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Chanel No 19 Poudre

Chanel

ghoulnextdoor

This is a fragrance that reminds me of finding the perfect vintage vanity set at an estate sale—immaculate crystal bottles and silver-backed brushes arranged just so—but when you lean closer, you notice someone has etched a razor-sharp critic's observation into the mirror's edge. It's not vandalism exactly, but a deliberate counterpoint to all that polish.

It carries itself with immaculate poise but sidesteps the accommodating softness we often expect from classic perfumery. Intensely sharp and dry and green, with an earthy, rootsy powderiness that feels pulled from some garden's underground mysteries. There's an acrid verdancy about it that reminds me of stumbling across a line from a Margaret Atwood poem or a Patti Smith lyric etched into pristine bathroom tile - the juxtaposition feels ridiculous considering we're talking about a Chanel perfume, but that's genuinely how it makes me feel. Alongside this runs what I can only describe as a leathery, grassy woodiness that makes me think of expensive boots walking purposefully through wild gardens.

That sour metallic tang and bitter effervescence feels unmistakably vintage to me, though I couldn't tell you exactly why. But what keeps drawing me back isn't just this quality—it's how the scent seems to subvert its own refined elegance with what I can only call a punky funk. Like costume jewelry that's outlived its original owner—slightly tarnished, impossibly elegant, carrying what feels like decades of stories. The fragrance exists in what I experience as a kind of gloomy luminosity, like sunlight filtering through grimy stained glass onto marble floors—both austere and achingly tender at once. It shifts on skin throughout the day, revealing facets that appear and recede like carefully guarded confidences. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of moss-covered stone steps leading to a garden where everything useful grows—medicinal herbs, not decorative flowers. Other times, it morphs into something mineral and cool, like running your fingers along marble that's been sitting in shadow. Its most fascinating moments come when warmth breaks through all that greenness—not a golden warmth, but something more like the heat signature of intellectual fervor, the temperature of thoughts running too quick and deep to share casually.

At first wear, I mistook this scent for a riddle I couldn't reconcile—sharp yet powdery, I couldn't wrap my head around it. Over time, I've come to understand it as a secret history of deliberate contradiction and precise nonconformity—crisp, clear, uncompromising yet undeniably intimate. The vintage vanity set isn't just beautiful; it belonged to someone who carved her thoughts into surfaces never meant to be marked. The metallic tang smells like the tip of a brass pen that's signed verdicts and villanelles with equal gravity. When I wear No. 19 now, I no longer search for resolution to its riddle—I simply appreciate the clarity of its question.

2 years ago

Gets compared to Acqua di Parma Colonia a lot, and I can see what people mean on that because, wonders never cease, I actually own a bottle of Colonia, so I’ve compared them, and there ARE a lot of similarities. The Ferrari is a lot brighter because of the nutmeg and ginger though which gives the bergamot a candied kind of feel, and it performs better, which isn’t to say it’s great, it’s just better than the Four Hours Tops I get from the Parma, and also it just generally smells less like a urinal cake than Colonia does. I’m not saying I don’t like that one because I do, it just has the aura of a public toilet about it.

I can’t believe I just wrote “THE AURA OF A PUBLIC TOILET” in a perfume review. I don’t know who I am anymore.

2 years ago

There are no fragrances I'm aware of that are able to replicate the scent profile of Carlisle. This is a wonderfully unique fragrance that mixes the earthiness of patchouli with a blend of oriental spices. Though this claims to be a unisex fragrance, it comes off very masculine in my opinion. A powerful scent, this is one that you can get away with 4-6 sprays, while still getting the longevity out of the fragrance. The only issue I have with Carlisle is the price tag. As a premier blend, it is rarely found on sale through discounters.

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2 years ago

Toskovat'

cloudcoverrr

Expired cherry vicodin lollipop, medicinally musky, poisoned madeleines. Having tea with the women in Arsenic & Old Lace. China set cautiously onto age-stained doily turning brown at the crochet edges.

2 years ago

A fresh kind of green jasmine. A little sexy. It’s gorgeous and I love it. It’s a very true jasmine.

2 years ago

I don’t normally talk about the individual ratings I give these things but before I do anything else I feel like I need to this time, because I gave the presentation a three, because I DO think the bottles on these look handsome, and especially this one because the green look is lovely, but this is the second time I’ve bought a FOMO where the cap isn’t worth a damn when you try picking it up by it, and on top of that the paint on it has started coming off IN LITERAL CLUMPS. If you go through my reviews you’ll see I mostly collect on the affordable end of the spectrum but even I’ll say, in some ways you really DO get what you bloody paid for.

At the risk of sounding really pretentious, when I first sprayed this one, I got a bit emotional. I asked for a 50ml for Christmas years ago, but really I was much too young for it because I treated it with zero respect. I oversprayed it, I wore it out of season, I wore doing everything and anything, and obviously eventually I ran out of it, and then when o asked for it again I found out it was discontinued, which at the time I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WAS A THING THAT COULD HAPPEN, which made me really sad. Then years later when I realised I was collecting this stuff I decided to look up what it was going for secondhand, saw THOSE prices, and decided I was probably never going to own a bottle of it ever again, which made me even sadder.

So it goes without saying that when I saw news about FOMO’S upcoming release and how they weren’t even being slightly coy about what they were cloning, I got UNREASONABLY overjoyed, and then when it arrived, like I’ve already said, it hit me in my feels immediately because it smelled exactly how I remembered it and a bunch of good memories came flooding back. If anything it smells A BIT BETTER than I remembered because it’s definitely stronger and more full-bodied than the bottle I had, which makes sense because I got my bottle on the cusp of it going away and it had been reformulated at least once before that.

I read a review of the original in GQ Magazine back in the day (yes I subscribed to GQ when I was a teenager, don’t look at me like that, nobody here is strictly normal are they?), and the guy writing about it said it smelled like “wet leather driving gloves,” which is a VERY poncy GQ way of describing a perfume, but at the same time I get where he was coming from, because there there’s definitely a damp quality to this, musty in a clean, green way. It’s weird because apparently there’s no leather in it, and I think they’d say if there was because this one’s got something like 33,000 notes listed, but I think it might me the citruses and the florals coming together not accidentally make a bit of a leather accord, especially the grapefruit and the rose of I had to guess. It’s classy but also a bit rugged which I’m drawn to, which is hilarious because if you ask me I’m neither of those things. Wear this one’s time with a suit and colour other than black or grey on a

2 years ago

Can I...? Yes, Yes, You can.

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2 years ago

No Limit$

Philipp Plein Parfums

aussiefragrance

Super masculine while staying non-offensive.

This line is definitely under-rated!

2 years ago

If you’re looking for the perfect oud fragrance for someone who doesn’t like oud that much, this is the one! blended to perfection with a little rose. masculine leaning but could very easily be unisex.

2 years ago

I saw in a lot of places that this was a more masculine take on the BR540 profile, and like… I guess? It’s not a clone of the Extrait, which as far as I can tell IS supposed to be the more “masculine” version of it, it’s the original with the berry brightness turned right the way up and a big dose of pepper shoved in it. It DOES smell nice, it’s either my favourite or second favourite way to smell like 540 that I own, the number of ways I would describe as being “TOO MANY,” halfway on accident I want to add, I didn’t due my due diligence when I picked up a couple of things, this isn’t Aventus where I’ve made peace with the fact that I’m probably going to be buying “Aventus Plus (Add Note Or Accord Here)” until the day I die. It’s just there’s only so much you can do to butch up a fragrance that’s trying to smell like Cotton Candy, it’s either your vibe or it’s not.

2 years ago

There's something in here that smells like exhaust fumes from a busy road. CARmina indeed. Horrible.

2 years ago

For the first 15seconds the fragrance has an identity crisis and then settles on smelling about 80% close to creed silver mountain water. Smells way better on skin than in the bottle or tester and tends to last longer.

Shocking horrible atomiser and bottle design isn't my fav but cannot complain for the value it offers

2 years ago

A great all rounder.

Naxos has a lot of the classic masculine tropes; lavender, citrus, and tobacco.

Smells similar to Mugler Pure Havane, but a little lighter and brighter.

The citrus and lavender add an aromatic freshness to the warming cinnamon and sweet honey, while the smooth cashmeran and vanilla help round things out with soft sweetness.

The tobacco is well placed between bright and sweet and adds a beautiful aromatic earthiness, and the Tonka adds a soft spice.

Once it begins to settle, fresh florals come through and brighten the fragrance up.

No complaints here!

2 years ago

This is way better than people credit it for. Sadly though, it's like a slightly less magical Dead of Night (with no real oud unlike the strangelove), and as I own the latter, I don't need this. But if you want DON but would prefer to spend 500 euros instead of 1000 (LOL!) this could be the one. As another reviewer said, don't judge it by shoving your nose into it, as it doesn't do it justice.

2 years ago

A sledgehammer assault version of the original which will appeal to people who like Oud for Greatness, Parfums de Marly and other such sludgy dross. Don't get me wrong, this is better than those, but only just. This is for the next gen brahs who have only just discovered Amouage and those who shell out big money on crap like Fragrance du Bois and Bodicea the Victorious. To say this is similar to the original Jubilation XXV is to completely miss the point and the beauty of the original.

2 years ago

Beautifully fresh citrus with lots of light aromatics. The freshness of ginger is really nice, and helps with the fresh aquatic feel.

There is gentle balsamic warmth and structure in the base with amber and labdanum.

After many hours, the dry down offers more spice alongside the aromatics and aquatic notes while the ginger and citrus still providing a noticible uplift

A great every day scent, perfect for all occasions. Inoffensive yet noticeable.

2 years ago

I have a love and hate relationship with cumin, and that’s maybe why it’s definitely the prominent note to me here. It smells very sensual to me, in a dirty way. What I mostly hate about cumin is how it can easily turn a fragrance into a sweat pit smell on dirty clothing. Happy this is not totally the case. I have mixed feelings about this one. I don’t think i will get it a place on my wishlist for now. But I’m also not saying I haven’t been tempted to while trying it for two days. I’d love to find a more prominent tobacco note too. Unfortunately for me, it’s only barely there in the very opening.

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2 years ago

Side Effect

Initio Parfums Prives

dean.g.c

Opening is warm, sweet, and floral with the aromatic and metallic twinge of saffron.

Once this starts to settle the boozy rum becomes clearer with a subtle spice, smooth woods and tobacco.

It's cosy, pleasant and perfectly wearable, but not sure about the intense hype it gets.

2 years ago

Light, clean, uplifting, meditative, spa-like cypress/cedar scent

Mineralic, herbal thyme opening leading directly into a cypress and cedar top. Thyme drops away, to be replaced with olibanum in the mid, adding a slight smoky depth. Dries down to have a sweetish, softer cashmeran in the base.

2 years ago

Spray it then leave it for a year and it will perform excellently. This is a real bargain, providing a modern twist on the familiar barbershop masculine. The opening may seem a bit harsh, but it develops into a really lovely perfume, with natural smelling lavender, plus all the notes listed above, but also a semi-soupy tonka-ish base. The sugary soup doesn't dominate and is made less crass by the spices and herbs. I don't wear it often as I don't tend towards this type of scent but when I do I'm always surprised again by how good it is.

2 years ago

Absurdly potent ambery patchouli which weirdly gives off slight Mugler Angel vibes. I love it. But having applied it erroneously today with a hangover I am minded to warn all comers about its strength. Nuclear.

2 years ago

This was the perfect lilac I was looking for. The wisteria lends some purple feel to the composition. Not too sweet or chewy or dense. Clean and crisp like a spring morning. To be worn with tee shirts and crisp linen shirts.

2 years ago

You can probably tell by looking at my collection and reviews that I’ve put up so far that I have zero issue at all with clones/dupes/whatever, but I do find it a bit heartbreaking that Banana Republic has turned this collection into a bit of a clone line in recent years, because in the realm of affordable department store perfumery they were putting out some absolute blinders, two of them I consider stone cold cheapie masterpieces. This is one of them.

First time I smelled it I wasn’t really impressed, I thought it was just another bergamot fragrance, and at the time I had a LOT of those, but I saw it out one day for an absolute steal, something like twenty quid, so I just grabbed it because at that price why not, and the more I wore it the more I realised I loved it. In the opening the tea note gives it this almost minty fresh blast, then the bergamot and Mandarin orange slowly creep in, mixing with the green notes to produce something, will, citrusy and green, not to sound stupid. The woods are there to support it in the far drydown so it’s got a solid foundation but like, grassy citrus tea, that’s mostly what I get, and it’s very classy yet casual. On a blistering hot day in smart shorts and a nice short-sleeve shirt this is properly the business.

2 years ago

Woody/violet. Decent longevity and projection. I wore this all the time before I started getting into fragrances. I wear it much less now, but it's still worth a try, not least because the 200ml bottles are often on offer so work out amazing value.

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2 years ago