Bana Banana by L'Artisan Parfumeur

I wore Bana Banana by L'Artisan every day for a week so you don't have to. This is what happened...

The Results in short

Source: L'Artisan website, 10ml spray

• How much I like it for daily wear: 6

• How much I like it for occasional wear: 8.5

• Composition rating: 8.5

• Lasting power: 6.5

• Did my view change as the week went on? Yes

• Did I get bored of it? A little: but no fault of the composition

• Any Compliments? No

• In three words: Good humoured, elegant, soft

• Cost and value for money: Good value for niche

• Will I buy a full bottle? No, probably not

Notes from Fragrantica Top: Violet leaf, mace, pepper Heart: Banana flower, iris, jasmine Base: Amber, tonka, musk

The Week's Review

First thoughts first

The banana candy opening of Bana Banana (Celine Ellena, 2019) is one of the most uplifting and good-natured first-sniffs I've ever experienced. I think Celine Ellena must be an incredibly talented parfumer, because she provides us with this childlike burst of happiness and nostalgia you'd expect from the name, but it grows up in seconds into an elegant, lightly sweet, powdery floral that anyone could wear without fear of smelling immature, which you might worry about with a candied banana note.

Image: L'Artisan

Of course, the jasmine and banana are perfect bedfellows, sharing olfactory similarities as they do. Research suggests this blend is from pairing isoamyl acetate with benzyl acetate (reports vary and go way over my head) but that's not of much import to the wearing experience. The way this transforms into a ylang ylang, violet and iris powdery floral feels like intellectual play from Celine Ellena. My chosen interpretation is that she got joy out of toying with expectations, because you really feel like there's a joke hidden in this composition.

Indeed, the origins of this fragrance are playful, if the stories are true. Apparently back in the 70s, L'Artisan founder and then-chemist, Jean Laporte, was asked by a friend to create a banana fragrance he could wear to a party where he would be sporting a banana costume. Allegedly the concoction wasn't wholly successful but nevertheless the origins of L'Artisan - marrying fruit and flowers - was born and Laporte continued on this track, launching the brand in 1976 and (some say) with it, the beginnings of 'Niche' perfume.

And as for the banana perfume, years later, Celine Ellena tried again: and Bana Banana was born.

7 Day Test

For all I like about Bana Banana, I didn't like wearing it every day, which is perhaps one of the flaws of a 7-day wear test (or maybe one of its strengths, depending how you look at it). The 'me' of ten years ago would probably have loved wearing it daily because I used to adore powdery fragrances, wearing some of the most powdery scents on the market (Farnesiana, Teint de Neige, Keiko Mecheri's Loukhoum).

I don't know why it couldn't hold my attention this week. It is surprisingly beautiful and well-mannered, but perhaps that's the problem. Maybe my nose has been ruined by the modern musks and molecules that turn the best of today's fragrances into 'wham bam' creations that shimmer, radiate and soar. I just want more, more, more. I wanted it to be sweeter and more tropical. I wanted the jasmine to fill the room. Right now, I'm bored of polite.

This issue was countered by the layering combos I found, and by the way, Bana Banana layers like a dream! To make it more tropical (on the hottest day of the year for the UK) I paired it with Pacifica's Tahitian Gardenia (loved it); to make it sweeter and more rich and rounded, I paired it with Sana Jardin's Vanilla Nomad (loved it); and to turn it into a banana split, I layered it with Sol de Janeiro's Brazilian Crush Cheirosa '62 body spray (loved it). Through these layering combinations I had a lot of fun with Bana Banana.

If I was gifted a full bottle, I'm sure I'd get endless thrills exploring layering options, and sometimes would wear it alone, when I wanted to be contemplative with a little cheekiness.

It truly is a lovely composition - I'm just not totally, madly bananas over it. 🍌

Bana Banana is £135 for 100ml from L'Artisan. Also available in 10ml, £22.