Gris Charnel
BDK Parfums (2019)

Gris Charnel is a fig scent that is surrounded by moderately sweet sandalwood. It comes off as very modern, and unisex. The fig note is the standout and it leans on the green and herbaceous side. But there is plenty of sweetness and clean musks to make this very wearable.

Performance is very good. You won't need many sprays to achieve big projection and it lasts more than 10 hours on clothes.

The beauty of BDK Gris Charnel is the clarity of the iris, sandalwood, and vetiver filtering through the figgy, boozy, spicy sweetness. It doesn't strike me as particularly innovative, but as a clever slicing and dicing of iris, sandalwood, and vetiver, both mobile and smoothly solid. Ideally, one would smell this emanating from the body's movement, to avoid linearity. Slightly powdery. A hint of unisex sophistication as well as gourmand pleasure.

I had thought that I reviewed this a long time ago, and I was thinking it was time for an update. But apparently this is my first review.

I remember wanting to like this so badly, and not. I think maybe it was coming across as rubbery to me or something. But I held on to my sample, and every now and then, I would test it again.

One day, it just clicked. I was no longer getting anything unpleasant about it. Just a smooth, and amazingly beautiful fragrance.

For me, this is probably my favorite composition featuring a prominent cardamom note. In fact, it’s also my favorite example of a tea note… and pretty darn up there for the sandalwood as well.

The overall effect of this fragrance is a warm and comforting spicy chai. It dances between creamy and slightly powdery. But this isn’t the lactonic kind of creamy. Gosh it’s just so stunning.

For me, this one is among the special favorites in my collection. Now that I appreciate it, I appreciate it more and more each day. I don’t have anything else even remotely close to this.

Gris Charnel is gorgeous.

A beautiful blend of cardamom, tea and tonka resulting in warm, spicy cup of creamy chai. The addition of sandalwood and fig bring the coziness up a few more levels to a cable-knit sweater hug of a fragrance, perfect for fall and winter.

Definitely my favorite sandalwood

A bit average on my skin. Just super sweet with an impression of a crushed candy cane. Very little body or depth. Guess it’s a skin chemistry thing. Lasts well. Will look to try the extrait at some stage.

Signature scent of my fiancée.
A brilliant composition, very much underrated brand.

To us, it is rather linear. The notes compliment themselves very well. It has a creamy aspect (sandalwood+iris?) but without going gourmand nor powdery.

Do yourself a favour and purchase at least a sample of it :) Now I'm curious about their other offerings.