Woah! This is a complete surprise as the the review below states...not what I'd been anticipating judging by the name. Not strong, fake, creamy or anything like a peppermint sweet. I've also grown various different types of mint and I can honestly say this does smell like them either. However Sherbet Peppermint has the most amazing green notes to it, fantastically fresh and invigourating but with peppermint running through it. Peppermint and spearmint are not the freshest to me but have a really lovely quality. Comme des Garcons have basically combined a very lovely grassy, green texture, a minty one with a hint of pepper and played god, creating a synthetic yet totally natural hybrid...it's intriguing and to my surprise, wearable. Don't get any amber really or any cardamom and the longevity is weak, you'd better just forget about projection this one isn't going to play ball. Can't wait to try the others in this series as peppermint was not what I'd expected.

This is a weird one for me...but a grower. It's instantly powdery but silky smooth and beyond the normal realms of perfume for me. They say the most instant and effective trigger for memories is an olfactory one...well they're not wrong! Certainly Pierre de Lune is to me reminiscent of a very specific memory and it's of playing at a friends house. These two lads called Mark & Matthew (it's so odd remembering them as I haven't thought about them in over 20 years) who lived down the street from my mum but never went to my school. I used to hang out with them in the holidays and their house smelled 'EXACTLY' the same as pierre de Lune. Was it a type of fabric softner their mum used or an air freshener...or even a perfume? Anyway...It's a combo of sweet jasmine & orris root, with powdery floral notes which creates a creamy smell which in my mind matches the name and the coloured stopper in the bottle. Not sure I like this, it's certainly unique but I wouldn't wear it.

This may seem like an overreaction to some but I think Eau de Jade is a masterpiece! It's citrus but it's a very, very rare thing to truly capture the pungent and waxy nature of the zest. This is like a concentration of that juicy sharpness, Pure lime zest!!!Many citrus juices neglect this crucial element, Armani and whoever the nose was on this seem to have nailed it. I made Coconut and Lime Ice cream recently and had to use alot of lime zest, infact a much of the cooking I do whether Chinese or Indian or even for putting in a corona or whatever... I use a hell of a lot of limes. This represents the true smell of zest and juice left on my hands afterwards but to just say it's that wouldn't be fair to the complexity of this composition. Eau de Jade is built to last it really did well on my skin and then the white floral element and pepper comes though more into the dry down without ever defining the nature of this scent. Again the musk base is in perfect harmony with the other elements in here...I love it! Top marks and fairly reasonably priced, I already held Armani's prive range in high regard now I've finally tried them all I'm absolutely in awe of them.

If a vetiver fragrance was ever worthy this sort of price tag it's Haitian Vetiver. I say that purely because of it's faith to the note, it gives you herbal, green, clean, earthy, fresh, dry, spicy, slighly smokey...everything that vetiver represents in one fragrance which doesn't hide behind other notes just gives it you straight. Usually I've find that boring in a composition but vetiver scents are all too often about the interplay between citrus & vetiver. I find Haitian Vetiver unashamedly masculine. I get a citrus in the opening and a hint of carrot seed but it doesn't define or detract from the vetiver at the heart. This is truly one of the unsung hero's of vetiver fragrances...great stuff and lasts a long time. I think this is bolder than Guerlain's vetiver (albeit a nice scent) or Tom Ford's Grey Vetiver (again a great frag) so check it out people.

I had to click 'Love' on this one a strong citrus bergamot & mandarin fragrance which smells truly amazing, juicy and uplifting. Petitgrain is a welcome partner in here but I don't get any oakmoss or anything that grounds the fragrance either in woods or greenness coming from something like vetiver? which it's sadly lacking. Hate to nay say such a quality citrus but it's too linear a composition and too expensive to excite me all that much.

As a huge fan of Zegna's more affordable designer fragrances I couldn't wait to try these having known of their existence for quite some time but not being able to track them down... until now. I thought I'd only sample 3 to begin with and the Oud seemed liked a logical place to start. The quality hits you instantly but it's not quite what I was expecting. I was maybe thinking it would be another in a long line of linear Oud/Rose combo's or it would be a princely shower of oud/saffron and resin but it's neither. I mean that in a good way, Indonesian Oud is a uniquely sharp take on Oud and the wood aroma itself has a different quality to lots of Oud fragrances you will smell and that's refreshing to me. It's not wholly unfamiliar just has a signature quality which makes it worth the mention of where it originates. I'm no expert but those Indonesians have got some good Oud! The opening is bergamot then the sharpness continues as the spicy wood develops, strong and medicinal. There's a slight hint of patchouli and even less rose in here which is great and adds to the scents individual character. I like it and it works to my taste but nothing blind blowing here, the quality and longevity etc is as good as any niche Oud and justifies the high price. The bottles are really great too and have the same style magnetic stoppers found on the Dior La collection Privee bottles. Solid first outing for me with Pricey Zegna's.

Just a quick update to my review below from a while back. I still think this is a very decent fragrance the opening is very sharp and almost to the point of AdP colonia Oud but much less extreme and far far more wearable. Also this completely morphs during the drydown into a gorgeously spiced, woody Oud which is almost a bit 'off' compared to that opening but I find it a welcome relief. These are a good collection of fragrances...this range covers nearly all bases with 5 very good quality juices.

Wowee!!! At long last a Le Labo fragrance that genuinely floored me! The opening is one of ylang and iris but as it settles the iris combines with a very powdery violet note making for a gorgeously deep, floral sweetness. There's quite a bit of patchouli in here too but it's not thick or dirty at all. The base of musk provides an animal quality which sets it off beautifully. To be perfectly honest my only issue with this and other Le Labo fragrances is the name. I know, I know the name just means it's built around an accord of Iris but really this should be called VIOLET 39...no problem if you're a fan of violets and luckily I am. I love it...smells stunning and I like to think I know my violets this is a treat a little reminiscent of Violetta from Penhaligon's but more complex and natural. Update: lasts for ages this one and the dry down turns to a sumptuous warm civet that's really nice.

Odd odd stuff yet again from Etat Libre d'Orange but quite lovely and very palatable indeed. The opening is a very sweet and complex explosion of notes, the iris and popcorn being prominent with a slightly metallic flint type gunpowder note...it really is there. Recent release Valentino uomo is quite similar but creamier and nuttier maybe not quite as complex. I love La fin du monde it's a tasty, sexy gourmand fragrance...sniff it out people it's good! Update 23/02/2022 Some years after the above comments and I've actually purchased a bottle of this based upon my memory of impressions back then. Looking at this review it's quite luke warm, and I'm a bit the same about it now. The comparison to Valentino Uomo is interesting to look back at and still valid. It's a kind of perfume that wants to be sweet but is ever being pulled back into the realms of savoury nuttiness by pyrazines or something? I still get that flinty, spark from it. Interesting perfume, but another tongue in cheek oddity from ELDO, the Charlie Hebdo of fragrance brands.

When I said I wasn't tempted to try any other summer 2014 versions of fragrances in my 212 Surf review, that wasn't strictly true... I was draw to this one as well. L'eau d'Issey flankers have always been a bit disappointing in my opinion but last years summer edition was nice, good job they've stuck it in a new bottle and put it out again for 2014. I never reviewed it last year (I don't think?) because I only tried once in store and in fairness I don't have the two to do a comparison but from memory this is exactly the same. I don't think there's anything wrong with doing that either, if it ain't broke don't fix it. I like the way this fragrance has that watery, aquatic nature without resorting to any salty sea accord fakery. It's straight up juicy kiwi and cucumber fresh with yuzu and a greenness of vetiver, hint of nutmeg maybe(?) not a great deal of spice but an accomplished summer juice nontheless. Summer is lighter and has the signature of the original which can only be a good and winning formula in my book. strength? Not gonna project much after the first hour or so and longevity is okay. Update: So my review above is based on what I thought on first impression well that has changed somewhat. No denying the top notes are beautiful and refreshing but then that salty seaweed accord starts nagging away at me. I mention above that this has the aquatic nature without the fakery, not strictly true as obviously the original L'eau D'Issey was built around that Calone aroma chemical and so are the flankers. The original doesn't bother me in fact I have worn and loved it for years but this summer version once it passes the juicy top note faze can become a tedious aquatic but no where near as bad as some.

Wow! Let me just start by saying I was not attracted to try any other summer 2014 fragrance except this one. Carolina Herrera generally has a good repertoire of masculine fragrances and this one looked good. The reason it looked so good and I was so drawn to it? The bottle! I mean just look at it...what a fantastic bottle it looks amazing, and even better in real Life. That's where the praise for this fragrance ends... abruptly! The juice inside is nothing short of disgusting...an absolute disgrace! Like they took that synthetic aquatic element found in many new releases such as Eros and more famously perhaps Paco's Invictus and brought that to the forefront. At least those two counterparts have some redeeming features in the shape of vaguely pleasant surrounding notes, 212 Surf sadly doesn't. I'm not exaggerating here it is really awful, sharp, cheap, so far from anything natural smelling it beggars belief! It's like the worst hairspray mixed with ammonia and bug spray! There's an ant and wasp killer product (in the UK and possibly elsewhere??) called 'Deathlac' this smells like that. Another question....Why do fragrances that have this bad smell to them also have such amazing longevity? 212 Surf has ridiculous strength and longevity while being totally devoid of quality. The same is true of Invictus which I honestly liked at first but this 'deathlac' thing just became unbearable as I wore it more. Folks if you trust my reviews by now...swerve this one!