Rubbish! Yeah sorry Anetole but I thought this was awful. Subjectively, objectively and technically bad as well. I went in to it thinking it was a pure cake, gourmand affair, I didn't even give it the high expectation of living up to being a perfume at all, merely a pleasing, foodie smell and I'd have given a favourable review but what I got was not that. I don't even get a hint of brioche, not a hint and brioche defintiely has a unique smell to it buttery, eggy, sweet, bread stuff that it is, but no. Nothing. Just a weak honied nothing really. I wish I got that hay like bran absolute smell or anything else listed here but I didn't. Not only that but I found the experience to be nothing memorable, I didn't even hate it, it just passed me by. Considering this brand has some highly intriguing releases and is very much something perfume lovers will salivate over this one doesn't do anything for me. A dud.

Very appealing men's aromatic and not something I'd managed to smell until a friend sent me a sample recently and I was particularly impressed with how intact the top notes were considering the age of this. Bright citrus but specifically the basil chimes pretty big and makes for a different perfume to the usual crop of spicy/leather/woody perfumes this decade is reknown for. That could be the problem with this as well, for a perfume which came out in the decade of the powerhouse (and let's face it the previous decade was pretty powerful too) this is a bit of a strinking violet. Just a turn of phrase there, can't say I detected any violet. Not a strong perfume it's pretty tame leathery, carnation with that clove/cinnmamon again very subtley there, it's a little transparent and I can see a Halston Z14 comparison in spirit and subgenre rather than directly the smell. Enjoyable and worth seeking out if the price is right and has been stored well, however I defy anyone to have this as their favourite Men's fragrance of this era or any other, it's just not quite good or distinctive enough, that's not to say it doesn't go it's own way, Missoni Uomo just doesn't do it with enough purpose for me.

Some reflection and mental digestion had to occur with this one to truly give my thoughts, although just to be totally incongruent (why break the habit of a lifetime Houdini?) they were kinda initially apparent in some sense as well, I knew that I liked this fragrance despite the most prominent theme in Dead air being something I'd usually say isn't my bag. As for this as an overarching genre, crudely 'greenish, modern, hipster shit' I'd say I do like that, but this had a metholated camphor which could be construded as cheap and annoying and edgy for the sake of it, but in this context I just got that sensation of really, really, good frankincense (or other similar resin) which usually has these very sharp, nose tingling, camphor to it. Dead air is complex to me, had it just been one dimensional I'd have tapped out and chalked it up to yet another fancy, trendy, artistically packaged brand, stocked at Bloom London or whatever? I liked the green opening, the woody aspect, the scratch of vetiver and faint suggestion of smoke (looking at the notes from cypriol perhaps) and the sea. However, what I most like about this perfume is that for such a highly artistic work (even including stuff I'd shy away from), I found it very much a perfume. A wearlable, likable, collection of familiar beats but with a individuality and strong underpinning, not just a collision of edgy smells. Also looking here at the notes I find perfumer Mark Buxton which in hindsight doesn't surprise me at all, in fact it makes total sense. Check this out, I liked it way more than I thought I would.

D'ya know what??? I'm really glad that Cedrat Boise is NOT even featured in the first few 'reminds me of's' on this page because I'd heard some folk saying that this new Aventus was similar to that abomination but gladly however un called for, stupid, cashgrabby, outragously priced, appealing to people I feel I'm way above (I'm kidding Aventus fanboys!!!), and redundant as I feel this release might be....it's not the olfactory equivilent of the child from the Omen AKA Cedrat boise. A fragrance which starts out inoffensive and basically an Aventus-ish riff but soon becomes oppressively horrid. Anyway enough about what it's not...what IS IT? Well...a bit disappointing. However, saying that would imply that I perhaps had high expectations for Absolu Aventus, I didn't. What it delivers is a slightly rejigged Aventus formula and I quite like Aventus. Despite having sold my old 'Vinatge' lol bottle (because someone told me what it was worth!!!) I do quite like the fragrance and as a cultural and industry icon I can't fail to recognise it as an epoch shattering, golliath of a fragrance. But the facts are thus...This has a really nice fruity opening, possibly more complex and less turbo pineapple accord than I recall from the original (whichever BATCH it was?) which is all nice and such but the base feels more grown up, more cuddly and luxurous maybe, this is a parfum type version afterall and it defintely feels that way. However, the reason I liked Aventus in the first place was for all it's knockabout, hollowness it had oomfph in the form of a hard, almost cheap, relentless, woody accord that feels muted and a bit more rounded in this version. Where's the really smoky element of cedar and birch which made Aventus truly pop when it first appeared on shelves? It's just not quite there for me, although this is a worthy representation of what I think the spirit of Aventus is about. It still captures that, I'm not saying it misses the mark and I'm sure collectors will just want it for the sake of it, even if they feel underwhelmed by the smell. For £325 for 75ml I personally wouldn't bother, but I'm not the target of this one, by any means. Absolu has been informed by the world around it, a world it helped to create a decade or more ago. It's a bit like when a band pioneers a certain type of music and then you listen to their new record 20 years later and feel as though they now feel obliged to be more like the bands which came after them, who were actually inspired by them in the first place, in this craxy feedback loop. Feels a little tired because ultimately they haven't really moved on. I suppose that's how music, fashion and ultimately all art works, so it's not a complaint merely an observation and the motives to continue Aventus are clear, it's a big juggernaut of a thing with money and expectation and affection from it's fanbase. Update 06/02/24 So I've worn this again today and feel as though I need to comment yet again on it, because the practicalities of wearing it are evident, it's a very enjoyable thing. I'm having a blast, all is well with the world and no doubt folks who catch a whiff of me are impressed with how nice I smell and this is not to be underestimated, Aventus didn't dominate and arguably change the fragrance world forever, without good reason. I think my review above was just reiterating that no flanker following in it's wake could ever do the same. To state the bloody obvious! but what it might/will do is make a few quid for Creed. That's a given. So I don't know whether I noticed this (I can't even be bothered skimming through my own review above haha) but the notes here don't list birch and that's wholly accurate because I don't smell that characteristic I remember so vividly from the original release of Aventus way back. It's not smoky or birchy because it's deliberately not supposed to be! I'm here for the fruitiness and added freshness and even the woods conjuring a bit of something near that, but it's nowhere near as ballsy as the original, this tweaked formula offers something slightly different, I can't comment as to whether that's a good or bad thing. This smells good.

Call me a JCE/Malle dickrider if you must!!!! but this is a lovely, elegant, little perfume and I mean what did people expect from Ellena at this point hey? His style is this minimal, simplistic, lightly spicy thing, I'm amazed at the fact he can keep churning out mildly deritive/self aware/carriacture of his own style stuff but somehow bring something new to the table, especially this genre, one he helped to define with L'eau d'hiver looming large in my memory and subseuently spawning stuff like Dior's Bois d'agent, this doesn't really smell like either of those but if you like them then be in store for a treat. So I was told this was heavy, heavy clove and not much else, by several, usually reliable sources, but what a load of old shite they were talking, yes there's a clove note but it's super balanced and understated. This is a nuanced and laid back approach to an orris/iris accord based perfume which I find almost impossible not to enjoy, I mean a potential critisism (if you really must?) could be that it's a bit, boring, beige, whatever, but I think it's pricisely the tone that they were trying to achieve and for me this is something of a safe but return to form for Malle after a couple of duff releases in Synthetic Jungle and the pretty apauling (albeit you might find a favourable review by me on here because I did quite like it at first, but do not any longer) Uncut Gem. I enjoy this. I'm sorry. I'm still impressed by JCE's work, it's not big and shiny rah rah look at me, Orris opulence which again a valid critique might be for this money and Malle Branding it should be, but I' throw back to that, a lack of understanding of the brand/brief and the perfumer here. Mark my words this is a grower, not a shower and time will tell on Heaven can wait.

OMG! Ths is absolutely massive! Yet it's still a little more reserved and feels less raw and sexy (for want of a better word) than the original Opium which is an immense, classic perfume. This is much more of that kind of hardcore chypre with apricot powder and a carnation sort of feel to me. However running quite prominantly unerneath it's a huge amber accord and I can get that myrhh/opoponax could be driving the whole thing. That unpretty 'wild flower' effect of Opium comes through too, the marigold accord perhaps? I mean I doubt you'd even be visiting this Fragrantica page unless you're a hardcore perfumista and if you find a well kept sample or bottle of this I almost guarantee that Opium Secret will deliver a proper perfume experience and something you will somewhat be expecting. You'll love it basically. I know I do.

Loved the opening and thought I might be in for something akin to Fate Man by Amouage after that waft of cumin, and blasting of piney citrus, incense. The drydown is much more of an olibanum dominant affair though and my critisism....a little too much so. It's a bit linear for me but I have to say either the accord or most likely the olibanum used is of excellent quality, it really does shimmer with a silvery goodness and in lesser hands may not be a liable perfume (despite being fantastic material) but here it's sheperded to a much finer and more polished place than the usual crop of indy, incense perfumes. I like it, but I'd like it more if those spicy top notes stuck around a little longer and if it really put the boot in and cracked up to 11, I'd probably rave about this perfume and it's lovely olibanum centric themes.

Sure Gigi7891, if the yellow liquid in Grandma's dusty old bottles is her own fetid PISS then fine, I'm swept away by your imagery. I'm not a massive fan of this type of perfume but I know that JJ is (also see below reviews) and it's not a total mystery to me why much more hardcore perfumistas than myself, love this kinda shit! I genuinely wish it was a taste I could acquire in my more mature years, like stinking bishop cheese or very, very, very, peaty Scotch but it's fucking gross, so why would I? haha. Miel de Sois might be a crude comparison (again for experts in this type of stuff) but I got that immediately, I was like ahhh this is like that Serge Lutens which, smells of piss. It's that resinous, honey effect and hyper woodiness which comes off to me as a park bench seeped in a dehydrated person's, nut brown, urine! Okay so I get that honey and beeswax can be changeable in smell, flavour, look etc.... due to the very nature of the way they're produced, and not that I'm suggesting perfume is collections of unadultered (or indeed even contains) natural materials, but this 'beeswax' perfume falacy seems to persist. Okay perhaps I haven't smelled all the different types and origins of beeswax but I got into making leather goods over the pandemic (long story) and the process involved lots of beewax and I ADORE the smell. It's much more cozy and haylike, almost gourmand and my reference beeswax perfume.is Hiram Green's Slowdive. This also has somewhat herbal qualities, and that bready, wheaty thing about it, and as it settles to skin it's much less offensive than the opening hour, just not really a direction I'm too interested in.

To me, Marfa is a really lovely smelling perfume, but it's a pretty well trodden path and not one I'm all that interested in from a personal collectors point of view, if I'm honest. Sure, I will rock some of the most iconic 'womens' perfumes and not bat an eyelid but some femme tropes are even a bit much for me. This fragrance treads dangerously close to that ground. Marfa is predominantly a chewy, gourmand, wooded, amber accord X 'Exotic' floral accord. Smash them together and you get this. I must say that the complexity and transistions in this perfume, scream superior quality and for this price they should. The opening couple of hours was a little oppressive and Muglerish, the vanilla is caramelised and the tuberose hyper sweet but once you get past that and it mellows, it's a really lovely experience and I can't fault it. Fits in to the modern/classical aesthetic I think the brand is trying to foster.

Okay so ETRO is a brand of supreme quality and ideas. Let's get that out of the way. Sadly overlooked by me and it would appear many others, although plenty of collectors and pals I respect have them in their collections which always made me think they would be worth their salt. I'm saying this as if I never tried them, I did!!! Way back in the day too! When there was only really Serge and L'artisan and Mona and such...ETRO was a brand I tried and went....'yeah they're alright' What a shortsighted numpty I was because they have some things I've simply never smelled before and a sort of outlying, vintage, sensibility which says ETRO don't really give a shit about what's cool or dare I say what sells!?!? (I'm sure they do care about that to a degree) Shaal nur is an aromatic, herbal perfume which smells 'old' (my sample is somewhat vintage) open and translucent, almost modern in that sense but 'OLD' the aromatics giving way to a masculine leaning, woody musk. I hate to be so vague in my description of a perfume I really think is excellent but I genuinely can't pick out notes or accords as such. It all hangs together very well. Not spellbound, but I'm happy!