This is the first fragrance I've sampled from Maitre parfumeur et Gantier and it's impressive. Has all the calling cards of an amber perfume warm and sharp but not as sharp as some amber scents this goes in a different direction and has a real ancient dusty feel to it. I got the old book smell from this slightly musty, like old paper. As it drys down It's vanilla, amber tolu balm and perhaps some Tonka bean quite simple really and any top notes alluded me slightly on this first try. It might not be the most original amber or have anything striking about it to make it really stand out but it's a tried and tested formula. However I still think it's a notable amber scent because of good quality and reasonable pricing. I'm in no way disappointed as this fragrance smells spectacularly good and lasts well...amber lovers should certainly consider sampling.

Ascot Moon opens with a clean blast of lush grassy notes, cedarwood and pepper which makes you think mmmm...that's interesting. As it settles it becomes decidedly spicier, strong oily, earthy tones which to me resemble diesel...not so pleasant. I think all that filth is coming from a dirty 'hippy' patchouli and spice something like caraway. The dry down is smokey but does mellow quite a lot after a few hours and it's nature becomes different again and this makes for an interesting fragrance. Ascot moon is bold but too weird for most peoples taste I would imagine, even mine. An interesting outing for all you patchouli lovers but I'd rather steer clear of it. Update: Interestingly enough I've since purchased an earthy/soil tincture type fragrance which although isn't a million miles away from this and weirdly enough also has 'moon' in the title...it's somehow much more appealing. This is still very smoky and oily in comparison but upon wearing it again the quality is undoubtable.

What a potion this is. A fabulous basis in leather but herbal and sweet too with notes of labnanum and saffron. Wode is super indulgent and strangely the opening has a lot of musk for me despite the note votes on here. After about 10 mins it goes down to wonderful spices of cardamom and nutmeg. What starts out fairly sweet and complex soon becomes earthier and more spiced as it dries down. Boudicca wode is a very accomplished fragrance indeed smells incredible and speaks for itself...however longevity leaves something to be desired. I mean it really doesn't need the paint gimmick which don't get me wrong is a really cool idea but maybe detracts a little from what is a very good fragrance. I never got the paint version to sample incidentally so the child in me may have been whistling an entirely different tune if I had.

Seeing as my last review of this banged on about the paint aspect far too much rather than what a great scent this is. It's even overly musky for my tastes to begin with and I have to go through a barrier, a threshold of appreciation if you like? It settles down and I have to say still very musky but now sharp and earthy with a strong, herbal saffron. Bitter Juniper, Labdanum and saffron is a personal wet dream of mine so the continuation of this fragrance just gets better for me, and at the same time I totally understand why someone would despise Wode..I almost do myself. My girlfriend hates it and made it clear I should never buy it. What I can add to this review is how much it turns into Versace Man in the drydown, something I had neglected to notice the first time I sampled Wode. It really does though the saffron becomes soft, the resin and amber give a kind of similar base and a hint something that reminds me of those liquorice Blackcurrant sweets? The difference being here that Versace Man smells great from the offset and you don't have to go through the musky blast and the completely different vibe created in the first few hours. To me at least I can smell the quality of ingredients in here it's not just loud for the sake of it.

I deliberately didn't look into what this fragrance was about or I'd forgotten if I did. So when this lovely little number revealed itself I was pleasantly surprised. I think aromatic fougere is an apt title for this but with non of the usual over musky or powdery nature it's not sweet but pleasing. Masculine but refined. The opening for me contains a saffron note although it's not listed here it shares some woody/leathery similarity with MFK Oud and Versace Man. That does back off pretty quickly and reveals the heart of soothing, herbal, lavender, woods and vetiver but great quality and somehow better than many in this genre. It's certainly not ground breaking perhaps even a little mundane but is well executed and the drydown doesn't compare to the interest of the opening but still very nice. Classy stuff and although I like many from this line, Kurkdjian plays it quite safe on the whole and Pluriel is no exception. Balance is the key here and he got it right for me, whether it's worth the price tag is entirely in the eyes of the beholder I wouldn't blame someone for falling for this nor would I be surprised If some found it boring and lacking ooomf! The deep drydown is very woody and just a lovely thing and lasting power is good but not excellent. Update: I first sampled this a while back (then wrote the above review) however since then I tried it in store and really didn't like it, especially the top notes, which pretty much flies in the face of my review. I decided to wear it today and I'm sort of stuck inbetween. Pluriel is not all accessible, fun & games, there's something slightly bitter and challenging about it. Makes me like it less but repect the composition more, if that makes sense. I honestly don't think it's your average lavender topped, woody base masculine (well that IS what it is!) I think there's a challenging 'nose dive' as I like to call it. Just when you think you have it worked out there's a slight unpleasantness, not enough to make you dislike it but enough to keep you intrigued. I have to say the sillage on this one is better than I first thought I have been leaving a distinct trail around the place one even I'm aware of. This smells slightly different from opening to dry down, both close on the skin and a waft in the air are distictly different and that has to be a good quality...surely? At least for me a sign of good composition and more than first meets the eye...well nose.

Oh can I just mention before I start...Other than containing strong rose note this doesn't smell like DSquared Black Potion, that's a smokey incense/woods/and leather affair. I often say "I'm not the biggest lover of rose..but..." I think I have to face facts I love a good rose fragrance. Dark purple is one of those! Don't get me wrong I'm still very specific about the way in which the rose is 'delivered' for want of a better word. Here is comes over with a remarkable clarity but is still not too rosy for my tastes. I think it's the fact that it's very fruity and sweet but with a velvety sensuality and just a hint of darkness. I really don't see this as particularly 'Dark' or 'dirty' it's quite bright and (wait for it...) jammy!!! Thick, sticky sweet and jam like roses suits the purple colour perfectly! The plum note in here is evident but so is a red berry vibe, so prominent it's almost gourmand. As it settles in there's a hint of musk which balances the fruits and a more delicate base of oud which keeps this going on your skin for hours. The patchouli comes out in the drydown for me and elevates this scent even further, giving it still more refinement. I have to say I love Dark purple although I must admit the opening is a beast and projects even a little much for me. It's like many strong niche roses (especially Montale) which makes a huge statement and that to me is not everyday wear. Even for a special occasion you necessarily want to be beaming out a cloud of dense, plummy rose. I'll forgive it that though it's a brilliant fragrance.

I need to be careful about what I say here because last time I think I might've caused offense to Sarah McCartney, creator of 4160 Tuesdays. I didn't mean to, it's as good a name as any other and I'm definitely not apposed to quirkiness or fun in perfumery, in fact I embrace it with open arms. This house certainly provides that abundantly, in the shape of some left field fragrance concepts. I welcome innovation, stuff that isn't boring and these fragrances are anything but that, so I praise Sarah in her endeavors. For the record...despite how the review came over, I actually quite liked 'The dark heart of old Havana' the idea anyway but there's always one or more unsettling, juxtaposing elements thrown in but I guess that's the whole point of these creations? So what is 'Time to draw the raffle numbers' like? Horrendous! (sorry Sarah!) It really is though! Weirdly it has a musty smell like cardboard or that cheap paper you used to get in primary school and oddly enough what they make raffle tickets from! (I wouldn't be surprised if that's intentional!) However as it settles there's a smokey leather(ish) vibe a stale tobacco mixed with a wheaty note, earthiness, chocolate and marmalade, slighty burned toast and that jarring metallic note of 'bicyces'. Phew!!! Seriously it's all there... this is a brief that has been nailed but just because you can dream something up does it necessarily mean you should execute it? Again I'm not saying 'Don't bother' but this doesn't appeal to me personally. Another thing that bothers me is the inspiration for this fragrance. I might just be the only person in Britain who thinks Bradley Wiggins is a oddly smug, boring and miserable git! I just plain don't like him. His sporting achievements speak for themselves but in terms of a charismatic role model... I find him dull. Yeah so that's my appraisal! This is the kind of fragrance that someone out there will like for sure. I'm a fan of the strange but not this kind of strange...shame because some tiny part of me likes some of the components in 'Time to draw the raffle numbers' I really desperately want to love something from 4160 Tuesdays...I honestly do!

Sure the box is presented beautifully but what is the juice like? Well the honest answer is...I'm still not sure? This is a big departure for JHaG coupled with moon dance this has a totally different approach but still the unsweetened and dirty tuberose note. I think coupled with ylang ylang makes this quite floral sitting on a amber and vanilla base. My initial thoughts were that this is a little phoned in or faux in terms of depth...but I could be wrong? This house has some interesting scents on the whole so I will reserve judgement. Oil fiction seems somehow a bit confused and left me a bit that way too. The name yet again is spot on...something oily and nectar like about this juice, it certainly stirred my interest. Unfortunately, I only sampled it in store and desperately need to get hold of some proper samples so I can trial it properly. The longevity on my wrist was okay and lasted on my shirt cuffs but I'd expected super concentration just by the look of it. The jury is out but this didn't blow me away first try.

Moon dance definitely evokes the name and night time flowering, white blossoms. Not the sweet part of them but the dirty and powdery element of mysterious tuberose and violet. The main thing about MD is a musky opening which makes you think it might be quite brash for a moment before it settles to quite a calm hum of powdery vibes rose and patchouli among them. This has a traditional feel, maybe more suited to the mature lady? perhaps not though? but that's the overriding impression I got. I wouldn't wear this, it's clean but seems pretty geared toward women and rightly so.

I got it in my head that Balmain didn't make masculine or even Unisex fragrances but I was obviously mistaken. I have to say I adore this fragrance it's magic! Huge dose of peppery woods and dry synthetic cedar and vetiver but that's telling the story in reverse. The opening is a curious, aniseed, resiny, elemi, (what I assume is) fig, incense vibe then pepper coming on stronger. Very darkly fruity this one and a musky, lightly smoked effect to it also...very very interesting and right up my street. Then it gets a little disappointing the immediate comparison on the drydown is to Encre Noire and that takes a good hour or two to progress past that opening to the familiarity of vetiver and pepper. Not a bad thing to smell like but for me the opening shows more promise and interest. Average longevity and subtle projection...well worth checking out for those who like a arty, not all the way dark fragrance.

I'm surprised there's not some ridiculous 'ye olde' Creed tale to go with this perfume (maybe there is?) but it could perhaps evoke one? The reason I say this is I get a distinct traditional cologne sort of vibe from it, super fresh and clean. The juniper and fruits are biting and zesty and the basil is fresh. Despite not being anything overly innovative note wise this is a citrus/juniper/musk combo which delivers quality and sophistication. Also there's something uncomplicated and has a masculine simplicity about it. That's not the whole story though because the drydown has a characteristically intricate touch of the herbal and what I can only assume is ambergris? This is something I can identify in this as well as millesime imperial, silver mountain water, erolfa etc... Royal water is slightly more appealing to me than erolfa or MI, don't know why it just is. I like to bash Creed a little but in all honesty I love many of this houses fragrances and if I can get them at a knockdown price, I would consider it. Longevity and projection pretty average but again not bad for a citrus. I'd wear this on a warm spring or hot summer day and thoroughly enjoy it I'm sure.