Baime Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier for women and men

This is green basil heaven or basil hell, depending on whether or not you like the smell of fresh basil.

If you don't like the smell of basil or herbal fragrances, don't even waste your time with this. You won't like it, trust me. This is an intensely green basil and vetiver fragrance that is bright, sharp and extremely aromatic. Lavender and good citrus notes in the opening provide invigorating freshness and a great introduction to the basil notes. Basil and thyme provide a solid herbal core, which ultimately segues into a nice earthy vetiver drydown. It smells dry as bone, without the slightest trace of a sweet note anywhere to be found. Bravo!

Baime is so bright green and crisp, it actually smells almost like a classical fougere fragrance. If there were coumarin and oakmoss in the base notes, this would qualify as a fougere, and would give G.F. Trumper's Wild Fern a run for its money in the green sweepstakes. This is a delightful scent!

I love basil and herbal scents, and I love this. Two thumbs all the way up.

MY RATING: 9/10

At a first test you could get to the conclusion that Baime is simply a great basil based fragrance, and for some aspects it surely is, but if you try to go a little deeper you'll realize there's a lot more going on here. Basil is definitely dominating but it's magistrally blended with other aromatics herbs, lavender and anise. I also get hints of fruits but can't exactly detect them as they're skillfully camouflaged to simply add a slight "extra-touch" of fresh oddness. The overall effect is of a pleasant, and addictive, super green scent that is bold in structure but thin and delightfully bizzare in smell.

I'd say Baime has a lot in common with Dyptique's Virgilio because despite they don't share many objective similiarities they surely move in the same territory made of a pushed to the limit green freshness. A territory where culinary aromatics herbs are used to create a bizarre clean fragrance and not to dress up your salad.

Rating: 7/10

Alas, this is beautifully put together, but it just isn't for me. Some things that are well-done that I wouldn't have thought I would like - like Britney Spears' Toxic - surprise me. Sadly, Baime falls into the category of things that I can and do admire without liking them. (Viz. Glinka, American Football, Tarkovsky, etc.)

The caraway and basil dominate here, along with the lavender and sandalwood, making it smell like a very expensive and gorgeously worked-out cheap fougere. Mind you, the astringency of the caraway is very classy. But still, overall, a very classy snooze.