I really like this fragrance and I've agonized over buying it in the past but end up passing on it because of performance and relatively high price for what it is. I absolutely get the association with 4711 but I think this has some subtle differences. The opening is green and zinging with lemon, lime & petigrain, just hints of herbs, then crucially the cloves making for a perfect eau de cologne in the classic style. The fragrance smells amazing I'd just love to find something like this but paired with incredible performance and I'd be a very happy man.

If you want the true scoop on this fragrance and a correct assessment of the whole OS line in general read Deadidol's review below. I totally agree that they are top loaded, with the exception of maybe Chambre Noire? So much promise in the opening notes only to lead to disappointment. Indeed there's clever notes in here and at first this was an instant hit with me, not expected either being slightly fooled by the colour of the juice. Plummy, tart strong opening with loads of resinous beauty, I'd say more benzoin warmth the olibanum but let's just call it...resins. I can definitely smell a sandalwood, papyrus note as it begins to settle, further beefing out this heavy weight oriental vibe, but adding something doey almost wheat like. (Think Jeux des peu) I don't usually like papyrus but when used sparingly in the right composition I can enjoy it. Ombre Indigo just about gets away with it and the fragrance settles to a leathery, earthy vetiver. It's actually quite the mixture of elements and as such a unique smelling perfume so it needs to be applauded for that. However, I keep coming back to the fact the drydown doesn't live up to the glory of the opening. I can't comment on the performance really as this is only the second wear (and I don't recall the performance first time) but I can tell it's fading already and I only applied it an hour and a half ago. Promising start but destined to go the way of other Olfactive Studios releases, shame really. I'm a romantic though and as such this fragrance still gets a love from me despite obviously having problems, If you discard them and judge the smell especially the opening then this perfume deserves praise.

Okay, I hate Eight & Bob and it's difficult not to let their bullshit stories cloud my judgement of their fragrances, maybe I should just lighten up though? So that aside...Egypt was a bottle I looked at and instantly figured would be a spice laden, warm affair and that's pretty much what you get in the opening. It's a great masculine opening too, some lighter tones but then nutmeg, sandalwood maybe even a slight tobacco Tom Ford for Men sort of feeling. This actually quickly dissipates and it becomes a more milky, lavender, cardamom fougere, in the mould of the original Eight & Bob or something like Amouage Reflection. I'm actually not so keen on this middle part of the experience and crave that more spice market beginning but in truth Egypt never really delivers that anyway. The dry down does return to something of a warmer and vaguely leathery, boozy and spiced sandalwood resembling Chamber noire or Bentley Intense but it's too little too late. I can still very faintly smell it 9 hours later so I can't really say it doesn't perform but it's no beast that's for sure. I have to say I instantly liked this fragrance and then over analysed it slightly, the truth is Egypt is right up my street in a lot of ways and see it as a good everyday scent but certainly no L'air du desert marocain or even a Bentley Intense. It's still worth a sniff though as it has some interesting themes that will appeal to people who enjoy the fragrances I've mentioned. The new Eight & Bob Bottles are classic but cool looking as well. Check it out, I have a couple more samples I will definitely be wearing again.

I will spare you the Eight & Bob brand rant (I'll save that for Eqypt) and just stick to the facts of what Cap d'Antibes is. The opening is a very green and pleasant actually with a really authentic feel of fresh vetiver, grasses and some sweetness. This sweetness is being provided by the main element which becomes very apparent very quickly and that's violets. I actually think this is a good combination with the greeness because it blends well with a superb, juicy cucumber note which never once goes that awful way it can. There's a woody hint of birch/cedar and maybe the oakmoss? but it doesn't really serve to make this less powdered or relentlessly about violets. I quite like it but for the price I wouldn't bother. Update: Upon wearing this today I'm actually quite impressed with the remarks I've had already and although I have only just applied it really my sillage trail was commented upon some 15 mins after I had exited the room. Two things to note it was my mum who commented on it and she has a very good sense of smell and it really is freshly applied but hey still pretty good. I have to say I liked it the first time but I really like it now, shame I know it fades but I can't fault the way it starts out and if you are a fan of violet scents this brings some nice attributes to the table.

I actually really love this fragrance. I blind bought it from a discount bargain bin because I can pretty much always trust that a Dunhill is going to be at least passable. Sure on a casual sampling basis you could think this is fairly nondescript and not exactly trailblazing but 51.3N is a fragrance you need to wear and live with to truly appreciate. For example it took about three tries for the Rhubarb note in the opening to become fully apparent and now I smell it every time. The drydown is really lovely though it's a slightly honeyed, warm vanilla and sandalwood. The quality is respectable for a cheaper designer scent, the bottle is heavy and classy looking and the performance is not great but okay when heavily applied. I can't say any fairer than that, Dunhill have created a fine oriental fragrance here and a proud addition to my wardrobe.

Wow! I absolutely loved this fragrance. Some could be mislead by the Oud in the title and although not being all about oud it's definitely in here. This is not least due to the fact that Oud Saphir reminded me of Bella Bellissima White Leather, a kind of sweet vanilla/leather with raspberry and exotic guava notes. This is not so in your face and doesn't have an abundance of vanilla or anything else for that matter. Oud Saphir is incredibly luxurious but somehow calming and balanced and no where near the gaseous, coke driven, bender that Tuscan Leather is. In fact the only similarity I can get is a raspberry note and leather but they are about as different as something containing those two notes can be. To call this a TL clone would be doing it a disservice because I have smelled many clones or similar TL fragrances recently and the association immediately springs to mind. I guess I can smell in the birch in here too adding to the leather feel and also a slightly milky sandal/vanilla thing not dissimilar to santal carmin. Basically this scent is amazing, smelling like a few really decent fragrances I enjoy. good performance too...so top marks again to Atelier Cologne.

Somewhat against my better judgement while browsing other fragrances, I allowed myself to be accosted by a Bond representative. She was very nice but had an obvious and quite overbearing bias toward the brand. In a department store, despite the brand they represent an assistant should be just that, and assist you. I wouldn't have minded so much but she used the usual, slightly disingenuous patter. However, she soon realised I was familiar with the Bond line and to me they are slightly old news. I understand the enthusiasm as Bond used to be exclusive to one store in London, now they have broadened out so everyone is keen to promote them as a 'new' brand. Anyway, I was trying stuff from other houses and evidently wasn't impressed with the 'normal' sufficiently high priced Bonds so was diverted (arm up my back, almost) to the even more expensive Dubai collection! Ruby was okay but not really anything I hadn't smelled before but... Indigo? Indigo definitely was. The opening is like a wonderfully exotic, fruity lychee note. The whole experience is basically a clean white musk, sweet jasmine with lovely fruity notes that are kinda peach like but not at all cheap. I think it's the juiciness of that lychee which remains for hours. You can tell there's a middle eastern base of oud and amber, it's very slight and subtle but extremely high quality and lasts very well. I want to say Indigo is a touch feminine to start off but actually as it dries down isn't overtly so. I really like this and have to say that as far as bringing something slightly different to the arena, Indigo delivers the goods. Some may consider this pricey for what it is and I'd have to agree but on a day when I tried a 50ml at over £500 this was a bargain by comparison.

Okay so let's set the record straight and echo the review below. I cannot understand the number of negative reviews for this perfume either? Mr Burberry was not something I had anticipated as being any good, partly because it's Burberry, a dire house with only London (for Men) being remotely interesting (but still flawed) and the female version released last year was awful, cheap smelling, crap. Nevertheless, I will always give a fragrance the benefit of the doubt and never has one been more deserving. I'm not just blindly worshiping Francis Kurkdjian either because he's made many scents I'm not keen on but I can't say this is one of them. So what does Mr Burberry smell like? Well, extremely clean, linear and soapy almost to a clinical degree which will immediately put some off. I was even dreading trying this on my skin because I could smell it on the outside of the paper pouch my samples came in and I thought..."Oh no...this smells so unbearably soapy, generic, boring.." but when applied to my skin the composition becomes obvious, clearly focused and much better than I had anticipated. You get an opening blast of grapefruit immediately followed my a soapy cardamom, cedar woods and maybe a few greener hints of vetiver. The main player in this fragrance and the thing that lights up this composition for me is the nutmeg note which you get once it settles after a minute or so. The drydown is clean, clean, clean all the way though but not lacking warmth. This scent should be bad, poorly executed and much like many other cardamom based monstrosities of modern perfumery but something about Mr Burberry carries itself with dignity. It's kinda reminiscent of that Prada (Daniella Roche Andrier) vibe of being fresh, clean and smelling like very lightly scented soap, without being boring or cliche. I think this is a great little minimal fragrance from Burberry and doesn't deserve the harsh critique certainly in the light of recent releases. There's something naturalistic here and carefully considered rather than a poor conceived fragrance put out for the sake of it. Mr Burberry is not without it's problems, I mean initially I thought it would last quite well but on a heavy hot day, plus being active, I found that I stopped detecting it after several hours, which I'd say makes it average rather than poor. All told Mr Burberry is good and I would wear it.

I will just say this is my favourite looking Amouage bottle in the amazing purple colour. I'm not at all surprised that Myths is dividing opinion because it's very much in the brave and spicy realm of Amouage releases. I'm kinda glad they aren't compromising to accommodate the larger audience they have gained through increased popularity. I felt that maybe Sunshine had marked a move in that direction but no they can still drop the incense and spices with the best iof them. The opening of Myths is a strong one and had me wowed in the same way Interlude or Journey did, something with that kind of complexity. The main element that I think will either entice or repel will be the burnt smokey aspect. It's interesting that the notes say 'ash' because it's not smokey, it's an ultra ultra dry (aridly so) and kinda stale, long burned smell which also ties into a kind of 'old library' book amber. I've no doubt there's resin in here but manifests itself very strangely indeed, It's not a typical elemi anyway and that's what is listed. I'm still not one hundred percent on board here's how the wear went for me... I like the boldness of the opening but I'm still not sure? I'm not sure I like this? No....I don't like at all. Oh hang on actually it's revealing some interesting notes. Nah...I hate it again. In the drydown Myths gets better and better to be fair the mixture of a leathery and sweet iris/orris root notes settle nicely on the skin and any curious spice or ash smells fade into the background. Speaking on that the orris actaully complements the ashy dryness incredibly well for the record, it's just a bit overbearing at the beginning. Truth is if I have to wait until a fragrance is nearly gone to appreciate it I just don't think it's for me. A very intriguing creation and I will definitely be sampling it again for sure because I'm still not sure what I make of it. Rest assured though this is more of a fragrance for enthusiasts than the casual fan and good on Amouage for not compromising integrity, because I suspect Myths will be another 'Fate' Man...nit easily accessible.

So here's the thing... Ultime is generic rubbish, it really is. Yeah, sure it's not awful smelling just boring and has to be one of my least favourite of the L'Homme's and that's saying something. To top it all though it doesn't even perform, at least you'd think maybe the aroma chemical harshness would somehow stick around in that irritating modern way but you don't even get that. Yeah there's a citrus opening coupled with a hint of fresh ginger and then a soapy cardamom but there's nothing artistic or naturalistic about the composition, no love in there. I would site the recent release Mr Burberry as the opposite of this but with all the same elements the crucial difference being, some care was taken over the composition. Ultime is the perfect example of a fragrance made by committee and if you're going to release yet another flanker why not have it stand out some. It was interesting that the YSL SA wasn't trying to push this at all immediately stating that her favourite of the line was the original...well I'm with you there love.