Okay so I remember wearing this one years ago and being very impressed, much like the rest of this brand/perfumers output, Cuir is a triumph of bold perfumery and truly a pioneering blueprint for modern 'niche' whatever that means anymore. Wearing it again today and it's still good (perhaps even great) and I definitely don't want to sound like one of those vintage, size queens, saying 'The new formulations are a shadow of their former self!!!' or any of that guff! (which is obviously sometimes true) I actually think it's much more likely that my perception of it has changed, even in the short period of time I've had this modern sample. It's a brisk opener which definitely smells of a uniquely artisan combination of absinthe and mild fennel tops, but then an inky black almost tar like, smoky, body of leather. It's a real hearkening back to Russian/birch tar leather accords, animalic and woodsy, but with the rounding medicinal effect of resin. Says opoponax here and (only in hindsight after looking) I'm like oh yeah, it's definitely opoponax! I knew that! (such is the humble nose I am) no actually I thought it might be a touch of Myrrh, giving this tacky, concentrate effect. The top notes transitioning into the leathery base reminds me a bit of these Eastern european, Christmas cookies, that are kinda ginger bread ish, but soft, tacky to bite and often have more spices like cloves and such in them. I think there's quite a few artisan brands doing stuff like this now but minus the depth and polish of Mona, this is truly layered and has subtlety, as much as it was a big shake up for the industry in 2010. I'm not, NOT enjoying wearing it, but I always thought this was my favourite from the brand and it might actually not be? I'm still not sure? Just because I'm not quite as taken with it as I once was, It's still great, worth checking out, worth loving. Don't listen to me.

Toss!!! A great big bag of wank! I know I need to Stop being a snob, stop whining and bleating on about a harmless, mass market designer release, which is harming no one and after all, doesn't smell like sewage or anything. But No. Actually Ralph Lauren can still, bore off!!! I have to keep reminding myself that the fragrance industry is not for me, or anyone who has so much as a passing interest in all things olfactory, because this just sucks all the joy out of the room when you spray it. I mean what is the point of this release? Really? Even if they recycle the same stuff don't do it over and over, year after year, at least give us something out of step with the cycles of the rest of the homogenised crap floating around. I get it okay, everything is derivative but we need to stop this capitalist, 'grow or die' mentality, why do brands feel they need a certain amount of new releases to stay relevant? but I suppose I can't have it both ways, because that is ultimately dictated by consumers who perpetually want 'new' stuff all the time. There's no easy answers. Yes this does smell quite a bit like Y, a fragrance I really didn't like (edt not the edp which I actually thought was a little better) It's a blend of exactly the same, mind numbing shit you've been served before, fresh, amorphous, woody, citrus, musk, mild oceanic undertones of ambroxan and mild wood.amber AC's. (also might be none of that?) It's so generic it almost defies description (which is an achievement of sorts I suppose) such is the chin roll of apathy it induces, it's a hollow, empty shell, devoid of anything resembling a soul. For this reason I hate it and it's the enemy of good perfume. Strong, melodramatic words you might think, but snapping out of my bout of apathy for a moment....I'm just tired of it man! Just plain fed up. I want to try a new designer release with little fanfare like this one and discover a hidden gem, or something that's not very good but at least some semblance of effort was put forth. But I suppose it just makes the Guilty absolutes and Toy Boy's of this world all the more rare and rewarding when the mainstream says, go on, have something which is actually worthwhile. Ralph Lauren made a new bottle/campaign and everything for this, they needn't have bothered.

Now...I love a Litchi. They are a gorgeous fruit and the thought of a Litchi accord is fascinating to me. This doesn't really get that. I'm smelling a sort of wheatgrass, greenery, and PALM again in the opening, but soft, watery and in spirit, somewhat like a Litchi (IF YOU MUST!) 18 then starts to give a bit more of the alleged cherry blossom accord, but it's not really like that Jo Malone or a Cherry blossom mod a indy perfumer sent to me recently. This is vaguely floral and all the sweetness or mild fruity bouquet that a cherry blossom tree might have is being, kinda offset and papyrused by that neutral, watery, green, palm tree accord. Later it does become much more powdery though and more like the sort of thing I'd expected (quite quickly actually) so the opening is a bit of trickery to make what would be a pretty boring, net curtain and pink valance affair into something with is inkeeping with the others in here. I don't like it, but I don't hate it either, it's inoffensive and the musks are nice giving it an elevated sense of quality I suppose. It's 'aight! Which sums up the whole collection really. I completely understand being underwhelmed or bored by these fragrances but I found something in them. Not much, but something.

Okay 14 is a bit more of a 'standard' outing. Still it's better than most of the tired, hackneyed, oud/rose shite that comes out. So when an 'Oud' really smells of real oud to me, it's notable, not being snobby there just saying. I actually like synth oud accords but it's such a broad church Oud has kinda become the jazz of perfumery. There are no wrong notes. A woody amber incense accord of ANY nature has the oud label slapped on it. Anyway, main thing is that it's a well blended, not stupid rose, it doesn't smell cheap, it's complex, woody but has a the bright, breezy theme copy and pasted (in a good way) throughout these fragrances, made more impressive by the fact that they are done by different perfumes. Obviously the strong brief and expertise has yielded success this time. I'm not hopping up and down and I probably am not really looking to wear it again but I think it's a decent perfume, a good effort all around.

Probably one of my least favourite of the line to be honest. However, entirely neutrally I think the mixture of a vague floral muguet and gentile seabreeze is pleasant. It's not in your face with those Ultrazur, Calone, etc... molecules, They are clearly present but well rounded, salty but not like gargling soy sauce in a salt mine! It's powerful, and that's something I don't really like. I think it's a little intrusive, even if the balance is correct. I'm not singing this ones praises however it might be the greenest and most evocative of palm tree, with that unusual 'watery' quality. Not a huge fan, but fits in the line like a glove.

Rose is hard for me. I appreciate the skill of making a good rose fragrance without owning or wearing a lot. I know what I like and enjoy about rose, and what I don't. This is tickling something within me. I think it's really elegant. The initail waft smells like a Muller fruit corner. Seriously a kind of lactonic, fruity, yogurt, infused with a hint of rose. Then the rose accord comes on more and has a naturalism I like but it's very well pitched, sweetish, pretty drying down to a soapy rose musk. Not overpowering or ostentatious like roses often are, Pescheux has given it a shimmer and green, transparency. It's the palm again. I'm not imaging this or needlessly buying into this brands BS about a palm theme (or am I subconsciously?) NO!!! NO!!! I'm really not! seriously these really do have the cohesion and strong thread of a concept album like Marvin Gaye's 'What's goin on?' They are sort of all the same song, in the same key but who gives a shit, they sound great (or smell, pretty good) in this case. I mean that's where the analogy breaks down because these are not the genius of Gaye, they're just good. And this snarled slightly pathetic, pedantic, cynic would've taken real pleasure in giving Fo'ah a dressing down, but I quite like this. It's not a boring rose. It's not a rubbish off the shelf Montale rose to tick a box. Feels worked, earned, thought about.

Okay so I've noticed this brand have been given a hard, hard, time by a few folks and while I'm certainly not afraid to let a perfume 'have it' review wise, I'm going to be as fair and objective as possible. Despite the fact I'm sick of new 'niche' brands frankly, they are ten a penny, and especially these kind of middle eastern or 'inspired by that region, brands, setting up in 'Paris' because a bit like a Swiss watch brand, perfumes get lent the credibility of being French. (does that mean so much anymore?) Anyway...All that stuff aside, the fancy bottle made me go... oooh what is this? And skipping ahead on trying all the line I'd say they have a coherant theme throughout them, of fresh, beachy, palm running right through everything and it's not cheesy or gimmicky, it feels organic and right. So that's something going for this brand and gives some legitimacy. They have gifted bottles to 'influncers' or YT and elsewhere scumbags, but not at any great rate so as they become obviously ubiquitous and doing the social rounds to shift product. Again another plus. 02 is actually a really interesting blend of fresh accords, it's like cucumber, slightly sandy flipflop feet (in a good clean, just been in the sea way) and the hipsterish sandalwood/papyrus of a santal 33 but way, way, way, more bearable and actually in a context I enjoy surrounded by a palms and a twist of lime. I don't feel it's trying to hard, it's sort of effortless in it's portrayal of brilliant white sand and impossibly angled palms. I like it personally. I don't love it. It's not my style, but it's a well constructed, if not particularly attention grabbing.

This is a solo effort, like the remix by one half of a duo's original tune. D'ya know what I mean? I actually think that is the case because wasn't the original Negrin and someone else? It felt like a melting pot of ideas, for better or worse anyway. So 53 is a focus, a study on the best parts of Interlude but personally for me, it's redundant. I have the brilliant original and this one just feels like a very lovely, toned down more refined version, but who wants that? Seriously! Interlude was never supposed to be that in my opinion. It's ridiculously complex, bombastic, and somewhat raw. The fact that Fragcomm idiots call the original 'The blue beast' I bet they were salivating when Amouage announced a 53% concentration of it, woohoo the blue megabeastmode!!! Anyone who understands perfume concentration knows that this will have been geared up to be this 'strong' and in actual fact will probably have the counter intuitive effect of being much lower lying and more 'bassy' which it surely does. I think it's a softer edged incense and spicy, dark woody scent, full of everything enjoyable about Interlude but quieter, clearer and more focused, but still strong. Hey I mean I like it a lot. I need to wear it more. I will say this for 53, it feels less hassle to wear, it's not a big statement piece, and for that perhaps it might be better, because I can rarely find an occasion suitable for the original, whereas I think I'd reach for this.

A rare miss for me from Mr Bird. I just don't think it's a very good perfume. It doesn't excite me the same way even the most 'by the numbers' citrus fragrance from ROJA. It's opening smells a bit artisan, a bit, amateur. Sorry. Coincidentally I think it's a very nice opening in the sense of a resinous labdanum and citrus combination, it's balmy and mildly animalic almost myrrhesque? This doesn't last long (smelling that way anyway) and it's strange that it would manifest effectively as a top note. Curious that labdanum is not listed and it's softened with sweet vanillic accord tinged with coconut. Hate to moan about the name, but there's really no Danger here. When dried down It smells like a nutty sandalwood accord with the warmth of 'hot iron' in there also dryness of woody AC's. It smells like a much better version of me attempting to make a big amber perfume like a Shalimar crossed with trying to do a sandalwood like a Jicky, Samsara or mouchoir de monsieur. It's passable, but doesn't float my boat or particularly interest me.

A very pretty, pink, fruity musk. Sure I can get many of the fruits listed here from it. the raspberry/rose, the delicate peach/apricot fuzz but also a kind of pear juice. Fades down to a floral, musky scent which is very pleasant, clearly fantastically well made, it's lovely. Some may not get that nuance and get herbal essences shampoo from it, and I wouldn't blame you for that. For me though it's a theme that you've smelled before, only elevated slightly, is it worth the money 'elevated'? That's up to you. A perfume I never could or would wear because it's way too overtly feminine for me, and I'll wear lots of women's perfumes without missing a beat, some are a step too far and this one.