When Arthur Ponroy said in one interview that he and Marie Kellou started a new brand of perfumes because they simply couldn’t find a perfume that would suit them, I had to smile when I imagined the amount of perfumes on the market.
But then I remembered various sad-ridiculous scenes when my teenage son and I sometimes looked for perfume for him and had to agree with Arthur.
Because a teenager who has a good nose and good taste have a hard time. Either he was fascinated by the packaging, but he twisted his nose over the content, or the content was ok, but the bottle was “totally cringey” or even if something was found that would be okay in both respects, it was either too adult or unreasonably expensive for that age. Or both. (In the category of fragrances for girls, the situation seems a bit better for me, but also not something miraculous).
Yes, there are fragrances for children. Whether from the production of various movie companies as merchandise for movies or television series, in the offer of brands producing children’s cosmetics or clothing, or even in the production of truly luxury brands. But they are already “totally cringey” at this age.
So Arthur Ponroy and Marie Kellou just found a real hole in the market. They might be internally still teens to notice the need and they are skillful enough to fill the gap.
And once they started to do it, they do it with everything that needs to go with it.
The brand name is an anagram between the words “rebel” and “morning”, meaning it symbolizes something new and different … the way teenagers like it.
Under the brand name is rebelliously, !!! instead of usual “Paris”, written “Beyond Paris” to make it clear that it is not intended for Parisian fragiles, but for rough guys (but well, little bit rough guys…) from everywhere.
The bottles come with nice and quite funny pictures, which do not express any serious bloating of adult scents, but they are definitely not infantile in any way, in some of them there are cleverly incorporated generational graphic symbols.
The products correspond to the values that this generation (and thank God for that …) professes: eco-friendly packaging, part of the proceeds goes to charity, the price is very affordable for niches. The scents as such are good quality, but not complicated, non-dramatizing, and wearable for practically any occasion.
They are available at Bratislava’s Le Parfum Le Chic perfumery, which provided me with samples to try.
And since I have two exemplars at a given age at home, I took advantage of it and let them try those scents as well.
And so that they wouldn’t have it so easy (and also that they wouldn’t be influenced by the pictures on the packaging), I only gave them color-coded samples, and only after testing and evaluation did I show them the bottles.
My daughter tried to evaluate them, my son’s comments were rather single-word, so I’ll just summarize them at the end.
Avant l’Orage
Well, I don’t know, but I don’t feel anything stormy in it. Maybe they mean a storm outside the window, which I look at from the cozy warmth of home with a cup in hand. From the beginning, I feel the warm tones of benzoin, later a little sweetened with vanilla and tonka bean. But the smell is not heavy, it is pleasant, warming, and soothing like a warm blanket into which you can snuggle and read something interesting. In the end, milky-sandal tones go in for and round it even more.
Daughter’s comment: mhhhhhm, warm blanket, wood in a coffeeshop, warm, sweet, inner space, maybe tulips, maybe vanilla hot chocolate, on the end warm shower cabin just after having a shower.
Bain De Midi
Nuts, there’s coconut! But just a little. Tiaré flower plays the main role, which is the flower that smells so beautiful in Monoï suntan oils. This scent is wittier towards them (yes, at that expression would my adolescents turn their eyes properly), probably thanks to the bergamot that gives it a green-citrus touch. He is seconded with a gardenia, which gradually takes over the main role after a few hours. Staying power is great – it lasted 24 hours on me, including the shower.
Daughter’s comment: Wow!!! Something like plastic plants, but also warm, more natural, grassy, outdoor space or terrace, this is how I would imagine it would smell like a forest escape room. In the end flowers past blossoming.
Esprit De Contradiction
A joyful citrus introduction sprinkled with a little ginger for a bigger sharpness. Then takes command a fine powder with a fine carrot iris. In the drydown, there is a subtle whiff of cedar-musk, but no shredded pencils, it is soft and pleasant. Personally, I like this scent very much – it is airy and light without the typical “ozone”, “aquatic” and similar shams. The only drawback is weak endurance, or to be more precise, the time when the scent has a greater projection into the surroundings. After 2-3 hours, it still sticks, but so close to the skin that a new spray would probably will be needed.
Daughter’s comment: shower shampoo, the essence of an antique bathroom with elegant tiles, needles, later more subdued, glass office CEO building, and needles, finally an older house, perfumery/pharmacy in a historic building, feels like cold dark blue.
Hasard Bazar
So this is another cup of tea. First, the aromatic and juicy tingling of Sichuan pepper, and then comes the warm and soft combination of rose and ambroxan (well, more ambroxan than a rose), but despite its composition, it remains relatively light. I think about the composition, something makes it unisex, if not outright male, but the touch is there. It reminds me of the Avant-Garde by Lanvin, or Midnight in Paris by Van Cleef and Arpels. Probably because of the lightened sweetness, which, however, stays more on the masculine, or unisex side. But this one seems to be lighter and with a more detached view.
Daughter’s comment: sweet, warm, powdery, sweet like pastry – pumpernickel dough, emotionally reddish brown.
Into The Wild
Something like good old Eden by Cacharel, but without any annoying or controversial tones. Just the smell of the jungle, but the jungle is tidy, washed, and vacuumed. A beautiful scent of dark green tropical forest after the rain sprinkled with spicy ginger and cardamom. The wilderness … yes, but civilized.
Daughter’s comment: hard candies from France (I brought her a mixture of floral and fruit berlingots), flowers, freshly cut grass, Pisa – Piazza Dei Miracoli, white minimalist houses with landscaped lawns and flower beds, slightly pastel yellow, orange, pink.
Warni Warni
Ok, so this scent is not at all as tame as it looked according to the composition. The spice-cardamom introduction reminds Into the Wild to some extent, but then it goes in a completely different direction – the flowers are unsweet, but they evoke really fresh, the wood is smooth, light, and undisturbed and the musk causes, that the scent ends with a pleasant “fresh showered” impression. Despite the classic ingredients, however, the scent does not have a settled, stock, or old-fashioned effect.
My daughter’s comment: “airy, cold, reminds me of my muscle gel (cooling gel after training, author’s note), then it goes into some specifically green tone, I feel it like dark turquoise.”
Avant l’Orage clearly became the daughter favorite, followed by Hasard Bazar and Into The Wild, none of the fragrances fell into the “dislike” category. In regards to the Avant l’Orage, she immediately requested it for Christmas, despite the fact that she recently received a Tardes Barcelona fragrance travel set for her birthday.
The son was much briefer: He liked Hasard Bazar and Avant l’Orage, he didn’t like Into The Wild, the others seemed neutral but ok. He had just stated at the Esprit de Contradiction that he quite liked it, only that it could be stronger. But Hasard Bazar became his clear winner. However, after seeing the vials, he liked the Esprit de Contradiction package much more.
