This is gorgeous. Really, that bergamot opening and the metallic freshness of the tea on a musky, woody iris base is just lovely. I mean is it setting the world alight with creativity? perhaps not but it's taking complimentary elements and presenting them in such a chic and wearable manner. Tender light really is a fantastic name for this perfume, the bergamot and tea reminds me of Bvlgari for a second, and then the warmer, more sensual base is a perfect way to round out and lend more substance to what is effectively quite a fresh and airy perfume.

okay so usually if I was describing a raspberry leather perfume you'd not be a fool for instantly jumping to the conclusion that Sensuous stars is just some pale Tuscan leather rip off, by Estee Lauder but actually like many in this line it keeps to the traditions on EL and actually does something creative and classy with it. So to me this perfume is about a soft, supple radiant, iris/orris based leather accord, with masses of fruity raspberry on the top. Yes I know it says plum here and actually sniffing a card i sprayed it on a few days ago I can see somewhat more of that, however when first sprayed and applied to skin I get that very tart and characteristic raspberry thing. Now orris and raspberry have a strange affinity because some orris materials and molecules which can be used to recreate orris ( can't think of the specific one off the top of my head) have this raspberry juice effect to them. So perhaps it's that which is conjuring it for me? I dunno. So despite this perfume not really being for me, the orris is very soft leather and cosmetic (not that I'm apposed to that I wear Lipstick rose quite happily) something about this with the raspberry is just a little too light and playfully femme for my tastes, well it's not even about taste as such, it's more... do I want to add it to my wardrobe? and I'd say....no. However, I think it's a fine perfume, This theme may exist in this format elsewhere but I'm not really aware of it and I was quite taken with just how lovely it is.

This is the final one of the extraits I've tried and I kinda knew what to expect given how the other ones played out. I think Amaouge have been clever in the fact that they've basically given the people what they want, more of the same, but 'stronger' (whatever that means to you?) I was skeptical about these, I felt it represented something of a lack of ideas from Amouage, but I think Salmon has done this for the fans, (and the board ;) of which Reflection Man has many. This was one of the oldskool Amouages in those really middle eastern looking flacons, it's come a long way to this iteration and been wildly popular on the way. I always considered Reflection Man (the edp concentration) to be a beautiful and well executed fougere type fragrance, with smatterings of stuff which made it superior to things with which it was often compared, Le Male, Versace Dreamer, Sartorial etc....etc... Reflection Man was in more of an elite category with Invasion Barbare, Fougere Royale and later the Tom Ford Fougeres. However, I felt as though they all offered something of a standout quality aside from the basic fougere structure, be it the herbal aspects of Invasion barbare and the big patchouli element in both the TF and Houbigant. I think I know what the unique aspects of Reflection are now, especially in this version, this is more tonka/coumarin, vanillic warmth, some extra magic of resin white florals and iris, Iris features in this perfume more than I remember and it's a very modern, smooth iris in the vein of Prada/Andrier giving it a subtlety and chicness. This heavier concentration takes that to the pinnacle, making for a bolder, even warmer experience and probably magnifying the things which where a bit too subtle in the original. I'm wearing it today and I suspected all that coumarin warmth would start to drag and if I wear this on my arm and keep stiffing it's majestic opening soon retreats to something I find a bit cloying and then after a few hours go back to loving again. However, when I actually wear it on skin, during the day, it doesn't do that, it's just an inherently wearable and beautiful experience, to be honest it's been that long since I tried the original, I don't know whether the same could be said of that, for about half the money. That's the toss up though isn't it? I'd say from memory though this 45 version is almost certainly better and more appealing to me, as the other three I've tried have been I don't see why this one wouldn't be, so if you can splash the big bucks on this I can pretty much guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Well, It's a real collection of perfumer talent on this project hey? Are we to expect something monumental, or a too many cooks scenario? I mean the whole name, marketing and the bottle aside, I really wanted this to smell amazing, if only to restore a bit of faith in designer perfumes and obtuse, style over substance releases. I have to say this perfume is not for me, but it did illicit a very genuine and very human response... laughter. That's not me snobbishly laughing AT it either but more the fruity accord in the opening being so outrageous that it made me chuckle in a kind of joyous celebration of kitsch perfumery. I honestly don't know what is louder? the sequin dressed, cybernetic lady bottle (Daft punk if they ever dabbled in drag?) or the sticky, 'from concentrate' fruity accord which does in fact evoke mango, certainly the texture and colour but it's even sweeter than that, passion fruit and that banana edge of the jasmine heart intermingling to create a really impressive but ultra femme (bot) vibe. Sadly I don't really like it much after the fruitiness...I'd say calms, rather than goes away, but only because it becomes a much more functional, fruity floral perfume, which is not something I'd want to wear.

I read about this perfume the other year when it came out and was fascinated by the inspiration. I wasn't familiar with Wilke's work previously but I appreciate perfume which is so carefully considered and is more meaningful to it's creator. I think the power of an artists work is not merely to be admired or consumed but to inspire other artists to create and that's exactly what we have here in a naturally adjacent step to Carter's first works which were deeply personal but very much about him and his own experiences. Intra Venus has at it's heart a really lovely Hyacinth accord, Identifiable as such but somehow prettier than the very lush, wet, green association I have with Hyacinths. Unfortunately my mum keeps them in the front porch of her house ALL year round because she has an issue with her drains (not a euphemism, it's my mum, Behave!!!) and using the pungency of hyacinths to mask it, yeah so I have a grim association with a mild whiff of human excretor. haha... So let's go back to the opening shall we because it's explosive and interesting green and herbal, bright, tingling the nostils could this be the effects of wasabi? It doesn't smell like horseradish thankfully but the tingle and freshness is akin to ginger or something? Effects wise at least. I'm refraining from trying to explain this perfume in terms of it's conceptual inspiration (pretty thoroughly explained in the notes from the brand) and once dried down it takes on a lived in skin closeness, a bodily feel to something lurking in the base, a saliva on skin quality, juxtaposed against the florals which possess a more wafting and aerated quality, much like the breezy effect of flowers headspace many perfumers try to achieve. Intra Venus achieves that, somehow burrowing IN (as the name would suggest) but billowing OUT just as much. I'm not sure I'd wear this or buy a bottle simply because it's a bit too artistic for me, (although the soft drydown is sweeter and muskier than expected so perhaps I would like to wear it?) but that is the only reason. I find Intra Venus to be an olfactory triumph and genuinely think that Carter is a natural talent who needs to be treasured. Not only his fantastic work for his own project chronotope but other brands I had the pleasure of smelling recently, very much a different tone, but still the same creativity on show. Bravo!

So I knew nothing of this brand, having sampled them I feel the vibe they were going for has been clearly conveyed. I scrolled down here and saw the notes for the first time and yeah....This is definitely tangerines and grapes for sure but in a public convenience (a clean one, I mean it in a good way believe it or not) it has a mild sterility about it, a kind of stark artiness to it, with a whiff of urinal cake behind all that fruitiness. It's good I kinda get the beeswax too a subtle, musky, warmth to what is quite a cool (temperature wise) fragrance. Intriguing. Italian brands/perfumers approach to fragrance is fascinating, especially artisans and how they differ from French style for example. These aren't exactly stuff you've not smelled before, but they are different enough to warrant attention. I get why someone might compare this to bloody wood by Les Liquides Imaginaires in terms of STYLE and (perhaps the temperature I mentioned earlier?) this wine/grape association but seriously it smells NOTHING like it as far as the actual notes and accords, they are miles apart.

{Full disclosure: Eugen is someone I consider a friend (not a 'brand' or 'collaborator' I'm certainly not being paid for this review) and very kindly sent me a bottle of this as he sites me as being instrumental in the initial phase of development of his brand and ideas about which direction to go in. (not that I was aware that's what was happening like) I'm extremely humbled that he gives me that credit, and I'm so glad things worked out so well ,and he got the quality and artistic integrity he was looking for, which is all down to Eugen's vision and I never doubted him for a minute!} Oh well.... Eugen's olfactory triptych is complete and what a way to finish in style. As much as I love Belle Ame with it's gorgeously opulent yet understated orris and tonka themes, and La douleur exquise exploded onto the scene with it's tearjerking emotional inspiration was a seemingly quite a mellow, rose/patchouli affair but actually is far more mysterious and spicy on skin & requires much more wear and thought than you initially think. However Des Cendres has to be my favourite of the lot, but what a bunch and what a set of bases to cover with such aplomb. Then we come to Des Cendres (ashes) and it's a really interesting contrast of the green and vibrant, the trad-masculine and the ashen, dry, leathered or smoky. I think to say this is a 'smoky' fragrance is overstating the smoke, and perhaps misleading, really doing something of a disservice to the cleverness with which the 'ashes' are deployed in this composition. The leathery accord is spiced slightly (to me it felt like coriander or celery seed even beloved caraway/cumin) and that creates this very 'grey' ashen effect a bit more cade, as apposed to the 'black' ash of a birch tar. (actually listed here though) So... The green element is not atypical of galbunum but it's definitely resinous, and I was surprised how different it was to Bel Repiro by Chanel (a perfume I know is one of Eugen's favourites) and Green Spell by Eris parfums (another green perfume from Antoine Lie) something I wouldn't have been a fool to expect. However, this is much more akin to 80's powerhouse men's perfumes and really brings to mind the potent, aromatic themes of Polo green, but it's like the best possible Polo green you could imagine, crafted with the finest materials. (I just noticed someone has compared it to Aliage by Estee Lauder which is a decent comparison too) The opening is actually VERY FLORAL for me, and I was a little perplexed when I started seeing reviews and chatter and no body mentioned just how floral this is throughout, but at the start especially. It's very wet, lush, but breezy I was thinking of gardenia, or cyclamen and of course this mildly indolic, waxen jasmine. This turned out to be tuberose! I'd be fascinated to smell the 'grand cru' used in this perfume because it has a very special quality, and that's one thing I love about tuberose, just how different it can be from origin/extraction method etc.... I actually got a friend to try this when it arrived and he ADORED the thing, saying he was immediately transported to a very posh, gentlemen's club bathroom, with green tiles, steam and shave soap, the slightly animalic whiff of sport sweat. And now to the bitter mossy and animalic/musky elements of the base which give that leather accord masses and masses of character IMHO. It was hyraceum, a unusual but not unexpected addition to this perfume and it forms a long, long lasting base which sticks to your skin with just the right amount of funk, and not a reliance on woody ambers or ambroxan or anything similar as a dominant single bit of trickery. This is a very naturalistic and well blended accord that isn't too stinky or anything but just hums away after a good 12 hours of everything else, the bitter woodiness, the florals etc....I genuine think this is a sublime fragrance and probably the best vision Lie has given us of what can be achieved when great ideas, fantastic materials and a respect for it's forbears, come together to create a respectful but modern hommage to man pong of days gone by. It's astoundingly good!

So what Christophe and gang are doing with this brand is highly commendable. Yes they are expensive perfumes but the quality of materials never fails to shine through and they are handled with a really loving touch and Lost in flowers is no exception. Not that Strangelove have conformed to expectation but they had to have an overtly floral perfume in the collection and this is something pretty special. I'd say this accord is curious. It's ALL the flowers! I was attempting to wade my way in (without getting Lost lol) to this menagerie and come out with some floral absolutes which are definitely used here, without having to refer to the notes from the brand. However, I kinda failed, I felt it smelled lush like gardenia (and later LoTV) and probably jasmine because it's useful in everything and definitely something exotic and a bit 'yellow' (possibly ylang?) but also stuff outside of my comfort zone like champaca which I've never liked. Lost in Flowers is pretty fucking glorious though I have to say. It's such a multifaceted floral from lush greens to tropical, coconut tinged and funky fruity hattery, this runs the gamut. It's a little disappointing on skin I have to be honest, it became a touch flat on me (perhaps the LoTV and teagetes 'wildflower' aspect?) but only after several hours, whereas on the strip I much preferred it and could smell the very gently animalic oud but this is probably one of the least oud heavy out of the bunch but I detect it in the base, cleverly used as indole, castoreum, or civet might be used in a traditional floral context. This could potentially be the holy grail of exotic florals for some, while opulent and luxurious, it has a rough and ready, knockabout sense to the artisan, heavy natural material bias, as does the whole line, but this one moreso. I enjoyed it.

Melt my heart. And every other bit of my body until I'm just a puddle on the floor. That's what this perfume does. It's ABSOLUTELY stunning. I can't really put it into words, one of the most buttery Orris butters one could conceive of, it's really hard to imagine a more opulent scent than the sheer amount of the stuff that is in this fragrance. I have often called orris butter or concrete, absolute etc... high irone content orris root materials as a kind of cheat mode, a sort of thickening and bolstering roux which can smooth out and elevate even the most crappy of compositions, and simply smells divine, pretty much universally loved by all, a doozy, a soft soap. However, it's rare that you get it so affectionately handled in such quantity, favouring the heady more powdery qualities and less so the heavy, fleshy and vegetal sweet 'carrot' notes often describes (it does still have this somwhat) . Everything complements it from the chocolately undertones, to the sweet raspberry topnotes and powdery accord and very, very subdued oud. In fact I'd say out of the lot, this one has the least identifiable oud note, because I think it would clash rather than complement, as it does at it's current level. It's pretty much perfect and I fail to see how orris and iris lovers couldn't rank this among the very best they've smelled, it's certainly the best one I can recall. If we want to lower the tone with talk of performance, I will. It was prominent on my skin 24 hours later. However, it's prohibitively expensive for my budget with the 100ml weighing in at a whopping £900 a bottle. That's not to say that I don't think it delivers 'value' because across the board Strangelove is project which mashes up high end department store, celebrity Nichery and incredible, boundary pushing, next level artisan perfumery with the finest and most expensive materials on the planet. Having seen some OUTRAGEOUS brands charging six grand a bottle for Luxury BS recently, with nowhere near the transparency or artistry of this brand, then by comparison these prices are a steal!!!

As far as fascinating pieces of olfactory art go, this is up there with the most unsettling and yet triumphant I've ever encountered. If I wanted to make a list of materials or describe a vibe of perfumery I HATE it would be this. It reminds of that episode of Curb your enthusiasm where Larry has a sandwich named after him and it's white fish, sable, capers, onions and cream cheese. Salty, jizzy, gelatinous, condomery, waxy indolic white florals and real oud, animalic ambergris, seaweed, etc... etc... but it's so visceral and the materials so good, that I can't help but be intrigued. I really can't help it. I relished the challenge of wearing Antoine Lie's horrifying, blood and jizz-fest, Secretions magnifique a fragrance which has a similarly morbid fascination, that sensation of not being able to look away, but as much of an olfactory explorer as I am, I really begin to feel ill after 3 hours of that thing and have to tap out. This is where Silence the sea by comparison really isn't that bad and actually improves with wearing, even though I'll be honest, it's pretty much unwearable for me. The Open is truly atrocious and if someone sprayed it in a room with me, it's especially nasty at a distance, at least when you close in on it you can smell different facets. I guess the overarching vibe is of skanky, seaside, the seaside really isn't this fresh cool, breezy place, it smells of fish and foam, and rotten things. Silence the sea is floral, with a bitter, weird chamomile, salty jasmine and fleshy tuberose and narcissus. The mystical tone of ambergris is perfectly pitched in this perfume along side that unrelenting truffle and seaweed skank. The more you smell it the more strange but familiar it becomes, this is a perfect storm (forgive the pun, actually don't) of accords and materials coming together to create a vibe many perfumers have attempted but few of them with such naturalism, by that I mean the true meaning of art, to glimpse and somewhat replicate the beauty of nature. And if you are into this strange salinated BS and have other similar scents I can guarantee you now that this one is the holy grail, the doozy, the GOAT. I think it needs to be given a chance this perfume, certainly not dismissed off hand as I am guilty of doing, sure I don't really ever see myself wearing it but I have to give it credit for enrapturing me and making me think that even the most abhorrent concept (to my personal sensibilities) can be something I rate very highly.