a definite hybrid of Oxygene and Alien, at least to my nose.

Great sillage and longevity additionally makes Rappelle-Toi a beautiful, warm, addition to any wardrobe.

Love this- I think of it as a sweet fig scent laced with gardenia which seems to belie the listed notes. Definitely is distinct and has some staying power.. it's like Thierry Mugler's Womanity but much more wearable, no strange or jarring notes!

If this perfume can be compared with a human person..
I would compare it with a hysterical drag-queen with a tiny sensitive heart.

I thought I would like this, but I don't. There is something a bit upsetting about it, maybe it is this particular kind of pepper or the honey that reads a bit sour on me. When I smelled it without knowing the notes, I thought it was indolic jasmine, but then I learned it is gardenia. I can't say I detect much of the gin either. Not my favorite.

I blind bought this recently, the original bottle in the pink box was on sale probably because they changed all the bottles now. Gardenia, honey, I honestly thought it would be a safe blind buy.... after having tried it several times I can only say the pepper is very prominent the first half hour and it's also very sweet.
I'm sure this can smell divine on certain people but it's too peppery on me for the first half hour or so.

The initial blast is really green and bitter. Then the gardenia begins to emerge. I don't drink, so I'm not sure if I'd be able to identify the gin note, but I expect that it might be at least partly responsible for the greenness I detect.

Then... pepper and what must be honey and incense.
Wow. I'm not sure that I "love" it (yet at least) but I appreciate it deeply.
I love the combination of notes, how they work together, and that they seem uncommon" somehow.
Very nice green peppery gardenia. Probably a safe blind buy for anyone who likes gardenia with a twist.

I got my sample along with another new Duchaufour frag Sensual, with grapefruit and ginger. I didn't think this was the one I would like the most, quickly purchased for $68/125 ml from fragrance net, a great value !

I forgot that gardenia was in this, when I first sniffed it, I thought wow, this is opulant, rich, warm, yet bright. I thought this smells like it could be Amouage, or Lutens, TF Private Blends...

There are no balsams listed, though it is described by Fragrantica as balsamic. Maybe the insence note is frankincense. It surely has the rich density of a good balsamic fragrance. I loved gardenia in Halstan's classic, " Z-14". And a friend gave us a gardenia plant last year, so I can say the gardinija here is exquisite and natural smelling.
I think this is a truly shared fragrance, maybe slightly leaning to the feminine. The pepper, incense, woods and balsamic notes make it sufficiently masculine. Spring and summer have gotten most of the votes for season of wear, but my first impression was Winter, as the fragrance is so warm. I like the opening the best when the gardenia smells green and most fresh.
The fragrance is quite sweet, I would prefer it slightly less so, but it's balanced with the hint of pepper and smoke. A sweet woody gardinija is the shortest way to discribe it. This is much less floral than say, Duchaufour's Seville at Dawn, which is a much lighter or brighter white floral frag.

So I had recently capped off my collection with my best 40 after 3 years, with two great favorites, Sycomore, and Interlude. I couldn't resist getting this though, as it's quite extraordinary, may be close to top 5.
My dear mother died a month ago, and she was one of the best florists in America having her shop,"Nijole's Flowers" in Greenwich CT. I had bought her "Gardenia Island" fragrance that she used. So this fragrance will make me think of her.

Rating: 8.75/10

God bless you. John 3:16.

A dreamy, creamy gardenia that emerges from behind some unique top notes. I feel relaxed, warm and happy when I'm wearing this.

This is gorgeous. Creamy, fluffy, dreamy and romantic.
Love it.

This is one of those frags my nose had to learn. I have a decant of it that I put into my rotation so I'd wear it every few weeks. It was 'nice' but it wasn't until about the fourth wearing that I 'got' it and it is the most gorgeous gardenia I've yet to find.

Gardenia is my elusive grail so imagine my joy when I applied Rappell-Toi once again but this time about 15 minutes into it I was absorbed in reading something when I thought, 'what is this, where is the bright fresh true gardenia that is surrounding me?'. I couldn't believe it, but that elusive grail had been in my cabinet all this time just waiting to surprise me.

Needless to say I hied over to ebay and found a new tester of it at a third of retail price sold through fragrance.net and hit the buy button!

This opens with a blast of sichuan peppercorn, gardenias, and tiny bit of gin.
(I'm half asian and very used to the herbal almost soapy pepper smell that sichuan peppercorns impart, but never knew that they blend so gorgeously with gardenias!
They're a match made in heaven)

Seconds later it transforms and a layer of beautiful real honey and what I associate as coconut cream drenches the the peppered gardenias.
It's so creamy, intoxicating, and deliciously gourmand.

I am falling in love with this beautifully blended scent that combines sultry and innocent. This stuff is pretty powerful in the beginning, but it subdues into floral musk skin scent.

This embodies the scent of christmas with the asian side of my family in California.
The food cooked with coconut milk and lots of pepper, the flowers, some drinking, and creamy lighty sweet desserts.
I love it.

I run cold so I will probably wear this during the summer too since it has an asian/tropical/pacific island feel, but it's a rich and slightly warm scent that may be too warm for some during the summer heat (depending on where you live and your body chemistry)

I just tried it for the first time and my bf tried it on at the same time, to see how the fragrance would differ.
At first i sensed something citrusy, fresh and quickly after, it became a bit smooth and creamy. It reminded me of some tropical liquor drink, maybe with some coconut in it (even though coconut isn't one of the official notes in this one). It was delightful however and that creamy, fruity scent was even stronger on my bf. After a while it turned into a more warm, woody tone. I liked it. A lot.
Just tried it on once but i am looking forward to smell it on my arm, or a loved ones arm once again.

This is a darling of a perfume, a real show-stopper. I'm going to get a FB of this as soon as possible. I'm telling you all this upfront, because I am making no attempt to be unbiased about it. :-)

It opens bright and fresh but not unduely sharp, a cloud of florals enlivened with a drop of gin - no more than a drop, and in no way 'boozy' smelling.

The fragrance then moves smoothly to gardenia, but a soft and approachable gardenia, not the huge smothering thing that sometimes gives gardinia a bad name. This is flanked by other, less identifiable, florals and a touch of spice. The blend is smooth and no note dominates another unduely, although the gardenia is always to the fore.

Over time the base notes start to make themselves known, mostly based on a moderate but quite enduring creamy sandalwood with a litle musk beside it.

This a perfume with a lot of public presence, although it isn't overwhelming or too 'big'.
It has a delicious development from a clear sharable floral to a warm, smooth, very faintly animalic skin scent.

Highly recommended.

Edit - Well now I have the bottle, and it's a lovely perfume to apply - lush and generous in a way that a sample can't offer.
The drawback is that although the perfume is true to form early on, the basenotes are now much more prominent and much more powdery than I thought they were from the sample.
Longevity is good, (6hrs+) but then there is probably another six hours of musky powder that is distinctly stronger than a skin scent, and very faintly obnoxious.
It's still worth it for the first six glorious hours, though...

I bought this last weekend at Barneys. My favorite fragrance is POAL, but I wanted something new for the holidays that would be sexy and feminine and but not cloying or overly girly. I spent a good deal of time working with the fragrance associates to sort through my options. (A huge thanks BTW to the boys at the Chicago Barneys for being so helpful and taking so much time with me). In the end Rappelle-Toi was exactly what I was looking for. This fragrance is mature and confident in its femininity and I feel very beautiful when I wear it.

I like the bright gin opening, but then... I'm a martini-up sort of gal. This note passes quickly and moves to my favorite part, the combination of pepper, gardenia and incense with just a touch of creamy honey underneath. These notes are balanced beautifully and create a warm and feminine mystique.

I would say that the sillage and longevity are moderate but then, I am used to POAL.

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Edited to add... I've been wearing this now for a month and I'm obsessed with it. I wish I had a better understanding of perfumes so that I could correctly describe the interplay of the various notes. The longevity is definitely better than I first thought. While it isn't POAL, it does project a moderate sillage for a good 6 hours. If I spray it on before bed, I can still smell it on my skin the next morning.

The opening is tough. The middle pure gardenia. The dry down is the best moment of this scent. A lovely skin scent. Not for me bc it's quite floral. My favorite in this line is amour nocturne which I immediately bought two bottles of.