At last we're venturing into good territory with these Caron frgarances. L'Anarchiste has a cool name, a horrible but standout flacon and most importantly a very pleasing juice inside. That's the main thing of course and it's an interesting mixture of musk a fairly clean thing coming from vetiver and white floral vibe with the sweet spice of cinnamon. It's not a common smell and I almost get a bit of tea from it with a slightly metallic edge. Great stuff I like it.

In answer to the question below... This has great longevity but better than Pure Havanne? I don't see them as being worthy of comparison, scent wise and who needs better longevity than Pure Havanne? It's a powerhouse!!! Not a huge fan of boozy scents as a rule but I've liked a few with rum notes recently so this intrigues and I also love jazz so this fragrance appeals to me before even sniffing it out. Now that I have I'm very impressed it's lovely, A kind of boozy, tonka bean and tobacco vibe with a leathery/vanilla drydown. I'll be honest I expected something heavier and more avant garde when attempting to evoke a jazz club vibe. I half expected it to be a bit more raw, dirty, earthy or smokey maybe a heroin note in there? It has a bit of those elements but is pretty smooth and refined on the whole and will appeal to a wide audience I suspect. Projection is moderate and longevity is good. I'd recommend it.

Well...I just need to start by saying I had no preconceptions about this fragrance at all and approached it with an open mind. I subsequently discovered that it was the product of Daniella Andrier a perfumer I respect highly due to her simple but creative approach. Obviously that doesn't mean I like everything that she does but the vast majority of her works appeal to me. {Untitled} for me is one of those cases where I think she's hit on something special. Perfectly unisex, wonderfully inoffensive and suitable for regular wear. Galbanum, bitter orange, sweet jasmine cedar and incense...it's great! These elements combine to make something very well blended and effortlessly green. It has a very natural accord without smelling like any one thing you'd find in nature...if that makes sense? Maybe that could be interpreted as a sign of a truly well conceived fragrance? I think so and I really like it but it's not a priority for the collection just yet.

This for me is a deeply sensual, sexy fragrance. Something for intimate space. A friend of mine recently told me he liked YSL La nuit de L'Homme and it was his' lady killing', go to signature scent, a bit ridiculous but... I was thinking of fragrances he may like, considering he loved that so much and this one sprung immediately to mind as a recommendation. Hypnose automatically makes me think of a 'date' fragrance something of the ilk of YSL or D&G The One, my personal choice for a bow chika wah wah fragrance. Despite never owning a bottle until now I got samples when it came out and subsequently tried it a few times since and was always of the same opinion. It's good, classy, unique smelling etc... Then when I came to purchase it about 12 months ago I couldn't find it anywhere...every Lancome counter I tried didn't have it. Then at Christmas I saw it reduced in a bargain bucket but unfortunately didn't have my wallet so returned later in the day and it had been sold! I figured I was destined not to own this one but to my surprise I found it very cheaply in a perfume shop with a massive selection of other discontinued (or soon to be) fragrances. So the major thing with Hypnose for me is the unmissably smooth cardamom and nutmeg note, spicy and aromatic with a touch of lavender and a lush kinda creamy base of amber and patchouli. This is not everyone's idea of a great fragrance but to me it's refined and beautiful, warm and spicy smooth but slightly rough. I had to have it for the collection and what a great bottle one of the most original designs out there.

I don't get this in anyway. Why on earth would anyone want to smell this accurately of lavender? Lavender is a lovely soothing smell and I have to say that this is one of the most natural lavenders I've smelled. Maybe I should cut it some slack as it's been around since the 30's but I don't get it? The vanilla and musk are gentle basenotes which for my tastes just make a boring and unimaginative backdrop for the potency of lavender. My examples being... yes this is similar to Taste of heaven but at least that has a little more interest in other notes like absinthe and prominent vanilla. Or Eau de L'occitane which again has that super realistic lavender but also has a woody, peppery, hardness to dirty up the lavender a bit. I would never wear a fragrance so linear and even the beauty of lavender can become annoying and headache inducing after a while. Sorry but this is yet another classic I can't abide.

If anyone is bothered, please scroll down to my review below and you will notice me eating (a little) humble pie here. Although I didn't totally hate Caron Homme I just thought it was a little too linear for me, well I'm happy to declare that I can definitely perceive of the soft sweet vanilla base at the back of this thing. In fact upon wearing this again that massively accurate lavender opening truly does die back into a much softer affair which is really pleasant. My main concern now is the longevity and projection which isn't great but I'm a convert on this one I think it's a really nice fragrance and deserving of the praise it gets.

A very animal fougere. By that I mean it has very musky floral notes which tend towards an unpleasant animal quality rather than anything else. Nothing clean at all about this one and that's usually okay with me as I enjoy a olfactive challenge every so often but this is pushing my boundaries. Dali is a filthy patchouli fragrance but its the oakmoss, heliotrope, clary sage and geranium in pour Homme that is a nightmarish combo for those who don't enjoy a very strong, invasive vibe. I can't stand musk when it takes your breath away and I'm afraid this perfume has that effect. I don't find it particularly masculine either more of that pissy old woman dead flower vibe people often describe. So not at all my cup'o'tea however there's some positives. When the initial blast of musk dies away there's a complex array of notes underneath for me and it definitely transitions from and awful fragrance to just a really bad one. Yeah so I'd steer clear of this one if you're not a fan of floral musky scents. Update: 11/12/21 well it’s funny reading this because although 2014 doesn’t seem that long ago, I suspect I wrote this review a few years before I posted. Anyway in that time I have sought out this fragrance and I’m much more into now than my review would suggest.

Okay so I was REALLY late to the party on this one only by 30 odd years but I've finally tried Santos de Cartier. I don't know why really? I think it's because despite being aware of their fragrance pedigree, I'd never really noticed Cartier fragrances in stores until the era of Roadster and the like. What an interesting fragrance, many commenting about the reformulation. (which obviously I'm not aware of) Speaking objectively I think the new version is great and if it's a pale shadow of the original then it must've been something really special back in the day. I got a peppery, lavender and coffee vibe from this fragrance sandalwood, cedar and vanilla are prominent and I even get a hint of coconut too. I've not smelled anything like this before...truly unique but still has a dated feel possibly because of the geranium and carnation notes which were commonplace in many men's 70's 80's fragrances...I don't know? I did get a fleeting resemblance to a couple of fragrances from perfumers I admire...just in mood rather than anything else, obviously Santos de Cartier predates them all by a long way. Dior Eau Noire by Francis Kurkdjian (coffee/lavender) and Prada Luna Rossa extreme (pepper/amber/lavender) by Daniella Andrier. Anyway, longevity is good not too heavy or invasive in projection terms I really like this fragrance a lot.

Although there's something of the mainstream about Pasha de Cartier I found it to be a magnificent fragrance definitely reminiscent of Ralph Lauren Safari. The opening is fresh but then oddly soured by something almost unpleasant. I don't know what this note is? it could be a combination of the oakmoss and coriander which for a fleeting moment gives the impression Pasha may develop into a scrubber. Thankfully it doesn't... in fact after an hour or two the dry down is sublime, understated, masculine, fresh, woody with a spicy oriental nature. I mainly get mandarin, soft sandalwood with a hint of labdanum, lavender and caraway. My girlfriend commented that I smelled great while quite a distance away so although it doesn't seem like it... this thing projects. Longevity is superb really it lasted for hours on my skin and just got better and better. I'm a late comer to this fragrance but better late than never, nothing spellbinding just a solid fragrance.

This is only my second experience of another Aramis fragrance, the original and I do have history and it's a fragrance that has fallen in and out of favour with me and is currently ...out! I wasn't expecting much from this and sure enough it didn't deliver. New west has something of a fresher opening which certainly makes it less abrasive than the original but still not really fresh it has that dated leathery, woody, herby, floral character underneath. Takes a while to get to grips with the heart of this fragrance but when it settles it's just disappointing. This scent is not my cup of tea because I found it boring, just like a tepid, watered down version of classic male perfume and didn't offer much in the way of differentiation.

This is a re-review as you can scroll down and see my original, no so positive one below. I have to say I've completely changed my opinion upon revisiting New West, I can totally see why I said what I did first time around but with a few crucial clarifications. The opening of this fragrance is down right awful, it really is I can't even begin to describe what's going on but it's an acrid, unfriendly attempt at a kind of fresher top, with a powerhouse body. However, when left to dry down New West develops into an extremely well rendered and peppery, masculine, aromatic. It's full of the best elements of woods, I can see how pine, cedar, juniper, bay leaf, oakmoss are in here all making for a nice wearable scent. I can sort of see why I thought this was one of the less interesting, and paler versions of Aramis scents but I'm not too proud to admit I was wrong. It's great and when dried right down smells absolutely wonderful.

Woah... this is special juice! For a combo which has been done to death this is a remarkably classy take on the theme. I love it... I must admit, Rose d'Arabie is so rich and opulent you can just melt away into it...it's truly heavenly. I'm very peticular about my rose scents and my oud come to mention it. Quite full of rose this one but not to the point where it's too much. This is not too sweet but rather dark and velvety as it should be with a hint of vanilla also...and the oud? Well the oud is prominent and perfectly balanced to give a middle eastern feel. Sillage and longevity are very good in the realms of what you'd expect for the price. Would I wear it? Probably not as I'm very sparing with the attention paid to rose scents in my collection but I appreciate the artistry of this fragrance and it's up there.