On Essential parfums: Every now and again a brand comes along that really hits on every level. Essential parfums is one those brands. Superb perfumes, nothing superfluous or irrelevant in the lineup, a nice number of releases, Frederic Malle style focus on perfumers (all of which are fantastic master perfumers) with their name (and picture) pride of place on the bottle and marketing materials. A commitment to sustainability, in terms of perfume materials and packaging, transparency about natural naturals used and their source, and the really important thing to most consumers an pledge to keep prices affordably low without sacrificing quality. So a brand that truly adds value and brings a lot to the table. I have huge admiration and respect for them and they should be applauded for the whole concept of the brand. Mon Vetiver is really great. I can't fault it's themes, might put some on the back foot as there's a controlled jibe of woody amber in the opening (moreso on a strip) but when applied to skin the vetiver aspect comes alive!!! It's fresh top notes, effervesce with juniper and quinine vibes, so the G&T association is there as is the classic pairing of grapefruit and vetiver, sharing that bitter edge. I think it's great, it's a minimal piece but considering Bruno does a few for Malle, he's not phoning it in here. I'm picky about vetivers and this although really decent doesn't fully do the job for me, as in recent years I've started to prize (Vintage) Guerlain vetiver as my favourite vetiver as it has a little more grit than something like this. however if I was ever was in the market for a functional, synthy, vetiver I'd get this over many others as I love the brand and feel that the value on offer here is just too hard to pass on. This is a must for vetiver lovers to at least check it out, because you will be seriously impressed I'd say.

On Essential parfums: Every now and again a brand comes along that really hits on every level. Essential parfums is one those brands. Superb perfumes, nothing superfluous or irrelevant in the lineup, a nice number of releases, Frederic Malle style focus on perfumers (all of which are fantastic master perfumers) with their name (and picture) pride of place on the bottle and marketing materials. A commitment to sustainability, in terms of perfume materials and packaging, transparency about natural naturals used and their source, and the really important thing to most consumers an pledge to keep prices affordably low without sacrificing quality. So a brand that truly adds value and brings a lot to the table. I have huge admiration and respect for them and they should be applauded for the whole concept of the brand. The comparisons here on Fragrantica are literally crazy!!! Bigarade,? okay, the Candida I'm not familiar with, blood oranges I have and like but NO!!! & Clinique happy??? are you off your rocker??? I sort of love that fragrance but it's an insult to compare it to this quite frankly! Sure when I got the samples and heard the name I thought, I bet I know what that will smell like and it largely delivers it a orange top over creamy sandalwood, does exactly what it says on the tin!!!! and yet it's so much more. For sheer enjoyment factor it's much nicer than a Happy or a Blood oranges, I own both and I'm telling you now this is a totally different experience. For starters the orange accord in here is wonderful. Bitter pith and sweet orange oil conspire to give a realistic but not too real orange, it's still a perfume orange. All the while this is being propped up and exalted by a great sandalwood accord which is not nutty, or weird as they can somtimes be and it's not too heavily reliant on one synthetic sandalwood (like Javanol for example) contains sandalwood from Australia to give it that je ne sais quoi. Wear it though and you'll discover a lovely, lasting, orange on top of a soft skin scent of pleasant santal. The smell still hasn't surprised me but how much I like it certainly has. UPDATE 17/05/21: Okay so I think my nose was on the blink when I first sniffed this or I didn't wear it (in fact I know I didn't and perhaps that's why you should before reviewing) properly just tried on a strip and my arm. Because it's basically a spicy sandalwood, with a brushy, modern incense feel and doesn't smell dissimilar to santal 33 only with a markedly more mild papyrus note. However, it's there and despite the true loveliness of the orange note in the opening, it's still a trendy Le labo crossed with some 90's sandalwood designers like D&G or Gucci. The thing is I don't hate santal 33 but I really don't care for it either, it gets on my nerves for about 80% of the wear time (clearly too much) and this has similar tenacity and timbre. So it's a no. I don't think it's a deliberate attempt to make a copy or anything but there's a finite amount of sandalwood materials and ways to bring them together and there's inevitably going to be intersections. The orange is a nice touch though and actually really compliments the fragrance.

On Essential parfums: Every now and again a brand comes along that really hits on every level. Essential parfums is one those brands. Superb perfumes, nothing superfluous or irrelevant in the lineup, a nice number of releases, Frederic Malle style focus on perfumers (all of which are fantastic master perfumers) with their name (and picture) pride of place on the bottle and marketing materials. A commitment to sustainability, in terms of perfume materials and packaging, transparency about natural naturals used and their source, and the really important thing to most consumers an pledge to keep prices affordably low without sacrificing quality. So a brand that truly adds value and brings a lot to the table. I have huge admiration and respect for them and they should be applauded for the whole concept of the brand. Rose Magnetic Gorgeous!!! Lovely, mellow, not overly sweet rose. There's been some really lovely roses along the lines of this recently, beautifully supported, natural smelling roses. Velvet rose, propped up in all the right places by musks and warmth and lovely complementary top notes, like pink pepper or here there's Litchi listed in the notes. I'll buy it! Kinda fresh top, sure litchi okay. cool. I mean why would you bother with a screeching JAM, from Montale or a cheapo, crude PEA & rose crystal affair for a more money from a 'niche' brand? So good for the money and another example of a lovely rose accord which probably only uses a tiny amount of rose absolute but gets a hell of a lot out of it, with careful balance, Bravo Sophie Labbe. Comes highly recommended.

On Essential parfums: Every now and again a brand comes along that really hits on every level. Essential parfums is one those brands. Superb perfumes, nothing superfluous or irrelevant in the lineup, a nice number of releases, Frederic Malle style focus on perfumers (all of which are fantastic master perfumers) with their name (and picture) pride of place on the bottle and marketing materials. A commitment to sustainability, in terms of perfume materials and packaging, transparency about natural naturals used and their source, and the really important thing to most consumers an pledge to keep prices affordably low without sacrificing quality. So a brand that truly adds value and brings a lot to the table. I have huge admiration and respect for them and they should be applauded for the whole concept of the brand. So, I'd only tried the musc at first and for a good while nothing else from the brand, then I got the sample set and now I'm on Divine vanille which seems to be the most talked about from essential parfums. I can see why in a sense, it's an impactful, full blooded, vanilla fragrance. The comparisons to Herod are somewhat understandable but also a bit misleading too, the intent of this fragrance is quite different. The tobacco or cherry/almond facet is minimal, just an artefact from the kind of balsamic vanilla this is and I find quickly dissipates. I found the opening hour or two to be a mildly boozy, cocoa butter, caramelised vanilla, which while not unpleasant I don't necessarily associate with massively 'high quality' or a good mimick of vanilla absolute. This is a scent which unfolds over time and becomes more and more pleasant, releasing those woodier qualities. It's still sweet but I can enjoy it and I get why it's popular. Then BAM!!!! I'm confronted by a mild, dry, floral accord/note which for me marries beautifully and if it wasn't there my appraisal of this scent would be quite different I suspect, so it kinda makes the perfume. I've no idea what it is but they feel like dry, velvety, slightly decayed rose or geranium perhaps? I've no clue, and subtle to the point I could be imagining of perceiving it. It's still primarily vanilla and gets, softer and more supple still, but subdued, which is preferable to how it opened. This is a really good, long lasting deep vanilla, but on a personal level, they're just not my thing.

On Essential parfums: Every now and again a brand comes along that really hits on every level. Essential parfums is one those brands. Superb perfumes, nothing superfluous or irrelevant in the lineup, a nice number of releases, Frederic Malle style focus on perfumers (all of which are fantastic master perfumers) with their name (and picture) pride of place on the bottle and marketing materials. A commitment to sustainability, in terms of perfume materials and packaging, transparency about natural naturals used and their source, and the really important thing to most consumers an pledge to keep prices affordably low without sacrificing quality. So a brand that truly adds value and brings a lot to the table. I have huge admiration and respect for them and they should be applauded for the whole concept of the brand. So Bois imperial is instantly recognisable as that Bisch vibe of incense that he has so brilliantly crafted for Barrois, Penhaligons and ELDO to name a few. Superb, strong, otherworldly modern resin perfume, with a twinkly aura. There's green aspects, with rough barbed incense, labdanic, olibanic fruitiness in the top notes, with futurist leather and dense woods, it effervesces out of the bottle . This perfume is amazing and for £65 for 100ml (and potentially cheaper with a discount code) this is a must have and no brainer for those who love Barrois Ganymede and the likes. The problem is, while I accept this is a five star, out of this world perfume and I think Bisch has hit on a rich vein of creativity with these perfumes I really do...It gets on my nerves a bit. I hate to say it. My love of the opening is masked after a few hours, too much of a good thing perhaps? Maybe it's the long and complex change & my tastes are mutating? It's a bit like growing old or something, swapping the excitement of staying out all night clubbing (Bois Imperial) for more sedate, grown up activities and to bed yearly with cocoa and question time. (The Musc) My appreciation of great perfume goes beyond what I would wear myself (not saying I'm not going to buythis because I'd be foolish not to) but into things that I can appreciate because of the novelty of the formula or other more 'technical' rationale.

Please don't evoke the Velvet underground classic to try to sell me this perfume. I'll be the judge of what's wild thankyou very much indeed. I assume the 'wild' refers to a hefty glug of parched IBQ leather accord with sweet piercing cassis and musk. I quite like the fragrance (so why the negative tone??? I'm such a dick!) for the simple juxtaposition of sweet/fresh and smokey/oily/dirty/herbal. It's very 'synthetic' smelling and I rarely say that sentence because most people band it about as a derogatory term with overtones of 'natural is better' & not really understanding of what a synthetic material is....but anyway! You're in safe hands here, I mean Anti-nature, if that's something art is striving to replace the beauty of? not that everything should strive to emulate nature but you have to round out a fragrance so it doesn't smell like a collection of familiar, chemical beats. I'm not even saying this necessarily is that either, it's pleasant and wearable for me as I broadly dig the vibe or at least think it's okay, but I don't have a preference for it. So it did remind me of a Memo fragrance Irish/Italian/Swedish....what they on now? Mozambique leather? I have a fragrance I blind bought called Ambergris showers by Rasasi and it's like a clumsy, Montale version of this, but I still quite like it in a strange masochistic way. This is clearly more refined so, It's a like. I don't know if this review reads that way but I'm not saying this is bad. I think if you like Aventus (oddly enough) you will enjoy this fragrance.

I'd say this has the schmaltziest name out of them all & that's saying something. However, the opening to me was the most unique of the collection in my opinion. Shame the perfume as a whole is just not impactful enough to leave a lasting impression. Competent perfume again but I've just got very little to say about it. Sorry.

Okay so. Sun drop. I've no issue with the name, in fact I'm quite intrigued. The fragrance itself is a big, thick spicy opening and strange earthy saffron and leather, always familiar though, because resinous, labdanum and almost gourmand notes of cinnamon and ibq laced, oud accord are conspiring to make this smell like a few Carner Barcalona's and a touch of Black Afgano, Terenzi etc.... you know the vibes. The cinnamon actually reminds me of Molton and Brown mesmerising oudh accord and gold...except this clearly has more going on and for it. So I like it. It's very nice. It's like a kind of sexy biscuit. but a fashion that is at least 8-10 years old? But it's flaw is that it's nothing new. In the context of the collection that's totally in keeping.

"Let me stand next to your fire...." "Let me stand next to your fire....Let me stand baby... Oh hi! It's you. I was just singing some Jimi Hendrix, because I might as fucking well! Y'know keep myself entertained. The name says this to me. Fire!!! Passion. All that stuff... the perfume says... Nothing burning. Nothing particularly desirable. I'd like to be all melodramatic and leave it there but in truth this is a nice, fruity, floral perfume (sound familiar to the rest of the femmes in this line?) which smells a touch tropical for a moment, the accord even hints at the fleshy, juiciness of mango or something. Ultimately though it's nondescript. Warmed through with musks, it's pleasant but pointless to me. Take a fragrance which is very similar in terms of style, Parle moi de parfums, Chypre Mojo, that thing demands that you take note of it and it's kookiness. This next one is a slightly worse example because the combo with lavender is inspired but....Malle's Music for a while, the pineapple note in that is like syrup, it sticks in my mind and I can't help but be impacted by it. I doubt I'll remember what this smelled like tomorrow. See I'm not apposed to light fruity florals and if that's all this brand wanted to achieve with this release then fine, but I believe hardcore perfume fans will demand a little more. That's By Orlov's market isn't it? I can see these being heavily discounted at some point.

These names are killin' me. Hope. Okay I guess that's fair, it's not the worst name in this collection. (I do own a fragrance called hope come to think of it) Yeah, it's a pleasant floral fragrance which if you really pay attention to the top notes (I've applied it a few time now) you do get that piquant sweetness of pink pepper, but it's VERY fleeting, remarkably so actually, then develops a, peachy floral then more of a lightly woody musk with a touch of earth, just redeeming it from the brink of being completely redundant and boring. Only just though, it's still in keeping with the overall theme (certainly of the women's ones) of just being light and not especially memorable. Sometimes osmanthus can be a mildly peach scented afterthought but increasingly it's featuring in bolder compositions and while this isn't really one of them, it's nice. It's just nice. Feminine, soft, I'd never dream of wearing it, but it's nice.