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Rêve de Cashmere

Van Cleef & Arpels

houdini

Nothing from this line has blown me away, but again it’s a nicely constructed fragrance of real quality and substance but no wow factor at all. Rêve de cashmere starts out in a very minimalist way, the opening notes, milky, creamy and washed out with vanilla. However the accord starts to build and you get the warm cahmerean the vanilla and sandalwood creeping up on you in a slight but in the end very good performing fragrance. The over all feel is one of a delicate leather with some resinous, balmy qualities too. Very nice indeed but lacking that one note, or little spark and pop of spice or something unexpected to bring it all together and inject some life into the perfume. Otherwise solid and some of my favourites from the line.

8 years ago

I get the comparisons to TF FF I really do but this stuff is a much more straight forward gourmand fragrance, lacking the edge or interest that the Tom Ford had for me. Don’t get me wrong this is a sensual vanilla/tonka with lashings of almond milk in a sweet, luxurious mixture. It’s of great quality and lasts well, but not a fragrance of interest for me personally.

8 years ago

Tried this today after being accosted by a sales assistant who picked the wrong guy to talk fragrances with! I tested her kung fu and it was pretty poor, she was very nice though and didn't pretend to be knowledgeable after she realised she was dealing with a fragrant OG!!! ;) I found it slightly underwhelming in truth. I'm a big fan of this brand for some reason I say that because not one fragrance wows me but there's some good solid stuff in there. Burlington Arcade was the highlight of recent releases from this house, Mint & tonic does open with a refreshing lime citrus, settling to a cleaner, aquatic type fragrance with a sharp hint of ginger. I was expecting something of the G&T or mojito from the name but instead a modern, clean affair which only has a hint of mint and no juniper which the tonic suggests. It's a clean, cool citrus musk of good quality, with some vetiver and cedar in the base but that's about it! Performance was average to poor on me.

8 years ago

A very interesting twist here. This is a fragrance for those who love a dense leathery, herbal but stinging opening, with an absolutely well realised tobacco note up front. I genuinely think that tea is a big player in this fragrance as it simultaneously reminded me of three different L'artisan perfumer fragrances namely... tea for two, Dzing! and dhronkha (probably not spelled right but you know the one I mean) Maybe the fresh, green tobacco leaf and tea share common traits which I suppose they kinda do. It's got that dry vetiver note but also a bit synthetic and something Bertrand Dauchafour would definitely have come up with. The clary sage and moss give it that effect too I suppose and the top notes are peculiarly original. I liked it but Tobacco reserve is not going to be for everyone, I like that it's not an easy going or creamy, gourmand tobacco. Instead this has roots in the masculine original formula. Worth a sniff for real.

8 years ago

Being the snob I am and unfortunately can’t help being, coupled with the fact I loathed the messy original Wanted, yesterday when a sales assistant said we’ve got a new Wanted from Azzaro, I feel I might’ve rolled my eyes a little bit. However, upon trying it I said ‘well it’s better than the original.’ That was just the opening a sharp orange note, spiced warm bubblegum and tobacco actually sounds a bit hellish but in practice was pretty cohesive and well executed for a throwaway flanker if ever I saw one. This fragrance has about as much subtle nuance as a sledgehammer entirely comprised of bottles of Joop, but still having worn a sample now I can’t hate it. It doesn’t even go quite full oriental and still managed to maintain some of that generic accord you get nowadays in order to keep the punters spending, but hey Wanted by night is passable. In fact I quite liked it...but don’t tell anyone.

8 years ago

Quite simply...fantastic! I had hugely high, even unrealistic expectations about this one to the point I was preparing to be disappointed and it’s not! Purple Oud is a really impactful scent with a bold, provocative and highly original opening. Purple Oud is a Purple as Prince! It’s fruity, but not sweet and definitely not playing around, it means some serious business and although completely changes when settled, some scents you can feel the basenotes lurking from the very first slightest, waft, like gazing at a distant storm you know a short time from now will be right upon you. I’d say it’s berry like, blackcurrant and hints of dark licorice melt away into a leathery, woody, Oud smell, which is rubbery and with hints of skankiness and minimal touches of smoke. The very deep drydown after about 6 hours is a very low lying, clean woody smell. It’s intoxicating, interesting, even a little strange and challenging at times but Demachy has created something I think deserves a great amount of merit.

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8 years ago

Roberto Cavalli Uomo Silver Essence

Roberto Cavalli

houdini

Crude and a little clunky but not without merit and in fairness this combination of notes has not been overly done. The opening is a very unusual, synthetic fruity, sweet candies vibe but with a herbal, slightly cerebral lavender. The drydown to me is a transformation into more of a woody, powdered smell without knowing the notes I said, sandalwood, ginger, iris and an unmistakable note of violet. Well I was pretty spot on, I also get a kind of crayon and pencil shavings base which could even be described as a touch leathery or some Tonka or something? Sounds confused and like the sort of stuff I’d usually critique hard, but hey I’m going easy on this because it was pleasantly surprising. The opening was pretty unique smelling but I’m not sure whether I could say I enjoyed it or not? It was a bit loud and slightly tacky. The settled scent actually showed me a little nuance and revealed other notes, it’s okay but I probably wouldn’t wear it again.

8 years ago

I love Detaille as a brand, they are such classy little Eau de cologne type scents that I challenge anyone to be offended by. Instead you’ll be won over by Their quaint charm and masterfully French compositions. Yachting is no different giving essentially what is quite a dry and earthy backbone of vetiver and something resembling black tea to me, with clean and aromatic cardamom and geranium. It’s reminds me of a couple of L’artisan perfumer scents maybe numero 10, dZing! and tea for two? Maybe? Don’t quote me on that! Something I really liked was that Detaille fragrances were available for sale in the lobby of a hotel I last stayed in, in Paris...I’ve never seen that before. This one isn’t my favourite but it’s decent.

8 years ago

I probably wrote a review of this years back and never posted it because the sample I dug out is really old. I can’t believe I didn’t comment on the misty, suede opening slightly gourmand with Tonka, settling to immortelle, tinged with mint. The tobacco base is then evident in a mellow skin scent, this stuff has an uneasy (or unspeakeasy?) charm. Usually, I’d find the immortelle a bit too much but with the surrounding notes it’s bearable and quite weak in terms of longevity and projection so I can appreciate the artistry without having to become sick and tired of it several hours later. Many Frapin fragrances have a boozy touch to them, this doesn’t but somehow that boozy quality is implied by th name and perhaps the tobacco? I liked it upon trying it again, as it can't of made too much of an impression on me in 2013, it’s great to dig through and revisit old samples.

8 years ago

Pretty, bloody stunning if you ask me. Rosa absolute is a bright, upbeat rosy fragrance which although not highly original does have very good quality and an intoxicating smell. It reminds me of loads of rose scents with lighter, musky chypre type bases but what was most striking was the similarity to the liquides imaginaires line and their boozy take on this genre. This is a rosé champagne of a rose scent, with all the sharp characteristics, bubbles and all, but as it settles you get a lovely powder as the rose stops projecting so much and becomes a potent skin scent. I love it and it’s not a question of bravery because I’d wear this no problem, I’m just not sure it’s all that suitable for a man. Something about it says feminine to me.

8 years ago

I was a big fan of the shower gel, very invigorating but this one didn’t get a edt for ages. The opening is sharp, citrus ginger and spices, the pepper is evident but for a fragrance with pepper in the name some might consider it a bit tame and not as peppery as something like Marc Jacobs Bang! This wouldn’t be a valid criticism however because this has a much more fleshed out base of mellow, woods and earthiness, I love this fragrance it’s great.

8 years ago

I went through a few different sets of feelings about this but I’m going to start with the positive, I really like the flacon. Love the original Hugo bottle at the best of times with all its nintiesness and army issue, military flask appearance but this one has a rough, graphite texture and bluey silver colouring which both looks and feels great. The fragrance itself was something I was half expecting to be good due to the last flanker Ice which was actually pretty decent. Sadly the opening waft even before settling or putting my wrist to my nose was a disappointing, dull, generic, aquatic affair in no way spellbinding or new. There’s touches of the green, masculinity in there from the original but generally another Azzaro Chrome/ferragamoaqva/versacepourhomme...etc etc... sort of thing. However, when settled does change for that middle section with the tea coming through and an almost mint like coolness. Unfortunately the drydown then reverts to a monotonous scent we’ve all smelled before, but this does briefly glimpse something more interesting. I don’t know if it’s my nose, giving urban journey more credit than it deserves, but I really can’t hate on it.

8 years ago

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.

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8 years ago

Alambar

Laboratorio Olfattivo

houdini

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.

8 years ago

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.

8 years ago

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.

8 years ago

I cannot wait to try this! The notes sound superb.

8 years ago

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.

8 years ago

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.

8 years ago

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.

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8 years ago

Gentleman Eau de Parfum

Givenchy

houdini

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.

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8 years ago

Anubis

Papillon Artisan Perfumes

houdini

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.

8 years ago

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.

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8 years ago

Malefic Tattoo

Laurent Mazzone Parfums

houdini

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.

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8 years ago