I've seen this going cheap a few times and been tempted to blind buy it. I've tried it now... and I'm somewhat less tempted, but not all the way entirely. There's something I like about it's trashy, knockabout themes, the main one being mandarin, and bergamot which it conveys instantly, in a sort of vague, chalky floral cloud a little like the vague peach or apricot hint you get with osmanthus, except here it's with a definite mandarin note, so far so good then. What is immediately apparent (and much moreso later) is a very creamy, sweetened, musk/sandalwood which is soft and likable and as the more volatile citrus and vague floralcy floats off into the air, you're left with something of a appealing skin/clothes sent of long gone fruit and tropical cocktail, and creamy aroma chemicals. What I like is that it doesn't get progressively sweeter until just annoying musk and vanillin remain, which is what I thought might happen at one point. Hey, as far as mandarin/sandalwood fragrances go, I'm struggling to think of a better one at this point (or any other one for that matter but there you go) and I was genuinely happy when I first smelled it but I would pay top whack for this, no way.

Bravo to Sultan Pasha for being one of those oil/attar makers and natural material gurus who actually has a respect and grasp of classic perfumery, clearly loves perfume, collects it, and knows it intimately. It shows in his attars which are not just fantastic, rare, high quality materials, unsupported by any compositional skill, they are like odes to classic French technique in oil form. The problem I have with attars is that I don't like the way they wear, give me an alcohol perfume any day, and my prayers have been answered, thanks Zoologist. Instantly, think big, rich, powdery, Mitsuoko chypre, meets aldehydic floral opening, that blue lotus accord (perhaps even the stuff itself, don't see why not it's Pasha afterall) and I detect a trace of jasmine and ylang or even osmanthus, it has a certain dry, summery, chalky freshness, then into downbeat drydown of resins and woods, ever detectable at the 'back' of the composition. It's fantastic, a real love letter to perfume, and a proper treat for perfume enthusiasts who love um' traditional. I thought it was great. Pretty spectacular actually.

A fantastic disgrace this one. Elements I like and some I really don't but what I will say is that it's incredibly well made, and balanced, much more so than many Zoologists, not being bitchy there, I like many of them and the opportunities brand owner Victor gives to indy perfumers but as soon as I smelled this I figured it had been done by one of the IFF crew he's brought in for recent releases. There's the signature ambroxan and woody amber as it's dried down something Rasquinet seems to be able to keep on doing without offending anyone. (Anyone being me) Of course it has those melon faceted calone, or marine molecule effects to it as well, something which you'd very much expect in a perfume named seahorse but you also get that salty, algae bloom, seaweed with a sickening creamy neroli and vetiver. This is that combination often found in these sorts of sea evoking perfumes and it's the reason I disliked many fragrances including vetiver dance by Andy Tauer but then ended up being convinced by. I can even smell the aromatic clary sage and a somewhat, 90's masculine lean to this perfume which is an aquatic with much more than meets the eye. It's actually very pleasurable to wear and has some sweet, almost fruity facets at the start, giving almost pink hues in and among all that aquamarine and teal. Reminded me in a fleeting seaside way of Pacific rock moss by G&B. Anyway, all in all I think it's accomplished what it sets out to do, evoke a seahorse. I can forgive the herbal, handcream/neroli/vetiver thing because it's me that needs to grow on that front and there's enough other stuff going on to keep me interested and actually enjoy this perfume.

Oh my sweet lord! This is absolutely gorgeous! I can't say that I've said that about a perfume in ages but there, I said it. I really like this brand, despite the prohibitive price tag and luxury veneer at first glance. In fairness though I think the natural materials used shine with a brilliance and clarity, and the cofferette presentation is very nice to be fair, so it's not like you're being cheated, I just can't afford them and I'm bitter hahah. Although another plus about this brand, they now offer smaller bottles, and this and the Ambergris one are so mind-alteringly good, that I will have to get them at some point when I'm flush. So this to me, smells much more like a creamy musky, sandalwood with gorgeous irone accents, rather than a straight up Iris or orris root perfume. It has a powdery, fruity top note and evokes DK Cashmere/Fuel for Men, Santal Carmin but it's frankly better than all of those. This is due to the fact it's soooooo thick and dense and voluminous as are everything in this basenote only line. The difference from a mere comforting sandalwood/musk type scent is the fact that it evokes leather quite bloody well, and avoids the usual cliches of known bases like Suederal (even though it's glorious) or the floral 'leather' of a cuir de Russie or the modern leathers with spiky IBQ, or even a really orris laden or cosmetic smelling leather, this seems to achieve something adjacent to these. It stays close to the skin but wears relentlessly and is so beautiful, it's an absolute delight, I'm as intrigued about this as I was with Musk Ambergris one, except this is less bizarro.

I was disappointed by this, a pal sent me a sample and whenever I see 'Orris' in the title of a fragrance I mentally prepare for something lovely and frankly quite safe in terms of most peoples tastes, orris butter is divine, irones and ionones are divine (used correctly) and orris bases and materials like Orris givco are lovely, orris blends well with most stuff...basically how'd you fuck orris up? Well MCM manage it! hahah...no I'm kidding, it's not all bad but I think the name is a little misleading for me, despite some vague orris texture I can just about detect. I think? Opens lovely, complex, lightly floral and fresh but then to me this quickly becomes a salinated, cucumber, dill, papyrus-lite, fragrance which glimpses Santal 33 more than any orris perfume. Do not take from that, that this is a clone of Santal 33, I'm using it as a very loose reference. I'm not a huge fan, smells a bit cheap and lacklustre (yes I know snobby) it does progress throughout the day, and is not completely unrewarding, just not for me.

Le Labo is a funny brand really, I'm not one to dismiss them off hand because I feel little connection with what they're doing, so a new release always has me interested. Matcha seems to have been trendy in haute cuisine a few years ago and fragrance tends to follow suit. Le Labo are also notorious for not delivering the obvious from the name of their perfumes, another thing to bear in mind. First impression for me is a likable, but also slightly forgettable scent. It's like a slightly bland, rice dish to me. Apparently the opening is fig, I'll go along with that but it's not the classic fig accord in Philosykos or Armani if that's what you're expecting. I like the light infusion of the matcha accord/element, because does, just about, evoke that, but through a soapy, laundry filter. It's not wholly satisfying, nor is it disappointing. I'm always crying out for something different and when I get it I'm still not happy, I'm just a whiner. This might be the kind of thing that slips under the radar for a few years then all of sudden it's a new Santal 33. Inexplicably popular. Ya never know.

A top loaded perfume which has lots of excitement and crowd pleasing (for the more discerning crowd) stuff which really wowed me for the first few minutes but it's clearly a sweet perfume with quite a lot of vanilla which is my problem with it. The mixture of resinous, deep, woody incense and spices with an equally big proportion of vanillic traits, never seems to sit well with me. A detectable vanilla to round out the woody spiciness, or even overt incense, makes this kind of 'jelly' effect I often describe but this just kinda wears a bit relentlessly, sweet with vanillin, it's a bit sickly and something I find pointless after most of the excitement of the top and mid notes have gone. I don't hate this perfume it's well made and all that just not quite within my tastes.

Well not wanting to jump the gun or be sally come lately to this release, I'm gonna give my opinions after a brief encounter with it. This flanker is Nagel taking on the Terre d'Hermes backbone and stamping her own thing on it. Is that necessarily a good thing? The jury is out on this and H24. I don't hate them, in fact it's a style of perfume I quite like, this simplistic, freshness and white musky, mist and it's a smart move for Hermes keeping their aesthetic reasonably un tarnished while not having to resort to the kind of bubblegum, mega loud, crowd pleasing of many other designer brands. This opens with a lemony grapefruit and it's a turbo bitter accord at that, I like, and thought to myself lemony, grapefruit wouldn't be surprised if they list citron....they have. Then it's a mixture of TdH genetics and growing orange spiced woody accord but really a faint spectre in the presence of a much more dominant, misty, musky thing you get in H24. When the fragrance has settled on skin the Terre d'Hermes reference is much more apparent than the opening two hours which are extremely face puckering citrus and steam iron, possibly some floral accord. Then in the depths and I mean when it's reduced to a skin scent, it's not particularly soft, it's quite woody and masculine and I can still smell the remnants on my arm the following day. This isn't because it's a horribly loud, tenacious, spiky thing like a Sauvage, it's much quieter than that, it's almost metallic, skin like, mildly sweaty/spicy, wood remains, it really reminds me of something my dad used to wear, seriously. I can't hate it. It's a take on an absolute classic, I mean I think she did the parfum or whatever, which is fine (oh no was it the vetiver version?) and now there's this, I suppose it's the end of an era and things have to move on. I don't necessarily understand discontinuing Eau tres Fraiche which is a great flanker and in many ways an even bigger departure from the original even than this is, but something about that felt really right, and I'm just not as enamoured with this, right now that is. Like H24, It may need time and proper wear, I suspect it will.

I've got to say I really like this perfume. Having worn it when it was released (Thanks Clive Christian for the samples) I remember being quite taken by this. It's a chewy, resinous, gourmand, a kind of dark, boozy dessert, with ashy, smoked wood undertones. Sounds lame, but it's completely unique I'd say, I really can't think of much that smells like this. I revisited it today because I found this sample in my garage, randomly. This is the kind of thing I should really hate coz it's in the style perfumes everyone seems to rave about, and I'm just kinda like 'really?' but this one is a better version of your Black Phantom (another one I revisited in the last week or so) or a bit like the sort of boozy, cakey stuff I do like, see 1270 by Frapin. This has something extra for me, it smells expensive and I can't help liking it A LOT! I'd never pay the daft price tag and do I think it's what I consider 'proper' perfume, no, and not really. However, I'm really enjoying wearing it today and did the first time (the fact I could remember it says that it left a lasting impression) that's what counts.

I don't make a habit of trying new Xerjoff's (I know this isn't but it might as well be) because they're an expensive, elite, luxury brand, which I don't connect with and the X fanboys are annoying. However, good perfume is good perfume right? and by the sheer law of averages one or two of their prolific back catalog are bound to resonate with me at some point and Zefiro is one of those, I love it. Smooth, subtle, spicy warmth coming through a kind of milky, satin, woody incense, perfumery haze. It's sweetened musks, perhaps even a touch vanillic but with those warm spices of cardamom/cinnamon/clove which creates a powdery effect and constitutes that carnation note, it's not an accurate carnation but it evokes it enough to me to make it mention worthy. Also I can get that pepper association, definitely from the opening which evokes Carbone by Balmain and the musky, pinky, powder drydown of This is Him by Zadig and Voltaire. It also reminds me a touch (not smell wise but mood) of the only Xerjoff I own.... 1888. I used to think Xerjoff were unattainable price wise as well, I'm no skinflint but they always seemed VERY pricey, but this and many others are available on discount websites for much the same (or slightly less) than some other 'niche' brands. Update: A friend of mine saw heard me talking about this and kindly sent me 10mls of it and having given it a proper wear my feelings haven't changed, although he did say 'Zafiro? oh I think I have that, is it the Elemi one?' to which I replied.... ermmm... no really. However, upon wearing this it's got that curdled fizz of creamy vanilla rounded, resins and the opening of this is a very smooth Elemi/Olibanum combo. I normally don't really like stuff like this, infact the same guy sent me a sample along with the Xerjoff with an example of the exact same thing but done really badly. This gets away with it because of that cinnimal/clove aspect at the heart and with the creaminess creates a perfect balance with everything else and almost evokes a kind of creamy, powdery, carnation effect. There's times I'm not sure during the day but generally speaking I really enjoyed it. The vanilla aspect is certainly in check and not overdone in anyway which usually ruin this type of fragrance for me.