Well maybe I spoke too soon about Water Calligraphy being the most feminine thing I own? This is peach! I love peach but it is very hard to pull off for a man and I think this might be one that I can wear! It's a boozy, fuzzy peach which despite the negative comments about this being 'synthetic' and 'over priced' is very natural to me. I'm not an expert on peach but I did grow up in a house of three women who all used peach scented...well everything!!! And I have to say this smells much better and more realistic. It does have a berry vibe too very dark and slight floral and what I thought was a gentle musk and maybe hint of vanilla in the base... Turns out it's tonka according to Fragrantica...I can go with that! It's very Kilian in that it's a little dirty and boozy but sweet and fruity. I have a sweet tooth and I like it. I thought the longevity was poor as it dies down very quickly but actually I could still smell it very faintly on my skin well over 12 hours later.

Easily the most feminine scent I own! I only have a 7.5ml atomizer which I suspect my girlfriend will get more use from than me but hey? Yes this is very familiar and reminiscent of Issey Miyake but for me has a little more finesse. It opens sweet but then the white floral body takes over and it becomes the sort of fragrance I usually don't like but something about this is somehow more mellow? Maybe it's because it's waterlily, Magnolia and Jasmine rather than orange blossom or neroli? This tends to make it sweeter and frankly quite girly but strangely more pleasing on me. Again I'm not someone who conforms to the traditional paradigms of Man/woman fragrance categorization but you have to call it as you see it and that's what I think. Oddly enough I'd wear this though! The couple of wears so far have interesting in that the opening couple of hours aside the dry down smells amazing on me! Just a very clean almost green vetiver with a little floral touch hanging in there... I really like it. Anyone dismissing this fragrance as over priced for what is a common smelling feminine fragrance should expect to be pleasantly suprised after a few wears. The longevity is very good too.

Well Antidote I found you at last! I figured this had been discontinued too as it was difficult to find but I managed to track it down at house of Fraser in Manchester. It was actually suggested to me by the sales assistant who was really pushing it. My verdict then?...well... please not meaning to offend anyone because I know how pretty much universally hated this fragrance is but I think Antidote is initially similar to (dan dant dahhhh!) JOOP HOMME!!!! This being said maybe an unfair comparison because I think I've found the sophisticated alternative to Joop and original santal/Individuel that I've been looking for! Antidote has the cinnamon and vanilla thing sure but it is also massively complex and not just the note breakdown here but to your nose as it changes on the skin. You get sweet floral jasmine a bit of sandalwood and lavender with a deep incense vibe, it's altogether a different animal from the fragrances I've mentioned above. The drydown is pleasant kind of sweet almost gourmand but woody and On a superficial note I really like the clean lines of the bottle and the colour and name of this juice. All in all...a good outing from Viktor and Rolf will probably take a few wears before I commit to adding to the collection.

I've trialed this 'blue' collection extensively now and I held off from reviewing them in the autumn until I got my second set of samples to reserve judgement. I have to say I love them! Blue Santal is a knockout! It's a super fresh but very spicy, peppery opening. The freshness is being supplied by a definite juniper note in there and it combines with the pine to lift a scent that could be too peppery and spicy for some...but do be assured it dries down very softly to a beautiful clean skin scent. The sandalwood is more to the woody/spicy end of the santal spectrum than the sweet creamy end, although that is still there and develops more as it dries down and the pepper moves into the background. I honestly used to love sandalwood but recently I've gone off it a bit, maybe it's due to a lack of interesting combinations of notes to accompany it who knows? Anyway this has restored my faith as it truly has that alpine fresh coolness with a warming familiar woodiness and it is WOODY...Blue Santal is awesome!!! I'm wearing it today and I feel that I smell great. These Comme des garcons have excellent longevity too I got about 8-10 hours yesterday from Blue encens(okay with a very liberal application but still!) and this looks to be performing just as well.

The review below nails it really, except I don't feel there's a great deal missing here...I really enjoyed Blue Encens. Some other reviews are a little harsh on this one and if Blue Encens is Comme des garcon doing a 'fresh... aquatic' then they've succeeded in making a highly original one. I can just about see why someone might think that it does have a slight aquatic feel but it's more of a warm spicy amber to me. Cardamom is very present in the opening and something slightly sweet(whatever the incense consists of maybe?)and warm against a backdrop of amber. It's that amber warmth and the pepper which makes me think of Prada Luna Rossa Extreme. I first tried these in the summer(before LRE was even out) but got a little confused by the similar bottles now I have samples of each so I can review them properly. Longevity is acceptable and projection is soft but present. Personally I love this!

Dry, woody, slightly smokey incense and vetiver I'm a big fan of this fragrance. It opens with a heavy spice of caraway and nutmeg which sits nicely on top of a clean manly composition. Comme de Garcons entire range is impressive, well the ones I've tried anyway. It's not just dry and woody it has a definite saffron note in the heart and develops nicely in the drydown to a sort of leathery, earthy wood. Thoroughly enjoyable and masculine scent which has a wear-ability about it if you like a good spicy fragrance get this!

Well...Comme des garcons 2 is a really interesting fragrance in that it smells very oriental and does have distinct light and shade. This is the intention in the brief and I think Mark Buxton nailed it...Can't believe it's been out since 1999 and I'm only just getting my nose on it now. It's a complex affair a mixture of aldehyde and sweet floral notes apparently magnolia which I don't usually like but it comes across well in the opening. This is mixed with mandarin, it's lovely if not a little on the feminine side but in no way unwearably so. As I sniff through that and I get tea and incense which makes for an interesting balance against the sweet floral beginning and gives this a calming vibe. Not sure what ink smells like?...I'd like to think I do sort of know but I don't really get it in here. That being said I get the watery, calming, zen vibe and can imagine calligraphy and floral Japanese gardens with lilly ponds and all that good stuff so again I think 2 nails the brief! If you don't like sweet or aldehyde fragrances I would advise you to steer clear. The drydown gets decidedly woodier on my skin and really settles down nicely I'd say almost like ceder and vetiver earthy but clean and still sweet from the florals. A great complex fragrance (even more so than I've mentioned) where each note comes together brilliantly also has excellent staying power and fairly good projection. Comme des garcon 2 is a perfectly unisex sweet, woody, floral it's 'Floriental' I'd say...and a very good one.

Wow!!!! I tried 6 fragrances from this house and while they were all magnificent 2 (oddly) really stood out for me and this is one of them. I say 'oddly' because I was not expecting the fresher more fruity/citrus end of the spectrum to tickle my fancy as much as 'Explorer' and 'Adventuress' did. It maybe because I'm used to resinous, spicy, warm and Oud scents in this price range or maybe I have half an eye on spring/summer juices now but I certainly didn't think I'd be looking to fork out on a niche juice of this sort. The first thing that strikes you about this brand is the bottles (flacons...whatever!?) they are spectacular!!! I mean they look great in the photos here and you kind of know what to expect but when you see them an feel the weight you can't help but be impressed with the almost Game of thrones like, kind of ye olde, celtic styling. Just from a collection point of view these are stunning but the juice inside(from the few I've tried) matches the care and attention taken to the presentation. Boadicea the victorious has real calibre and this fragrance totally blew me away to be honest...I love it. The opening is gorgeous fruity and the strange sweetness of labdanum and orris but as it settles becomes very dry and resinous with an kind of earthy spice to it. I can't say I've encountered anything like it. Explorer shimmered in the drydown changing slightly to a ambery, fir like vibe very interesting. Projection not huge and longevity is good enough for me but you'd expect it to be very long lasting at this price.

I got my girlfriend to try this first as I suspected it would be nice and I was correct in my assumption. I managed to get a sample and tried it on my skin too. Typical Chanel really, wonderfully understated but maybe a little too much so for the striking black bottle and name. In other words nothing dark or sexy about this fragrance at all really, It's quite lightweight. I was expecting dark thick, chocolately patchouli and tonka bean, with the fresh slightly floral notes and something similar to Black Orchid. Instead the patchouli is floral and light with a mixture of woody creamy notes of sandalwood and a slightly balmy, musky, rose with sweet floral and citrus notes in the opening. The drydown is a nice soft powdery patchouli/vanilla. Coco Noir delivers a complexity which comes over as effortless which is a huge positive. It's a great fragrance, technically well executed... I mean what else did I expect from Chanel? Well I was expecting the possibility of being able to wear it myself which I can't... not because I couldn't pull it off, I simply don't like it enough. This sums it up for me... The shop assistant said "It's luminous isn't it?" and my girlfriend quickly and politely responded "yes...yes it is!" I said "Nah...not really?" I just didn't think "Luminous" was an appropriate adjective to describe it but it's definitely not dark, or sexy or 'noir' enough for my liking, so maybe she was right?

Wasn't fond of the original Attitude but I was prompted by a fragrantica member to give it another chance. This version has slightly stronger spice of cardamom and anise but I would prefer moreand is a bit deeper in base notes. To me though it's quite a flat fragrance, not bad but not really good either and as such have changed my vote of dislike (for extreme & original) to like. (more realistically 'Meh') Opens with lemon and then grows into a patchouli/amber thing and what is listed as coffee here and I suppose it is. The problem I have with Attitude Extreme is... it's just a bland fragrance that could be great if the notes were rebalanced and made more daring and spicy. Unfortunately that wouldn't necessarily make for a good crowd pleasing unit shifter...which is what it is inoffensive and slighty more intense than the original.