Carrying on from yesterday’s gourmand theme, I recently sampled Blanche Bête, another scent with edible notes from the French niche house Liquides Imaginaires. Cacao, milk, and vanilla form part of the note pyramid. Interestingly, the brand does not mention coconut, but I pick up something distinctly toasty and coconut-like, undoubtedly due to the white floral component of Blanche Bête. Here are my first impressions. They’re much more positive than yesterday.
First Impressions – Liquides Imaginaires, Blanche Bête – Blanche Bête means white beast, and the brand’s press material for this 2021 release teases images of mythical unicorns (the white beast) swanning in gardens resplendent in white flowers. And for once, I buy into the brand’s inspiration.
As I mentioned, the fragrance has a distinct gourmand slant. From the open, perfumer Louise Turner serves up what smells like the olfactory equivalent of a milky dessert. Perhaps a plate of white chocolate mousse/pannacotta surrounded by white floral petals. Cleverly, though, Turner tones down the sugar levels. Therefore, this doesn’t smell or feel like a kid’s candy gourmand. I perceive almond, too, though it’s not listed, and its inclusion doesn’t steer the perfume into marzipan territory. Instead, it melds seamlessly with the milky chocolate notes, creating a nutty undertone.
As the fragrance develops, musky notes and white florals (jasmine, tuberose) combine with the gourmand opening giving the composition a more rounded character. Indeed, they add to the cocoon of creaminess but also prevent the fragrance from becoming too sweet or offputting. Here’s where the suggestion of coconut emanates. Into the dry down, tonka, incense smoke, and musky vanilla add a further warm dimension to Blanche Bête’s bow. It could be the power of suggestion due to the bottle colour, but I think of white chocolate rather than dark cacao as the dry down takes hold.
It took me a little while to work out which scents Blanche Bête reminded me of so closely. Then it struck me. The floral aspects recall Amouage’s Love Tuberose. However, Blanche Bête is decidedly milkier. Other scents that came to mind were the almond, tonka heavy, Bois Dore from Van Cleef & Arpels, Luna Rossa Black from Prada, and Bvlgari Black for its rubbery smoky vanilla facets. As for the milky characteristics, perhaps something, like Remember Me from Jovoy, is similar.
Floral gourmands are not in my wheelhouse. Therefore I don’t need a bottle of this stuff, but it’s a noteworthy fragrance in the category—a must-try for lovers of the style. As for Liquides Imaginaires, my favourite remains the iris/jasmine woody combination of the brilliantly named Tapis Volant.
What’s your favourite Liquides Imaginaires or floral gourmand? Have you sampled this one?
Note: Bottle image of Blanche Bête from Fragrantica. All other photos are my own. I purchased the Blanche Bête decant used for sampling in this blog post.
