Jasmin lovers go into this one with trepidation. If you’re expecting to be dealt yet another jasmine perfume, whether heady, indolic, waxy, sweet, or just the combination of these you expect to smell… you’re not going to get that. This is a unique prospect, much more herbal and aromatic but still recognisably jasmine if you’re familiar with many different oils and such. This one has a subtlety which gives this enfleurage effect, like it’s been botanically, infused with jasmine, it’s so delicate and frankly lovely!!! I bloody loved this!!!! Absolutely wowed by it. Minor criticism and this could be big deal breakers for many folks (again mainly for jasmine lovers/niche perfume fans) I assume it’s expensive and really is not a powerful perfume at all.

Well… I was going to be really harsh about this perfume but I’ve tried it a few times now and decided to play nice. However, it smells BAD on my skin, not dull, or ‘just’ bergamot, or doesn’t last (possibly is ALL those things too) but on a strip/card/blotter the bergamot material smells really nice, and what I would expect from some named and I’m assuming very special bergamot producer I’ve pictured being amalfi coast or southern Italy or whatever? My experience of using bergamot in perfumery is that the relatively affordable bergamot oils not only smell fantastic but blend so well into compositions, retaining their edge and giving top note sparkle to many the composition, happy days. So some grand Cru shit should be mind blowing right?!?! Well as I mentioned above on my skin the bergamot is blunted, and dull as dishwater, recognisably bergamot but fuzzy and lacking definition, or freshness, isnt that what bergamot is prized for??? I don’t blame the support either because there’s not a great deal else there! Perhaps a woody scaffold but nothing more. I’m not a person to buy too heavily into skin chemistry it's much more likely your nose/perception at a point in time than it is your skin, but that could be a factor I guess. So if a perfume is not viable on my skin, then why am I giving it a chance? Well… again… like mentioned I tried on card and the bergamot was much less flat and more what I would expect, a pleasant, bright aroma of bergamot. So without being rude to G.Franco or the crew behind these perfumes this one is not for me, and just not very good, sorry.

This is a smoothly blended fragrance with excellent materials but perhaps lacks some of the definition later stuff by Les Indemodables has for instance. This is not a criticism I like that this fragrance has a simplistic feeling MO. Actually reminds me of a combination of Ambre supreme (the warm ambergris element) and Des Cendres (the green masculinity) It opens with bergamot, briefly unfurled over a very nice amber accord, and I’m not talking the benzoin/vanilla/laudanum type of amber. This is airy, human, skin like, but with classic perfumery elements which lean into an almost polo green, aromatic fougere territory. This is what reminds me of Des Cendres, take the Galbanum away and and all that ashy stuff, replace that tuberose with a much more slight jasmin paired into that fleshy base and viola! I like it a lot and believe much care and consideration was taken in selecting the materials in this, even though it feels very simple and quite natural.

I had a vague recollection of the fragrance from sniffing it at TF counters and at the time, I liked many of those Private blends but didn't buy them all, unfortunately Moss breches was one of those. In hindsight or if I had a time machine, I'd have rinsed the shelves of every bottle and kept them in mint condition the last decade because I saw a 50ml of this (OK not sold, but on eBay currently) for over £2k!!! Silly Silly money. So I managed to get a sample from a very kind pal, so I could revisit it and see whether any degree of hype or price inflation is worth it, and I'm pleased to tell you that Moss Breches is a FANTASTIC fragrance! I mean I really love the stuff, it's a superior, complex, woody aromatic scent, with a signature Tom Fordness about it, velvety rich, truffle like earth of patchouli with a opening of cinnamon tinged cypress and leathery man musk. I'd say it combines amazing qualities of Halston Z14 (or Italian Cypress by TF if you must) Zino Davidoff (probably looming the largest) The original Tom Ford for Men and the Tom Ford For Men Extreme, (retrospectively) Noir for Men and hints of 80's powerhouse masculinity. I wouldn't quite so as far as calling it 'butch' because it has a certain modernity, metrosexuality and even femininity in terms of it's overall vibe.... but yeah it's superb. Like I said... I wish I bought it back in the day for £130 or whatever? and as a vintage unicorn if that was swelled to £400-500 now I'd have no problem saying if you really wanted to treat yourself to this, then COOL! I might even be tempted myself if I was feeling flush but that one I saw on eBay is outrageous and cannot be justified.

Cool, Cool, Cool, Been avoiding buying fragrances then went mental on vintage stuff. This came up for grabs on a blind buy and I thought ...why not? I love the original, I really do and this has many of the same great qualities a kind of mature, toasted coconut undercurrent, with the usual powdery, peppery, woody moss and leather of this ilk of Men's biz. Usually Sport flankers have an injection of something brighter or fresher and it's definitely way less dressy, evening wear that the original could be, but it's far from 'fresh'. So yeah, peppery woods, powdery carnations and that mild rounding of toasted coconut. It's brilliant and very intact for it's age and the fact it's in a plastic bottle. I mean no reason it shouldn't keep well but there's a perception that plastic is somehow lesser than glass. I got it for a steal but I wouldn't pay some silly price on eBay or whatever, it's good and a piece of nostalgia, in truth though there are far more desirable vintages out there, but this is solid.

Well, for starters I love this brand and I’m just slightly disappointed that the perfume is not as creative as the packaging and briefs. It ALMOST is, that’s the frustrating thing, there’s kernels of good ideas in there, you can tell there’s an urge, an imperative inclination not to rehash or ultimately reproduce anything, certainly not intentionally or cynically and I can feel that and appreciate it. However, the execution just lacks ‘something’ I can’t put my finger on. As hard as it is to be original, when I saw the notes for this I half expected Aventus (lazy of me because pineapple) and I’m glad that wasn’t what it delivered, from memory though this is similar to Pacific rock moss, that hugely popular Aussie one (brand escapes me) Goldfield & Banks that’s it!! Anyway the citrus is bright and kinda like a cocktail and the pineapple note/accord is very present and very pleasant coupled with a good twist of lime, I love that the seabreeze is fresh, invigorating, not too salty but evocative of the sea in some modern perfumery sense. Ozonic sunshine beams out of this fragrance which I really liked and a clean, floral musk underneath, gentle but effectively driving the perfume along to an inevitably subtle conclusion. It’s quite potent and present at first showing off all them top notes and sparkle but ultimately shy’s away pretty quickly. I enjoyed it. Probably one of the more mainstream and commercial from this line but I still don’t feel them heading in a boring or clone house direction.

Annick Menardo does tend toward a kind of style, in my head at least, although I suspect she probably has an eclectic back catalogue like many perfumers but like I said this perfume fits that residual image I have of her work. I personally love this late 90's early noughties aesthetic. Very hazy, smooth spiced musk perfumes especially for men, it was a new time of unisex,after the aquatic wave had crashed (excuse the pun) and folks were in gucci rush, Envy and DG by and Donna Karen etc.... sandalwoodish, musks with elegant spicing or lavender over the top. Timeless, yet of this period. This Celine is much in that vain although no where near as iconic or standout but for the price I paid (£14) and in hindsight now that Celine is one of these trendy designer brands with an exclusive perfume line on par with Chanel, Dior etc... then this was a really cool buy. I love the nutmeg and nutty notes in this. I like this kind of perfumery personally but is it boring and uneventful? Yes. Will owning this really enrich your collection? No. I love having vast reserves of perfumes I can put on and feel very little emotion about, while smelling good and not over or under stimulated. This fits the brief.

What fascinates me about this perfume is that I’m quite enjoying it today. It’s not even good by Fragrance du bois standards, a brand which I fundamentally don’t like, for various reasons but going back to around 2018 or so (because I haven’t tried recent stuff) their repertoire, while quite reserved in terms of creativity was undeniably good perfumery. The materials, the compositions, just very classy stuff. This isn’t actually immediately true of this perfume it, feels a bit like some crude, sweet, niche tropes knitted together. It’s a fruity ‘orange’ hued vanillic, musky amber, I’ve had it on for hours now and can smell a mild coconut note listed here too. It’s apparent how good this is and does actually remind me of Merveilles Hermes but just not my style because of the extra heft and gourmandness but if this kind of perfume is your thing then you could do much worse.

Am I losing my mind/touch with fragrance reality? I can't for the life of me understand how this compares to Gucci Guilty absolute. Slight disclaimer... I only sprayed this on a strip, in a shop, and sniffed for a maximum of 12 seconds, so I'm not really qualified to even pen this review or talk comparisons but GGA is such a bold and Iconic fragrance that it would be immediately apparent right? Surely? Perhaps I'm losing my touch but I didn't get that at all, I guess these are both made by Morillas so...could be....could be? I mean this guy (Plein) is a world beating ARSE of massive proportions. Makes Jezza & his brand look like the height of olfactory integrity compared to this SHITE!!! Both German (I think at least?) both posers, and both with Alberto at the helm. Interesting. Must be a type. I mean Phil... mate? Wandering about in gaudy, designer label crap with your own name plastered all over it, private jets and fancy cars, scantily clad ladies and those money gun things are for ABSOLUTE WANKERS! And don't be all like ohhh Houdini you're just a sad, INCEL... hater, or a bloated snob, full of your own importance...Both of those characterisations are somewhat accurate but...still...I don't like your tone. I get it, That's his Schick and what passes for cool and that you've made a success of your life these days, but fuck me! Anyway... I found the fragrance offensive and that's odd because I'll go along with it being like the Gucci (a fragrance I like) if I must, so it must be all the other stuff that is (nose) blinding me to it's apparent brilliance and edgy, raw leatheriness and such. I smelled a kind of spicy, amalgam of modern dreck, complex and fruity topped but heavy and lumpy, semi gourmand patchoulish perhaps?, vaguely spicy....maybe? Strength not being indicative of depth, certainly not a great deal of emotion. It's Nu Money good. To be fair...if I wear it on skin and it does all this AAAAAND has a touch of that outrageous, leather accord from Gucci Guilty Absolute, then I might....just might...actually be interested in that! I know!!!!! I complicated. It's not the smell see that's putting me off, I find the branding so hateful, it's clouding my judgement and unfairly tainting what might be quite an interesting juice and I'm giving it a lot of leeway in saying that. Could it be the absolutely preposterous bottle, a credit card for bling worshipping, fucking idiots? Could it be Plein himself? or the ridiculous ad campaign I remember seeing for this, more viral than the Covid pandemic this thing came out during? I don't know. I think it's all of the above.

Slightly troubled by the execution of this perfume. There's definitely a good kernel of an idea here, like I said I think the execution is lacking in subtlety and nuance to say the least. A fruity musk with I can smell Osmanthus, something I'm increasingly more attracted to these days. I can smell fruity accords which are potent and somewhat appealing from a grapefruit/melon (that fruit that is basically a mix of the two, name escapes me...ahhhh Pomelo!!!! that's it!) top to a more enduring 'tropical' fruit accord which is pleasant for about ten seconds then starts to get on your tits, thereafter. There's much less 'air' and that dry, geraniol effect you get in more faithful interpretations of Osmanthus, this is a bit of a syrup, concentrate, sledgehammer which does not do the kinda peach inflected scent any good whatsoever. What's interesting is that I do get a very small hint of a woody accord right from the opening then throughout I was getting phantom wafts of an oud rose perfume accord and sure enough it's listed here in the notes, (well rose and leather) I can't work out whether that's very restrained and clever of the perfumer/development brief, or just a little bit wishy washy and flimsy? It's a fine line not even my arbitration skills can decipher. As far as the ambroxan is concerned, I think Vra Vra Vroom a pretty good use of the material, goes well with osmanthus and any fruity musk stuff if you ask me. I've used Ambrofix quite a bit and although I migrated towards Ambrox super, I still think it's decent. I'm wearing this today and can't help the way I feel, I don't really like it, I don't want to ever wear it again but I'm being prevented from slagging it off because there's enough to think and type about that I can't hate the perfume, it's weirdly appealing in some sense. I did initially note when I wore it on my arm that it was extremely fleeting to the point I'd be pissed off if I paid top dollar for it, well that's not been the case today, it really does cling to clothes and hair, which give it reasonable staying power, but not many fragrances DON'T last on clothes so it's hardly a ringing endorsement, and my skin ate it all up in rapid quick time, something to be aware of.