Strong-ass tonka, smells like the raw material. Add a touch of tea and voilà. It sort of smells like an expensive tea shop. It's a lovely scent but I'm not sure if I'd wear it.
I’ve never encountered a scent that so perfectly envisions love and romance like this one does. Ti Amo (I Love You) will whisk you away on a sumptuous and gentle daydream. This scent opens with an enveloping array of powdery, vintage smelling florals from a bygone era, mainly including - heliotrope, ylang, lily of the valley, rose and jasmine. This is contrasted by a subtle hint of juicy and refreshing pineapple, and touches of citrus. Before long, the floral medley becomes sweeter as the scent progresses. Sweet and dreamy notes of vanilla and tonka make way for an earthy yet incredibly creamy cacao. This chocolatey delight is then made even more smooth and buttery with a strong dose of orris. There are hints of warm spices in the background, and this scent is structured as a Chypre, but it feels like it’s in its own unique genre. This stunning perfume fuses two different worlds of vintage floral with gourmand and the end result is just breathtaking. I adore this fragrance, it’s one of my go to scents for date night.
The name doesn’t lie, this truly is an exceptionally majestic leather scent. It opens very bright initially with a sweet jammy rose and softly fruity osmanthus, before developing a dry and smoky tobacco to contrast this floral brightness. From here you begin to experience the deliciously intoxicating combination of smooth, powerful leather with sweetly sticky dried fruits. This compliments the tobacco and florals perfectly, with extra touches of sweetness from vanilla and a subtle darkness from oud. This is one of my absolute favourite evening wear fragrances. It’s fantastically luxurious and attention grabbing - by far the best from the Armani Prive line and it’s really disappointing that this is so hard to find nowadays. This is a must try for any leather enthusiast.
Like an early 90s sport fragrance, but not very well done. I'd have worn this when I was 13
It's OK, pretty aroma-chemicaly with some sort of amber wood fixative which dominates for me.
Smells pretty good, but it's super similar to Tobacco Vanille and Noir Extreme. It's not doing anything new or interesting enough to warrant a buy.
Alien with added ylang ylang and tuberose. Very strong white floral, falling short of the great white florals but not bad all the same.
Le Lion/Coromandel without the Chanel magic. Yes it's like Musc Ravageur, which to me is already a worse take on Le Lion. Way too similar to the above to be interesting.
Smells a bit like my sweater the day after I've worn the magificant Iris Poudre. The note list is far fetched to say the least. Another OK scent from PG.
Sharp, incensey iris. There's something that makes my nose hurt. It's OK
Fleeting, and solidly OK. If it was 30 euros for 50ml I'd be interested.
As a fan of Yuzu Pour Homme, I can't but compare the two. This one leans much more toilet cleanery and synthetic smelling, and costs more than twice as much. Hard pass.
Horrible. It smells like a McDonalds cheeseburger.
Smells like Amazinggreen, general vegetal smell, barely any earthiness and therefore no beetroot. It's more like carrot soup. It's not bad but it's not interesting. I already have Amazinggreen (also very polite and almost bland) so I certainly don't need both.
Hideous ambroxan-bomb opening, but after an hour or so (too long?) the magic unfolds. I get the synthetic marine smells, but also something warm, spicy and sweet. It ebbs and flows and changes with the skin temperature. Very interesting and beguiling. It bears more than a passing resemblance to Uncut Gem. My main issue with this is the monstrous performance and the noseblindness. Remember how bad it smells when you first smell it, then remember that everyone who comes across you will not be noseblind to the nuclear amount of ambroxan, then remember how fucking awful Sauvage smells when people are wearing it on public transport... I can't help feeling that's what I'm doing to people when I wear this, even though my noseblindness is conning me into liking it. Don't get it on your clothes though, it'll never come off.
It just shouldn't work, should it? But it does. As it develops, I'm getting geranium, or at least some hint of minty geranium, and quite a lot of geosmin. The candy sweetness has been replaced with a sort of sweet soily richness. I'm impressed with how much of a journey this fragrance is taking me on... It certainly is unrelenting. After two hours, it's reminding me of the drydown of Geranium Pour Monsieur. Which is fine by me, but I wasn't expecting it.
It smells like an experiment where some sort of bionic lifeform has been created, the intersection of electronics, plastic and biology.... synthetic biology. Love it. (perhaps the amorous robots from All Is Full of Love would smell like this)
Oh yes! It's as weird as I hoped and provides a delicious, shifting, roller-coaster ride of genre-bending perfumery. I can't put my finger on any one thing. What seems to be metallic one minute suddenly seems sexy-skanky the next (I get the same vibe from Ganymede) sort of like hot sweaty muscle dude, although that's not to say it's masculine, I reckon anyone can rock this if they're feeling it. The turmeric is very apparent, but it's such a complicated chorus of accompanying notes it doesn't seem at all culinary. I can totally understand those who say they appreciate this but couldn't imagine wearing it, and I probably won't wear it often, but I'm looking forward to trying it in different seasons. Wearing this again today, and OH the drydown... So creamy, ambery, spicy and wonderful, but in a unique way. It really doesn't resemble anything else.
Very polite and safe, but somehow very unique too, I really love how the nuttiness balances out the vegetable greenery. I feel it's also very versatile, any situation goes. This is a good addition to my wardrobe, as I can't always wear exquisite beast-mode screamers.
70% woody amber, 10% pepper, 20% something missing. It doesn't smell bad exactly, but it seems lazy, especially for such a prestigious brand. There are hundreds of similar basic synthetic-smelling perfumes like this, it's just boring.
I felt that I needed something easy into my collection. Something classy yet comfortable and cozy, something delicate and not so unique. Sometimes I feel so exhausted that I don’t even have power to understand my own mood. If I wear some bold scent with a big character while feeling like that I just get confused. With these two scents I don’t have to think absolutely anything, no weather, neither clothes, not even how I really feel. ❓Do you recognize that mood? CHANEL Coco Noir Jacques Polge and Christopher Sheldrake 2012 Delightful very crowd pleasing mix of flowers in a warm woody base - I don’t find anything so “noir” in this one but there is a gentle breeze of warm spices. The scent is seductive and traditionally feminine. It’s delightful but it doesn’t force me to be in a good mood. I want an extrait of this one as well since it shoud have that “noir” confidence boost in it. Haven’t tried it though. NARCISO RODRIGUEZ Musk Noir Rose Sonia Constant 2022 I fell in love with so many scents from NR while trying to find something inconspicuous, almost imperceptible yet attractive and sensual. I love the powdery clean musky dna in them, they are like a tender hug, I feel like I’m wrapped in a enormous fluffy cashmere blanket escaping this cruel world. Musc Noir Rose has a sweet twist in it from Plum and Vanilla. All of them smells irresistible on cloths.
CHANEL COCO NOIR EXTRAIT Jacques Polge and Christopher Sheldrake 2014 (edp 2012) I took a risk based on some reviews and it was worth it. I was anticipating the darkness of Coco Noir and found it in “Extrait de Parfum”. Fell in love earlier with luminous edp because of other reasons though. When the name “Coco Noir” was given I think it was based on the Parfum concentration. It’s in overall darker than edp, it has a seductive femme fatale character while edp is more a ladylike, happy and pretty. Extrait is intense, all the notes are very deep, dense and it’s more complex. It’s somewhat glamorous with a richness of 80s and 90s perfumes. It’s extravagant compared to edp which is very charming for sure yet very bright and easy to wear. Coco Noir Extrait is for those intimate passionate moments and mysterious evenings when someone is coming close to your skin. It’s potent but I’m sure you don’t want to bath in that precious juice in tiny 15ml bottle to get more projection. What comes to the notes this is a strange perfume - it’s very difficult to separate them and that is the reason why I don’t even try to analyze them. You have to experience the scent yourself. ✨ “A voluptuous and enveloping ambery scent with a noble accord of Egyptian jasmine and May rose that adds depth and sensuality. The trail unfurls with magnetic notes of Indonesian patchouli and Venezuelan tonka bean, along with the more pronounced notes of bourbon vanilla and New Caledonian sandalwood.” Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
Top: Orris Absolute, Rhum Heart: Orris Concrete, Rose, Jasmine Base: Agarwood, Civet, Dry Wood Accord Woods Symphony is soothing and attractive, beautiful and sophisticated, it’s like a fragile watercolor painting compared to other scents in Opus collection. I think it’s the reason why it’s a hidden gem. People love Opus collection because of very bold and edgy juices and this is totally different. It’s not weak anyway - Woods Symphony is light yet long lasting with good projection. It was totally coincidence that I found this. My dear friend bought this one earlier and after checking it I knew it would be a big love for me. Powdery Orris with a little bit sweet Rum is irresistible, Rose and Jasmine makes the blend somewhat traditional and very classy while woody base with a hint of Oud and Civet brings the glamour of some vintage perfumes. Still the concoction is very youthful. So beautiful and perfect for any occasion and any weather! Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
To me this smells a bit like Oriana, but nothing like Love don’t be shy or Barbie. LDBS and barbie have some sort of screechy note, it might be Licorice - which is absent in Velvet shadow and Oriana. However, I’m surprised more people haven’t clocked how much this resembles Narciso Poudree. It’s has the same beautiful soft sweet powdery profile.
I used to wear it in my youth, like 25 years ago. It smells the same, but something is missing, and the magic dissappears after 5 minutes leaving a Mugler-es que, sweet aroma-chemical soup. Maybe it was always thus, but I remember it being special.
