L`Humaniste by Sidonie Lanasseur for Frapin 2009

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

Hey Hey APJ Family,

We have recently been cataloguing my samples, a long and tedious job that took nearly 6 days and still we had not got them all on the spreadsheet. You will be disgusted to know there are over 600 samples and decants in this house! I am beyond disgusted at my outrageous frag gluttony. The fact that they are not all opened or sprayed yet is what worries me most, I have these rare and often precious works of art and science just laying around unsmelt. TRAGIC!!

L`Humaniste by Frapin 2009

L`Humaniste Frapin FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon, bergamot, cardamom, pink pepper and black pepper
Heart: Juniper berries, nutmeg, thyme and peony
Base: Gin, oak moss and tonka

From Frapin site: It is to François Rabelais, the most illustrious member of the dynasty, that the house of Frapin has dedicated L’Humaniste. A shot of gin laced with citrus, spices and herbs anchored by soft tonka bean makes it as bracing and limpid as the curious, open minds of Renaissance men.

Fresh and sweet opening, it’s like the new millenium opening for fragrance: citrus and pepper with a green hint. Very pleasant and bright but hardly groundbreaking. That’s OK, it doesn’t need to be NEW and L’Humaniste is very nicely blended, the cardamom giving a very nice nod to Indian curry, in fact it reminds me a little of the sweet curry that my Mum would make for us, not the same but a lovely reminder.

L'Humanist Spicy Citrus MJsKitchenPhoto stolen MJsKitchen

As the fragrance progresses it has a lovely light depth, remaining quite crisp but with lovely shadowy undertones. I know I’m not going crazy for L’Humaniste and it reads like I’m a bit Ho-Hum but that would be a very wrong impression. This is a very solid, beautiful and interesting fragrance in the grand tradition of men’s aromatics but where I think L’Humaniste would truly shine is on a woman. I have sprayed my BFF with it and she commented that she would LOVE to wear this, it reminds her of Bigarade Concentree by Frederic Malle but less in your face, more wearable, softer. I agree, L’Humaniste is a very wearable unisex fragrance that could easily take you from brunch, to the gym, to the boardroom or to romantic dates and conquests.

Frapin VIPXO WeinQuellePhoto Stolen WeinQuelle

From Wikipedia: Frapin is a Cognac producer establishing their headquarters in the Fontpinot Castle at Segonzac, in the heart of the Grande Champagne region of France. The Frapin family has been established in the South West of France since 1270, initially as a family of wine-growers who became distillers and have continued in this tradition for 20 generations.

Further reading PerfumeSmellinThings and TheScentualist
LuckyScent has $145/100ml
SurrenderToChance starts at $3/ml

I love that the Frapin company has moved into fragrance and done such an excellent job of it, this is extremely well priced niche fragrance at its best. Which of the line have you tried?
Portia xx

11 thoughts on “L`Humaniste by Sidonie Lanasseur for Frapin 2009”

  1. Beautiful description Portia, I love the fruity notes used in making L’Humaniste and the thyme , nutmeg 🙂 but seriously black pepper? Would that note be light or harsh?

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  2. At least you were brave enough to catalog all your splits and samples. My best guesstimate puts the number of my samples up there near yours. But I haven’t got the heart to face the truth. Trying to put the brakes on purchasing new things so I can enjoy what I have, but certain Facebook groups make it very difficult. 😉

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  3. Yet another beautiful frag to add to my stash of bottles, samples and decants. I, too, have many I haven’t even opened or at least taken the time to seriously test. I am afraid to count them, but at least I keep them semi-organized. Boxes of full vintage bottles in one cool cupboard, niche bottles in another and so on. Samples and decants have their own place as well. I have decided that in order to purchase one more frag in any form, two will have to go, but which ones?

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  4. Great review Portia,

    Let me know if you want any of the other frapin fragrances 🙂 x

    Regards

    Nick Smart

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  5. I really get what you mean by “I know I’m not going crazy for L’Humaniste and it reads like I’m a bit Ho-Hum but that would be a very wrong impression. This is a very solid, beautiful and interesting fragrance in the grand tradition of men’s aromatics…” There are a lot of perfumes I feel the same about. They are wonderful but not spectacular. This one sounds lovely!

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  6. Portia, your sample count made me curious, so I checked my sample log that I keep as a Word file. I should probably have started with a spreadsheet, but who knew that it would grow so large? There are about 46 samples listed per page x 57 pages, making a grand total of 2622 samples! That seems about right, and doesn’t count any of the mini-bottles or full bottles.

    Having all those samples isn’t disgusting, it’s wonderful! I consider it part of my education as a perfumer to smell everything else that’s out there. It’s part of your job as a blogger, too. We’ll never be able to smell everything that exists, but we can certainly try! I have all the ones I’ve tried filed away so that I can find anything in an instant, and I keep written notes (reviews) on each one. It’s a constructive way to channel our hoarder instincts. Keep on sampling!

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  7. I haven’t counted mine (sort of catalogued them recently) but I don’t think I’m far behind you. 😉 And I feel bad for not writing about them regularly (to clear them mentally from the list).

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