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Rose de Russie

Tom Ford

houdini

First spray. One thing. The only thing I could think.... IsoButyl Quinoline nightmare. (and I love IBQ) Here me out though, this is a stripped back, raw and modern (if a little lazy) leather accord which is predominantly one material IBQ. Now I'm being a little harsh calling it lazy, this is a well made perfume, a deliberate overdose and stylistically on trend with a certain perfume I didn't like initially but now LOVE!!! So let's talk about Frederic Malle/Jean Claude Ellena's Rose & Cuir. I get that the 'reminds me of' section here is full of R&C associations and it can't help but remind anyone of that, it's a simplistic transparent rose with a massive scratchy, smokey, mossy, leathery IBQ note. Crucial difference for me is that rose and Cuir is much more leaning into the geranium (minus the minty facet) aspect of rose, but then giving a sweet, raspberry jam at times too. This it still that infused, lighter more PEA rose, like a rosewater, being dommed in quite a savage way by the leather note/accord/material. Although it's an overdose and as I said I like the material and this style, it just feels a bit too grubby, oily, like a mechanics discarded rag. I'm not saying it doesn't have nuance and I will have to try it again because R&C took ages to grow on me but I get that. It's a modern art piece, this just feels like a bit of an afterthought. Sorry.

4 years ago

I found this one really nice too. Nice. Yeah not exactly lavish praise but the best I could muster. I thought it was the most forgettable of the line, but as terrible as that sounds, it's really not. I definitely have to give the disclaimer that I need to try this more. Okay so same impression of the rose note in here, it's infused, not overly sweet or jammy, which in this context is a really classy move. This is probably the most floral (SA mentioned peony to me) of the three, but I did get a labdanum type note in the top/mid so I guess this the 'ambery rose' of the bunch? It's good. Yeah but I was least interested in this one (until d'amalfi dried down on my skin) but I have to revisit. I think the take away is that these are competent and somewhat interesting releases from the loud, oud rose type biz I might've expected and smelled a million times before.

4 years ago

So when I saw these new TF Rose perfumes, I like to try to keep an open mind but I can't help thinking this is going to be a trio of rosey tropes, an oudy one, a patchouli one, a jammy one, perhaps a modern chypre-ish pink pepper topped one? By the name, I'd already assumed a leather one? (Russie) Just an assortment of good perfume but not very exciting or engaging perfume. I guess I'm miserable and jaded what can I say? Well thankfully that's not (quite) the story here. Each one of these roses have a very subtle and nuanced rose note, not overly sweet or too dry and full of geraniol. This is a very balanced smell, sort of like something delicately infused with rose. It's airy, it's a bit like rosewater and I wasn't expecting that. The opening is really pleasant, it has a certain heliotrope quality but again it's a infusion of almond, with a good balance of sweetness, I mean after all, Tom does love his almonds and cherries. I didn't find it too sweet though, that is until the drydown when you might as well throw most of what I've said out of the window, because the base seems to settle to a very sweet vanilla and the rose grows into much more familiar territory, think that Armani rose one (Rose d'Arabie is it? something like that?) and maybe stuff like More than words by Xerjoff? Now both of those fragrances I'd say were good (maybe even great?) atomic, sweet, vanillic modern rose perfumes, however you're under no illusion what they are from the start, and almost become acclimatized to them. I was slightly disappointed that the curtains didn't match the drapes (is that the saying?) and I found myself wearing something I probably wouldn't choose to after a couple of hours. But hey, it's not a bad perfume at all and this game of two halves might really float your boat, who am I to tell you otherwise?

4 years ago

Okay so this is very much like Jour, but also noticeably different. I might not be fulflling my role as reviewer here because despite revisiting them at the same time this week and doing a direct comparison, I probably couldn't tell you what the differences are. I'd say 'weight' this is a little heavier as you'd expect perhaps from a EDT to EDP, being that it's a bit thicker, and given this is a light, powdery citrus, floral, perhaps that's not what you want? Well it is. Because the powdery drydown is what I crave in this, and the Absolu version gives us that in abundance, and usually I'm a fan of the more diffuse edt's n such (Like TdH for example) so yeah this was a turn up for the books. I want this fragrance, it's lovely.

4 years ago

So I recall sniffing this when it came out and thinking 'meh' it's Ellena it's Hermes, it's orangey, it's nice and didn't think much more about it. Well it's nearly a decade later and I'm revaluating Hermes as being probably the most consistently brilliant of the big fashion house brands. They might not be the most wildly creative but they connect with a lot of fragrance fans and everything from the concepts to the packaging give a great experience to the customer, and the Jour flacon is one of those joyful things. The smell of the perfume does have some additional sharpness but to me it smells of orange pith, but it almost seems to sidestep that with it's floral (white) focus and when I say focus I mean blur, because it's not the vivid indolic white flowers of jasmine or tuberose but the kinda vague, fantasy muguet and magnolia of white flowers. But it's soooooo fresh and lovely, with this licked skin, chalky ambergris which I think smells flat to some people (see bigarade concentree) but I think Ellena deliberately juxtaposes this against the zesty freshness. The drydown is a powdery light, caleche lite sort of thing maybe? But quite tenacious without being annoying. I think it's wonderful and I actually really want this fragrance, especially for the warm weather, it's class.

4 years ago

Smells like Creed Aventus drydown with a citrus note.

4 years ago

Smells Cod liver oil with love dont be shy in the background🤢

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-2

5 years ago

Invictus Victory

Rabanne

houdini

What can I say about this? I'm one of the few fragrance snob reviewers who actually liked the original Invictus (for a little bit anyway) in the current climate it started (or was a prominent milestone in) the philsophy of more is more, four perfumers and even more notes and accords than you could shake a fouled stick at, then came the inevitable flankers. Funny how 'Invictus flanker' rhymes with 'massive wanker' because that's what you look like in the gym or on a youtube video with your tinnie-tiny, trophy, cup. The Aqua one people raved about was garbage, come on? it was!!! Then there's this. I hadn't bothered trying it as I don't with many nowadays, but I sprayed this recently and was surprised how non repulsive it was. I got a kind of light top of aromatic, modern biz, then a light, non intrusive vanillic thing quite soft and round, not my usual bag but not instantly dismissible. No Victory is dismissible after about 20 mins or so when it settles down to a holocaust of atrocious accords floating in a dead vanilla soup, it is truly awful perfume. What an idiot I was humming those opening bars like some buffoon listening to shitty music on the radio, that's the sort of crowd mentality which gets these perfumes made. Yeah it's safe to say I don't like it. I'm not just being mean and snobby I just don't get the point of this stuff, it's like the conflict I get in perfumes like cedrat boisee another work of Satan himself. (Sorry that's melodramatic) it's more like the work of a demon perhaps?

5 years ago

Functional. Pedestrian. The Beige box says everything. However, I like it. I think that says quite a bit about the landscape of designer men's releases at the moment if something as mediocre as this actually appears nicer in comparison to an abysmal backdrop. I genuinely couldn't tell you what this smells like. I'm not being mean about it, just incompetent as a reviewer that's all. I must reiterate I like it, but it's not exciting enough to recall in any great detail. Is it a citrus? Softly spicy and herbal I'd say? Maybe? The notes say bergamot, black pepper, juniper and cedar, I mean if ever you were going to make a generic, man-jus, it would sound like that, but to me it's different from that even, it's softer and muskier than that note list would imply. Get it in a bargain bucket somewhere in a few months/years and I'm there.

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5 years ago

Bodacious

Boadicea the Victorious

stackmaintain

Omg this is literally a weaker version of Dark Cherry by Black Oud London!!. That one is only £50 for 50ml too. I dontevwn wanna know what the price of this one is🙄😮💨

5 years ago

Nope, nope, nope!. I'll rather stick with jazz club!. The first few minutes of this is nice but THEN!!...it turns to a very strong, harsh, bold rubbery, petrol like smell. Oh my goodness it's a big no from me. What's een more oeak is that this here is the true definition of an EXTRAIT DE PARFUM 😭😭

5 years ago

A basic, shower gel, crowd pleasing scent

5 years ago

If I was being totally honest I'd say that I perhaps would NEVER have mentioned a cauliflower in my review unless prompted by the sample card to do so. Perhaps my mind is conjuring/grasping here, I freely admit it, but if this is cauliflower, then it's 'creamed cauliflower' not quite cauliflower cheese, my missus makes a kind of healthy (healthier) version anyway with milk and a kind of roux. Anyway... This is a strange fragrance anyway in the sense that the mandarin orange and perhaps bergamot opening doesn't quite give an instant flavour of what lies beneath but this is no doubt a creamy, vanillic, tonka bean fragrance. In all honesty, I don't like it. The saving grace is that it's creative and I believe this has a home with someone, while I've smelled most of these effects before, I've never really come across them together. I think what adds to the vegetal aspect in a fragrance which at it's heart, is quite a sweet (I know vegetables can be and often are sweet but I mean in a more sugary, dessert sense) thing. Coming back to the Cauliflower, I get a really faint trace of nutmeg or mace, and I think that's what's giving this creamed, veg, vibe. I was prepared to love a tonka centric fragrance from a great brand, albeit with a silly name... TONK A BLONK... haha, from a great perfumer, etc..... but I just don't like it. Sorry.

5 years ago

Woaah Nellie!!! The opening has a tart fruity sweetness and a warmth like a musk perfume but as a top note (which is strange anyway but stranger, considering what happens next) Anyway this initial smell is mental but it lasts about as long as a super heavy ion or Higgs particle or something? It really is gone almost as quickly a you perceive it. Then comes a really insanely earthy note. Just, just on the cusp of being too much geosmin (or similar) it's certainly what I would consider and overdose. At first it is a beetroot effect but as it wears on, it's a bit much for me. However, it peaks around the 20min mark and settles in to a nice, mineral, earthy, accord. Is it really beetroot though? I often think it's hard to capture the vegetal, carroty, bloody sweetness, because beetroot is earthy but it's not entirely so. I think QB has done a good job at making a series of vegetal, modern, seemingly simple perfumes here. I'm personally not bowled over by this one, it's okay y'know.

5 years ago

Three notes or accords listed here and it smells like all of them. It's a modern vetiver, leaning on the nootkatone synergy with grapefruit, a perfect combination but then it has this vine tomato consume association to me. Lasts ages. If you want a vegetal, woody, fragrance with a long lasting bite of bitter grapefruit, then this is as good as any I've tried. Does it excite me, not really, but it ties in very well with the Fennel one, Cedrat ceruse in a cohesive collection. I like it.

5 years ago

Okay, quick initial apprasial of these new L'artisans. I've worn on skin once but not properly, will come back and update but they're pretty straight forward, I doubt my thoughts will change a great deal. This one is lemon and fennel. haha. No I didn't just read the notes here, it opens with a squeeze of lemon, bright, lovely, then it settles into a anise tinged light, woody musk. Doesn't last for ages or anything and it never really inspired me or anything but it's my favourite of the new four I tried.

5 years ago

hmmmm...could've sworn I reviewed this. Anyhow, yeah....it's a treat. Really nice, cooling, naturalistic, dry, lightly peachy osmanthus, at the heart of a gentle, subtle, modern feeling composition. More loveliness from this house (yes I'm allowing these to be considered a house and not just because of their self proclamation) Osmanthus is a really fascinating floral aroma and they've captured it perfectly. It' not the most present or 'big' perfume statement but it's very nice.

5 years ago

This has to be one of the most elegant fragrances I've smelt!. Yes this leans feminine a little bit it's soooo good that i had to get it for myself haha. Beautiful special occasion fragrance that oozes sophistication and class.

5 years ago

This is basically the OG. Lasts all day.

5 years ago

So this perfume is really not what I was expecting from something called night flower. That name suggests to me a big, indolic, searchlight jasmine, or a sopping wet tuberose, and I braced myself for nightblooming impact, but in actuality it's much more subdued. Night flower is a musky, mildly vanillic, floral perfume. Smells fleshy like orris and tonka. In fact it smells like tonka absolute as apposed to just coumarin or a usually much sweeter tonka accord. There's something perfect about the sweetness of real tonka and this perfume showcases it delicate nature perfectly. The opening few minutes do have a salty tuberose but it's more like that very delicate from enfluerage kinda stuff not a brutal indolic power house, or sweetened, bubblegum, affair. Tuberose is actually fascinating in it's facets and diversity as a perfume material. Here it's very fleeting and slight, but I like that. The drydown is really cuddly, musky, I personally really like it, it's rounded and creamy and base heavy, and although sadly I have a bit of a cold today or I think It would be a bit more present, it's a very subtle, skin scent, which occasionally emanates, lovely little wafts, it's a very personal fragrance for you or someone that gets very close. I've just noticed comparisons to musc ravageur....nah! I get that if I had to stick them in a subgenre together, I would , or descriptions in a review like this will be largely the same ballpark, but don't think this is a clone or riff on musc ravageur because it's not even close. I like it a lot, doesn't massively excite me but it's great quality perfume and an absolute pleasure to wear.

5 years ago

A simplified review here as I wrote some quite detailed notes on this but, having worn it a couple of times, it doesn't warrant a great deal of discussion. The top notes, the fruity accord whatever you want to call it, is unique (certainly to my nose) and while I could parrot the notes from here, I'd just say it smells like some sort of 'fruity amalgam'. The fact blood orange is mentioned is interesting and somewhat perceivable, as different to other broadly 'Orange' materials like orange oil, tangerine, mandarin, etc.... all of which are different but blood orange is really different. Then pear & blackcurrant? Sure. Why not? This accord is present throughout, a very long lasting fruity freshness, the glaze atop what is a mildly honied and caramelised amber accord, with what I'd say is a slightly femme lean. I think it's good, I like it. I don't love it though.

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5 years ago

Hugo Reflective Edition

Hugo Boss

fragmental

Opens like the original but moved onto a fresh summer version of it. Similar vibes to Reversed but my favourite flanker is still Reversed.

5 years ago

So this is the first fragrance I've tried from this brand. I wasn't sure of their legitimacy to be honest, I'd seen many (what I assumed to be free) bottle flying around on social media among the influencers and bottle begging shites who know little about the craft but seem to offer up their expertise anyway. (sorry, I'm supposed to be reviewing this) Anyway, another off putting bit was the tendency to vagazzle the bottles with gold leaf, something I associate with vodka for tween girls or a special Christmas, Gin liquor bottle, which lights up and looks like a snow globe, such is all the golden debris floating in flacon of Atelier des Ors. Something gaudy to appeal to the middle eastern market, says luxury to them but tacky to me and a big turn off. However, this brand has earned some kudos by some respected voices saying they are worth checking out, and by not being another throwaway, transient, pop up. I have to admire the aesthetic and creativity of the brand, gold leaf and all, having tried 5 of the collection here and being impressed by all of them, in one way or another. Aube rubis then is an immediately fruity and immediately patchouli forward fragrance, it's clever in being full bodied but not quite giving up all it's secrets right away, it's reminiscent of a FM Monsieur or that Bois 1920 one, real smacks in the face of patchouli but this has a mildly softer, more graduated edge. I get that the fruity note in the opening is listed as blackcurrant here, and I see there being a 'twang' to this, I often say it is similar to saffron and comes from the earth of patchouli, but blends into fruity notes well too, could be cassis that is conspiring here to make an interesting effect. A gourmand, edibility (says praline here) I can't help feeling is not your typical chocolate association sometimes gotten from patchouli. So I'm saying all this is familiar in tone, but in truth this is bold but still wearable and has it's own little trick up it's sleeve. As it dries down I get more labdanum and resins in combination with that patch but still sweet and toppy sense of something 'fruity'. I like it, I think it's well made, has enough to keep me interested, has goldilocks zone patchouli which will satisfy the purist without alienating the more timid perfume fan. All in all a good introduction to the brand for me.

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5 years ago

Bel Respiro Eau de Parfum

Chanel

houdini

Continuing my Chanel resampling odyssey, I arrive at Bel respiro and I like it, but I'm underwhelmed to be honest. In the pantheon of green perfumes Bel respiro just doesn't quite make the cut for me. It's no trope cis 3 hexenal grassy but ultimately unsatisfying perfume, nor is it a big traditional, galbanic, green bomb, (although it leans more in that direction) the airy accord which comes from bel respiro is to be breathed in deeply and savoured. I don't feel it though. I don't connect with Bel respiro and as a relentlessly tedious, fact based guy in a perfume world of woo, things like connections and speaking to my soul, seems wooly and out of character for the acerbic, molecule naming style I've become known for. Truth is though, jus ne sais quoi, heart, soul, all that soppy bullshit, truly IS what makes a perfume special, to deny that would be doing the whole art form a disservice. What's interesting about bel respiro is that there's a warmer base to it but it's so light and subtle it's barely there, smells almost like vanillic/tonka/orris and musks, perhaps that's what constitutes the 'leather' accord listed in this? It's barely in the realms of existence though so as to barely make a difference to talk about.

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5 years ago