I really hope this doesn’t disappoint because it’s got everything going for it, the legacy of the original XS need not be ruined by some dodgy reformulation/reimagining. I must admit I do like the chunky design of the new bottle. I remember thinking it was a shame I didn’t really like pure XS because I’d just quite like that bottle in my wardrobe. I owned a couple of bottles in the 90’s/2000’s and even my dad was a fan of the original, the more I think about XS the more I’m tempted to get a bottle now, whether it’s this one or an older bottle.

This is a fragrance that I wasn't familiar with the first time around and what a crime that was because it's an absolute triumph. Really this stuff is superb, masculine even a little butch but not a powerhouse in the obnoxious sense. The opening is chunky, rounded and heavily spiced affair of coriander and pepper with an immediately mossy, herbal, woody feel. I get a big musk note too, potent but dying back quite quickly. The chunkiness I mentioned soon becomes apparent the creamy, spice of sandalwood and the main player patchouli which doesn't hit you straight in the face but builds steadily in the background. It's starts as an almost gourmand, cocoa type thing, steadily becoming more earthy but never overstepping the mark. I'm not overstating this but Balenciaga pour Homme might be one of the best patchouli fragrances for men that I've ever tried. To say that it's just a Patchouli fragrance is to do it a bit of a disservice, because it's a great blend of notes and even non patchouli fans would like it I'm sure. Such a shame this stuff is no longer in production because it's excellent.

A decent fragrance, but something just didn’t quite work for me midway through my wearing. I think it’s because Prive doesn’t quite know what it wants to be? On the one hand the opening is great and really leads me to thinking it’s a classy, niche type affair, however when it dries down a little it’s right on the edge of one of those murky, confused compositions I’m so quick to critique. It’s in a place between a sexy night scent like l’nuit, with its caradmom smoothness, and boozy opening screams I’m high class. Then the Tonka and vanilla I’m the base starts to muddy it slightly. It does also have a hint of 212 Men to it all the time just grounding it back in the designer, men’s sporty realm. Look...the fact that I have so much inane waffle to spout about it says that it’s an interesting fragrance and sure enough when it really settled I very much began to enjoy the drydown, with hints of resinous sweetness. It’s nice.

I’d been trying to find this for ages with little success until I found a sample recently and it didn’t disappoint. Leather blend is an opulent mixture of heady, middle eastern vibes the most prominent note being oud, heavy sweet and smooth vanilla/amber and an opening of nose tingling saffron with a low lying rose note in the background. This combination absolutely conjures a leather note to me and very nice it is too but it could quite as easily have oud in the title and I wouldn’t bat an eyelid. I really like it but I can’t say it’s original, I’ve smelled quite a few like this but I have to say I don’t care & I love it. If it is cheaper than many fragrances like this, it certainly doesn’t smell that way, giving leather blend a deserved feel of high quality.

I'm wearing a sample of this today and I must say smell wise, I actually really liked it a great deal. However, everything else about it is wrong from the rubbish sample in one of those annoying card sprays to the feeble performance and lack of body in the fragrance in general. What I mean is that it opens well and smells really nice of quality ingredients and a nice wearable, well balanced, fresh, aromatic, scent but everything needs turning up to 11 and maybe would benefit from a bit of oakmoss or something. It's meek. That's the issue and maybe I should expect that from a fragrance called eau fraiche but it's not good enough really. I get citrus, ginger, pink pepper, neroli, lavender all very nice settling down to a base of vetiver and then when it's a almost dead skinscent after several hours a tiny hint of sandalwood. I've seen this going reasonably cheap now, but I believe at one time it was pricey and barely worth what it is now. I don't want to hate it because I've mentioned a couple of times that it's a nice smell but in this instance performance matters and a bit of longevity would elevate this scent no end.

I'm going to start out with my initial thoughts on this perfume and it was...oh...it's another Aventusesque perfume from a nose who I know isn't in the business of jumping on a bandwagon, regardless of what you think about him. It can't be denied though that this is one of Roja Dove's more mainstream style, masculine fragrances. That's not a bad thing either because this stuff cannot fail to have broad appeal. I started off with the Creed Aventus comparison but please don't be deceived by this initial impression because in fairness Elysium has it's own character and masses of hidden depth, something which I think haters of this brand and perfumer are quick to dismiss in many Roja creations. It's a creeping kind of fresh and uplifting opening with the extra bitter, sharp dimension of grapefruit and juniper, then more of a blackcurrant peeking through as it dries down. The body of the fragrance is of incense and I mean in the broader sense as it's difficult to detect exactly what is there? Maybe lighter stuff like elemi and olabanum but I also know that Dove is fond of using Labdanum. The base is cedar and vetiver giving a touch of the smoky earth to the base which might be conjuring that Aventus Birch. This is a composition which sounds simple but when you smell this perfume, I'd say it's more effortless the way the accords are permeable, bleeding into one another. Comparisons with Bleu de Chanel are valid when you look at the note brakdown and Creed as I keep mentioning, so it's in good company really. The issue comes with performance, which incidentally I found to be quite good, but I'm assuming Elysium is very expensive so anything other than massive, won't do for most consumers. I really liked it and the longer it went on the less I wanted to make reductive comparisons because this stuff stands up by itself. I won't be buying but I think it's a very fresh, High class, citrus fragrance with tonnes to offer and hard not to like really.

Tried this today at a 'vintage fair' AKA: old, tatty, mothball infested crap, jumble sale...and it's impressive how much of the fragrances character had been retained. The bottle was old I'd say at least 70's maybe 60's? The top notes of ylang ylang and jasmine, still intact and packing a punch but thankfully fading quickly into a perfume with a hearty dose of oakmoss and vetiver, making this more of a spicy woody affair. I wouldn't say it's masculine but it's easily wearable for a man. The drydown was mustier still but not a powerful scent and not really all that impressive, needing a lift of something. Interesting to try things like this but I wasn't tempted to purchase.

Wow! I've owned this fragrance for several years and never posted a review. I think that is a perfect reflection on just how underrated it is, even in the microcosm that is my wardrobe. I'm wearing it today and really enjoying the experience. To me it's a fantastic, sweet and uplifting violet accord which is very similar to Zegna Uomo another fragrance I own but this is much more effervescent and fresh. This Homme line has it's fair share of success stories but like many has lots of failures too. The original is great, no matter how you look at it. L'nuit de la Homme is a fantastic fragrance which is rightly praised by fragrance lovers. Then the rest of the flankers are either pointless or just plain bad. The frozen Nuit was okay and the parfum, although totally redundant, did at least smell good. However, Parfum intense and L'intense and several others were terrible. This one itself even had a big brother which I remember liking but this cologne tonic was much the same and significantly cheaper. It's lasting well and smells amazing on me today.

This is the least interesting of the Luna Rossa line that I can tell from one wear. However I'm such a lover of the subtlety of Andrier's work that I'm prepared to give this more of a chance in future, so this review is subject to an update at some point. I was pretty gutted when I learned that Luna Rossa Extreme had been discontinued, I just hadn't realised. This is pretty much in between the original and Extreme but not quite as standout as either of them. The tonka bean is handled well considering other scents around containing this ingredient and comes off as a milky musk. There's lavender in here, it's not listed but I reckon it's there. Angelica could be giving some sweetness and as for patchouli? maybe but it doesn't seem like a patch heavy scent.

One thing for certain about this new One Million flanker, it delivers one of the notes listed in abundance, particularly in the opening, and frankly, validates my nose if I ever had doubts about my nasal calibration (which does happen from time to time) they have been allayed. That note is hazelnut, it's very clear and nutty and quite lovely actually, strangely coupled with a fresh and fruity blast. It then becomes reminiscent of Ferragamo uomo which was a surprisingly good gourmand release of the last few years. However, This is where it starts to venture into the banal and painfully generic. Where Uomo had a lightness of touch, a blending of notes which could come off as sledgehammer harsh or sickly it gave them a bit of lightness and freshness. One Million Lucky is not that way at all, after the promise of the opening it becomes a messy, confused and synthetic bomb of 'dark' but I'd say just murky, honied, gourmand notes and modern trickery. Yet again, I can't say I hate it, it's serviceable, wearable, it has better performance than Uomo and that nutty note in the opening truly is something to behold, so it's not without merit. Lucky doesn't draw me in either though, it's not got the charm of Ferragamo uomo, but if you want a clumsier and better performing version this is not dissimilar.