Good nose attached to this, notes sound nice and difficult not to like and everyone seems to be in agreement about the wonderful looking flacon. Even if it’s just okay I’m likely to get it anyhow.
Tried this finally and I have to say the jury is still out. So pathetic is my perfume obsession that I was prepared to overlook glaring issues with the fragrance and purchase it anyway, merely on the strength of the superbly designed flacon. Century does have unique opening notes, watery, fresh but very modern and with undoubted cypriol oddness. I’m not surprised at all that this is from the same perfumer as Icon because there’s a waxy, floral accord of neroli, soapy but smooth cardamom and a soft powder. I’ll be honest something in that opening repelled me, was it really the cypriol? I normally like fragrances with that, I think it’s just the same reason I’m not mad about Icon...it’s got a sun cream sort of thing. When it’s dried all the way to a soft skin scent it smells basically the same but I kinda like it. It’s enough of a like to get it. Let’s just talk about the bottle again, it’s a great piece of design, slightly strange to open, the top is magnetic I think? It sort of slid off awkwardly anyway.
Another one I tried years back and have now revisited after digging it out of an old samples box. Now only British (especially Scottish) readers will understand this next comparison but the opening smells of IRN BRU to my nose, it’s a pretty unique smell but is it kinda spiced orange I suppose? Anyway after that initial vibe dies back and the body of this fragrance is a sweet, spicy almost gourmand scent of amber & good vanilla with a poof of cacao, very lovely indeed but hardly groundbreaking even in 2010. A solid but soft amber from Olfactivo with good idea at its heart, complementary notes and that, which I enjoyed.
This line reminds me of that Guerlain line where they all have the custard, vanilla base (double vanille, Tonka imperiale...etc) and this stuff is heavy in its vanilla element. However another thing it’s shares with the Guerlains is undeniable quality and excellence and a real feeling that it’s evoking something new. Vinyle truly is like nothing else I’ve ever tried and for that alone should be applauded. It’s a deeply, deeply resinous fragrance which has the smoothness of myrrh and vanilla but with an unknown and even slightly perplexing element which definitely evokes vinyl. Now I have to say records are the only thing I own more of than fragrances and both new or old I can’t say this smells like them. Perhaps a little but I get more of a sexy, vinyl catsuit vibe from it. Again I don’t know if this is imagined but some synthetic, plasticy element shoved in the mix with very organic resin and sweet creamy vanilla makes this fragrance complete. Perfect some might say...Well me anyway I kinda want this.
Outrageously modern, strong interpretation of pepper. Not hard black pepper but more of a sweet pink pepper, powerful, futuristic, ultra sharp citrus and iso e super. This intense combo of cedar, lemon and pink pepper puts me squarely in mind of certain esscentric molecule and Ormonde Jayne creations, and what do they share? That’s right a certain nose and I think this fragrance is the ultimate homage to Geza Schoen, it could so easily be one of his rather than the work of a fictional, globe trotting recluse. (Yeah that doesn’t work!) Also, intense pepper could quite as easily be incense pepper because although I clearly know the difference between these ingredients and beloved resins like olibanum and labdanum, I can’t help but think this is a way of evoking them, with sharp effervescence. Also...I’ve mentioned what I think of the term ‘synthetic’ so I won’t go over that again but people seem to critique Montale for their monster output and synthetic vibes where some would praise other houses for bravery. This stuff is great and I love it but strangely it kinda grates on me after a while too. This is probably due to the longevity and projection which I thought was superb, low lying but strong.
I cannot wait to try this! The notes sound superb.
Just goes to show that you should never right off a designer/perfumer/brand whatever because you can always be pleasantly surprised. I think the fact that this is a flanker to a fragrance I wore during the late 90’s and had a bottle of until recently because I still kinda enjoyed the scent, but was the original HUGO really a good fragrance or was I just caught up in the nostalgia? Anyways, after going off it this Iced version didn’t really offer much if it was either generic crap or a tweaked version of the original, gladly it’s very interesting. The opening is green, I get basil actually, certainly mint, juniper and bitter orange for sure and a tea a little like bvlgari, with a vetiver background. This is a very impressive opening with nothing of those, generic modern accords, molecules or anything folks could describe as synthetic. Iced is a good name for it too, the freshness of the mint and greens make it superbly fresh. Then when settled it becomes extremely familiar and for me completely changes about as much as it could do, and resembles Chanel Allure Homme Edition Blanche which I know is a lemony, vanilla musk thing but it also has a kind of soft woody, powdery smell which is quite warm and even hints cashmerean or something like that. In the deeper drydown you can get another change but my point about this fragrance is that it’s excellent, transitions through several states and notes giving a genuinely refreshing ‘Iced’ experience without the usual cliches and it lasts well. I’m getting a bottle.
The acqua di Gio line continues with this, and so far for me the original was and still is a great aquatic. Then we have essenza which is decent and represented a more refined take on the theme. I didn’t get really Profumo at first, but again I thought it was decent enough, I like it much more now though, so this has me excited. Well, I was slightly disappointed and not because this smells bad but because it smells a bit confused, I’m not sure if it’s deliberate or AdG Absolu is just mixed up and unsure about what it is. There’s a degree of depth to the perfume though, opening like an aquatic, standard, citrus woody scent then it starts to settle and has a more complex, creamy, white floral almost, Tonka/vanilla sweetness with hints of fruit it’s actually a bit sickly and strange for a while but with that generic smell looming all the while. Invictus aqua and other comparisons are valid and it’s not bad smelling but doesn’t add anything to the Gio family. I will say that I like the wooden stopper, that looks good. Not very inspiring stuff, wearable though and I’m sure it will sell but not enough of the AdG accord for me, fine to have variations, I don’t want them too similar but this doesn’t give me anything..
This is stunning guys! If you’re looking for sick ladies complements, Acqua do Gio Absolu is the fragrance for you! Power baybeee!!! (Speaks in tongues) Haolowwowownahmahalalalalyayahawoododo... Oh my god sorry about that. I was possessed by the spirit of Jeremy fragrance there for a minute. Oh god what am I wearing??? (Sniff sniff) Yeah it’s RUBBISH!!! Come on, this is just the same rehashed shite, again. I mean the opening hour or two is literally unbearable, I’m not being OTT here it’s facts. Dried down slightly more bearable but this line seems to have nothing to say. The original is just that, the essenza one is alright, the other flankers are redundant, there’s no need to make anymore.
I’ve come to know the ‘Aventus thing’ very well due to smelling a billion and one, either deliberate clones or extremely similar, ballpark fragrances and this is undoubtedly one of those. I remember when this was released and people talking about it, I had kinda dismissed it for being a Aventus smellalike and largely that’s what you get. However if you are accustomed with the batch variations and very slight differences within this accord you get that it’s a fruitier opening, certianly than my Aventus, bergamot, Apple, black currant but undoubtedly a pineapple smell. Then there’s the smoky base which is more cedar to me than birch but inherantly has the same qualities of smelling a bit like a fresh, fruity musk fragrance on a man who’s just been for a cigarette and it’s clinging to his clothes. I don’t see how this thing became so popular and there’s a school of nuance on the different vibes within it but needless to say it has, and I’ve become adept at sniffing subtle difference of which there is some. One thing is for sure .com has monster Sillage and longevity, comparable to even the best batches of the Creed. My ramblings do sound a bit negative but they’re not I’m really glad I finally got around to sampling this stuff coz it’s pretty good, I’m just a bit weary of this smell. In fairness this was a relatively early dupe.
Very interesting and enjoyable considering the absolute mess they’ve made of the 2017 version of Gentlemen. I got a dense oriental lavender opening with dark resinous notes then it basically mimics Dior Homme intense orris and patchouli but not as full on. Then when it’s dried all the way down doesn’t smell like DHI and goes back to a dark vanilla and tolu balm slightly spicy and deep but with very low lying Sillage and not the best performance. To say this is a Dior Homme clone is being a little unfair because the opening is totally different (albeit becomes very similar very quickly) and then when it dries down doesn’t smell like it either. I love tolu balsam and although this is a distinctly designer interpretation, tolu fragrances don’t tend to last very long even if they are expensive niche fragrances, so I give it a pass. Gentleman Parfum is pretty good.
I couldn’t believe I had this in a bag of samples marked ‘okay’ Anubis is far from okay it’s a brilliant fragrance with a very luxurious and evocative allure. The opening is a sheer onslaught of resinous goodness and heady saffron, then the leather accord develops and it’s unmistakable, slightly smoky and realistic. This is where my original appraisal comes back to haunt, because for all the beautifully smooth myrrh and benzoin notes, the lovely buttery and masculine suede/leather body, and the hints of spice and sandalwood, it’s not a very good performer and I wish it was heavier and more complex. The opening nurtures hope and gives the impression you are in for a epically, progressive scent but the disappointment comes around very quickly when Anubis becomes a linear and not as strong as I'd hpped. I love the ancient Egyptian thing and Anubis is especially cool if I was to weigh the heart of this fragrance it would be pretty lightweight in all honesty, vasnishing quickly after a big statement opening. Which is a shame, however I don't want to sound like some 'beastmode' performance obsessed idiot, because there's more to fragrance than that. I respect this perfume for what it is and it's definitely evocative of the name, if only at the beginning.
I’ve no complainants about this fragrance, I quite enjoyed it. Then again I’m really not all that hard to please and to over more balance and critique I’d say this stuff is unlikely to blow anyone away either. I’ve become very accustomed to JHaG and their subversive, minimalism especially with recent releases and Moscow mule is no different. The opening is slight, a hint of sharpness from lime and ginger and even a hint of booze but there’s the overwhelming sense that this is another modern art piece a white on white Rothko type of effort. The base of this is a powdery, warm, woody, synthetic amber somewhere between iso E super, cashermean and ambroxan. It reminds me a touch of a more masculine, ‘Anyway’ a JHaG release I liked very much indeed and own a bottle. The spicy ginger lasts throughout and the drydown is warm and cozy and actually reminds me of bits and pieces of other stuff like this (not quite sure what off the top of my head.) I like it though, quality is good, performance is good, it’s a mellow low lying fragrance in the main part but that’s fine by me. I would definitely wear this again, I think I fell for it today but I’m not going to run out to buy it.
Wow! This stuff is opulent. I got my samples of this when it first came out and inexplicably found this is a bag labelled ‘okay’ which is crazy, because upon revisiting Malefic Tattoo is everything I love about fragrance. The opening is a zingy, uplifting incense vibe which has all the hallmarks of my favourite fragrant resin, labnaum. Labdanum is the perfect catalyst the gelling agent for amazing woody and luxurious notes of saffron and oud which I actually don’t think feature as prominently as the darker resins like styrax. This perfume manages to strike the the perfect balance, cool and cerebral but at the same time dark and alluring without becoming heavy or overly cuddly. A minor criticism could be the performance but a heavy application on clothes and hair will boost that into reasonable territory. This fragrance had me at hello, and then charmed me even more as we got acquainted, not sure what happened the first time I sampled it a few years back? The point is I’m in love with it now so yeah LM have made a great incense fragrance here, basically put labdanum in anything and I’m there.
Well, this is yet another review I never bothered writing when I first sampled this as I found a sample recently in a bag marked ‘okay’ I know exactly why I put that first time around. It’s certianly not because Tacit is ordinary or pedestrian the composition is very carefully constructed and well realised, simplicitic yet deep and more than the sum of its parts. However performance let’s this one down and doesn’t scream high quality as much as the pleasant aroma does, at least at first anyway. The opening is yuzu and a strong basil note, the overall feel is a little green and fresh. It starts to settle and develop spicy facets and the basil even has a slightly minty feel and a medicinal touch of cloves. The body of this fragrance is vetiver and it’s a perfect companion for the herbal and citrus top notes and the vetiver in here is spectacular, thick earthy and clean but with a presence not dissimilar to licquorice but with a slightly cleaner soapy edge. Projection? None existent and performance was poor. Such a shame though because Aesop were onto a winner with a great concept.
Patchouli has to be in this perfume...surely? Anat Fritz is a very interesting, lovely Potion which evokes that earthy, moist, but sandy smell (perhaps the sandalwood?), with a strong lavender note which almost goes a touch minty for a second I think. This is classic patchouli heavy perfumery but bound to be divisive because of its bold herbal, earthiness. The problem I have with classical is that it’s not quite bold enough and looses complexity quickly, and didn’t last well either when I tried it initially in 2013, nor does it now when I’m revisiting it. The sample was in a bag marked ‘meh’ along with several others and my opinion hasn’t changed, but I did like it though and the bottle is pretty novel.
I have to give this particular extraordinary extract de Parfum a lot of credit, it’s quite simply the most entirely vivid smelling floral you’re ever likely to smell. If it is largely based on champaca then I will have to reevaluate what I think about that ingredient because I remember disliking Tom Ford’s champaca absolute when that was around. Regardless this is a triumphant and delicate smelling floral, moist, juicy, with almost fruity, green notes and a ozonic and citrus opening. The floral smell is somewhat of a mixture of ylang ylang as jasmine a sort of sweet, white/yellow floral and maybe a touch exotic too. This stuff smells of massively high quality to me and I’ve no doubt there’s some orris, and sandalwood in the base, because when first applied it oozes, heavy multilayered luxury. It’s not very long lasting which is not what you expect from something so concentrated but can often be the case.
This is a linear fragrance but I don’t think we should dismiss the base too much because it’s very light and woody but carries the top notes much better than something like shay and blue’s blood oranges just as an example. This is a prince among orange scents for me, super fresh and juicy, it’s gorgeous and at the right price, I’d add it to my wardrobe.
This is a galant effort, I have to give it some credit. I thought this kind of thing to be a waste of time, the original light blue was ultimately forgettable but didn’t offend me in any way. This zest version is actually okay because, although not groundbreaking in any regard, it knows what it is and doesn’t have any of that generic and despicably, mixed up cynicism of many second rate and redundant flankers. The grapefruit, lemon and mandarin in here are very pleasant in the opening and the base is a light, musky powder poof! I mean it’s no Chanel Allure homme edition Blanc but it’s very wearable and surprisingly long lasting for such a subtle scent. I think I’m going soft in my old age as historically, this scent would’ve got the usual Houdini scalding, but I’m in a good place and really digging on citrus and fresh fragrances at the moment, so this gets off easy. It’s okay by me. What I don’t like is the cheapness of the bottle. Is it me or does the font and all that writing on the bottle look a bit tacky? Not to mention the puke yellow stopper.
I have to say I really enjoyed this fragrance, I kinda expected monsieur geranium to be a modified version of Monsieur, despite being from different perfumers and the fact FM doesn't do flankers, not sure why I thought that then? In any case I love geranium as an ingredient, it's up there with labdanum as a favourite of mine and I appreciate that it does have somewhat of a minty quality but this is definitely amped up by the addition of a hefty mint note. I really like the smell of fresh mint and always have it growing in my garden but I can't say that I like it so much in perfume. I suppose the little hint in some perfumes is nice and I do like stuff like Guerlain Homme intense so why not? This stuff is UBER minty and opens with a real smack in the face of mint, but it's still very refined and not too sharp and in some senses addictive. There's a kind of woody powder surrounding it and hints of clove and anise but very fresh like a fennel sort of vibe. It's lovely and as the minty smell dies back (which incidenatally takes a couple of hours) the geranium really shines as a lovely thing. Masculine, clean and just plain lovely, I'm huge fan of geranium and this smells very high quality and precise in it's delivery. It's a low lying scent for me which does project to begin with but becomes more subdued. I have to say I adored the drydown, I thought it was heavenly but makes me want to seek out the Guerlain and Dyptique listed in the smells like because I'd like a cheaper alternative. Without smelling either this could be far superior but a very nice perfume when the geranium starts to shine and the base comes out later on. I liked it.
Psychoanalysis is an absolute knockout!!! First of all I'm suspicious of Bella Freud and her family, it's not really entirely rational on my part but there you go. I find something sinister about Sigmund Freud, Lucian her father is actually an artist I admire but he's a bit weird too and the least said about Clement the better. However in spite of this background I've let the fragrance and the feel of the brand do the talking and I've been reasonably impressed with most of the Bella line. In the most part they are fresh takes on traditional formats and Psychoanalysis is another one in this vein. Reading out the notes and you'd be forgiven for thinking it wouldn't be very nice or wouldn't work but you'd be very wrong. The opening is a fresh blast of lemony petitgrain. Herbal, green and maybe even galbanum/elemi ish? It has a bit of a cologne feel and makes you go hmmmm...that is nice... but not exactly inspiring, but just wait for it to develop. The base feels like vetiver, and cedar, dry, clean, woody fragrance but as it dries down gets more and more masculine for me, it's dry and like no tobacco you've really experienced. Actually come to think of it, it is....slightly. The modernity in here makes it lean toward a Montabacco type of thing I wouldn't be suprised if Iso E super featured heavily in the formula but the tabacco note is slightly earthy but not the traditional dense or stale vibes you usually get, it's very nice indeed. When dried all the way down psychoanalysis leaves a gorgeous deep woody, leathery, scent, but before that the citrusy notes of petitgrain last really well. I love it. I have to say it might just be my love of all things zesty and uplifting at the moment but this stuff is great and actually has me tempted to buy a bottle.
Petit Matin or early morning is typical of Francis Kurkdjians style, fresh citrus top notes, with some herbal facets, and then the main heart of white florals, usually orange blossom, with a musky, woody or amber base depending on Homme or Femme or just to give some variation generally. I wasn't a fan of Fleur du male and some of these MFK's have been a bit too heavy on the white florals. For example I wore APOM Homme yesterday and it has some peculiar notes in the opening which are quite sour and strange, that's before you even get into the neroli and orange blossom. I still quite liked it but I liked Amyris too while kinda thinking it was a little 'off' at the same time. My point being that MFK is not my usual taste and neroli and orange blossom can give off a creepy, hand cream vibe which I don't enjoy. So with that background covered I have to clarify when orange blossom and neroli are used in the right composition they transform into some of my favourite notes. Examples from MFK, Guerlain, Mugler cologne and Acqua Viva to name a few. Petit matin is a modern, clean musky opening with a shear masterclass in citrus which is long lasting and beautiful, hints of lavender add to the classic cologne feel which is modernised with a powdered, warm base of ambroxan which is not heavy in the slightest if you are one of these people who hate the stuff. It settles right down after projecting for an hour or so to a very low lying but very long lasting and super high quality scent. I smelled it on the wrist of the SA and it was warm, feminine and frankly just wonderful. It also gave me the opportunity to smell the opening and the drydown simultaneously, albeit on someone elses skin. On me it was fresh and the white florals and ambroxan just boosted the citrus top and the balance of elements just superb. This is a really, really, good, bright, optimistic fragrance, I loved it.
This is a knockout! A smooth, yet bold and multifaceted amber evoking lots of different notes from classic perfumery like lavender, labdanum, and vanilla. I was in love from the opening balsamic hit and incense sharpness, to the sedate, woody, creamy sweetness of the drydown. This would feature very highly on a list of alltime great ambers. However, on a personal note I can take it or leave it, Grand Soir doesn't get me as excited as it once would have done. This is due to the fact that my tastes are always drawn to heavy orientals and it being so in my usual wheelhouse is not necessarily a good thing. The reason being, I'm making a conscious effort to get more fresh and light fragrances, but otherwise I'd be all over this.
I really enjoy this perfume, it's a rose fragrance not really for rose fans. This is for people who like the harsh, opening stinging the nose with opulent saffron but rapidly becoming a darker shade, full of incense and sandalwood. The rose grows gently in the background and the whole thing settles to something not dissimilar to Penhaligon's Levanthium, a really spicy rose affair. I love the stuff but it's not got the performance or complex power of levanthium, nor does it have the rose sweetness, it's like a subdued version but very nice nonetheless.
I really hope this doesn’t disappoint because it’s got everything going for it, the legacy of the original XS need not be ruined by some dodgy reformulation/reimagining. I must admit I do like the chunky design of the new bottle. I remember thinking it was a shame I didn’t really like pure XS because I’d just quite like that bottle in my wardrobe. I owned a couple of bottles in the 90’s/2000’s and even my dad was a fan of the original, the more I think about XS the more I’m tempted to get a bottle now, whether it’s this one or an older bottle.
This is a fragrance that I wasn't familiar with the first time around and what a crime that was because it's an absolute triumph. Really this stuff is superb, masculine even a little butch but not a powerhouse in the obnoxious sense. The opening is chunky, rounded and heavily spiced affair of coriander and pepper with an immediately mossy, herbal, woody feel. I get a big musk note too, potent but dying back quite quickly. The chunkiness I mentioned soon becomes apparent the creamy, spice of sandalwood and the main player patchouli which doesn't hit you straight in the face but builds steadily in the background. It's starts as an almost gourmand, cocoa type thing, steadily becoming more earthy but never overstepping the mark. I'm not overstating this but Balenciaga pour Homme might be one of the best patchouli fragrances for men that I've ever tried. To say that it's just a Patchouli fragrance is to do it a bit of a disservice, because it's a great blend of notes and even non patchouli fans would like it I'm sure. Such a shame this stuff is no longer in production because it's excellent.
