Bon Vivant

[MissAnthropy]

An effervescent blend of crystalline champagne notes and sweet strawberry.

Just received this as a 'freebie' with my 6/17 order.

I don't know WHAT'S in it exactly, but I am in !!!


I'm pretty sure I smell strawberry in there somewhere. Mayhaps a hint of cinnamon? I just can't tell! It very much reminds of a lighter, more gentle version of 'Hollywood Babylon', though, which is one of my top 10 favorites.

I'm curious to see what others think of this scent. I have no description of any kind and no listing of the scent elements.


-Leslie

[added description ~qs] Edited September 13, 2007 by clover

[Red_Hot_Mama]

BEWITCHING BREWS

 

In the vial this is very, very sweet smelling. I went stawberry picking with my daughter earlier this summer; this smells exactly as it did when we stood in the middle of the field of ripe, red berries.

 

On first application, the champagne note is lovely but did not last very long. Too bad, I really liked that. The strawberry note is there & seems to be getting stronger.

 

After an hour or so, the strawberry IS definitely getting stronger, it's very sweet smelling, almost too sweet. My daughter noticed the perfume right away & told me that "your hand smells very nice!"

 

In the end, I think this is too sweet for me. The strawberry has really taken over.

 

It still smells like "real" strawberries, not artificial in the least butI think this is better suited for a younger person.

 

I will pass the Imp along to my daughter.

[VelvetSky]

Bon Vivant has exactly the opposite reaction on my skin from what Red Hot Mama has described.

 

Fresh out of the imp, this is indeed VERY strawberry...but not the harsh, artificial strawberry note we're all familiar with. This is fresh, sweet without being cloying, fruity and happy. I personally wouldn't describe it as the scent of a real strawberry...it's real, magnified.

 

As it dries down, I get more and more of the champagne note, bubbly and just a little bit tart. The initial sweetness of the strawberries smooths out and blends beautifully into the champagne.

 

The final effect of Bon Vivant on me is a pleasing hint of fruity frothiness. The champagne note really stands out on my skin in the drydown. I feel really happy wearing this.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Strawberries, yes! Bright and cheerful and bubbly and fun.

 

Wearing: I can smell the champagne immediately – it’s tickle-your-nose fizzy, and cuts the sweetness of the strawberries nicely. Bon Vivant lasted a good long while on my skin and was lovely the whole time.

[Lady_Ell]

This smelled very plastic-y on me, like Strawberry Shortcake dolls, fresh out of a warehouse or something. It burned the back of my throat a little bit, like when you have strawberry gum with real sugar in it instead of fake sweetener (Bubblicious vs. Trident).

 

I'll try it again later in the month. It has promise, but maybe right now it's not the best time to try it. It also just seems a little too young for me.

[Falathwen]

This one came as a free sample with my order. It was the only scent which I strongly did not care for, but I do not blame the formula, because the scent of alcohol has strong negative associations for me. The alcohol tang faded quickly, fortunately, but the strawberry scent was overpowering - it was so strong that I had to really try to wash it off.

[nenia]

smells like strawberry wine cooler goodness. it's a fun, young & sweet scent.

 

not something i would wear regularly, but i think i will use up the imp though

 

i think people who like hollywood babylon would like this one as it reminds me of it.

 

sniffing this out of the vial conjure's up visions of being a kid, outside selling

kool-aid at a "lemonade stand". or running after the "ice cream man" truck. very reminiscent of childhood fun. puts a smile on your face.

[Ina Garten Davita]

This was a generous freebie from the lab that was on my wish list.

 

First Impression: Thank goodness I didn't *buy* it. *wrinkles nose*

 

Second Impression: This is exactly like that roll on strawberry lip gloss my sister and I used to fight over in grammar school.

 

Final Analysis: As much as I was hoping, that champagne note didn't turn out like I'd hoped (just like Shattered). Bon Vivant does not smell good on me. Off to swap.

[hypothermya]

First Impression

 

Okay, I can see why everyone compares this to bubble gum. It is sweet. But it also has that mineral, bubbly note of champagne, which is really noticeable and offsets the sweet nicely. So it's not sweet enough to turn me off. Which is good. It smells very faint, though, which is nice but something I'm not really used to. Most of the oils from the Lab have a very definite smell to them, and this one is more immaterial than the rest.

 

Wearing It

 

It's still very faint, at least as far as the strawberries are concerned. It smells just like champagne (I'm instantly reminded of a wedding I was at two weekends ago), and makes me feel like I'm celebrating something. And the strawberries are there, ever so faintly, like the tiniest remains of strawberry juice somehow got into the champagne. I'm actually glad that the strawberries aren't overpowering the scent, like I thought they would, but I wouldn't mind it if they were a bit stronger.

 

Not sure how I feel about this one yet. I like the champagne better than some of the other "alcoholic" blends I've tried, and it feels more sophisticated/chique than them. (Wanda was very feminine and dark, Swank was more like a girls night out -- This one feels like a successful, rich woman who has beauty, class, and style.) But I think I'm going to have to wear it more before I figure out if it really is a perfume that I'd wear regularly. I found that while I love Wanda, I can't wear her regularly because it feels a bit too feminine...This one might be a bit too upscale for me to wear regularly. Although the strawberries help offset that. I do like it though.

[fairywingmaker]

This is such a great summer scent. Fresh strawberries right out of my garden. Juicy, sweet smelling....The champagne comes right up on me. The bubbley tickle your nose kind of tart smell right under the strawberries. There is something just a little spicey lurking under it all, and I like it! I think I need a bigger bottle of this one.

 

Beautiful!

[Scylla]

In the vial: Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill wine / strawberry wine cooler

 

Wet: Very, very strawberry, with the effervescence of the champagne notes twinkling in the background.

 

Drydown: The champagne notes fade away pretty quickly and I am left with a synthetic strawberry smell. It's a nice scent, but I think it's too young for me. Like Red_Hot_Mama, I will probably pass this one down to my 6 year old daughter--she loved it!

[feline.by.design]

As fairywingmaker noted, definitely a summer scent. I tried this freebie from the Lab a few days ago.

 

In the imp, the smell of Bon Vivant reminds me of strawberry shampoo. The champagne notes probably make the smell bubblely, and shampoo, in its way, is also "bubblely." Am I spelling that right?

 

Anyway, I wore it a while, no drastic changes on my skin from the strawberry smell. I can see why a young girl would like this so much, and I really have to emphasise how well-crafted this fragrance is. But there aren't that many times where I really want to walk around and smell like Strawberry Shortcake. It's nice to have the option and all, but seriously, I don't think this fragrance will get much wear on my skin. I bet it would make a good scent to have wafting around in one's house, though.

 

-doreen

[foolssilver]

my experience with bon vivant renews my feeling that chemistry is everything. this was in no way too sweet on me. i, too, got this as a freebie, and i was excited because of the name.

 

i wouldn't say strawberries, perhaps because i think immediately of faux-strawberry candy when i hear that. but FRESH cut strawberries doused with champagne, i can see that.

 

on me, this smells exactly like the generic lush smell. the scent of a bag of bath bombs and bubble bars all mixed together. (a fresh, grassy haze with a splash of spice.)

 

it's genius, it's very fun, and i will probably be ordering some within the next month.

[VorpalBunny]

When I first smelled this in the imp, it almost smelled like booze, like bourbon or Boone’s Farm or something. When I put it on, however, it is nothing but class. I don’t smell any champagne or alcoholic scent to it, just pure strawberry. It’s no Strawberry Shortcake strawberry, it settles to a nice dark, red, juicy strawberry scent. It’s very pretty, but I wouldn’t like it as a daily scent. I like my scents light and summery or sensual and sexy. It’s kind of intense and rich but fruity and light. I’ll enjoy the rest of the imp, but I wouldn’t buy a full bottle. It’s good to wear when going out with a male platonic friend, fun but not sexy.

[Neko]

In the bottle: Holy champagne flutes Batman! I opened this imp a good foot and a half away from me (I've had too many splashing incidents in the past), and I was immediately hit by the scent of champagne. I'm not talking a sweet little tickle, I'm talking a big fat alcoholic smack in the face. That's never happened to me with an imp before. Perhaps it is because I rarely drink, perhaps I am more sensitive to the scent of alcohol than others, but I could pick the champagne note out far sooner, and from a greater distance, than the strawberry. Sniffing the imp directly, I was reminded of some fruity alcoholic beverage... a whine cooler perhaps.

 

On the wrists (5 min): Strawberry lip gloss, strawberry bubble gum, strawberry ring pops, strawberry shampoo, strawberry and cream candles, strawberry incense. This is a sugary sweet strawberry, that, while pleasant, certainly doesn't smell at all like the real thing to my nose. That isn't necessarily a bad thing though. I love all of the things I've listed above. The champagne note receeded at an amazing rate once the oil hit my skin (not surprised there, things always go sweet on my skin), but the vaguest remanent stays to add a tiny tart touch that tingles in my nose. I think it may be the alcholic note that is making the strawberry come across as synthetic.

 

On the wrists (30 min): The strawberry has "cooled" some. It's less sugary sweet than before, though I would still definitely classify this as a sweet scent. I'm not sure if it's the champagne that is responsible for this, as I can't pick out the champagne scent reliably any longer. Howver, my skin has a tendency to "throw" particular scents, and I catch an occasional whiff of the champagne note in the air around me.

 

At this point I am noticing the generic "lush bath ballistic" scent peeking through. I am trying to decide which one in particular this reminds me of, but not being extremely familiar with the ballistic line, I can't exactly say. All I know is that this is what it smelled like when I was shopping in the Lush store and was sniffying some of the bath bombs available.

 

Overall: I like this scent, and it has its place in my repertoire of BPAL scents, but this is definitely not an everyday scent. I may or may not give it to my 11 year old sister, who I am sure would love it to death.

Edited August 21, 2004 by Neko

[LiberAmoris]

This was a freebie from the Lab with my last order---thank you!

 

When I uncorked this imp, I thought: It’s Strawberry Shortcake gone boozing! Dee-lightful!

 

On my skin, though, the smell of the strawberry itself was lost amongst the sweetness of the champagne, and it ended up being too cloying for me. I passed it on to a friend for whom the strawberry is foregrounded, and she adores it.

[Northernminx]

Very sticky sweet in the bottle, I really wish my skin hadn't morphed out the champagne note so quickly on this as it really brightened and lightened the strawberry.

 

In the end this was really a little too sweet for me, very berry but too reminiscent of the strawberry perfume I wore as a child. Off to swaps.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Surprisingly, I loved this for the same reason I love Persephone--there's a comforting sweet/fruity note I have no idea how to describe, but as I soon as I swiped it on I got that happy Persephone vibe. Strawberries instead of pomegranates do make it sweeter, but it wasn't at all cheap-candy-ickiness on me. I was afraid of that, actually, but I should have trusted Beth more. (bad me, but I got burned on Victoria's Secret's Strawberries and Champagne, which smells like Bactine.) This makes me feel great, and I will wear it to go with girly moods.

[Hikaru]

I got this as a freebie too, and just chanced to pull it out today, needing a scent to

cheer me up because the day didn't start out very well. I felt that champagne tingle immediately. An instant pick-me-up.

An hour later the strawberries still linger in my nostrils and you may now consider me officially cheered up. This is the right mix of full-bodied fruit and light happy bubbles. On a gray depressing day, it reminds me of sunlight and warmth.

[TheDarkMother]

I loved the champagne in Shattered, and I love strawberries, so already that's 2 for 0 against.

 

In the Bottle: Not as close to Shattered as I thought. I can really smell the alcohol tang in this one with the champagne and the strawberry is nothing but an afternote. I'm hoping that this doesn't smell as boozy on my skin.

 

On Me: The booziness is gone (yay!) and it smells like strawberries soaked in champagne, which is something that I got to experience in Germany as a child. In fact, it reminds me of it so much that I'm going to have to share this scent with my Mother and Mother-in-law. It does smell quite a bit like Shattered, but with a nice strawberry scent. I am SO in heaven. This will be a big bottle for me for certain!

 

Slathering now! God, I could bathe in this scent!!

[danuv]

On me the champagne is only noticeable when Bon Vivant is wet. Aside from that it is beautiful fresh strawberries. It isn't heavy or cloying just a very light sweetness that makes me oh so happy. I wish it didn't fade as quickly as it does but it seems to last much longer when I streak some through my hair (plus I can smell it when I walk more easily that way). It is a wonderful 'perky day' scent for me.

[TrayLynn]

I love the smell of champagne and added strawberry just made it all the sweeter. It's a light scent that mostly turns to fresh strawberries as it dries. The smell is as bubbily as it's namesake, it's a scent that makes me feel happy and perky.

[madame royale]

Bon Vivant is quite the sybarite. It’s a slightly tipsy strawberry blonde who just wants to have a good time; you don’t even have to buy her dinner first. When you first meet her, she *sparkles* so--you don’t mind if she spills her drink on you. Then you get to know her a little better and realize she hasn’t any depth and giggles a bit too much. Her perfume? Sweet, but you probably won’t respect it in the morning. Time to leave the party, alone.

[sarahmarie]

When I first opened this and put it on, I loved it to death. For maybe the first hour, it was wonderful. It started out very crisp and boozey, over fresh strawberry. The champagne soon went away and was replaced by the plasticky-strawberry scent others are describing - just like a scented doll. That lasted a few minutes, and then the champagne came back, raising my hopes. It was balanced, delicious, and it made me feel really happy! I was pretty sure I would want a bottle of this.

 

But now it's been a couple of hours, and the plastic is back. It's strong and sweet and giving me a bit of a headache. I'm pretty dissapointed, because it started out so wonderfully, and it really did give me a rush of happy feelings! I seem to be having bad luck with my chemistry so far (although I have only tried 4 scents at this point, I'm awaiting my first imp order). I will try it again, as with all the imps, but I think I may end up swapping this one.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: i'm getting a bubbly tingle when i smell this that i get when i have champagne or anything like that. i think i smell a solitary slice of strawberry, too, but it isn't sweet; it's not quite ripe.

on: definitely alcohol-y, bubbly, and sweet. however the sweet is more strawberry ice cream than real strawberry. as i'm wearing this, i'm thinking it wasn't a great choice for the morning, since it's making me feel a little hangover-y.

half an hour later: sweeter, and alcohol smell has died down. it's like a bubbly strawberry milkshake. very nice.

2 hours later: this is turning disturbingly like a bath and body works body spray on me. it's as if there's a good scent there, but it's confused by a lot of alcohol-related fillers. it also smells a bit plastic-y. however, i may end up liking it, since it's starting to remind me of strawberry shortcake dolls a bit.

4 hours later: still going strong. however, it's mostly a cheap wine cooler type of plastic that i'm smelling. oh, but there's a bit of that bbw scent underlying it all. sigh...

7 hours later: fainter. still there, but barely.

overall: i really wanted to love this one and at times i liked it, and at times i didn't. i'm going to keep my imp around for times when i want kind of a i-wanna-seem-grown-up-but-i'm-still-a-kid scent. however, i may end up swapping it eventually.