So Chris Rusak's Timbre (a fragrance I mistakenly keep referring to as 'Timber' to the man himself and he was likely too sweet to correct me) is a strange fragrance of two halves. The first, the opening and main body of the fragrance which is a stunningly well rendered and natural smelling woody scent that propelled me back to childhood, climbing tree's and very specifically getting incredibly viscous sap on my hands. This is a lightly smokey, pine, cade, vetiver tinged incense with the impression of silver birch in my head. It truly is a feat to cram that much vivid woodiness into a fragrance and for that he must be applauded. This is where my amateur perfumery experience (or lack of?) can come back to bite as I'm constantly thinking about and trying to deconstruct a composition, especially from Indy perfumers. A little bot of knowledge being a dangerous thing because this is when we enter into the second phase of the fragrance which for me smelled a great deal more synthetic. I rattled off a list of aroma chemicals and natural isolates I use in 'woody/amber' bases to Chris and only one of the materials he said was in Timbre (Cedramber) but only in a trace amount and as a supporting role to the cedar in the base. Now I think I perhaps neglected to mention that I also use cedar (Virginian and Atlas) in pretty much everything too and perhaps Timbre is teaching me a valuable lesson about just how tenacious natural cedar is, in the base, remaining as they do with all the tenacity of Timbersilk, ISO E SUPER, or ambroxan. I also got a blackcurrant nuanced, peppery, licorice, wood smell that I often get from synthetic oud (especially the Firmanich one) and often when paired with pink pepper, but Chris uses real oud in here and I have smelled this in real oud materials too so for those who say that synth ouds don't really smell like real oud...they do....(a bit) I get the oud purists point but they sort of do in some senses. The base is a smokey, rough brown paper of a thing, with elements of vetiver, resinous warmth but more seems more sterile to me, than the lucid opening. For all this waffling, and struggling with a rubix cube, navel gazing nonsense this is a superb woody fragrance and one that I would implore anybody who loves that sort of thing to check out. It promotes images of fresh air, great big skies, mountains, huge sequoia tree's and all that good stuff. I liked it a lot.

Well I thought I'd reviewed this one when it came out as a keen (or foolish?) blind buy netted me this catch. My opinion has changed somewhat, I still like this perfume but not as much as I did when it first landed on my doorstep and for much the same reasons as tobacco blaze, although that was immediately apparent. This is a kind of citrus opening, but it's not especially bright, just sort of weird, sharp, bitterness from grapefruit. The synthetic (and I do mean unnatural) smell of this perfume kinda alludes to the ethereal, fixative nature of ambergris but it doesn't smell anything like any ambergris I've ever come across. The main body is a ultra dry leather accord which is heavy on the mate, I can also see some of the greenness, the dry, papery smell of violet leaf and perhaps even the clary sage listed here? Ambergris showers does smell modern and masculine and Immediately quite a lot like Irish leather from Memo but maybe a touch smokier and more arid? It also reminds me of Molton Brown's Russian leather but without the smoothness and 'real' leather aspect. Instead this has a less vibrant and sweet leather accord which is stale and ashy, a bit like tobacco blaze but decidedly easier to tolerate. I kinda bought this to complete the set really, not always the greatest motivation and with a view to scaling down my collection, this might be getting cut? Wearing it today is enjoyable but at a crucial time in evaluating what I really need in my collection, I don't think any La Yuqawam's are going to make the grade.

I adore this fragrance. Completely fits into my tastes at the moment and it's so funny to see it described as 'pretty' in the review below because that's exactly what Musc des sable is, the prime example of a pretty fragrance. It's milky and musky in a similar sense to ambrette seed but with a construction I perceived upon first wearing knowing nothing about the brand and choosing purely for the name, was orris/sandalwood/vanilla/benzoin. The orris has a buttery texture that has a very mild almond undertone but never oversweet. Starts out soft and skinscent like but then you realise that's just it's nature and 10 hours later it's almost exactly the same, softly projecting an intimate bubble around you. Antoine Lie does have a style that is like this, with recent stuff like Jusbox 'No Rules' and even the other end of the scale Secretion magnifiques. (well come on it is milky) This couldn't be more different than those two though, this has the chic nature of a Chanel. I love it. I want it!

Completely original piece of work this, I can honestly say I can't recall a perfume like this. However, the aroma doesn't feel entirely unfamiliar and still sparks some sort of deep memory which isn't of the vivid kind more the fuzzy, hard to place sort. The 'style' if you like, is of something like Tom Ford Black Orchid, (poor example perhaps) swathes of big, woody, gourmand with a beating floral heart, evokes a deep, brown, velvety, fabric with a fuchsia pink, silky lining to me, it's textured basically. I genuinely had no clue what to expect but I was taken aback with the opening and huge amounts of dark, woods and chocolate. The chocolate is not that synth cocoa accord or even the poofy theobroma cacao it's almost as if the oud has a chocolately facet. I've smelled various varieties of oud and hundreds of oud perfumes and attars and some of them do have a chocolate nuance, perhaps there already or brought out by other materials which have chocolately undertones. I'd say Styrax Tonkenisis Defintely, patchouli, strangely and vanilla more obviously. Anyway this feels that authentic not too bitter or dark but like a chunky milk chocolate. Let's not dwell on that too much because the heart of this fragrance is a massive floral accord which has an aspect of jasmine to it (probably the Fragipani or actual jasmine?) and a more open, less heady floral (which I'm assuming is magnolia?) it's lovely though and works perfectly with the rest of the composition. As I said there's a quality & familiarity about this perfume and for that reason it charms and endears but I can imagine the long lasting nature and inherent heaviness becomes cloying. In fact I don't 'Imagine'... it absolutely DOES become cloying and I'm not just saying this for it's largely floral theme's but this would be a statement piece on a woman I imagine. The kind of woman who likes big sense florientals. Yes it's high quality, innovative, Oud Monarch rates highly in my book and I haven't even began to describe the florals the oud the chocolate in any satisfactory way...this one absolutely needs to be sampled.

I don't know a lot about Frangipani other than that they are used in Lei's, they look fruity and exotic as if the petals were fashioned from wax and probably smell delightful. This perfume is a shocker for me in the best kind of way. It's very much all of the sweet white floral bouquet from what I perceive as jasmine, with nothing impacting, overly heavy and certainly little indole to speak of. Right off the bat there's citrus with an orange/Mandarin biased accord which lasts throughout. It's juicy and vivid and coupled with the jasmine (Frangipani too evidently) it smells like a recreation of orange blossom...but in truth, Amber Cologne is much more appealing to my nose. I love this fragrance and I didn't want to because it's been hyped by at least one real arsehole in the 'community' and loads of legit folks too but it seems to be flavour of the month and although I try to say I'm above all the hype n such, I'm one of the worst for it and seek out every hype job going hoping I can bash them! :) I'm a sad man. Usually to no end though, as the initial hype is real (from legit sources) then some of the secondary hype is from the followers who look at trends and buy (or scavenge) perfume after seeing it being talked about. Bortnikov seem to have fallen victim to that (only in my judgemental eyes) and I was like 'yeah yeah...finest oud, Russian Adam, re branding etc... but the two I've tried (both very floral) have completely redefined what I think about 'that' kind of fragrance. Amber Cologne is delightful though really, stunning in fact, I can't smell the ambergris as such but the fixative quality bind everything together and there's a vaguely aquatic seabreeze smell and 'island' effect produced, with maybe some creaminess from sandalwood in the base? I loved it.

It's funny how the little things in life can bring so much joy. Nothing is more appealing than the fresh, unsullied, pure, high thread count, Egyptian cotton sheets of an unreviewed perfume, right here on Fragrantica. So I kinda wish I could pierce this silence with a more enthusiastic review. After all, I love the Talismans line and this delivers more of the same in terms of quality and inherent likeability without being too safe. The opening is a powdery, mint tinged geranium, dry but not arrid and with a pinch of earth to it. This then mutates into a cleaner more perfumed, airy feeling of roses but still with that bulgarian/turkish earth to it, this is not a sweet rose at all. It's the kind of rose that has a slight melancholy and touch of decay to it but it's generally of the more metallic and watery PEA/rosewater type of feeling as if imparted into this fragrance like the botanicals in gin. I detect a lemony citrus too and maybe some olibanum or mastic? Throughout the feeling is of a seabreeze but non of the usual cliches, I don't even what to say it's 'salty' or 'ozonic' but seems to capture those vibes. I wanna say ambergris, because this has a ghostly, spectre like presence. Talento starts out a bit lack lustre for me but in the end, there's actually lots to say about it because it's very evocative, seeming a bit stark and cold to begin with, but warming up, and revealing it's various layers very nicely indeed. So the major elements in here and they are all very complementary are citrus, geranium, mint, rose, metallic, airy and marine. I don't get the jawdropping price of this one? However the general pricing of Menditorossa is very reasonable considering the presentation of the bottles and the state of the current niche climate. It's growing and growing on me, if this sounds appealing to you then check it out. I know that Rose and geranium is a classic combo but I can't actually think of many perfumes that smell like this off the top of my head? I'm enjoying the wear today for sure.

So I have quite an exhausting regime of reviewing obligations now but would never reject Fragrantica over other platforms. I sometimes use the same review here as elsewhere and sometimes I try to find new things to say. In the instance of Bengale rouge, it's not difficult because of how seamlessly brilliant this composition is. Liz Moores has done it again, using the cozy fur of her Bengal cat as inspiration for this perfume. Imagine all the most opulent things you could stick into a perfume? The best of Oriental and Chypre offerings, nods to fantastic vintage perfumes and materials that inherently make you let out an audible, sigh of satisfaction? Yeah you just imagined Bengale Rouge. It's soft and sensual but with underlying power and here's how it develops. For me the opening smells heavily of citrus (maybe bergamot or lemon?) vanilla, benzoin and loads of labdanum, it's almost cruder and more Indy like than the smoother Guerlain's it's compared to and did have me wondering a little to begin with...is this really as refined? Fears are allayed when the heart of rose, earthy and medicinal elements of myrrh and oakmoss temper the sweetness into a smooth sandalwood dominated orris and hay like tonka/coumarin smoothness in the base. It's inspired stuff and reinvigorates the classical genres with clear nods to Jicky and Shalimar, Coty Emaraude but also Chanel Egoiste and Bois des Iles but simultaneously managing to have more Indy personality to it. I love it....It's magic!

It's rare that I venture into 'Ladies designer' stuff much anymore, but when I do I feel slightly confused by the various versions of seemingly the same scent (I didn't realise the other Illusione was for men.) Flankers seem to be more confusing on the ladies side. Nevertheless I staggered into the ladies section and this seemed to invite me. The figgy opening is luscious and ever so slightly green, but it's no Philosykos, neither is it a throwaway fig, but it leans more towards that. It's a very nice smell but not awe inspiring it has to be said. This is a fantastic brand with a real heritage for considered releases and not just banging them out for the sake of it, or endless flankers. I'd say this is a soft, fruity, musk with a kind of indistinct warmth in the base well all dried down. It has that italian cologne chic, a coastal feeling maybe reminding me of Fico di Amalfi.

This attar is super mellow and reflective, yet still has the power of oud at it's heart. It's not the most animal, or barnyard and bordering more on the strangeness and fixative quality of Ambergris and the familiarity of sandalwood but the oud is ever present. I'm not sure if it's a blend or what but the oud has the characteristics of Cambodi or Indian, but way low in the mix here, drying down to a woods which has a dark, teak stained nature with nutty heft. I loved it...I bought it.

One word for this....Stunning! Opens up with the sweeter musky resinous vibes and that characteristically sweet Ta'if (I also purchased the Ta'if absolute on it's own from Scent Salim) The oud in here is very much in the background and there's nothing animalic or challenging about it, just a backdrop for the rest of the elements. The drydown is incredibly crystal clear, super clean and tidy, it's really lovely. Now smelling it in store and out of the bottle I was more conscious of saffron (perhaps because I was told it was in there?) but on my skin it really doesn't have the characteristic sting of leathery, earth or plastic heat. Instead it's more rosey than anything but it's not loud or one dimensional and changes throughout. Love the stuff.