Piment Brûlant smells, upon application, of a fresh from-the-garden green bell-pepper, sliced up, placed on a platter, and sprinkled with finely ground black pepper. The watery green sensation is nicely juxtaposed with the dry, nose-tickling black pepper, and PB is a scent, that, if I had to place in a fragrance category, would be simply “weird.”
After a few minutes of wet/green, dry/spicy, the chocolate note makes it’s first appearance, and what a show stopper! How is it possible that it remains behind the curtain until the second act? This trick of perfumery truly astounds me, especially since the opening notes are so translucent—how could they hide anything? Yet they do. The chocolate is soft, velvety, creamy, and deep, with vanilla creating an accord that reminds me of sweetened, condensed milk. Although the watery bell-pepper never completely disappears, the show is all about spicy, lactonic, chocolate.
Even with the condensed milk reference, Piment Brûlant still maintains the transparency introduced in the first act of the show— I predict that I will like it as well in the heat of summer as I do in the cooler days of winter (though an Austin winter is a decidedly less fearsome thing than an Oregon winter).
Definitely gourmand, but not sweet enough to relegate it to the ‘ladies-only’ side of the aisle; sillage is low, but the lasting power is tenacious. A fascinating fragrance, and one that I think I’ll be coming back to frequently…
beauty on the outside 
Oh, THAT IMAGE, paired with THOSE WORDS.
Nommmmm.
Meg, it’s such an interesting scent! And it even manages to be pretty when you’re ignoring it and it wafts up to your unsuspecting nose 😉
Piment Brulant is decidedly too weird for me. It smells like I’ve been cooking all day (not that that happens too often!).
I love the photo of those peppers!
It is pretty weird, but I find it just the right balance between weird and wonderful! The first night I wore it, I wore it without reading any reviews, and was quite surprised– I think of L’Artisan as a “quiet” house, but they sure pull off some avant-garde stuff! 🙂
I’ve just finished drinking tea with a treat made from waffles and condensed milk so this perfume feels like too much for me at the moment but I’m sure tomorrow, after lunch, it’ll sound better 🙂
I never find that it feels “too much,” because it’s truly weightless, and sillage is very minimal— it just shimmers on the skin! I think that’s what makes it wearable (if your me, lol) 😉
I’m not one for bell peppers but love the sound of the paifing with chocolate and I’m all for “weird”. You know, I get chocolate from Poivre Piquant but it seems I’m the only one. I wanted to buy a bottle in the recent sale but they were out of stock by the time I logged on.
You could also think of it as a crisp green scent balanced with dry chocolate and pepper, which doesn’t sound quite as strange… I’d be curious to hear how you experience it!
I have a sample of Poivre somewhere, I should pull that out too— I trust your nose 🙂
I’m going to have to pull this one out again… It sure is a weirdo, but so fascinating! Plus, I have only experienced it in the heat. I think it might be even better as a winter fragrance.
I’m very curious how this wears in the heat! Does it stay light and transparent, or does it feel dense on the skin??
Weird is so right… But I think there is a difference between weird-for-weird’s-sake, and weird-groundbreaking, and I think that L’Artisan landed on the right side with this one. I suppose it all depends on how it wears on your skin! 🙂
How fascinating! I love bell peppers (eat em like apples), so you have done an excellent job of intriguing me, Dee. How cruel for my wallet that this is currently on sale at L’Artisan!
There must be somewhere nearby to get a tester? Or, maybe you could call L’Artisan and ask them nicely to send you some samples? For blogging purposes, of course 😉
This stuff sounds AWESOME!
I ordered a sample of Safran Troublant on your recommendation, now I’m going to get one of PB!
Thanks for the review.
It is awesome! I hope that you’ll love it when you try it! BTW, how did you feel about ST??
🙂
Hmmm. I’m not sure if it’s my mood (I seem to have read something about this previously and thought it sounded nice) but this just sounds like … something I would not want to wear. Ever. 🙂 Thanks for saving me from trying it!
Lol, glad to be of help! 😉