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Oud Monarch

Bortnikoff

houdini

Completely original piece of work this, I can honestly say I can't recall a perfume like this. However, the aroma doesn't feel entirely unfamiliar and still sparks some sort of deep memory which isn't of the vivid kind more the fuzzy, hard to place sort. The 'style' if you like, is of something like Tom Ford Black Orchid, (poor example perhaps) swathes of big, woody, gourmand with a beating floral heart, evokes a deep, brown, velvety, fabric with a fuchsia pink, silky lining to me, it's textured basically. I genuinely had no clue what to expect but I was taken aback with the opening and huge amounts of dark, woods and chocolate. The chocolate is not that synth cocoa accord or even the poofy theobroma cacao it's almost as if the oud has a chocolately facet. I've smelled various varieties of oud and hundreds of oud perfumes and attars and some of them do have a chocolate nuance, perhaps there already or brought out by other materials which have chocolately undertones. I'd say Styrax Tonkenisis Defintely, patchouli, strangely and vanilla more obviously. Anyway this feels that authentic not too bitter or dark but like a chunky milk chocolate. Let's not dwell on that too much because the heart of this fragrance is a massive floral accord which has an aspect of jasmine to it (probably the Fragipani or actual jasmine?) and a more open, less heady floral (which I'm assuming is magnolia?) it's lovely though and works perfectly with the rest of the composition. As I said there's a quality & familiarity about this perfume and for that reason it charms and endears but I can imagine the long lasting nature and inherent heaviness becomes cloying. In fact I don't 'Imagine'... it absolutely DOES become cloying and I'm not just saying this for it's largely floral theme's but this would be a statement piece on a woman I imagine. The kind of woman who likes big sense florientals. Yes it's high quality, innovative, Oud Monarch rates highly in my book and I haven't even began to describe the florals the oud the chocolate in any satisfactory way...this one absolutely needs to be sampled.

7 years ago

I don't know a lot about Frangipani other than that they are used in Lei's, they look fruity and exotic as if the petals were fashioned from wax and probably smell delightful. This perfume is a shocker for me in the best kind of way. It's very much all of the sweet white floral bouquet from what I perceive as jasmine, with nothing impacting, overly heavy and certainly little indole to speak of. Right off the bat there's citrus with an orange/Mandarin biased accord which lasts throughout. It's juicy and vivid and coupled with the jasmine (Frangipani too evidently) it smells like a recreation of orange blossom...but in truth, Amber Cologne is much more appealing to my nose. I love this fragrance and I didn't want to because it's been hyped by at least one real arsehole in the 'community' and loads of legit folks too but it seems to be flavour of the month and although I try to say I'm above all the hype n such, I'm one of the worst for it and seek out every hype job going hoping I can bash them! :) I'm a sad man. Usually to no end though, as the initial hype is real (from legit sources) then some of the secondary hype is from the followers who look at trends and buy (or scavenge) perfume after seeing it being talked about. Bortnikov seem to have fallen victim to that (only in my judgemental eyes) and I was like 'yeah yeah...finest oud, Russian Adam, re branding etc... but the two I've tried (both very floral) have completely redefined what I think about 'that' kind of fragrance. Amber Cologne is delightful though really, stunning in fact, I can't smell the ambergris as such but the fixative quality bind everything together and there's a vaguely aquatic seabreeze smell and 'island' effect produced, with maybe some creaminess from sandalwood in the base? I loved it.

7 years ago

It's funny how the little things in life can bring so much joy. Nothing is more appealing than the fresh, unsullied, pure, high thread count, Egyptian cotton sheets of an unreviewed perfume, right here on Fragrantica. So I kinda wish I could pierce this silence with a more enthusiastic review. After all, I love the Talismans line and this delivers more of the same in terms of quality and inherent likeability without being too safe. The opening is a powdery, mint tinged geranium, dry but not arrid and with a pinch of earth to it. This then mutates into a cleaner more perfumed, airy feeling of roses but still with that bulgarian/turkish earth to it, this is not a sweet rose at all. It's the kind of rose that has a slight melancholy and touch of decay to it but it's generally of the more metallic and watery PEA/rosewater type of feeling as if imparted into this fragrance like the botanicals in gin. I detect a lemony citrus too and maybe some olibanum or mastic? Throughout the feeling is of a seabreeze but non of the usual cliches, I don't even what to say it's 'salty' or 'ozonic' but seems to capture those vibes. I wanna say ambergris, because this has a ghostly, spectre like presence. Talento starts out a bit lack lustre for me but in the end, there's actually lots to say about it because it's very evocative, seeming a bit stark and cold to begin with, but warming up, and revealing it's various layers very nicely indeed. So the major elements in here and they are all very complementary are citrus, geranium, mint, rose, metallic, airy and marine. I don't get the jawdropping price of this one? However the general pricing of Menditorossa is very reasonable considering the presentation of the bottles and the state of the current niche climate. It's growing and growing on me, if this sounds appealing to you then check it out. I know that Rose and geranium is a classic combo but I can't actually think of many perfumes that smell like this off the top of my head? I'm enjoying the wear today for sure.

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7 years ago

Bengale Rouge

Papillon Artisan Perfumes

houdini

So I have quite an exhausting regime of reviewing obligations now but would never reject Fragrantica over other platforms. I sometimes use the same review here as elsewhere and sometimes I try to find new things to say. In the instance of Bengale rouge, it's not difficult because of how seamlessly brilliant this composition is. Liz Moores has done it again, using the cozy fur of her Bengal cat as inspiration for this perfume. Imagine all the most opulent things you could stick into a perfume? The best of Oriental and Chypre offerings, nods to fantastic vintage perfumes and materials that inherently make you let out an audible, sigh of satisfaction? Yeah you just imagined Bengale Rouge. It's soft and sensual but with underlying power and here's how it develops. For me the opening smells heavily of citrus (maybe bergamot or lemon?) vanilla, benzoin and loads of labdanum, it's almost cruder and more Indy like than the smoother Guerlain's it's compared to and did have me wondering a little to begin with...is this really as refined? Fears are allayed when the heart of rose, earthy and medicinal elements of myrrh and oakmoss temper the sweetness into a smooth sandalwood dominated orris and hay like tonka/coumarin smoothness in the base. It's inspired stuff and reinvigorates the classical genres with clear nods to Jicky and Shalimar, Coty Emaraude but also Chanel Egoiste and Bois des Iles but simultaneously managing to have more Indy personality to it. I love it....It's magic!

7 years ago

It's rare that I venture into 'Ladies designer' stuff much anymore, but when I do I feel slightly confused by the various versions of seemingly the same scent (I didn't realise the other Illusione was for men.) Flankers seem to be more confusing on the ladies side. Nevertheless I staggered into the ladies section and this seemed to invite me. The figgy opening is luscious and ever so slightly green, but it's no Philosykos, neither is it a throwaway fig, but it leans more towards that. It's a very nice smell but not awe inspiring it has to be said. This is a fantastic brand with a real heritage for considered releases and not just banging them out for the sake of it, or endless flankers. I'd say this is a soft, fruity, musk with a kind of indistinct warmth in the base well all dried down. It has that italian cologne chic, a coastal feeling maybe reminding me of Fico di Amalfi.

7 years ago

This attar is super mellow and reflective, yet still has the power of oud at it's heart. It's not the most animal, or barnyard and bordering more on the strangeness and fixative quality of Ambergris and the familiarity of sandalwood but the oud is ever present. I'm not sure if it's a blend or what but the oud has the characteristics of Cambodi or Indian, but way low in the mix here, drying down to a woods which has a dark, teak stained nature with nutty heft. I loved it...I bought it.

7 years ago

One word for this....Stunning! Opens up with the sweeter musky resinous vibes and that characteristically sweet Ta'if (I also purchased the Ta'if absolute on it's own from Scent Salim) The oud in here is very much in the background and there's nothing animalic or challenging about it, just a backdrop for the rest of the elements. The drydown is incredibly crystal clear, super clean and tidy, it's really lovely. Now smelling it in store and out of the bottle I was more conscious of saffron (perhaps because I was told it was in there?) but on my skin it really doesn't have the characteristic sting of leathery, earth or plastic heat. Instead it's more rosey than anything but it's not loud or one dimensional and changes throughout. Love the stuff.

7 years ago

So Hiram Green is a perfumer that I have great affection for simply based on Slowdive, a fragrance I adore with every fibre of my being. Moonbloom is naturally stunning and Hyde, Lustre etc... deliver what is expected from the raw materials used. I'm in two minds about the compositions though, because they do heavily rely on one fantastic raw material. There's nothing wrong with that, showcasing a single material is harder than it seems and knowing just how painstaking perfumery is, it's really not that simple. However, the end result will be if you're just not that into Bulgarian Rose absolute then something like Lustre for example, is so dominant and doesn't have much else there to cling on to. I would never go as far to say it's lazy or one dimensional but it's no symphony of notes found in a classic chypre or something, but then again it's not trying to be and Hiram Green makes a deliberate, stylistic choice to make perfumes this way. Anyway, this one is an orange blossom of the highest clarity and like most scents from this brand impeccably rendered and made with the purist in mind. I'd say this is less on the lactonic, waxy, lightly powdered side you get from orange blossom's by Francis Kurkdjian or Serge Lutens Fleure d'Oranger and instead with a wetter, more fresh bouquet. It's quite green in the opening and does have some of the typical, leafy citrus of petitgrain. As it settles though the floral musk develops more sour and what I perceive as vaguely animal aspects start to chime in, lightly projecting and reminding me of the challenges I faced in enjoying Orange blossom for many years. However, when I sniff close to my skin all the sweet orange is still there and I release a sigh of satisfaction at just how lovely this white floral component can be. I have a neroli material that exhibits greener characteristics and not something I'd really picked up on in 'neroli' perfumes until I tried Pink Neroli from Abel. Not a coincidence then that they are a natural brand too. I don't usually talk about comments or god forbid 'compliments' but this has received several remarks from my family already today. My partner said I smelled like her 'old nan' she also mentioned 4711 which I totally get. Then my Mum said I reminded her of 'old lady' (she is one like but...) and said it reminded her of a Coty perfume she used to wear in the 60's or whatever and Yardley Freesia...and 4711 my mum was FULL of the perfume history knowledge today! Haha...My sister thought it was awful. This is lasting very well as expected, because despite being all natural Hiram Green perfumes last very well and Orange blossom is pretty tenacious stuff. I'm enjoying it as a multifaceted orange blossom of supreme quality and although it's less headache inducing than the Serge Luten's I think I'd rather have that as it's a bit more predictably sweet throughtout. Wouldn't be suprised if Orange blossom aficionados rank this among the very best.

7 years ago

To me this fragrance is an enigma. If you were to read the notes here I'm not sure you'd get an accurate picture of what's going on? Perhaps the Ylang, cashmerean and bergamot are all represented, the drift wood mood is also evoked throughout as it was in the men's version which I liked. This is something Chong and Amouage's various perfumers do really well, making fun-house mirror images of the masculine and feminine release concepts. I get a kind of wetter, tulip/hyacinth/narcissus in the opening but only for a very fleeting moment becoming sweeter more exotic, lightly powdery and violet like. It's not as sweet and characteristic as a straight forward violet, but that's all I'm capable of describing it as right now. Ionone dryness here to me. The dryness of this 'acquatic' or seaside fragrance should be contradictory but this is where the driftwood note is so apparent. It's more liked to something which has imbibed those, salinated, seawater qualities over a long period, drying out in the sun but still seeped in it, and waiting to be soaked again by the next tide. The woody attack at the start is similar to cypriol or papyrus and works well with the florals but is a bit of a challenge too. I think they just judged this right and when settled and dried right the way down this quality fades in to a much more musky, hazy character. I love Cashmerean but it's much maligned as a cheap, aroma chemical way of building a bit of warmth and structure, and although I can't ever really describe it as prominent, the effect is here in the latter stages for sure. So this is a very unusual fragrance then, which evokes the sea without resorting to the usual 'blue' cliches, citrus (well there's some) acquatic, ozone, salty, seaweed or generous application of the Calone molecule. It doesn't lean on these crutches in the same way the masculine counterpart doesn't either. I'm not mad about this fragrance and although I like the opening a lot, the mid part less so (is weird) and the drydown is good. Lasts well but is mellow, it's got a lot going for it.

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7 years ago

Indochine 25

Pierre Guillaume Paris

houdini

Wow! This stuff is supremely smooth, I don't know what keeps happening? I keep saying I'm not a big honey fan and yet something about honey, beeswax, Immortelle just keeps dragging me back in. The word 'Indochine' reminds me of two things, The song 'Viet Nam' by The Minutemen (because there's a lyric about 'French Indochina') and The movie American Psycho (and possibly mentioned in the book I can't remember now?) there's a restaurant named 'Indochine' along with the infamous & exclusive 'Dorsia' Just shows what a simple mind I have really. In any case this is a stunning fragrance which opens like a beautiful caramel but not that overly sweet, Mula Mula caramel saturation or Ethyl Maltol, this is a very subtle and gorgeously soft caramel comprised of honey and benzoin amber/vanilla. The top notes are unusually bright and doesn't feel heavy for a woody oriental which has a caramelised balsamic and honey dominant heart. The honey actually gives sweetness but for me isn't that characteristic until after the opening has settled. Then the perfume becomes much more deeply woody and about sandalwood but I also get a breathy, alcohol and warm mammal, ambergris note, clear as day but only very fleeting making me wonder if I imagined it or smeared some Ambergris tincture on my jacket and that's what I'm smelling? This has a smoothness that is almost reminiscent of milkshake but it's not creamy or too sweet the woods and honied elements are in such a harmony, the key element to this fragrance is the skill of Guillaume himself. PG25 doesn't need to be loud or overly gourmand to make it's statement it's just a cosmic woodshop/bakery of heavenly delights and most importantly it has the element a perfume needs, light n shade, elegance and restraint...just a pleasure to wear this one. I never think I want to buy another gourmand or warm fragrance because that's my think and I often seek out different looks but sometimes you should just embrace what you like, because you like it for a reason.

7 years ago

This feels more like Oud than the Occult Oud, it’s that plastic sort of, loud sharpness of a medicinal leather accord type nature. This smells quite antiseptic in the opening like this stuff my fiend uses in his tattoo shop he calls ‘green soap’ it’s a kind of stingy alcoholic liquid but not an unpleasant smell at all. This is tinged with an earthy, composed moist soil smell, and patchouli which turns sweeter in the drydown to an almost vanilla sweetness. Someone has but that Profumum Roma Patchouly as a comparison and although I can see why because the earthy patchouli has a strange sweetness but in truth the Italian brand’s seems to be a lot more natural. This is very similar to stuff from barruti, that Nooud one, this has a similarly plasticy, saffronesque feel, something false or fake really, but I kinda like that. The drydown is really lovely if you find the opening to strange but this is a real changer, mutating throughout. I want to like Voronoi I really do but they make them hard to love.

7 years ago

'Beige' is such an apt name for this fragrance. It's Beige, and for those that think Cashmere or cashmerean is boring too, then I'd have to disagree but it doesn't apply here anyway because it doesn't smell of that either, nor does it really evoke the mood. I get this one a like more than 3-D this has some focus and a theme of 'white flowers' listed in the notes here, again alluding to how mediocre and boring this scent is. I'd call it 'Vanilla' but there's no fucking vanilla in it either! haha I got some interesting wetter floral aspect in the opening which was vaguely interesting for a brief period, touches of that tulip/hyacinth thing but very short lived. Beige opts instead for a watery, powdered touch of indistinct flowers. I'm no floral expert but when something spellbinds, you don't have to be. Not only would I never wear it but I wasn't a big fan of it. Now just to point out that I've done two negative reviews of M.INT fragrances on the bounce can I just counter that by saying I enjoyed the nutty one (I wanna say Affecting mind??) and absolutely ADORED Vibrant scent. So there's hope.

7 years ago

Now....some people might say to me.... Houdini...you are being negative & melodramatic AGAIN, when you say this has one of the most repugnant openings in perfume history. Yes that's right. Or when you said "...It smells like water..." I thought great I love aquatic notes, until you added "...water so fetid and stagnant you dare not venture to near for fear of contracting Legionaires or being afflicted by Cryptosporidium or something?" This is the truth though. Not a bad perfume and once this sourness has gone in the opening it's a pedestrian kind of aromatic fragrance. Elemi? sure. Leather....hmmmm...not really but if you insist. Cedar I accept is there. What could be responsible for that in the opening? Synthetic moss, in all honesty it does have that kind of mossy, lichen vibe but not nearly as interesting or faceted. I have already mentioned how I just have some prejudice towards this brand for no reason whatever, I just took against them irrationally. Truth is when we count up the ones I've liked, two it's been two bad two good, so middle of the road then. What I do like is they have a polish and a feel that the perfumers they got on board are those more classically trained types not making big Indy/niche bombs but more refined pieces. problem is they can be too refined, pretentious or boringly safe when they purport to convey new concepts. 3-D Scent is an abomination best forgotten about. An olfactory Chernobyl. The best thing to do is drill yourself a borehole deep into the earth and send this cylinder of waste, down into the depths.

7 years ago

This is Lalique Encre Noire with slightly better defined wood a spicier vetiver and a more interesting musk and juniper added in the drydown. That sounds like a lot of differences and it iis enough to set this apart to a degree, but they are damn close. One would make the other redundant in a collection for sure. Personally I'd rather have the Rouge Bunny Rouge for the Juniper in the base which gives it a more dynamic and interesting drydown. As it happens this was made by the same perfumer as Encre Noire and all of its flankers, so it's fairly obvious this is a rehash of the same formula. Nothing really wrong with that as the original was a great fragrance adn this just sort of refines it a touch. Go for the original if you want the raw, dark depths and this one if you want the more refined, fancier younger brother.

7 years ago

Hold on to your hats people, this fragrance is not for the faint of heart and this is not my declaration of surprise or disdain at this fact, I'm well and truly onboard the skankier side of things as a fan of artisan oud. You can't say that this doesn't deserve to proudly display oud in the title because it proudly displays it in the composition that's for certain! Pissara is a perfumer that I've heard a lot about without sampling much of her output, in fact I think this is only my second Dusita. She's become famed for being some sort of floral savant or flower whisperer, creating some of the most innovative and evocative floral accords in recent memory. I only have Splendiris to go on and I thought it was very acomplished, this is a completely different vibe to say the least. Opens with a blast of castoreum,(not the civet listed here) rough/sharp, floral/musky and of course leathery, personally I love it! It's like boozy malt whisky and fresh leather, but it quickly turns into the fine cheese that is the oud material in here. Now I know the country of origin doesn't necessarily define the smell of the oud but I have laos, Cambodia, India etc... split into categories in my mind, probably by the first material I smelled from there? This falls somewhere in the Cambodian-Indian variety of strong, very vivid barnyard/manure but with a complexity of an aged material, that has absorbed lots of life experience. Going from tobacco, spicy cigar wrapper and pepper, to full poop. It has a dancing rose type note, sandalwood and a powder which probably adds to that dirty/clean effect and the association with babies nappies. Well as someone who has recently had to deal with nappies, let me tell you this stuff has you sniffing and sniffing to try to better understand the unusual nature of a fecal edged but phantasmagorical, mind poem that is this fragrance. I think the blend perfectly captures an unforgiving attar, casually smeared on to skin and don't get me wrong it's not as brutal as some civet/castoreum perfumes or a potent Indian oud oil for example, this is quite reserved if you have an extremeists palate or are used to undiluted raw materials like ambergris and deer musk. This is classical stuff in the sense that it's rose/oud/sandalwood/musk etc... but presented in such a way by a brand with largely floral output that it raises eyebrows. Okay so I understand that civet replacement is something which has this sort of vibe, unpleasant, faecal etc... however my experience is that it stays on the skin the drydown when everything has gone in a kind of dirty protest. Oudh Infini, if you can last through the wave after wave of skank, you get treated to an almost darkly spiced woods and no cheesey oud at all. Bare in mind this is hours into the experience but still, it's about the most divine thing imaginable, cozy and like nothing else out there. I thought it was a knockout, bold, refreshing and a really well made perfume because despite the quality of oud being so paramount to the success of this perfume, the surrounds & setting make this stuff special, because it doesn't just smell of oud, and that's a difficult balancing act to perform. Wearability for me personally would only be on very special occasions when I felt in the mood for something racy and opulent. A real experience though and the price likely reflects the rare, raw natural ingredients inside. Bravo!

7 years ago

I think when TonyT says 'this kind of scent' that speaks volumes. Is Laudano nero a fair comparison because it's in the same genre? In my opinion...Fuck no! LN is a great perfume that has been available for a really decent price on discount websites for a long time now. However, this Carner is superior in every way and doesn't have as much of the play doe, kind of resinous drydown of LN.(Although I get that aspect of the comparison) This is sharp, sweet impactful labdanum at it's absolute finest, shining out of the opening like a beacon of loveliness. This has more of a suede/leathery effect and oriental spice of incense and papyrus. I get loads of vanilla, whether it's from vanilla or benzoin it gives a light creaminess but never tips over into being too smooth, maintaining the rough edges. There's a very fleeting moment just after the opening notes, and just before where you'd say it's officially 'settled' that it has a real, animalic smelling out note, Only for a very brief period and it's gone, dissipating into a spicy, wood smell, kinda like a microcosm of how artisan oud goes on a dries down but sped up into the space of a matter of seconds as opposed to hours or even days! I've discussed this fragrance with others who said it was dark and in another review I wrote I described it as the interplay of darkness and light....or some pretentious shit like that? This isn't anything particularly new to me, reminiscent of Alessandro Gualtieri's work that kind of heft...for want of a better term? Merely a re calibration, a tweaking of elements I love, but what a tweak! I adore this, lasts really well, clung to clothes madly, projecting and just enough innovation to capture my attention and make me crave it. Black Afgano and Laudano Nero and even Carner's own El Born didn't get me as excited. Black Calamus is a bit of magic!

7 years ago

So glad that firstly I stumbled upon this really old sample (from when it was first released) in my samples box and secondly that I didn’t review it once upon a time, likely calling it a jammy rose concoction I’m unlikely to wear, because I’d have to retract that. Through messing around with hobbiest perfumery it’s often said that rose and geranium are similar in their metallic feel and can be complementary but I’ve never really thought so. Not looking at the notes for this I’d forgotten what it was all about and you’re instantly greated my a faceted jammy fruity rose then a slightly more powdery Bulgarian rose, basically a well rounded rose accord with the best of both aspects. There’s a hint of decay but then a minty wave of geranium, cooling, bright a touch green and metallic. Reasonably long lasting, strong at first, but not loud and a perfect mixture of bright n breezy with the merest suggestion of darkness. It’s a superb rose. Not the deepest or most velvety but by tastes have adapted over the years since I first tried this and the combination of rose and geranium is something I really love now, excellent.

7 years ago

Well let me be the first to say (I quite literally am) that this fragrance is 'meh' at best. You know when you were a kid and you did something wrong and your parents said "We're not angry...we're disappointed." that old chestnut? Well this is that, personified in a fragrance. I looked at the way it was presented and the name, and made certain assumptions and judgements that were clearly in error. Oud....before anyone else can say it ....WHAT OUD?!?!? I'm normally devils advocate to those who expect artisan oud in every scent that dares to have oud in the name and this time I don't care either. I'm more miss led by the 'Occult' part of the title, this stuff is far from occult especially after a week sampling NOT perfumes...now that's occult! Anyway back to oud, I perceive of a woodiness which is transparent and a bit like Tom Ford Oud wood, not very 'real oud' like and not even synthetic either. However now that it's dried down I get a characteristic synth oud smell, of liquorice and ebony/rosewood emerging and again it's not unpleasant. The opening has definitely got a candied orange smell and it's reminiscent of a much better fragrance in Hope by Agonist. Then there's the vanilla or more accurately a vanillin smell, quite custard like and not overly cloying or anything, I like it and I'm not a snob about 'real' vanilla particularly, although I do concede it is more faceted and complex smelling. This stuff reminds of a panna cotta, it has a creaminess but it's also a little gelatinous and see-through.

7 years ago

Yeah yeah Nima80...that’s all very nice but is it ‘beastmode’ and does it get you compliments? In all seriousness I enjoyed the poem and look forward to explore the relationship and eagerly anticipate my samples when they arrive and I will update with a proper review.

Me oh my oh me oh my!!! I made that jokey comment below clearly satirising philistinism but perhaps I shouldn’t have been so flippant about Ithaka because it’s magic. (As I suspected it would be) Now this still isn’t going to be a ‘proper’ review yet because I only had one little spritz but boy oh boy was I impressed. I was instantly transported, into the poetic narrative behind Mendittorosa’s creations this one didn’t require any thought about composition or anything else for that matter the smell is divine. The incense opening is clearly driven by the sweeter more opulent resins styrax, and very much labdanum to start with. Then a sweetness of vanilla which might just be coming from the warmth of benzoin, all of which is familiar but assembled in a nigh on perfect way, the labdanum dying back and some of the less jagged components making for a mellow drydown. To say this fragrance is perfect at this early stage would be foolish but it’s very very nice indeed and might well be the perfect excuse to get myself one of these fine perfumes. Anyone who loves big warm, resinous, sweet orientals will love this. I love this.

7 years ago

Notes look interesting. TF output is seemingly relentless at the moment and it hasn’t all been good, consider me intrigued about this one.

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7 years ago

L'eau d'Issey Eau D'Ete Summer Edition for Men

Issey Miyake

fragmental

Beast mode - Best summer Issey I own

7 years ago

Citrus opening. Versace Eros dry down.

7 years ago

I like it. However, there's nothing inspiring about it whatsoever and it's about as dynamic as some blueprints for a trouser press. The lavender has the same lovely, quality in the opening as Lavender Palm a fragrance I realise this is not the 'Extreme' version of but it's the closest old Tom release so...it basically is. I don't like Lavender Palm incidentally but I kinda have more respect for it that this. LP was a waxy floral heart, awfully lactonic, fatty even and with a salty, seaweed accord giving loads of dynamics to the lavender. This is a kinda sweet coumarin and vanilla haze, and does have a minor almond quality alluding to Soleil blanc and Fuckin' Fab! He's basically made another fougere (to join the raft of them they just released) but minus some of the elements that give a fougere interest, woody accords, greeness and oakmoss or patchouli whatever? I'm not going to be too hard on Lavender extreme because it smells lovely and the creamy base looms larger and sweeter than something like Caron Homme, which is the same combination just with a more subdued vanilla. Some people have questioned the quality levels of TF's recent releases and I'm sure the 'Extreme' label puts some people off. However, The 'Extremes' have gotten off to a good start for me, The Oud Wood one is much better than the original Oud Wood in my humble opinion but this one has nothing extreme about it. Even though I didn't like Lavender Palm, I respected it and an extreme of that which was truly even more hardcore, would've maybe been welcomed by fans of the original. Instead we get this, slightly lacking effort. I like the shiny bottle though, so there's that.

7 years ago

Can never work out which I prefer out of this and Parfum d'Hermes as they are quite similar. I re familiarised myself with rouge Hermes yesterday and I have to say I enjoy it's themes. Powdery rose, talcum powder soft musk, and an exotic soft fruity peach/apricot vibe from Ylang and smoothness of sandalwood and orris/iris in the base. There's also a hint of cloves which with the powdery florals creates a subtle effect of carnation to my nose. Dries down quite feminine and although I don't pay that too much attention and only bring it up as there are several Hermes fragrances I'd like ahead of this, which just happen to be a little more masculine leaning. That's my take!

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7 years ago