Another enigmatic scent from Sarah. I'm not sure whether she is a genius, undeniably conveying complex themes and juxtaposing notes or she's just a clumsy perfumer throwing the kitchen sink at each creation and hoping for the best. A rhetorical pondering because either way, art is art and it's not my place to speculate. I hate gender labeling I really do but this is leading towards the 'too' feminine for me at least in the opening. I love tea and judging by the notes here you'd have thought this was a big fresh, interesting tea scent. The only thing I can speak to which may account for a unisex quality is the woodiness. It has a very sweet fruity, floral berry opening with geranium then green grassy note, then dry woody notes poke through as they do with many perfumes from this house even smelling a tad musty, like old paper. This has to be the combo of cedar and vetiver but perhaps with some tea too? It's settled right down now and I even get some sandalwood coming through...Who knew? has a bit more sanity about it than some creations. I was perhaps a little hasty saying it was feminine, just the opening maybe and I'll be honest, feminine or not I really love this right out of the bottle. The drydown is nice too and it lasted quite well. I'm positive about this one.

Very unsurprising that this fragrance has a Lush cosmetics quality to it. The opening is a toxic brew of fruits, sharp and highly concentrated like crushing up and bath bomb and snorting it. (Not that I would ever do that!) The sharpness of pink grapefruit and lemony notes mixed with raspberry is quirky but a little bit of a mess. As it settles though the violet lends some clarity, makes it a bit powdery and adds some relief from the hyped up jelly baby opening. To be fair the drydown is quite classy with these three R's Rose and Raspberry and Resins! The Tolu and Oppoponax base are really nice and balance out the fragrance well...giving a slightly earthy creamy warm base which isn't sweet. Kinda reminds me a touch of Royal bain de Caron in spirit. I actually like this scent, it's good stuff. Lasts well and transitions nicely. Like all 4160 Tuesdays its a complete oddball but does perfectly translate all the notes sharp and fruity to begin with, leading into powdery rose and violet then a hint of warm in the base. Not my cup o tea for wearing but I appreciate this one at least.

Woah! How could I dislike Mango? Love the fruit, smells great and this to be fair to Demeter, does smell like Mango. Unfortunately, I don't find it natural really it's pretty horrible, syrupy and just not something I want to smell like. Something goes very wrong when it touches my skin. When it dries down it just disappears which is a good thing...Mango is inexplicably poor. I love tropical flavours but this one deserves to be marooned.

I'm only just trying Demeter now! Yes unbelievably I've never tried them before and I figured (while starring at a bewildering WALL of testers) Thunderstorm would be a good place to start. The opening has a real wow factor, there's some seriously accurate, sensory, trickery going on here. It smells very much like the damp vegetation aftermath, carried though the still statically charged air of a thunderstorm. This is a brilliant realization of an olfactory concept. I can't see myself praising many of these because they're not really 'fragrances' as much as one note ponies. Thunderstorm however actually feels like a composition, some lightly metallic and mineral elements, water, a breezy hint of aldehyde, grasses, the earthy wet soil of smell patchouli maybe some vetiver. The balance and the dimensions are perfect to create a 'carried on the air' sort of feel. As it settled on my skin it did become more of a dirty patchouli and I feared that the opening was too short but then keep reverting back to the wonder of the beginning. This is an interesting scent and not my usual cup of tea but I found it to be a wonderful experience. Lasting power was better than most of these but that ain't saying much.

Ginger musk...hmmm...??? I've come to have no expectations when trying a Montale fragrance as they either are exactly what you expect (usually some Oud/Rose variation) or totally not what you expect from the cryptic name or regardless of a note pyramid. What you can be a little more certain of and almost always expect, is atomic strength but even then sometimes a soft scent. 'Ginger' from Montale and I'm expecting some sort of rough, firey, distilled ginger beer, consomme of epic proportions and enough musk to sink a battleship...but I'm wrong again! Ginger musk is a sweet and unique fruity, dark berry cocktail which does indeed have some ginger at the back of it (somewhere?) and makes for a really odd fragrance. I'll be honest the olfactory adventurer and childlike sweet tooth in me immediately adored the sweet and unique opening. It's like some foreign candy, an approximated and synthetic fruitiness whereby you can't actually tell what kind of fruit it's supposed to be?? If Ginger musk was deep and thoughtful in the base notes (perhaps some booze or even Aoud?) then fine but it has this silky smooth musk which is not animal at all but ever present. I loved this fragrance right up until a couple of hours in, then I began to have my doubts about it? Just in terms of being a fragrance I wanted to add to my collection I thought the quirkiness would carry it and it's true I've not smelled much like it out there. However on the same day I got my girlfriend to try Roses Musk (a scent I subsequently tried myself) and even though it was a tired combo of notes I much preferred the drydown. Truth is I was just a little sick of ginger musk after a while although the drydown is soft and almost powdery. I have to go with my gut reaction and it was on the whole positive so it gets a 'Like' from me. It lasts very well and projects in the first couple of hours atomically! I applaud it for being a talking point and that's what fragrance is about at the end of the day. I sense it's a polarizing one this, worth trying and making up your own mind.

Okay...call me childish but I love the playful bottles these fragrances are housed in. Obviously they aren't marketed towards me and it's pretty bizarre that I would even give this fragrance time of day but I encouraged my girlfriend to try some of these. I happened to pick up this one 'Lily' and tried it myself, I have to say I don't know what I expected but I like it! It's a light soft accord of fruits and white musk with a vanilla drydown which is sweet but not too much so. The fruits are like that synthetic blend of 'strawberry shortcake' dolls and that powdery peach, however this only applies to the drydown. To me the opening fruity notes in Lily smells like apples and very delicate floral notes. This is perfect for general use I'd say and is much less annoying or intrusive than many popular female scents I've smelled. Probably for a younger crowd and I certainly wouldn't wear it but it goes to show my intrepid fragrance documentation knows no bounds!

A very dense, smooth and woody oud. This has not been elevated with the usuual fare of rose saffron or patchouli but dried and condensed with guaic wood and cedar. There is actually patchouli in here but in must just be lost among all the smooth sensual woodiness. Here's some simple questions I asked myself when reviewing a fragrance from a new house. Is it good...yes! Does it retain the qualities a fragrance with 'Oud' in the name should? yes! When I smell Thameen Carved Oud do I release an audible 'mmmmm...' of satisfaction? yes! Would I wear it? yes! Does it blow me away? Not really. That shouldn't be too much of a deterrent though because very few fragrances blow me away these days and even some that did, don't excite me anymore. If you want a gorgeously heady oud fragrance you've got it here but it's a hell of a crowded marketplace which is even confusing me now and I'm a fragrance nut! What chance does a noob have?

I know I tried this years back but didn't stick in my memory so I figured it wasn't that great. I don't know if it's my changing taste or just the fact so much time has passed between revisiting? It could be the fact that the fragrance market this days is filled with the mundane and faddy and this seems dated yet uncomplicated and a welcome change? I get a fresh blast of aldehyde in the top notes of this fragrance which is also quite citrussy. This is a pretty perfect description of what a kumquat actually smells like, not necessarily a citrus smell as such but fresh and green by the same rule. The musk and spices come on gradually for me and it develops into a masculine scent but certainly no powerhouse. The coriander is prominent adding to the cleanness which to me is more fresh coriander leaves rather than seeds. So I rolled back the years and found a degree of appreciation for Moschino Uomo but the performance was a bit lacking. I like it, Uomo is wearable anyway.

Just revisiting this one because I actually bought a bottle cheap the otherday. As I mentioned in my previous review below, I remember this coming out as Moschino was a popular brand in the late 90's. (I mean it still is to some but seemed more prominent then.) I actually take back what I said about performance, it's not bad at all, easily lasting 8 hours. Another thing is the reminders of other fragrances. Uomo has this kinda 'trifle' vibe (bear with me) like fruit but with a milky custardy undertone. There's a reference below to MB Individuel/Creed Santal and that is very apparent in the opening, it has a strange synth element of HM, Dreamer and Kiton but also reassuring classical, clean, masculinity and musk. I guess the biggest reminder is in the drydown (and this is the trifle thing again) it's a hint of Chanel Allure edition blanche but just a touch less gourmand and more soapy. I actually really like this fragrance and I'm enjoying a wear today.

Wow! This is a hidden gem for all you vetiver lovers it really is and the key to this fragrance is balance. The opening is a stunning, bright green, blast of chlorophyll and grapefruit, very reminiscent of Annick Goutal's Ninfeo mio. Lush green notes that slowly give way to clean earthy vetiver that has a slight smoke to it. The citrus stays very prominent too and is helped along by the tiniest hint of white floral, neroli and petitgrain. This is a tried and tested formula sure but when executed perfectly cannot be argued with. I can see the comparison to Mugler Cologne, except with far less neroli and more of an emphasis on the vetiver. The drydown is long and natural and although this scent retreats quite quickly, it has massive lasting power and I was very impressed with the performance, despite a very sparring application. Clean, well executed Jasper Conran gets a thumbs up for me despite not really being my cup of tea, it serves a purpose and does it very well.

Sometimes I happen upon a page and I'm shocked to find I haven't posted a review for a scent that I've owned for ages and am highly accustomed to. Usually I've written the review in note form elsewhere and just not got around to posting it yet...Equus is one of many such cases. So...I finally blind bought this scent from Lalique and I have to say it's a real gem. Before we even get into the note breakdown I think you have to be prepared to except that if you don't like nutmeg, you're not likely to be a lover of Equus. Starts of with a fresh sharp citrus lemon and bergamot notes but also with that unmistakable gin quality of juniper berries. The heart of the fragrance comes out quickly which is the lasting smell of mace and nutmeg with the spicy clean woods and enduring vetiver. In fact it dries down to an amazingly woody scent, Equus truly is a lovely combo of peppery vetiver and calming woods. This is a high quality juice on me, dies down quickly in projection terms but as far as longevity is concerned I think it's an improvement on the original Lalique Pour Homme. Infact, after the complex top notes have subsided you're left with something not dissimilar to a subdued and less smoky Encre Noire. Classy, masculine stuff from Lalique, cheap, wonderful flacon, everything you'd expect from this house and my girlfriend really loves it too. It's not a million miles away from the original Pour Homme in terms of 'feel', except perhaps bolder and more assured. I can't recommend it highly enough a truly inspired blind buy...If I do say so myself. That was my review then, I'd just like to reaffirm the dominant heart notes of Mace and nutmeg they might be an acquired taste for some but set this apart from the likes of Lalique pour homme and Lalique White and even Encre Noire (although to a lesser extent) all of which are pretty similar.