This one I prefer in comparison to the Baby Version, which was quite powdery. This one is an easy going citrus mandarin scent with some green notes. It has some floral hints but it is nothing owerpowering. I like the concept and that these perfumes are natural. The lastingpower ist not very strong, but this lasts for around 4 hours.
It's nearly perfect as a photorealistic condensed milk scent. The reason it isn't quite perfect is that as it starts to dry down, and for the rest of its very long life on the skin, it has an off note underneath, which admittedly you only really get if you shove your nose right in, but with this type of scent that's exactly what I want to do. The off note is a sort of burnt plastic, rubbery thing, which gets stronger during the drydown. Notwithstanding this hitch, I do love it and will gladly spray my 30ml at bedtimes and on days off.
Bad. Death by geosmin, very strong, too much.
Paris Minuit refers to Paris at Midnight, however I’m not getting that vision at all. There’s something in here I don’t get along with, I’m not sure what it is but it feels sharp and sour whilst also being thick and rubbery. Sometimes variations of ylang can come across in this way from my experience, so perhaps it’s that. This is a scent dominated by ylang, which usually I am a big lover of but not here which is a shame to say. There’s a sweet sharpness running through the florals from orange blossom, mandarin and a hefty dose of pink pepper which feels like a clash with the ylang in my opinion. Burdin have got some really pleasant scents, none of them so far have wowed me but they’re all fragrances I would be happy to wear. Not this one though, I just can’t seem to get past that sour rubbery aspect unfortunately.
Les Beaux Jours or, ‘The Good Days’, aims to whisk you away to memories reminiscent of warm sunny days when you’re at your happiest. Would I say it achieves this? Sort of. It’s obviously a very feminine scent, but could still be pulled off by the right sort of man. The intense red juiciness of pomegranate and litchi subject you to a blast of sparkly sweetness, which is then elevated by the sharp tang of Clementine. A floral medley of airy rose, soapy lily and soft jasmine combine gently to brighten everything up even further. Overall you’re left with yet another fruity floral from Burdin, but this time even more sweet than other counterparts. It’s a pleasant and enjoyable wear for the summer, but I wouldn’t be overly keen to reach for it personally.
Emmène-Moi translates quite literally to ‘take me’ which is a rather odd name for a fragrance. From such a name you would expect perhaps an erotic and sensual scent aiming to capture the deepest desires of human attraction, which unfortunately you do not get. This scent is centred around a sweet and powdery note of apricot alongside osmanthus which elevated the dry fruitiness of the scent very nicely. Alongside this lies clean, soapy white florals and hints of bergamot and lemon, but overall is quite simply an apricot/osmanthus concoction. It’s a perfectly nice and respectable scent, I imagine it would work well as a more feminine leaning summery refreshment, however I feel it lacks some character and depth overall. For the price I’d expect more than something that simply smells pleasant.
Carrure is a refreshing burst of juicy and woody masculinity, perfect for clearing your mind on a hot summers day but overall isn’t a particularly special fragrance. The grapefruit takes centre strange, prioritising the sweet juicy nature of the fruit and leaving behind any rindy bitterness. In the base, the trio of clean Vetiver, soft cedar and piney amyris combine to create a smooth yet masculine base of rejuvenating freshness. There’s a very subtle touch of warmth from pimento but overall I feel this lingers in the background and is overshadowed by the other notes mentioned. This scent is pleasant, and a very easy wear. However it doesn’t do much beyond that, so I’m not sure it really warrants the retail price. The quality of ingredients seems to be pretty good, and the scent is obviously well made but it lacks any memorability.
The basic 90s aquatic template, and make it insane, exquisite, sumptuous and nutty, this is the result. Wonderful.
Lovely cheesey, aldehydic oud, like Oud Khol but with more authentic oud smell and more complexity.
Amazing. Take the already wonderful L'Atessa and add a creamy, warm vanilla base, voilà, perfect.
Very prominent geosmin, infusing a complex bed of herby, mouldy, green, camphorous nature. Very interesting but possibly not very wearable. Undeniably high quality olfactory art. Update - I had to remove the card strip from my living room as the geosmin smell was so nuclear. Too much!
Very unpleasant, cloying. Awful.
This smells exactly like Aussie hair spray to me
Ferragamo Intense Leather surprised me, mostly because I’ve never encountered a Ferragamo fragrance which was actually half decent. This isn’t a particularly impressive or exciting scent by any means, but it’s fairly pleasant and I was honestly expecting much worse. The good thing is it definitely smells leathery, it dominates the centre of the fragrance and yet balances well with everything else. There’s an overriding earthiness to this dark, smooth leather alongside heaps of mandarin, pink pepper and sage which gives it an overall aromatic kick. As I said this is a pleasant enough scent. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it, and it’s not something I would wear compared to the rest of my collection but for someone just starting their journey into exploring Leather scents, it’s not a bad place to start at all.
1 Million is just one of those fragrances where I genuinely cannot comprehend how people can find it enjoyable. It’s simply just one of the worst smelling fragrances on the mass market at the moment, and yet it’s a cultural icon - most likely due to its gaudy and identifiable bottle. Overall this scent is a synthetic mess of warm spices and citric mandarin. This results in a scent that is trying to be both warm and fresh, but fails miserably. Instead, the final product is just a barrage of intense sharpness - assaulting the nostrils unforgivingly. I genuinely believe this is an awful, awful fragrance. I dislike it intensely, but that is the case with pretty much everything from Paco Rabanne if I’m honest.
Right then. MYSLF is yet another bland, boring and forgettable shower-gel type scent; totally unimaginative and lazy. The entire premise of this fragrance is to make money on the mass market, which is fair enough, but demonstrates no effort to make something which is actually objectively good. It’s basically an explosion of ambrofix, dominating your senses and filling your nose until that’s all you can smell. This is what gives it that overly synthetic shower-gel feel, although it has some fleeting touches of bergamot and white florals. There is no complexity or interest here, just cheap freshness. I feel for anyone that paid any substantial amount of money on this scent, when you can likely find something of the same quality and style for about £5 somewhere - yes it smells that damn cheap. Horrifyingly boring.
I will admit I have a bit of a soft spot for the original Boss Bottled. Owning the Intense version which is miles better, I feel no need to own a bottle of this but such a classic scent profile can’t just be forgotten. There’s something ever so comforting and nostalgic about this scent despite the poor quality. It’s dominated by this intensely juicy yet synthetic apple accord which comes across like a cheap chemical, and yet I quite like it. Contrasted by the spiciness of cinnamon and the warmth of vanilla and you’re left with something rather cosy and alluring, whilst at the same time boyish and adolescent. As I said I will always respect Boss Bottled for creating such a classic and widely identifiable scent profile. It’s not a scent I would often wear as the quality definitely lets it down, and yet the cheapness of it lends to its iconic spotlight.
I admit that Phantom Parfum is an improvement over the original Phantom, which is to say the most apt example of ‘polishing a turd’ in existence. Overall this is still just an awfully bad scent, but they’ve made it not quite so awful as the previous iteration. It’s definitely still all about that sickly sweet synthetic vanilla with the barbaric harsh chemical nature of fake lavender. However, there’s a smoothness of cardamom which helps round everything out a bit better. By god it’s still horrifically screechy and messy, but at least there’s some improvement - that’s the best you can hope for from Paco Rabanne. I simply don’t understand why Phantom even exists, who actually enjoys this? It honestly feels like a child slapped this together without even trying.
Oh my. The opening reminded me of a million other perfumes, not in a bad way, but I was like er OK nothing new, and I even got some of those frags out and smelled them alongside it (they were totally different of course ha). But what ensued was a journey into heaven, with fizzy citrus top notes glimmering above a mossy, musky, spicy and rich base. It keeps getting better and better and yes, it's as good as eveyone said. For the record, two of the other frags I immediately tested alonsgside were Bois du Portugal and Lalique Pour Homme (Lion). They are identical to each other after the initial 5 mins, but don't resemble NYI at all aside from being roughly in the same wheelhouse. I really don't get the comparison. NYI is far better than either of those two (the Lalique being my preferred scent thereof due to price, lack of cuntyness, and price). New York Intense has to be worn to be believed. It is traditionally masculine, which is one of the things that put me off at first, but it's so good it transcends this piffle of masculine/feminine fragrances. Also. I'd love to smell this on a woman I was dating. One more thing, after a while, the incense starts to creep in, putting me in mind of Amouage, though not one specific perfume of theirs, more like their vibe. Or maybe it reminds me of the remnants of Sunshine Man. Either way, it's a win by all measures. I agree this is a masterpiece, up there with Interlude Man. Update: this is the most "goes on a journey" perfume I own, just utterly brilliant every time.
At first sniff you might fleetingly think, oh yes I've smelled this before, Guerlain, Frédéric Malle etc etc., but no, hold your horses. This is the best vetiver perfume I've ever put my nose on. The delicate touch of violet, the shimmer of the Chanel aldehydes, the rich tobacco, the exquisite vetiver and sumptuous sandlewood. It's a gorgeous, complex celebration of vetiver, streets ahead of any other in my opinion.
Noses work funny. When I spray BR540, I think of burnt sugar and candy floss. It creates a super sweet sugary cloud of fluff. I don’t get any Ambroxan or wood. However, with Instant Crush I mostly pick up wood, lemon, and something a bit bitter (possibly saffron). Not for me, unfortunately.
It has the Rasquinet fixative overdose which, for me, ruins it from the get go. It's all I can smell. Norlimbanol maybe? It's noxious. That aside (as some love those bases and/or don't experience them as sinus-razing), what you have here is high-pitched, ultra-modern screeching/screaming aldehydes and white and tropical florals. On the right person I think this could be awesome. I don't normally feel that way about perfumes, as in it depends on the wearer, but I could only imagine a super hot, sporty, young club kid wearing this.
Synthetic, brash and incredibly potent. That said it’s a big love from me. It’s modern, clean and sparkling. Amazing sillage and projection, it must be the strongest in my collection by quite a bit. This is also a compliment magnet if that’s of interest, it’s very universally liked and the potent nature of it makes it impossible to miss. I personally don’t get the ganymede comparisons, I can feel it a touch but to me that is so much more ozonic and leathery, it’s very different. Yes both the same perfumer and modern scents with his signature touch but no not the same and not redundant to have both if you like them. It’s amazing value especially when you factor in the performance. Could be a great daily wear if you don’t overspray, a couple sprays is more than enough. The atomiser on the bottle is perfect as it’s a very fine mist. Its a yes from me.
For me this is Penhaligons crown jewel. A perfect combination of spices, vanilla, fig, tea and woods. It has alot going on but nothing sticks out, It’s blended incredibly well with everything working in perfect unison. It has similarities with eau de baux from L’Occitane but where that feels warmer and more holiday season leaning this is brighter and more complex. I know Penhaligons gets a lot of flack for performance however I feel this is quite good, it’s not massive but that’s part of its class, the longevity it good, it’s sticks around for a long time once it moves to a skin scent. All seasons, all occasions, you will just smell great.
