Amazing Sugary Lychee and fruits! Fresh, and powerful! Feminine but could be worn by the right man! This scent is heavenly!
Super unique! Tropical yet sweet with the vanilla! Great performance and amazing scent!!
A fresh-aromatic spicy woody leathery masterpiece. A scent that is difficult to describe, it starts as a tart fresh rhubarb mixed with woods, drying down into a leathery woody base that stills holds its freshness. It’s Quinten Bish’s masterpiece. It can go on anytime of year and will hold its magic. It’s stays forever and will make your presence linger long after you left the room, but without being irritating or anoying. It combines Quinten Bish’s masterfull blends of spice, freshness and slightly dark woods to perfection.
A fragrance that seems expressly designed for the hottest of summer days, this opens with white citrus florals, with jasmine particularly noticeable, then progresses to a slightly leathery- black tea combo, the florals darker and more subdued, mixed with a hint of pine, before ending on an earthy patchouli note. It's very light, almost effortless, and it blossoms in the heat.
The blurb for this perfume talks about Villa Nellcote's past, when it was occupied by the gestapo, but also how it became a hippy haven ( the Rolling Stones recorded Exile on Main Street there), which suggests there should be an uneasy balance of light and dark in the fragrance. I don't get that at all: instead it reminds me of lying on a lawn, on the sort of day when the sky is intensely blue and the sun high and unfettered above, eyes closed, catching the small of the garden around me, and the dry, baked earth beneath the grass.
I like this a lot, and don't at all regret blind buying a full bottle (it was on offer), but there's an apparent mismatch between the intent and the actual fragrance. And I can't help but think that the intent might have resulted in something a little more challenging and ultimately interesting that what's been presented here, lovely though it may be.
Imagine someone wearing a loud, arab amber/fake oud fragrance changing their baby's dirty nappy, and they've just started to talc the little bottom, while the soiled nappy is still within smelling distance and you walk in at that exact moment..... Voilà, Blossom Love. But I'm not mad at it.... It does calm down after the quite hair-raising opening. Update: actually I have to retract my previous statement. This is, and remains, a MASSIVE, bombastic, more is more, EXTRA, histrionic diva, but not a diva with the chops of talent, more a desperate housewives type of hot mess with plastic, enlarged lips and eyelids that sag with years of encrusted mascara and coagulated benzodiazepines. The only person I can imagine smelling like this in all seriousness would be an alcoholic, low-quality Liza Minelli drag tribute act.
This smells like the original Aramis. I know it gets compared to a lot of niche and/or more obscure perfumes, and I’m not saying it doesn’t smell like them, I wouldn’t know, I’ve not smelled them, but if it IS like them, then THEY smell a lot like Aramis too. I have loads of experience with Aramis, it was one of my Dad’s two signatures when I was growing up, the other being Obsession For Men. There’s a very good chance it was the first fragrance I ever sprayed myself with because it was just there. I also owned a bottle of my own until last year when the sprayer broke and I just threw it out because it was a modern formulation and I wasn’t that attached to it.
This one smells a LOT better than that did. It honestly reminds me a lot of the version my Dad used to wear, it’s more full-bodied in the opening before airing out as it hits the mid without losing its bite. I’m sure it doesn’t actually just have three notes like the said own says it does, but this is one of those times I could believe it does, where the bitter grapefruit and medicinally rose are blending together to give it the tang it’s got, with the leather smoothing it out. It smells INCREDIBLE, especially when you factor in the price. It’s a perfume made for actual serious adults. Which probably means o shouldn’t be wearing it but whatever I do what I want.
This really is one of the best perfumes Zara has ever put out. It might be THE best. If nothing else I’d definitely say that if you have any affection for Aramis, buy this instead. The only negatives I can think of is at £29.99 for the new version in their Exclusive range bottle with the magnetic cap it’s probably MORE EXPENSIVE than Aramis is now, and like a lot of Zara fragrances the sprayer isn’t very good, but take into account I’ve already said the sprayer on my bottle of Aramis one day just randomly STOPPED WORKING, so grade that one on a curve.
Utterly bonkers creation from Christophe Laudamiel.
It opens with an utterly huge blast of green rhubarb, but this quickly morphs into something else - pistachio, citrus, dry grass, even a hint of something creamy and vanillic. Then the rhubarb roars back again before changing into something different once more. It's sweet and tart at the same time, and has never smelt quite the same on every occasion I've worn it.
It's also very persistent and strong, and will cling to clothing for days once applied - spare application is required.
It took me a little while to love this perfume, but love it I now do. Too strong for summer perhaps, but ideal for spring when there's still that touch of coolness in the air.
Breath of God is one of those perfumes that comes brandishing its reputation before it, like some leperous figure shouting, "Unclean! Unclean!"
In actuality, it's nowhere near as fearsome as its reputation suggests. The opening is dense and heavy smoked fruit, which smells almost gourmand-like. The smoke intensifies and recedes, at times threatening to become overwhelming, but it always backs off at the last moment. Rose pokes through. There's a strong blast of vetiver. Finally, it simmers down to a lulling amber incense and stays that way for several hours. This drydown is the least interesting part of the creation: it's like a slightly less refined version of the notes you would commonly associate with a Serge Lutens.
I remember buying Lush's first commercially produced perfume, a sticky, sickly lemon thing that smelled like melted, condensed boiled sweets, and to have progressed from that to this, which is almost harshly virtuosic, is an enormous leap in both technical skills and imagination.
Oddly, this would almost almost work as a summer perfume, but the incense is ultimately a little too dense for that. Ideal for autumn and winter though.
Utterly abstract fragrance that simultaneously smells very alien while at the same time is suggestive of so many different things.
First off, it smells very yellow. And that's not just because I know mimosa is one of the notes. A single whiff of this and that's the singular colour that comes to mind, a deep, intense yellow. It also smells hot and dusty, but this isn't the hot dustiness of an arid landscape: it's the glassy and metallic lustre of a hot light bulb,or a fan heater blasting out warmth on a cold winter's day. The wine note present is somehow also marine, but it's the sea in the distance, with only the slightest suggestion of it carried on a breeze. Above all, this is astonishingly airy and suggestive of vast, wide open spaces, but it's the space of an unused storage warehouse or an unoccupied office block. As for wood, I get none.
This is quite unlike any perfume I've encountered, and had Christophe Laudamiel not discontinued his Zoo line, it would be backup bottle worthy.
Doliphor is very intimate, very soft and personal.
It's difficult to describe because of this.
It's like a baby's head. Maybe that's the easiest way.
Human, clean, lactonic.
It doesn't lean too dirty on me. Slightly sweet and aromatic from the carrot seed.
I was immediately worried about the costus note as it really wasn't for me in Ambilux, but here it is just right.
Official wording;
Skin in a bottle. Warm and humid areas of the body.
Carnal imprint left on a worn garment. Trace of a musky laundry
Composition:
Tenacious and synthetic metallic, bitter, greenish, inky, tea, very musky. Fantastic cooling, kind of indescribable fragrance.
Strong, classic, masculine, aromatic, citrus, floral, dry woody.
An opening of spicy aromatic petitgrain and bitter orange, quickly followed by a nice, green neroli. Orange blossom floralizes and sweetens the neroli, while carrot seeds add a slight powderiness in the mid. Cashmeran and woods combine to create a very nice dry woody base. Claims oak, I don't really detect a significant oak note, more cedar if anything specific. Has a feeling of a classic EDC-style fragrance with a significantly stronger woody base.
Futuristic, masculine cold damp earth and rose done in a clean, modern way. Bladerunner
A bit peppery with a little synthetic sweetness in the opening. Quickly a slight grayish, mineralic, damp earthiness appears, casting a kind of veil over a fairly prominent rose and a cold, slightly plasticky incense note in the mid. A synthesized patchouli derivative woody base with ambroxan. This is a fairly linear scent with many interesting aroma chemicals and futuristic synthetics.
I fell in love with this back in 2003 and still love it. Back then it reminded me of a Catholic Church. I was obsessed. I still pick that up but it is so much more than just a church scent. Big, rich, complex, and sexy as all get out. Hot priest vibes.
Beautifully sweet, with warming boozy rum and rich tobacco. The sweet ripe dark fruits, and rich cacao are delicious.
The leather is subtle and the vanilla is sweet and indulgent but doesn't lead edible on me. .
The tobacco is something else I have to say. Smokey and rich. The leather is just the right depth to add a comforting familiarity of a well worn leather jacket.
Cosy, delicious, comforting, and amazingly masculine.
Bergamote 22 zaps me into believing I'm ready for a busy work day. Lasts a good 4 hours before fading into a nice musk and vetiver scent. This is my favorite Le Labo to date
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Spicy, leathery gingerbread at the outset that swiftly turns into a very potent dark rose. This gradually diminishes, turns slighty medicinal in the drydown, then there's a soft, pleasant incense to round it off.
This is a perfectly acceptable scent, and that intense rose core is very striking, but overall that's not enough to make this creation particularly noteworthy, pleasant though it is.
The opening is salty and mineral and seaweedy. This isn't the still scent of a tropical beach somewhere, it's somewhere more exposed, on a north sea coast, sliding shingled stone underfoot, and with a bitter wind blustering around you, the sea blue-black and choppy.
That briney, somewhat vegetal tang never fully leaves throughout the scent's lifetime. It does grow darker though, definitely a heavy woodiness, but it's decaying driftwood, drenched in the ocean and thrown up in a coastal cove somewhere, still cold and wet, and with the sea's scent permeating its structure. It's very musky too, the combined effect of artificial oud and ambergris, I guess.
Revived for the third time, quite how this distinctly polarising creation ended up in Tom Ford's Signature Collection must be down to the fact that those who love it REALLY love it, and the company forsee this group driving sales for the forseeable future. Though, frankly, I would not be at all surprised if it it falls by the wayside yet again.
Which would be a proper shame: it's my favourite of the current Tom Ford line, by several light years, and a reminder that the house used to take really quite bold risks with their releases. Savour it while you can.
Almost archetypal CDG cedarwood, mixed with pine, frankincense and patchouli. The obligatory obligatory house style left field notes come into play as well, in the form of a grey, metallic tang, and something that reminds me of nearly-dry gloss paint.
If you are at all familiar with the CDG range, there aren't many surprises here. It's pretty linear, obviously designed to appeal to a fairly mainstream audience, but is none the worse for that. Apart from an uncharacteristically strong opening, it has the airiness and lightness you would associate with the brand, and it while it won't revolutionise your world, it's still an attractive, slighly off-kilter scent. Suitable for most occasions, apart from the height of summer.
This fragrance is such a bomb. I just got a 10ml bottle from a discounter because it currently is not sold in the U.S. As soon as Aaron sells this in the U.S. I’m getting a full bottle. Aaron also has other scents in his line that are amazing!
One of the best allrounder fresh-woody scents. for a cologne it preforms like a eau de parfum, with a fantastic longevity (8-12h) and a medium sillage. It‘s fresh with being weak, also woody-Leathery with a very masculine vibe. It’s nickname with my wife is my “Dad-smell”. It’s reliable, perfect value for money and out of this world preformance for something that is marketed as a cologne. I would not recommend it for guys under 25, it would smell a bit out of its place but that‘s personal. If you want a classy, dad like, italian luxury at it’s finest, then AdP Colonia Intensa is the fragrance for you.
A good take on Oud, combining Oud with mineral/aquatic notes is done with good skill. It creates a good allrounder-scent with medium sillage and a good 6-10 h on skin. A Metallic-mineral opening, combined with some spice notes and a not so animalic Oud dry down. I get why people have sort of love/hate relationship with it, but to me it’s a good allrounder, a workplace/holliday everyday scent.
This is the biggest cliche you can write when reviewing this one, but… best budget Vanilla fragrance you can buy. Literally the only real contender it has is Liquid Brun, which is a Althair clone, which APPARENTLY smells a decent bit like Club Black y to begin with. I would also throw Zara’s Immortal Vanilla into the conversation, although that’s marketed exclusively to women so you’ve got to get over that before you buy it, and some people find the Coconut note in that really off-putting, either because it’s too synthetic for them or they find it too sunscreeny, both of which I can’t argue with, if that bother you it bothers you. But yeah, if you tied me to a chair and made me choose, until I get my nose on Liquid Brun I’m picking this one. Best budget Vanilla on the market.
You have to know you like Vanilla though because that’s pretty much the main thing you’re getting from it. It does take on a slightly salty aspect as it dries down which I think might be the Ambroxan, and I guess the incense makes it a bit lightly smoky, but I don’t get any of the Bergamot, I don’t get any of the florals, I don’t get much of the woods, if they’re there then they’re playing a VERY background supporting role on my skin, for me this is pretty much just a very tasty-smelling Vanilla, so if you want a bit more nuance from a perfume with that note then you probably should look somewhere else at the Cheapie end of the scale. The Immortal Vanilla I already mentioned would honestly be a good place to start.
In my personal opinion it leans more to being the masterpiece of Julien Rasquinet than just a fragrance. it‘s the perfect blend of spicy warmth and freshness at the same time, meeting manly woody, leathery warmth and comfort. In that same way it blends oriental and western style fragrance in the most briljant way. It’s special but approchable, really present but not overpowering, it’s elegant, gentlemanly but also mystirious and hard to capture. It’s story of the enclave in Oman is a very good one, capturing freshness and desert heath really tells the story of it‘s duality in a very scenic way. Overall: a very versitile scent that you can wear in a suit in a boardroom, in shorts allong the italian or French coast or on a rainy cold day. To me, it will always bring a smile to my face.
