Maison En Pain d’Épices

[OctoberGwen]

This is the scent of a freshly assembled gingerbread house, with swirls of multicolored icing, spice drop lights, meringue snow, pinwheel mint accents, chocolate roof tiles, candy wafer pavers, and jelly candy stained glass. We used a French translation for ‘gingerbread house’ as the name to make it sound fancier. French adds +40% Fancy!

This smells delicious, but gingerbread is not something I want to smell like. It really does smell exactly like a gingerbread house, icing and candies and all. Very yummy, just not me.

[ami226]

Whoa! Sweet candy (gummies of some kind?), gingerbread, and a hint of mint? Very interesting. The candy/bubblegum throws me off though. I'm not used to it being mixed with a spicy gingerbread.

 

I love the idea of this scent, but it just isn't for me.

[damonkitty]

This is just plain and simple yumminess . At first, I was concerned it was not strong enough on my skin. It took a little while to warm up and amp all of the lovely notes. I get a wonderful spicy, bakery scent. I also get the fruity notes that give this blend a whole different twist from the other spice blends. I am planning on getting a back up of this scent.

[zankoku_zen]

Gingerbread with hints of mint and bubblegum. It's like a different take on Gingerbread Poppet. Warm, sugary, gingerbread.

 

Too foodie for me.

[asciident]

Wet: Gingery. Sugar. Slight hint of mint and chocolate.

 

First on: Spicy sugar cookies, light and not over-sweet. A background of minty chocolate. Not especially gingery at this point.

 

Dry: The memory of iced gingersnaps.

 

 

[sunlitgarden]

In bottle: Oh, yummy. Definitely a candyish scent, with spice and some cherry/almond and a creamy note.

 

On my skin: Licorice-candy, gumdroppy, deliciousness! This reminds me of a local store called The Confectionary and all its candied delights. Not getting a ton of ginger from this, but it definitely reminds me of a candy shop. Another memory just sprang into my mind. I do not know if this store is still around, but we traveled to it here in Washington state when I was a kid and I loved it - a candy store in old train cars. I freaking loved this store as a kid (I was a big fan of trains), though I can't find it on google - I'll need to ask my parents if they remember it.....

 

As it dries, this is a bit dusty-dry, but still candy-like. I got a bit on my upper lip and it burns, but that's not unusual for me. This is really yummy, more ginger-like as it dries, and really brought me back to my childhood.

[razzlecupcake]

This is my first review. So hopefully I do okay. But I just had to talk about this one...

I really wanted it to be super gingerbread-y on me, and I understand where people say it's like Sprinklecake (which is my absolute favorite foodie scent!) because I smell that delicious buttery-awesome scent in the *bottle*... but when I put it on that immediately flees and leaves spice drops. Extremely screamingly loud spice drops, in a bad way. I was so upset! Now that it's drying down I'm getting a little more of the gingerbread scent I was craving so much (along with a heavy lemon, like Ops)... but every so often when I sniff it's still spice drops. I put it just on my wrist to test, going to do a full application now to see if it's any better that way. Maison, you are probably so awesome for someone else. Darn skin chemistry.

[PumpkinGuts]

This is, indeed, a morpher. It's not gingerbread dominant, which is what I expected.

I mostly get chocolate, a little bit of gingerbread, spice drops, and red licorice. After it sits on my skin for a while, it gets a little bubblegummy.

I had fun with it.

[JazzieCazzie]

Working my way through revisiting and reviewing all of my BPAL collection and have hit a load of foodie Yule scents in the Ms. This is from my own decant from a bottle purchased from the Lab when it was first released.

 

IN THE IMP: Very very very very very sweet and very very very very sweet-fruity. More like candied fruit than fruit itself. That's all I'm getting.

 

Actually got a little on my finger when I uncapped the imp and frankly that was enough for me to use to test wet and drydown LOL.

 

WET: I'm getting a definite "caramel" scent to my nose, which is probably the spun burnt sugar note. Also a little booze, or what I associate as a BPAL booze scent maybe because it usually is coupled with butterscotch or something. Whatever it is, don't like. Not getting ANY ginger or gingerbread as far as I can tell.

 

DRYDOWN: Just way-too-sweet candied fruit and candied sugar and candied candy.

 

OVERALL: If you love sweet foodie scents, this is for you. But I really don't, so it's not for me.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 1.5

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Cake mix with a hint of treacle and something green

 

Wet on me - Soft gentle baking scents with that dark treacle and still something green and herbal over the top

 

Dry on me - Disappeared completely

 

Overall - Wet I like it, but it has no staying power on me

[Zii]

This smells more like an actual loaf of gingerbread to me. It has a very rich caramel, probably the burnt spun sugar, and there is also a little something that's a bit creamy and candy like. As it dries, I'm getting more of the spice drops, which isn't awesome. In fact, the dry down is getting more and more candy like, which is a shame, because I loved the spicy gingerbread when it was wet.

 

It's just too sweet for my taste, though it's not a bad scent.

[Missy_killer]

To my nose: First sniff is all chocolate, second one all fruity jelly candy. Something reminds me of Drink Me, the cracker/gingerbread/bisquit mixed with pineapple-y jelly candy. Drink Me was an epic fail on me, so just smellingthis makes my tummy want to turn and me wanting to wash it off. I shall wait and see how this progresses.

 

On: Mmh.. Crackers, chocolate and that fruity smell again. I actually don't smell any gingerbread at all, no spices whatsoever. It makes me a little sad since I was hoping gingerbread would be the main star of this. and then I suddenly start smelling coconut.

 

It doesn't really change much on my skin. It goes a little creamy but that plus the specific coconut here makes it smell just like one of the body lotions we sell in the store I work in. Nice, but not really what I had expected from this.

 

After several hours I smell marhsmallow. Loooovely marshmallow!

[tinyvulture]

I get sweet, spicy gingerbread, plus candied fruits. Reading over the description, I'm not picking up any chocolate or mint. It's Gingerbread Poppet + fruitcake. I may try this in an oil warmer -- it would be a nice room scent.

[Monster]

Uhhh! For some reason I avoided foody scents for 2 years and now I'm playing catch up with all of the lovely yummy BPAL foody scents from 2011 and 2012. When this one came out I nearly purchased it but it was trumped buy the darker, earthier scents.

 

Maison is a light version of Gingerbread Poppet with a bit more ginger, sweet icing and a kiss of fruit. It's a quiet scent that hugs your skin. When sniffed up close and deeply, I can detect every detail in the description...from the stained glass windows, snow icing to the sweet gingerbread walls. This IS the embodiment of a gingerbread house. It's magic! I probably wouldn't wear this as a perfume, it's really light on my skin and fades after about 30 minutes. I'm guessing this would work really well in a scent locket.

 

A delicious winner!

[Aviatrix]

A jumbled scent of cookies and candy and everything nice from Christmas time! I can't really pick out individual notes, but it's definitely a sweet and surprisingly non-cloying gourmand. It's probably not something I'd wear, since I'm not a huge foodie, but it's quite good nonetheless. I'm glad I got to try it.

[vanilla323]

In the bottle: Very light gingerbread

 

Wet: This is definitely a dainty gingerbread house

 

Drydown: This is a lovely gingerbread scent. But it's not in your face gingerbread this is much lighter. I do smell the icing too which is sweet but very light as well. This scent is a very pretty Christmas scent. While it sounds like a strong foodie scent it's not. It's elegant and and has low throw. I could see a lady in a beautiful red dress wearing this on Christmas Eve to a fancy party. But for someone to smell it they need to be very close to her. It was nice but not foodie enough for me.

[bellumed]

This is great! Ginger and frosting and mint and fruity candy. It's very light on drydown, sugary icing and soft (but present) gingerbread. This one doesn't hit you over the head, it's just subtle and sweet.

[stellamaris]

It's funny I never reviewed this, because out of the zillion or so gingerbread things I have, this one is the favorite. It's not so sweet to me, it's sort of a dry spicey thing. Fancy indeed.

[pinkstardust420]

Wow such a multitude of scents! So beautiful; not too spicy, and the jelly candy/frosting adds a nice touch of sweetness. Yum!

[sarahmarie]

This was a gamble for me, but it turns out I really love it. It's much like Gingerbread Poppet, but with some morphing - gingerbread with spicy cinnamon candy, gingerbread with a fruitiness, gingerbread with vanilla. For me the gingerbread is a warm and delicious constant, close to the skin but with great staying power. The various accompaniments come and go and are delightful the whole time. I really enjoyed wearing this one on Christmas Day, and I anticipate enjoying it throughout the winter for its cheerful, comforting qualities.

 

EDITED to add that once it's completely dry it smells very distinctly of gingerbread with vanilla icing - it's really perfect and I love it. It's long lasting too. I think I prefer this to my beloved Gingerbread Poppet even! I'm in love.

Edited December 31, 2016 by sarahmarie

[Fiam]

The 2016 is different than the 2011

 

The 2011 Maison d' Pain smelled just like a freshly assembled gingerbread house... but brought out red welts on my skin (cinnamon allergy)

 

2016: No welts! During the last stages of the dry down I confused the scent for Baby's First Krampuslauf.

 

I'm going to do a side by side when my nose re-sets.

[evil_laugher]

2016: This has aged well. It used to smell too chocolatey and too weak; now it's the right amount of chocolate and smells like Christmas coziness defined. The right amount of sweet and spice, and a little sexy. Date night-appropriate for this time of the year.

[Juushika]

2011 version.

 

In vial: Warm, spicy, bready.

 

On me: This goes on as warm spice with a jumble of other notes--a hint of El Dia de los Reyes (hot cocoa with cinnamon, coffee, and brown sugar)-style powdery chocolate with cinnamon, a distinct sweetness; no mint or fruit to speak of. But it stabilizes after drydown to a warm, spicy, nose-tickling, slightly powdery gingerbread with a top note of candied red fruit. Despite the different notes, it feels very like Enraged Groundhog Musk (cranky groundhog musk sweetened up by chocolate-covered black cherries, cardamom, French vanilla, and caramel), a powdery/spicy brown base with a sticky-sweet tart red heart.

Verdict: Red fruits amp on me, and I particularly regret that here. The gingerbread is heavily spiced and I really want to enjoy it, but I find that fruitiness a distracting and unwelcome addition.

 

[Lucchesa]

2016 Maison en Pain d'Epices is complicated gingerbread.  Foodies aren't my everyday go-to, but I do love the gingerbread note; it was everything else here that worried me.  But it's surprisingly good.  Milk chocolate often doesn't work on me, so I suspect this is at least semi-sweet.  Thankfully, I can't really make out the mint, or the nekkos wafers.  I just get warm spicy chocolate gingerbread that lasts all day as a skin scent and isn't as ridiculously sugary as the description might imply.  

[Katillac]

2018 version:
If someone was looking for a less musky version of Flesh Eating Reindeer From Uranus, that's *exactly* what I got from this.
I love FERFU, but that sticky preserved neon fruit/stale/musk section of time was not a favorite (although, when settled down it's gorgeous).
I'd say that Maison en Pain d'Epices is like a "nicer" FERFU; maybe not flesh eating, or from outer space, but still delicious. 
Not overly "foodie" on me, but it does amp sugar around the 3-6 hour mark, which isn't unpleasant/overpowering, but it does seem to go more towards a traditional perfume.