I knew there was a Maison Crivelli for me out there. It's called Bois Datchai and I LOVE IT.
I wore Bois Datchai for seven days, and here's the tea.
Image: taken from Maisoncrivelli.com
The Results in short
Source: Selfridges sample set
How much I like it for daily wear: 9
How much I like it for occasional wear: 9
Composition rating: 9
Lasting power: 9
Did my view change as the week went on? - Not really: I was glad it remained interesting to me
Did I get bored of it? No
Any Compliments? Yes
In three words: Hedgerows, blackcurrants, tea
Cost and value for money: Decent
Will I buy it? Yes!
Notes from Maison Crivelli:
The experience: a taste of spicy black tea and wild berries in the heart of a primitive forest.
The surprising contrast: crisp and lively berries contrast with smoky and enchanting woods.
Fragrance family: woody fruity eau de parfum.
Key raw materials: blackcurrant bud absolute, black tea absolute, cinnamon essential oil, patchouli essential oil, cedar essential oil, leather accord.
The Week's Review
There is so much of Thibaud Crivelli in his perfumes and marketing copy - not to mention his website - that I really wondered if there was any room left in his fragrances for the wearer.
In the case of Bois Datchai, the answer is yes there is.
Bois Datchai really does smell like an enchanted forest. I love how the juiciness occupies a certain space in your nose. It's grounded, slightly (but hardly) smoky, and there is a touch of 'perfumeness' about it, moving it away from a cologne-type smell and making it dressier. You could definitely dress it up or down, though surely its perfect setting is an autumn walk in the English countryside.
Smells like...
Bois Datchai reminds me of L'Artisan's Mure et Musc (1979), but with the pungency dialled down and made softer, gentler and more sophisticated. I always loved that scent when I smelled it, but somehow couldn't wear it well. Bois Datchai is a different matter.
It also brings to mind Dear Polly, by Vilhelm Parfumerie (but that has apple and citrus instead of the tart berries and forest mulch). In that way, it's modern and hip. If you only wore Bois Datchai, Dear Polly (2015) and Le Labo's The Matcha 26 (2021) on rotation, you would be a very great smelling individual indeed, not to mention, come off utterly fascinating.
A Writer? An artist? A fashion designer?
But I would not have the willpower to be so focussed and cool.
To conclude...
It's a Midsummer Night's Dream smell, a winter warmer smell, a fairytale smell. Intriguing and imaginative. It would mix wonderfully with the smell of a pine forest; perhaps with smoke carried on the breeze from a Finnish sauna burning logs. Toast, jam and tea for breakfast. Berries and cream later. Lashings of tea all afternoon. I don't get much leather: perhaps just a touch to round it out?
It's an all-year fragrance, I'd say; and possibly good for most occasions, so there's additional points for versatility (as if it needs more points).
LUSH has a perfume called 'All Good Things'. This smells nothing like that, but could be called All Good Things too. It really does conjure up nostalgic, hearty adventures, childhood epiphanies and jolly jaunts.
Available in 30ml (£75) or 100ml (£170) from many department stores (including Selfridges and John Lewis), Les Senteurs and Maison Crivelli's site.
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