I was really looking forward to this, as I see Sauvage as a technical and cultural marvel, but does that make for a good perfume? In the case of the original EDT it was far too aggressive. The EDP was much better, and really made Sauvage a viable option for me, as I liked the originals modern fougere theme, but it was far too ubiquitous and screechy. The Parfum was frankly even better, and as it got further and further away from what had made the original such a hit, (it's obnoxious trail and tenacity) the more and more I liked it. So we come to the Elixir, surely a dizzying height, a nadir for the line.... Well not quite for me. I like it, don't get me wrong and I'm actually fascinated by the tweaks to this formula. It has an almost 'Night' sensibility to it, huge amounts of warmth and the spices of the parfum but even a coffee tinged licorice coumarin, it's heavier, sexier, whatever. The lavender element is also more prominent somehow in this, it feels a bit more classical and less modern than the previous versions. However, the top notes and initial intrigue, doesn't quite play out into the rest of the scent. The insane tenacity and (albeit toned down) ambroxan (and many other things) laden base of this perfume is MENTAL on your clothes. I mean it's crazy. I don't want that. I bet the hoodie I wore still smells of it when it comes out of the washing machine a week later. I think some of the fancy Dior line have been a bit guilty of this, they smell vary basic, and very much stripped back to aroma chemicals, after the initial wonder of the opening and heart. This is an underlying criticism of Demachy which keeps rearing it's head for me. Examples? Well Tobacolor and Spice blend, two I really like but then become a linear woody amber or IES or Ambroxan. I mean not just that, I'm not completely slagging off master perfumer Mr D, It's fine for a fragrance to change and evolve but if they don't retain enough of what I liked initially, then I'm kinda not onboard. This is less of the case here because Elixir reasonably, clearly states early on....'I'm gonna be this!!!' Then does it. Relentlessly! For hours. I've not worn this extensively and as much as I think it's good and still moving in a better direction from the EDT which I don't despise, I fundementally 'like' something about Sauvage, the simplicity of a modernised, men's fragrance which at it's core is a trifecta of bergamot, moss, & ambergris, or approximations of those three elements. I just think needs very, very light application for it to be enjoyed and even then if you don't like that powdery ambrox/seabreeze base it's gonna annoy you anyway. I think the same goes for this only less so, and I'd even go out on a limb at this point and say that although I like the more drastically modified version of a Sauvage presented in Elixir, I think I like the Parfum the best out of all four. Time will tell though and I understand why this is getting a reinvigorated hype train surrounding it. It's decent.

I'm a proud owner of this. I love it too...why the hell haven't I reviewed it yet? Like a load of other perfumes I suppose? Anyway, I'm going to try to keep this concise (I know that's not like you Houdini) just for my own sanity and because I really want you to discover this brand and perfumer for yourself, because her work is a real treat. This is a very bergamot laden opening and it has that 'heavy' citrus, bergamot you get in more artisanal brands, but the perfume then reaches escape velocity and gives a load more complexity and such. I'd say its a mossy, aromatic, cologne type fragrance, but it's complicated. It has herbal notes of sage and later on a creaminess coming from vanilla. It sounds a bit of a muddle but it's really one cohesive, strong, statement. Doesn't blow my mind but I really like how much intrigue it packs into one perfume. Check it out.

Credit where it's due, I instantly liked this. Tom Ford might not quite have the same allure (for me personally) as it once did. Speaking objectively though I think the recent releases in the 'regular' line have actually been excellent, not so much in the Private blend but this one has immediate appeal. It's a regular, warm amber type fragrance with a strange metallic, glitzy quality is it the freshness of orange blossom honey? Anyway, I think it's really decent but it's not an absolute compel to buy job. It might be a creeper like Fucking fabulous which I still argue is fantastic even though, stylistically, smell wise, trendiness, price...just about everything is going against it. I don't know what brulant means but I think of brulee which is kinda what this is a cripsy, sugared, resinous perfume but with a bit of restraint and intrigue from the aforementioned metallic note. However, both these effects could be imagined or implanted due to the shiny bottle or the name. If we assess and crystallise the context of this perfume, in a landscape which contains Chanel's Le Lion, I think comparatively while this has more instant gratification for me, something like Le Lion has much more substance and is probably just a better perfume.

Really, really lovely perfumery. Makes me happy and transitions monumentally, without being too much of a challenge or whatever? I found the opening very low key, almost like a sandalwood perfume which you no opens quite transparent but will be bottom heavy and kick in the base notes. Although this isn't a sandalwood, the aromatic, men's leaning (for me) classical opening is quite.....nutty. I thought like a very well blended and none too obvious vetiver perfume like cloon keen brand one....I forget the name? Then at it's core....IRIS!!!! Which I swear I couldn't smell at all in the opening. Parfum d'Habit becomes a kind of powdery, cosmetic, and carrot sweet, veggie leather, hybrid. So after this transition a very clean and modern patchouli really starts to pull it's way out of the mix, and to be honest this becomes more and more of a patchouli perfume as it wears on but in the sense that its a backdrop for this little musky pearls and little twinkles of loveliness. What a great perfume. Unsung. Untalked about really and that's kind of understandable because of it's subdued nature. It doesn't excite me as such but it's like a classic that I never found (or at least paid much attention to) until now. Really enjoyable wear with three distinct and complex phases, a solid, staple piece of perfumery, I thoroughly enjoyed wearing it. I actually want a bottle now.

The vibe of Tuscan leather, manifesting in a slightly different way. Do we need it? Well, I find the top notes of this, more plastic and screeching with a oud/Rose tint to them but generally it’s the sweet fruity ‘raspberry’ and saffraliene of the well known ‘leather’ fragrances in this category. However this is a bit more like the Les Eau primordials one I tried recently which is more of a twangy saffron that the cedar and sandalwood which I find really present in ‘Tuscan Leather’ (or closer copies/‘inspirations’ etc…) this also has a resin/incense note which throws the TL theme a little. There’s room within this sub genre of its own for various takes on the theme, and when it’s dried all the way down and some of the harshness gone, I get actual real smelling leather notes coming from a very faded, hours old scent on my skin. I don’t hate it. I’m just not interested. Never really known Diptyque to follow trends or create played out stuff but it appears they do. I’m not giving this fragrance more credit than it deserves or adding that extraneous detail to sound like I know what I’m talking about. I do get this added depth/differences to a straight TL clone, from this perfume. I don’t think it’s a completely lifeless copy, but it’s close enough to be redundant for most, and that’s kinda true for me too, but perhaps for a slightly different reason.

Federic Malle has a new perfume out, and people thought it was a meme or some fan fiction or something because of the slightly ‘off’ name & coupled with the fact I still haven’t seen it officially announced or on the FM website. Anyway I tried it. (07/08/21) (Even though I posted a picture some people didn’t seem to believe I’d tried it the other week. I think Selfridges must’ve stuck it out early.) I think if you look at the notes (which often don’t mean a lot, but in this case probably do) then you’d be expecting a kind of breezy, modern, muguet, white musk thing. That’s pretty much exactly what you get. But… Being Malle it’s superior. Not just fanboying. 💯 % truth. It’s very ‘clean’ and lean in the opening delivering lush greenery, the wet florals of a florists, tulips and narcissus, LotV etc… It’s been on my wrist a few hours and softens slightly to reveal a hint of jasmine perhaps. This is all about sparkle, pushing out and breezy, airy vibes like en passant or Eau de Magnolia. It’s hard not to like it. It appeals to me on a technical level because it’s relatively simple, smells like flowers & there’s nowhere to hide. Some might find it boring, I beg to differ. I want to wear it to find out more.

Right then, This perfume instantly reminded me of my significant other. I don't think it's like anything she would wear but somehow I got the association, Not sure she'd be too happy about that because it smells musty, smoky slightly obnoxious and soaked in booze. (which is not wildly inaccurate I think she'd agree?) Anyhow, this is a very clever shrouding of the tired oud/rose combo theme which has been a persistent feature in niche brand lineups for the past decade or so. The fact that the leather accord and spice top notes cover up for the sweet rosiness which becomes more apparent in the drydown actually makes for a much more refined experience. It's not loud and sharp like the other oud from AdP this one is much more toned down but still stiked with incense spices. The opening smells like a peaty, whisky to me and actually reminded me of Lagavulin, which in turn I have often said tastes like drinking bandages & oud oil. So whether there's real oud oil or material bases made with real oud or not, the accord is certainly reminiscent of certain types of oud, to me at least. It also reminded me a little of a very whisky, fragrance, Atelier cologne Gold leather, which Oud & spice momentarily reminds me of (but smokier/earthier) also texturally speaking reminded me a little of Patchouli Intense by Nicolai (doesn't smell overtly like it) Then rose chimes in more and more, adding some sweetness but it's a bit of dirt like that bulls blood fragrance from that one that's all books? y'know? WTF are they called? Imaginary Authors that's it! This is way more palatable though, I like it, it's not bad, but it's not great either.

Now I did try this in a shop, on a strip and it was busy, and those kinds of distractions coupled with olfactory fatigue probably not the best conditions to give a good review. I love rhubarb and accord in perfume, and the fact it was 'electric' rhubarb I was expecting something really tart and bittersweet, but no. I don't recognise any of my favourite rhubarb materials in this, I got a kind of fruity effect but very strange. This is a weird perfume and an instant dislike. I'm not surprised it's been compared to Womanity. (I didn't get that association personally but I don't like either if that counts?) Sorry this is such a poor review not up to my usual standards. I will revisit this and update. :)

I can no clue where to start with this brand. I'd seen them around but never in the UK or any shops I frequent but finally I found them and was instantly drawn to this as my first try. It's not my scene at all. I get the exotic vibes of ylang in the opening and oh yeah it has a coffee (ish) note to it which actually comes over as a new thing. But that's with the freshness of the top notes, as it wears on I think it's a bit more predictable. It's patchouli heavy in that hyper feminine way that Mugler perfumes are for instance, chunky and even slightly unwieldy, considering their floral intent, which is jasmine and tuberose like also. I think it's worth a sniff for the opening intrigue and people who like a big perfumey, semi gourmand perfume with love the endless creamy drydown. I didn't. I couldn't wear this.

Certain aspects of this new(ish) release from Amouage stood out to me. The instant appeal and association with classic, spicy, amber type perfumes is cumin, the sweaty spice adding loads of scratchy depth to this perfume which is a sweet, thick, resinous brew, generally. It's actually quite a modern approach to the Amouage incense perfume vibes, and I can smell woody ambers holding everything up, they're not badly blended or anything, far from it, in fact showing marginally more restraint than her contemporary Julien Rasquinet. That's what it feels like to me, a reflection of the last mini collection, and this one is Enclave's counterpart. I love the opening couple of hours that mixture of cumin and cardamom is so evocative and spiky, I actually love it, no more than Fate Man though, which is better I feel. Then it goes to slightly more mundane territory for me, a very sweet (at times, a kind of biscuity gourmand element), chunky, (but clunky) but very complex and tenacious but not irritating or anything. I like it....I'm just not mad about it. The opening makes it a big favourite out of the new ones, even though material is arguably 'better'/it's amber theme's feel more 'natural' and perhaps more true to Amouage? I hope people embrace this and love it because it feels like another authentic chapter in the Amouage story. I'm just not quite there myself in terms of a purchase, but that is true of many perfumes.