Beautiful bottle presentation. This is really well blended. I liked it right off the bat. The great thing for citrus and floral lovers is that the top notes that typically wear off the fastest, last FOREVER with this one. If you are thinking of buying it because you heard it smells similar to Bowling Green, don’t. It doesn’t. Like at all. This has some nice lavender amber qualities that make it modern and some sharp herbaceous bright citruses that permeate the entire lifespan of the scent. My son and my wife called it unisex. Because she wasn’t super into it, I sold it to a good friend at work who really really was. I have no regrets blind buying it because seeing my friend get excited about it made me really happy. I also know that practically nobody else in the states is wearing this or talking about it.
I was surprised at how much I liked the smell in the air when my friend sprayed it on. I could smell it from about 6 feet away. In my experience that was the best way to enjoy it. My only qualm was that up close on my skin it has a bit of a spit smell in there among the lavender. This alone was enough for me to sell it. Oh well, it’s worth a try, but IN NO WAY did this smell like Bowling Green. If you read that it does, don’t believe it. It’s pretty one dimensional masculine lavender. I don’t know why they had to put so much dye in it either. Just make the bottle green.
PDM LAYTON IN THE DRY DOWN
This has similarities to LV lovers minus the phantom fig note. It’s quite pleasant but I wouldn’t say it’s an essential pick up, unless you fancy a cheaper frag that does similar job to Lovers.
Among Edmond Roudnitska’s fantastic creations for Dior, Eau de Cologne Fraîche often flies under the radar compared to the great presence of his other masterpieces. However, I do not think it deserves the neglect it recieves, for it is truly a beautiful scent. As eau de colognes go, this is one of my absolute favourites. It’s dominated by one of the most beautifully realistic lemon notes I’ve ever smelled, heightened further by verbena - it doesn’t smell synthetic or like a cleaning product as some lemons do. To counter this is a divinely serene creamy base of oakmoss and rosewood. For the most part, that is the entire scent, but it thrives in its simplicity for the balance between everything is perfect. Due to the fact this scent is so overlooked, you can often find it incredibly cheap online. I bought a full 60ml bottle for about £20. You will run into the risk of the top notes being lost, but I was very lucky that my bottle smells beautifully intact. Definitely seek this one out if you’re fan of lemon!
Joy is generally regarded as one of the greatest perfumes ever made, and I found myself agreeing as soon as this precious liquid touched my skin. This was a scent which, at the time, was the most expensive perfume in the world - double the price of gold bullion - which was released shortly after Wall Street crashed. Instead of shelving the project, Patou went ahead with the release and it became a worldwide sensation. I managed to find an amazingly well-kept vintage parfum online, and I truly believe this is one of, if not the, greatest floral fragrance ever created. Every 30ml bottle contains 10,000 jasmine blossoms and 336 roses with a whisper of civet - a scent profile which is undeniably joyous. It thrives in the simplicity of its composition, as there is nowhere to hide or cut corners. The success of this scent relies almost entirely on the astounding quality of the finest materials in the world. It doesn’t smell like the jasmine fragrances you find in todays market, overly clean, soapy and synthetic. Instead, it’s intensely thick and indolic, sultry and slightly lustrous with that delicate hint of civet. It’s undeniably Jasmine and rose, done to perfection. It makes you realise just how much passion and dedication went into perfume at this time. A true masterpiece.
L’Air du Temps is a scent which has been the victim of its own success, a creation which, at the time, was so marvellously unique and masterful that it’s popularity made it commonplace for many women to wear it. Because of this, it began to get left behind and its beauty and charm all but forgotten by most. It is a warm, spicy floral scent which captivates the heart immediately, seemingly moving and swirling in the air around you. A fresh, vibrant harmony of bergamot, neroli and aldehydes radiate off the skin through the inclusion of a gorgeously smooth and comforting rosewood note. Among a typically vintage floral heart, the profile is made warmer still by an overwhelming dose of carnation, but also that slightly bitter-spicy clove note. The end result is enchanting - dry, spicy and warm, wrapping the wearer in a blanket of dense florals. I love this fragrance, I think it should continue to receive the praise it deserves. I have two bottles in my collection, a vintage EDT and the current EDP. There is a great similarity between the two, but I find where the modern formulation is much smoother and more rounded with the floral heart, the vintage is far more confident and brash in its spicy facets. Both are stunning, I often layer them together as the vintage doesn’t last long on my skin.
Apparently even in the Ivy League frat houses smell of piss and stale beer. This is foul Easily recreatable at home. Get drunk, come home and take the top off your Terre D'hermes, pee in it, replace top, job done.
This succeeds where Épices Exquises failed. The profile is very similar, but this one doesn't turn scratchy with the nasty patchouli note. Here, it's more complex, balanced, and high quality. It's a lovely cardamom perfume.
It’s not a secret that I’m totally in love with Marrakech Imperial’s perfumes. I have to admit that I was afraid to test and wear Arabian Leather because I have had a very difficult time with a leather note since last winter. The name Arabian Leather sounds as well something very challenging but it’s pleasant instead. Now after wearing it for few days I’m more than happy to find this kind of beautiful leather scent with the notes which makes it so cozy, so enjoyable and soft. Those notes are not only a perfect match with sophisticated leather but they make this scent suitable for upcoming colder days and wintertime as well at least here in Europe. One thing more made me so excited about this scent: I have been trying to find great Vanilla scents. Arabian Leather is so far away from the harsh and edgy leather scent that even the people who don’t like leather maybe would like this one. It doesn’t mean that you can’t smell that note, it’s just made in a versatile and totally unisex way, and it’s blended very well with other notes. Leather is darker for one hour and after that it feels like melting on the skin and it turns more like sumptuous suede. Brown sugar is bringing the sweetness to the leather and ambery concoction together with slightly Almondy Tonka bean and luscious Vanilla. Musk completes the sensuality of this scent. Arabian Leather is sweet but on my husband’s skin there is clearly less sweetness than on my skin. On his skin the opening is present longer and you can easily detect Frankincense, it gives a nice light smoky feeling with airy Saffron. On my skin the opening disappears quicker but in this case it’s just making the scent more feminine on my skin and more masculine on my husband’s skin. Now after testing all 7 scents from the house I’m able to say that there is none which I don’t like but Atlas Wood suits my personality least. I definitely need these scents in my life. You can find the reviews of all these scents in my profile or by navigating into the each scent. Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
I have been waiting that days are getting colder and I can wear this amazingly delicious fruity scent. I love it because it’s not light, girly nor boring like so many fruity scents. This is much more complex as well than many others with attempting fruity notes but not complexity with clearly three different stages but all the notes are blended perfectly instead. It’s sweet and many people would put it into the gourmand category but I don’t. The middle and the base notes make this scent a little bit mysterious keeping it easy to love regardless and it never gets dark. The scent cloud around the wearer is huge like is the scent trail. Those are not the most important thing for me but I have to say that if this scent would not have it, I think I would have never fallen in love with it. Peach and Apple are there from the start until the dry down which is not always the case in these kind of perfumes. Rum is not sharp and alcohol smelling, it’s utterly soft and enjoyable. Tobacco is not clearly smoky one, nor harsh, it’s charming with the sweetness from Vanilla. Neither of them, Rum nor Tobacco, dominates. This is one of my rare perfumes which my husband doesn’t like so much. If he says “so and so” the perfume is too sweet and crowd pleasing which is not always a bad thing. What about the scents with whose people are comparing this one: I can't stand Red Tobacco, it's a terrible synthetic bomb. And Carlisle? No, it's not the same. It's not bad but I would never buy that one. And this is not any PR. Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
The most polite, elegant, classy little sparking aura of citrus and fig. The opening is incredible but dissappears in seconds and it has no projection/sillage to speak of, but I find that for situations like starting a new job, when I'm ill, when I don't want to be obviously wearlng perfume, it's perfect. Sometimes quiet is good.
Non-alcoholic mulled wine. Gourmand. The strongest thing you can hear is the cloves. A clear association as if I opened a set of spices for mulled wine, but did not add them to the wine. I think it's the best thing in the New Year, when there is frost outside, wrap yourself in a plaid, turn on a movie and apply this aroma, it will warm you up
Declaration changes more than any fragrance in recent memory. It starts off (to my nose) with a perfectly restrained cumin note that resembles sawdust (and not B.O.). It turns into a sweet floral where the neroli and the citrus shines through for the rest of the day. I liked it, and I respect it for originality. It’s certainly better than almost anything being pushed at the counters these days. I think it’s signature scent worthy, quite sophisticated, and would be a good addition to any collection. The bottle is original as well. I just wouldn’t buy it for myself. Update: Finished a 3ml sample today and this has become a memorable and somewhat addicting scent that I want to return to. For now I’m going to spend half the price on Tous 1920 the Origin EDP in hopes that is as similar as folks say it is. 2nd Update: I’m freaking LOVING Tous 1920 edp, but I respect this perfume so much that I might buy a bottle.
Sugi has an incredibly beautiful, elegant opening of cypress, pepper, and iris. It almost sparkles! I love what the subtle floral does to the clean, refined woody notes, and the pepper gives it just a little kick without being as intense as many other peppery CDG top notes (Blackpepper especially). The cypress shifts into cedar and the iris sticks around for the heart notes as the pine starts to creep in, but—as most of the other commenters here note—the longevity on this fragrance is truly weak. You get to enjoy just a couple minutes of top notes, maybe an hour of the lovely iris+cedar heart notes, if that, and then it virtually disappears, leaving just a touch of pencil-shaving cedar and the faintest hints of pine and vetiver. By the second hour, you'll be lucky to still detect anything at all, which is really a shame, because I would otherwise say that it's my favourite of the CDG x Monocle line.
Beauty in a bottle!. Longevity is ferocious!. Price is abysmal!.
CK One Essence is a bit of a pointless release, you could argue. It lives off of the previous success of the original, retaining its core values but attempting to mould it into something more modern and refined. I think it achieves that, but in doing so strips away the very character which made CK One so popular. It’s still got that scratchy, musky, minty citrus cocktail feel about it, but very much smoothed out by an increase of the tea notes. Additionally, a surge in juicy blood orange makes the overall scent a little sweeter and fruitier. I can’t deny it smells very pleasant, but I just don’t see much need for it to exist. I will admit, I am a huge lover of CK One - no one can deny how iconic it is and despite my usual tastes, I love the original scent profile. Whilst I can appreciate the thought process of this one, you’re better off just sticking with the original if you want this sort of scent.
Mousse Illuminee is like walking through a gleaming silver forest, with an array of shrubs and herbs carpeting the soft ground you walk on, and endless mosses and lichens hugging the trees around you. It’s gorgeous; intensely green and masculine, unapologetically aromatic and natural. A leafy, herbaceous sharpness cuts through the air like a knife due to the overdose of cypress, artemisia and laurel leaves. The soft woodiness of oakmoss and cedar permeates through gradually, but struggles to reach the surface as they become flattened by frankincense. This strange note of frankincense adds an element of dryness to the scent which is surprisingly complimentary. It’s a lovely scent and it smells amazingly natural, however it’s certainly made for a particular type of person - someone who truly wants to smell like a green forest. It may smell delightful, but I wonder if I would actually wear it.
M V2Q is a phenomenally unique and bold fragrance comprised of layers and layers of deep and complex notes, it’s a scent which cannot possibly smell understated or refined - yet thrives in its garish character. I must say after testing the entire range from Puredistance, this is easily my favourite by a mile. This scent is woody to the max; a rich, earthy heart of cypriol with burning pine tar and cedar behind it dominates the senses. From here a hefty punch of cinnamon with a whisper of lavender warms up the gentle indolic heart of jasmine and orange blossom, all before simmering down to a leathery labdanum and patchouli base. It doesn’t get more masculine than this, you don’t often come across a fragrance which so readily abuses cypriol and pine tar like this. I absolutely adore this scent, it’s a shame about how expensive it is but I simply cannot get enough. From what I can tell there doesn’t seem to be much similarity to the original M, save for the cinnamon and leathery touches, overall it feels like an entirely new creation which could have heralded a new dawn for Puredistance were their advertising better.
Charade took me by surprise, as I was testing my way through the Sarah Baker range for the first time in Jovoy. It captured my heart in an instant, and within that moment I knew I had to buy a sample at the very least, to fully explore and appreciate this masterful scent. Since then, it currently sits right at the top of my wishlist and is easily my favourite from the house. This is a powerful tuberose scent, but not as you might know. The sweet, fruity facets of this wonderful flower are heightened by the deliciousness of honey, resting on a buttery smooth base of warm amber, and a creamy marriage of ylang, sandalwood and oakmoss. However, leather is what makes this scent what it is. It gives it a somewhat rugged thickness preventing the tuberose from becoming too soapy or bubblegum-like. I can honestly say I think this is an utter masterpiece. Tuberose and leather is a pairing which can smell out of this world if done correctly, and here it is perfect. This scent made me realise tuberose is one of my favourite notes if done correctly.
This perfume if freaking FUN. After wearing it for a day at work I think I can say it smells best on skin. On my sweater while in a walk in cooler, the lavender came through and it sat down and folded its hands politely. On skin in the heat, it smells like a fun sunny day at a family picnic horsing around outside with your cousins, brothers, dad, and uncles. It smells like celebration. It’s confident and likable. On skin it’s like warm rich honey’d pipe tobacco, a little incense, pineapple, smoke, soft clean lavender and sun. I freaking love this. I got a (newer) vintage bottle with the actual grey glass (not the painted grey glass). I don’t get animalic or pissy notes. I also don’t consider this to be a nuclear room filler, or a beast mode whatever. It’s absolutely worth a blind buy, especially if you are exploring the world of fragrance, and can appreciate different scents from different eras. This is so distinct and unique. It changes a lot too throughout its life. It’s got character and is totally original. Nothing like this is being sold today, and that makes it all the more special. Absolute 10/10 Update: It’s probably in my top three or four faves of all time. I bought a backup bottle and I never want to be without it. It’s pretty addictive. My mother in law gave me a hug and turned to my wife and said “You let him wear this to work?!?” I think it’s a banger, but I 100% wear it for myself and I don’t get any compliments on it. Miles ahead of crap like YSL Y, JPG Le Beau, MYSLF, and Burberry Hero Parfum, and basically any vague safe boring mall frag with no personality that costs way too much. Two sprays under the shirt on the bare chest and I dab my wrist on the freshly sprayed area. Update: I did yard work while wearing it a couple times and kind of regretted it. It can get a little too powdery for me at times.
Unspoken Musk is inspired by the idea of natural animal musks which have had humans in a chokehold since the dawn of ancient perfumery, but does not aim to accurately replicate the scent of natural musk. Instead, it embodies the idea of what musk is and the imaginative suggestions it may bring to one’s mind. The overall scent is quite bright surprisingly, with a refreshing hesperidic facet coming from bergamot, complimented by aromatic clean florals such as Imortelle, magnolia and orris. The musk comes in the form of clean, synthetic musks primarily, backed up by a strong whisper of castoreum and civet to give it some edge. All of which rests on a soft, sweet and creamy base of sandalwood, tonka and vanilla - pairing with human skin perfectly. In the beginning, the combination of the clean freshness with the animal notes comes across as what can only be described as a urinal cake. Thankfully, this is short lived and soon the slightly urinous aspect of the civet leans into the sweetness of the base much better. This is definitely one you cannot judge fairly from a strip, it has to be given a chance to take you on it’s full journey.
Byzantine Amber remedies everything that is wrong with Amber fragrances these days. The scent is inspired by the gleaming gold and luminous splendour of the Byzantine civilisation, bringing to life the idea of theatrical luxury accompanied by a dark and mysterious personality hidden beneath. It opens with geranium, highlighting all of its beautiful pulpy, rosy and slightly spicy elements which are furthered by a hefty dose of alluring cinnamon. However, this fragrance is dry - very dry, through the inclusion of frankincense, styrax and ambergris giving it a slightly smoky, animal feel. Above all, sits what seems to be a classical Amber accord, but missing one of its key components: vanilla. The exclusion of vanilla prevents this scent from becoming overly sweet, instead leaning into its dark, dry and spicy facets. This is one of my absolute favourite amber fragrances on the market. If you’re tired of the overly sweet, almost gourmand vanillic ambers currently swarming the market then this is the answer. It reminds me of other beautiful dark ambers such as Amber Absolute and Parfum De La Nuit 1; this is obviously far more affordable but no less glorious. A truly masterful rendition of amber.
“A secret encounter of lovers, tightly bound by an impossible passion.” The Lover’s Tale is a romance of a by-gone era, a secret encounter between two lovers at a time when scandal could bring social ruin to your family. It walks the edge between refined and perverse, sophisticated and lustrous. A sweet, powdery marriage of countless florals makes up the bulk of this scent; jasmine, rose and heliotrope, with Bianchi’s signature use of leather and orris following closely behind giving the scent even more thickness. A touch of peach and a whisper of castoreum interpret the contrast between sweet innocence, and filthy desires. It smells like a close encounter between two esteemed members of society who are already betrothed to someone else. I absolutely love it, words cannot describe how much I love it. This scent fits my tastes perfectly - a dense, leathery Chypre with an overdose of vintage-style florals and woods. This is easily my favourite creation I’ve tried from Francesca Bianchi, I would even consider calling this a masterpiece.
