Hard to dislike but I found it quite uninspiring. The thought of an oud like this was very appealing and the geranium and cardamom give it a very clear and clean focus with a potent base of oud. Without doubt this is high quality and lasts very well, drying down to a very nice hum but nothing jumps out at all.

I tried this in Harvey Nicks on a recent trip to Edinburgh and it is an extremely decent fragrance. The opening is pure booze with all the delicacy of a fine single malt whisky and like a smother version of Atelier cologne Gold leather, I found this quality to be extremely appealing. As it settles it becomes a warm benzoin amber and suede leather and made me go “huh, I was sort of expecting that from the name but these phases are all great.” Then there’s the main kicker an accord of my favourite note labdanum which is slightly darker more spiced version of frankincense. Then there’s the lighter more uplifting olibanum note itself which basically what this dries down to. I’m really happy with it and describing it as another one trick pony like Avignon or full incense simply doesn’t do resin scare justice, because it’s a more interesting composition than that. Performance is no beast but very exceptable for an expensive but not extortionate fragrance.

If you are craving something unusual and herbal this will tick those boxes for you and that’s exactly the place I was in recently when I sampled this again. The composition of dirty is very interesting a sharp herbal minty opening, with a grassy quality and oakmoss and thyme which evokes dirt or at least a dirty quality, it’s hippy stuff which caught me in a good mood. This however is not regular wear for me and not even something I want in my arsenal but I’m apprecaiting the way it’s put together and the complementary notes.

This stuff slots effortlessly and perfectly into the Aqua line sharing all the class and clean uplifting vibes of Universalis etc... the citrus in the opening is a positive lime note which I like but becomes less distinct as it settles to a more mandarin/bergamot, this freshness is added to by the mint which is welcome and a marriage made in heaven. Doesn’t come off like a mojito though and it would be so easy to make the connection. It’s musky but with a clean floral combination to back it up and give it the signature of the aqua line. Again this isn’t doing anything new but rather tried and tested combinations and methods very well indeed. The drydown becomes slightly more feminine but that’s just a personal association because it’s neroli which is not only lovely but boosts citrus and gives an amazing base platform to display the top notes. I really like this scent it’s very refreshing, thirst quenching and classy, perfect for a hot summers day would instantly cool you down and soothe you. Although it becomes a quiet skin scent the performance is extremely good.

I agreed with the TdH comparison because it is apparent but please don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s a clone or in any way completely identical because it isn’t. The citrus is sharper opening with a positive grapefruit rather than orange, the earthy woods is supplied by a powerful, balsamic, oud note which is quite clean and somehow similar to the vetiver of the Hermes. This fragrance is clean, of decent quality and has superb performance with the citrus lasting a long time. I blind bought it a few years back and I’m still impressed by it.

This is a stunning fragrance. Right from the outset it delivers a hearty punch of jammy fruit notes like a kinda plum vibe. Then there's the heady whack of a balsamic, amber like accord which then gives way into the heart of iris and sandalwood. L'insomnuit does have a gourmand type appeal to it which I would say might come from the tonka bean, but it's not typical in anyway and is nothing like a deliberate gourmand. I get a sense from this perfume that it's not trying too hard to be anything in any category and is a light-hearted exercise in how to make something fun and smell exciting with a mix of notes I think are great together. I was hooked from the first whiff.

Wowza!!! This stuff is pretty special right here. Atkinsons are brand which I've admired from afar for some time but never committed to purchasing...until now that is and 41 Burlington arcade is the fragrance to tip me over the edge. I've very nearly bought Old bond street triple in the past and then haven't for whatever reason but that's a decent, masculine freshie. I'd say this shares the same kind of fresh, citrus/musk attitude and is incredibly invigorating with one key kicker which is present right from the outset and that's pepper. This stuff is a pepper bomb, in a good way the notes are so complimentary from the sharp bitter grapefruit opening, to the wet flint spark, earthy vetiver and peppery liquorice accord of the main body of this fragrance. It is straight up impressive and does put me in mind of Clive Christian V (I think it's V...the pepper one anyway) and of course in the designer realm the now discontinued and sort after Marc Jacobs BANG! such is the peppery dominance of this creation. Somehow 41 Burlington manages to be simultaneously more classy and more down to earth and masculine than either of those. A perfect combination of things coming together, I like the brand, I like the notes and execution of the fragrance and I like the fact that it is masculine, without being inaccessible to the female crowd but in my opinion, it's not exactly unisex. I like the unique nature of it too and a prime example of how to make a fragrance subtly smoky but show restraint. It's really good basically. The performance was hard to asses from the first wear but it's no monster and maybe you'd expect that from the price etc...but even if it's poor I will let it have a pass because I really enjoyed it. My girlfriend complimented it and from distance too as the projection and silage was massive to begin with before dying down. Fresh but woody and extremely spicy, it's a dream this one, I love it and will probably buy it.

Okay so I've manage to try a few more Zara fragrances and I have to say these two leather ones aren't really leathery. I can give this one a pass because the vanilla/tonka tones in here do evoke a leathery base but the Aventus clone one? I suppose birch smoke could be conceived as leathery...but not really. Okay that aside and this scent is not instantly recognisable until it settles and the Ultra Male comparisons are clear and accurate. Opens with that gourmand, ultra sticky sweet notes a bit fruity, nondescript, unnatural fruit... bubblegum. Then it dries down to a clonker of a tonka, sickly, dense, dirty vanilla and although I'd say extremely similar to ultra male, this is somehow cheaper and more cloying. I still to this day do not understand why I like Ultra male, I should hate it but it's a total pussy cat on my skin and smells quite good. Gourmand Leather however just smells like the plethora of awful Tonka based scents of a few years back. It's okay I suppose and I don't hate it, the opening is not only different to Ultra Male but I thought it wasn't bad, if you want something heavy and clunkily warm and sweet.

When will I ever learn eh? I blind bought this because I'm a bit obsessed with Jaguar fragrances at the moment. I never realised just how many there were out there, I know there's not that many compared to some brands but they seem to keep popping up in TK Maxx. Following a quick check on here I think to myself I'll have a punt on a little 40ml of this or that. I own one of the Loewe Solo line and Jag Red is compared to Absoluto (probably my favourite of those) add that to the comparisons with BMen and I figured it was a no brainer, but more about that in a minute. Generally speaking Jaguar Red is a fruity, oriental fragrance which is in keeping with the last one I got Jaguar Gold but they both suffer from what I've dubbed the 'Dunhill effect'. Nice ideas which come from diferent places to the mainstream but just kinda cheaply executed. In fairness to Dunhill though they have some real unique releases like Edition. Anyway...Red opens up very strangely indeed with a clean, kind of bandage smell, and not something particularly pleasant, which had me thinking 'This is nothing like BMen!!!' as I had read in the comment below. Then after 30 seconds or so is transformed with a tart fruitiness, the raspberry, blueberry and bergamot must conspire to make a kind of sweet/sour rhubarb aroma and there it is....sure enough...BMen. This is quite miraculous really but not the end of the story because that 'bandage' weirdness does come back to haunt in the drydown. For the main part though it's a very interesting vibe, worthy of Mugler himself, a dirty vanilla, patchouli, extremely complex in nature with a little tar and wood in there. Unfortunately this doesn't last that long before it enters another phase which effectly and gradually strips those fascinating qualities down to a cheap, much cleaner but unnerving skin scent. I think the bandage thing I described fits in with the comparisons to the Loewe Solo line, all of which have this quality but in them it seems more deliberate, this just seems a bit hap hazard and messy. It's not bad though and it certainly created some interest. Red is a worthy BMen substitute at least for a while, with comparative performance but don't go thinking you've found a replacement for the increasingly scarce Mugler because it ain't.

This fragrance immediately reminded me of an extremely specific time and place. The scenario was...Drinking wine at my firends house. When I asked my partner to try this perfume and then I described what I thought, and she said..."Yeah it's totally that....It's incense and cheap candles." The bitchy comment about these particular friends aside, she's kinda right. The opening is a syrupy resin and orange blossom a sweet, messy construction but with a hippy joss stick backbone I'm assuming from myrrh. It's quite linear and not really what I would describe as leathery in the dry down but I recognise this 'leather' accord from other fragrances so I know it's considered acceptable to describe it in those terms. The wine element is interesting, not that it smells of wine but evoked memories of drinking the stuff, thought provoking I guess. I don't like this and I don't want to smell of it, although the drydown is a little bit nicer. I'd give it a miss. Update: It's funny what 12 months and a revisit can yield, I actually really like this fragrance now. The opening is a transparent floral musk, with some sweet element, progressing into a leathery drydown which is absolutely fantastic. It's not a full on leather accord, just a gently leathery spine with some fresher resin notes and a tiny hint of smoke. The floral/leathery nature and hint of honied sweetness reminds me somewhat of immortelle but it's clearly not immortelle if that makes even the tiniest bit of sense? I'm really enjoying this today.