French Lover Bois d'Orage Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle 2007

French Lover / Bois d'Orage by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle

Where to buy

Search on

Where to buy

French Lover / Bois d'Orage (Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle)

8.1 / 10618 Ratings

French Lover is a popular perfume by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle for men and was released in 2007. The scent is green-spicy. It is being marketed by Estēe Lauder Companies. Pronunciation

Scent goes well with Eau de Gentiane Blanche

Search on

Perfumer

Pierre Bourdon

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Florentine iris Pimento Galbanum
Heart Notes	Angelica Vetiver Cedar
Base Notes	Patchouli Frankincense Musk

Ratings

Scent

8.1618 Ratings

Longevity

7.5482 Ratings

Sillage

6.7474 Ratings

Bottle

7.8438 Ratings

Value for money

6.3100 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 23.05.2022.

Interesting Facts

This fragrance is sold as "Bois d'Orage" in the US and Canada.

Rate
Collection
Classify
Notes

Reviews

03/25/2022

10
Scent 10
Longevity 10
Sillage 10
Bottle 10
Pricing

FilipMurray
15 Reviews

FilipMurray

Helpful Review 2

French Lover

Very interesting ''old school'' perfume.

Frederic Malle asked JC Ellena for a stronger and more intense version of Angelique Sous La Pluie. JCE worked on the formula for several months and he almost finished it - however at the time he signed the contract to be the exclusive nose for Hermes. So he was not allowed to give his formula to Frederic or to work with Frederic anymore.
Malle called JCE and asked him if he could advise him on who could do the job instead of him and JCE recommended Malle's longtime family friend - Pierre Bourdon. Malle asked JCE to share the initial idea and concept of the formula with Bourdon so that he could complete it and put his “final touch”. And here we are... we've got the French Lover.
It's not a secret that French Lover was kind of a collaboration and that the inspiration was ASLP. The story is verified from a Frederic Malle book I bought in Paris.

If you are in the USA, you will find French Lover under the name "Bois D'Orage".

Another interesting fact is that this is the last perfume that Pierre Bourdon created.

French Lover might be one of the safest picks from the house.
Woody, slightly spicy, wet and cold smell of the forest after the rain - when the aromas start to evaporate from the soil. It is quite green and vegetal. It’s not a classic woody perfume you'd expect to smell when you see the notes.
Very natural scent of cedar wood.
Quality should not be mentioned when it comes to Frederic Malle. It's always top notch.

Projection and longevity are probably one of the weakest from the house.
It projects for an hour or two, very moderate...
Longevity is solid, definitely over 10-12h. But just slightly stronger than a skin scent.

But if you want your perfume to "dominate" from you - then you might need to skip this perfume.

02/21/2022

Kyrabi
35 Reviews

Kyrabi

i like it, but....

A perfume, yet another, of the Malle house that gives me the feeling of incompleteness. As I have already said for Musc Ravageur, the scent is also beautiful in this case, not a little, but it lacks in performance for me. Low persistence, immediately very ethereal scent, minimal wake. What a great pity ... That said, it is a great male perfume, with a bitter and fresh green opening and a beautiful woody evolution. Heart and base I prefer them to the opening notes. I would like to add it to the collection but boh, as much as I like it, I am afraid that I would end up preferring other more performing perfumes and that allow me to feel them on for the duration of the working day.

10/18/2021

9.5
Scent 9
Longevity 8
Sillage 8
Bottle 10
Pricing

Bastiscent

Translated Show original

Bastiscent

Helpful Review 8

French love at first spray

This fragrance was the starting point for me into the mysterious world of niche fragrances and remains an undisputed masterpiece in my eyes. In fact, the reviews about this fragrance led me to Strasbourg, as FM fragrances were not yet so numerous at that time.
In a small side street, taken from the FM fragrance fridge, this fragrance enchanted right away.
The complexity and yet simple infatuation, which emanates from him, hardly any other fragrance in the green segment can boast.
On a white linen shirt on a balmy summer evening, carried by the soft sounds of a piano in the elegant hotel park, presents itself here an enchanting fragrance.
Earthy, mossy and fresh it comes along, just as mysterious, while it comes to the guests around as a fine and attractive note in the nose. One can not help but and must "re-smell" again, while vetiver and cedar spread and attest him a green "playground". Even after several hours, while other fragrances have long since invaded the nose, it stands out with such a calm yet animalic attraction that the wearer's companion can't help but fall for it. All this without unnecessary sweetness, without synthetics, but so natural, as if this fragrance would already exist since time immemorial.
Wherever he appears, he provides for turning heads, for furtive glances and asserts itself confidently even on sultry summer days.
In this fragrance, you will find the gentleman who arrives and beguiles with his self-confidence and his calm; who knows what he wants and how to get it - without having to loudly put himself in the foreground for it.

Who has once surrendered to the magic of FM and his various fragrance creations (even if I definitely do not like some fragrances), will probably find here his holy grail within the fragrance collection.

3 Replies

08/26/2021

Pepdal
228 Reviews

Pepdal

Storm Wood

it has taken me a long time to click with any perfumes from Frederic Malle, but finally i have found one that i don't mind spending a lot of time with. I hope the review is helpful and as always, thank you for watching

12/08/2020

9
Scent 7
Longevity 7
Sillage 8
Bottle

GreMuser
13 Reviews

GreMuser

Helpful Review 1

Love at first sight

What can I say ... it was love at first sight, it is woody, spicy and very pleasant and elegant.

It looks like a 'softer' version of Creed Royal Oud, with which it shares a fantastic cedar wood, very versatile even if I see it better in an autumn / winter context.

The more it dries, the more a very sensual note of incense emerges, not at all 'church' to be clear.

One of my absolute favorites, definitely unisex.

11/28/2020

9.5
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 8
Bottle

ScentBubble

Translated Show original

ScentBubble

Top Review

Would you like to pour the wine, honey?

Sabine and Achim are a couple for ages. It hasn't always been easy, but they have always stuck together and defied the often harsh reality. The two children they have had together are now out of the house. Marie moved into their student flat two years ago, Hannes has already earned his spurs as an engineer with a well-known company. But the house has by no means become too big as the children have moved out. Marie's room is now used as a guest room, Hannes' former domicile was converted into a gambling den immediately after he moved out. From time to time Achim has cyber-battles with mates of the same age. In the beginning Sabine rolled her eyes, meanwhile she smiles about it.

Today, on this late summer afternoon, everything is just right. The sun is doing its best once again. Both have done the budget as planned and now a little bit of Saturday afternoon. So nothing was more obvious than to pick some delicious things out of the fridge, put a bottle of wine in it, get on the e-bikes and just ride, always in the direction of nature.

Finally they find a cosy place on a forest meadow, not far from the sparsely travelled country road.

Achim pulls blanket and food out of the bicycle bag, Sabine takes the wine out of the blue cool transport box. She smiles at her husband like on the first day, hands him the bottle and asks:

"Would you like to pour the wine, honey?"

Achim is fine. He is proud of his wife, still can hardly resist her smile - and has put on "French Lover". Appropriate for the occasion, as always...

First of all, the inclined but pragmatic perfume lover can't avoid frowning and shaking his head at the name "French Lover". On the one hand, the question could arise as to which French lover is meant here. Is it about the concrete way of ... well, exchanging ideas or does this term refer to the origin of the lover? On the other hand: Even if one is quite sure about the answer to these questions, what on earth does it have to do with the scent? In my opinion, the North Americans, who are somewhat reserved when it comes to sexuality, have solved it better: Bois d'Orage - Holzsturm. That's exactly what this fragrance should be called!

Why?

Well, it starts off rather sharp green with a dominant juniper note. After a few minutes, the mainly cedar-wood phase begins, paired with subtle patchouli and naturally beautiful light, wet vetiver.

After the drydown the heavy wood storm ebbs away a little and Angelika takes over the helm - the plant mind you, a threesome would be out of the question for Sabine and Achim. The scent becomes slightly cool and distant. Even a powdery note I think I notice. The bitterness often present in vetiver is not present at any time, at least not for my sense of smell.

Even when the wood storm is at full throttle for the first three hours, which is easy to perceive here at arm's length, and becomes very close to my skin after about seven hours, it always remains a quiet but unique scent that never comes across as synthetic. This, in combination with its slightly cool aura, makes it wearable in the office all year round, although it is likely to experience its magic moments in spring and autumn. I see him primarily in the medieval, mature and naturally distinguished man and I am quite sure that after the bottling is finished I will treat myself to a bottle of this wonderful fragrance - just like Achim did!

5 Replies

11/04/2020

7
Scent 6
Longevity 6
Sillage 9
Bottle

Erikmcdreamy

Translated Show original

Erikmcdreamy

Actually, I don't really like vetiver... actually,

to start with, this perfume scared me off, vetiver is powerful and omnipresent. I have to say, though, that even I, as no great friend of vetiver, have noticed how this one comes across differently than in many other fragrances. I'm not exactly sure why, but for me the nuance in this fragrance seems far greener and more natural than in many others. Even though French Lover doesn't make me a vetiver fan but maybe that's a reason to use it more often?

Well, sprayed on and started. In the course of the day the scent changes, vetiver fades into the background for me, is definitely still there but slowly cedar and allspice come through a bit. This makes everything seem a bit more earthy, which is a very positive development for me. French lover becomes more serious and less fresh. Now a few flowery chords make their way through the dense forest of vetiver, which for me finally justify the French aspect of the name. Personally I would have wished these a little more striking, who doesn't immediately think of the infinite flower fields of Grasse when thinking of France?
If I would have assigned the fragrance to the younger spectrum in the beginning I have to say that it becomes more mature for me on my skin hour by hour, towards the end it is definitely a fragrance for every age group.
If you are a friend of vetiver and elegance, you will definitely get your money's worth here, but for me you will not make it into my collection.
All in all really a perfume of the highest quality and in my eyes the individual notes blend together in a brilliant way to a very harmonious and flowing composition.

The durability is good but not outstanding, Sillage as well.

French Lover will surely bring you many compliments. But in my eyes nothing special and no revolutionary DNA

10/25/2020

WildGardener
303 Reviews

WildGardener

Science of Doubt

He may look like a Belgian accountant but Pierre Bourdon is a perfume genius. With French Lover he's done something that few have tried and fewer have achieved, the Minimalist Perfume. A pale blend of galbanum and assonant naturals : incense, juniper and the natural exaltolide found in Angelica root. They create an indistinct foggy thing which seems to be all surface and no depth. Like a Mark Rothko canvas, there's no image to pick out here but plenty to feed the unconscious.

French Lover doesn't pronounce - like many perfumes do, it suggests. It hints - at things you think you know; the humid sous-bois of the forest floor, decaying leaves, green and sappy stems peeled of their bark...
Or, if you are more inclined to culture than the natural world there is the Homme Chic : silver grey suit, cardamom coffee, potted plants and pale decor. Both are possible; both have their adherents. By giving the same work two different names in different parts of the world Frederic Malle doesn't rule out either interpretation; it is he who names the juice, not the perfumer. And, as there are two sides to this perfume, it has two names : French Lover / Bois d'orage; ambiguity is all.
The scent works because Pierre Bourdon appears to have grasped in it a Zen quality of minimalism, which doesn't lie in a pale featureless thing with no movement, or soul.
Maybe he's got one of those Japanese teapots - with purely functional shape and subtle blends of colour. At their highest, Zen ceramics show that form and content are not separate qualities - as Susan Sontag has argued - it's more a case of Yang form and Yin content melding together in permissive alliance.

Likewise, in French Lover / Stormwood, the very formlessness of the structure focusses the attention on the subtleties of natural content. The effect is, of course, entirely dependent on Frederic Malle furnishing top quality materials. Without them the work would be little more than the plain pencil-shaving thing that often passes for minimalism.

Although it is not weak or wan (in fact the juice is very strong) French Lover isn't inclined to shout. It does not, like many perfumes, clamour for attention. Instead it murmurs, enigmatically, making you lean in to hear what it's saying. It's a brillant conceit which turns current perfume wisdom on it's head.
But of course, French Lover is not perfect, and like a Zen teapot there will always be a flaw; and thus, in ithis way, it's almost a perfect masterpiece.

10/10/2020

10
Scent 10
Longevity 8
Sillage 10
Bottle

Razvanyke
114 Reviews

Razvanyke

Oh, this is how a modern gentleman should smell

I have tried few samples of FM, like The Moon, Musc Ravageur, Parfume of a Lady and this masterpiece .. this is the only one which I liked but I liked very much !

On my skin, it develops such a beautiful mix between Angelica and Vetiver, which I would describe as a spicy addictive smell, I like the silage which reminds me all day what a beautiful scent I am wearing.

Of course, it will not be for everybody .. of course, there are some other sweet citrusy easy to like smells, but for a modern gentleman which does not want to smell like the typical barbershop lavender .. this is the go to.

I believe this should be the number 1 Frederic Malle perfume, it is simply that good. Do not believe the low longevity and silage notes from above, it lasts easily the whole working day on skin+clothes and it is noticeable.

The older design, not 20years anniversary looks nice and understated, so I got that one. Pierre Bourdon also created Creed GIT, which is not a bad perfume at all.

For me French Lover name is matching the character of the scent and even if I am not French, I do feel like a modern gentleman when wearing this.

09/16/2020

9
Scent 7
Longevity 7
Sillage 8
Bottle

Duftsicher

Translated Show original

Duftsicher

REAL LOVE...AT SECOND SIGHT/SMELL

Was it coincidence or fate that brought me together with this unique fragrance?
At that time, without great expectations, I ordered a few bottlings of the fragrances that were interesting for me at that time, without even having an idea that one of them would become my favourite fragrances.
My focus was actually on a different scent and honestly the first sprayer of "French Lover" didn't convince me that much and I thought in the first moment: Pretty green and spicy-fresh... so actually my scent direction and somehow I had this scent in my head and in my nose.
Then came the second attempt and I was already done for.
What a wonderful enrichment, as already said, greenish and spicy, Vetiver+patchouli dance around and enchant me.
Something for the real man, who knows what he wants, self-confidence, good manners is the message here.
The only negative thing is, as so often...the price, but on the other hand I don't want to smell this fragrance on everyone, it should be and remain something special.
I was lucky and got a relatively cheap bottle of the magic elixir.
Flacon: solid
Durability: 4-6 h
Sillage: initially max. arm length

2 Replies

Show all reviews 21