Oh dear. I found the opening to be poor, very generic messy and pretty pointless as yet another Code flanker. However, these thoughts did mellow as it settled down but that can be the case with so many bad fragrances. The main body is milky, minty, lavender, business but with a more heavy and sickly core of tonka bean. This dirtiness does subside and it becomes more of a softer vanilla but you have to live through what is not a unpleasant but has to be said, uninspiring fragrance in the meantime. The comparisons with le Male and Luna Rossa could be valid, but it's certainly no Invasion Barbare or Reflection Man. It's okay I suppose.

I never cease to be amazed by CK and their steady output. Even more surprising is just how many I really like among them. This stuff is nothing short of superb, evoking some very notable scents along the way. The opening is a tart, fruity note, not immediately recognisable as rhubarb but settling to it after a moment. This just frames the scent as the main body is one of deep woods and resin, but fruity evoking a little of CdG Floriental. You can really get the smell of guaic wood and cypriol softened in the drydown by vanilla and amber. Obsessed Intense is a very dense leathery oriental in the style of Carner cuirs, Palo Santo or Nasomatto Pardon but slightly cleaner, cheaper and more mainstream. It's hard to pin this stuff down, I think there were several other fragrances it reminded me of, all of which were niche, which I think speaks for itself and tells you where this is going. I want it. I thought it was excellent, kinda messy and all over the place but more thought provoking than most releases I've tried lately.

This is a really peculiar gourmand scent, the opening is amazingly unique and in fairness that’s true of many Calvin Klein fragrances, they open well but then become less obscure, more familiar and uninspiring. I can only attribute this to the fruity opening of star fruit, another thing CK tend to do is use unusual fruits in the top notes, normally I’d say they smell a bit like apple or tangerine or grapefruit but they usually smell very much different to normal fruits which is a nice attention to detail and leads me to conclude they really do resemble the exotic and rarer fruits. I have actually had a star fruit before but I can’t remember what it was like? Anyway then comes a powerful and almost niche sweetness which is already building a big Tonka Bean and vanilla base. As it delveops the candy floss sweetness and a very nice coconut note which isn’t ridiculous and sun lotion like, I’d say more dark, remind me of Only the Brave WILD a fragrance I thought was cheap and throwaway but actually, strangely enjoyed. It starts to loose itself in the drydown becoming more generic and annoying Tonka based, overly busy, messy stuff. When it settles to a very low skin scent after several hours is just a sweet Rochas Man but not as charming or subtle. I actually thought I’d buy this for the over sweet and unique opening alone but as the notes developed the composition just became more and more jumbled

I think Geza Schoen has been tainted by the Essentric Molecule series, being too minimal and arthouse or lazy and money grabbing, depending how you see it. I kinda gave them the benefit of the doubt for showcasing modern aroma chemistry and showing people who wouldn't otherwise know, what things like ISO E Super and Ambroxan are all about. However, it still marred my view of him as a perfumer but looking at his back catalog he's produced some wonderful stuff which I adore and the Ormonde Jayne line are right up there. Incidentally I do like the Escentric molecules, especially the later ones and Zizan reminds me very much of Escentric 03 because it's got that ultra sharp, lime citrus note and ton of vetiver, dry juniper type stuff and that synthetic cedar wood note of ISO E Super. This is like a Post-TdH scent but from the year 2050! I'm not saying there wasn't any citrus/vetiver/woody scents before that, but TdH represents the high water mark in the mainstream. The pink pepper starts to pop when it settles producing a somewhat signature smell of futuristic, fresh spiciness. I really like it.

First of all I was going to blind buy this fragrance until a very generous Fragrantica member sent me a sample (big shout to alunwill) so I got to sample it and I foolishly thought I could predict what this smelled like from the notes, reviews and just my expectations. Needless to say it didn’t smell the way I’d imagined, I’d say it was much more powdery than I thought. This fragrance reminds of four fragrances, the opening of a little sharpness citrus and sweet spices instantly brought Caron L’anarchist to mind except much more pleasant, sweeter less challenging without all the musk and metal. This is a far more cozy experience which then got me thinking about Costume National Homme but without the cherry and actually very different but stylistically similar. Then comes the drydown and much more masculine woody powder Boucheron Jaipur Homme and then finally and probably most obviously, Yves Saint Lauren Opium pour Homme. The cinnamon star anise and powdery, creamy old skool combo with something like carnation in there makes it very similar and I love Opium, so it’s not a bad thing at all. This is definitely sweeter the creaminess is vanilla which makes it different and slightly more upbeat. I’ve got to say I’m not put off by any of this, not what I expected but I loved it anyway. The smell reminded me of a friends mum when I was a kid, she was a bit of a hippy and into aromatherapy and more worryingly homeopathy, anyway Sushi Imperial put me in mind of the smell of their house sometimes. The lasting power is very good and it’s clearly of excellent quality.

First of all, this came as a surprise to me, not the notes or the smell of the fragrance particularly, more my final opinion on it, which I will get to in a minute. I feel I need to qualify my thoughts on the house, I liked Mont Blanc for many years when they were mainstream but somewhat in the wilderness so to speak, and actually reminded me a lot of Dunhill, mainly uninspiring yet solid fare with a couple of really good releases, that was up until legend and it’s flankers. I just found it to be a less potent A&F Fierce and the flankers that followed didn’t excite in any way. Night however is different and not because it’s good or original or not cheap smelling or because its that kinda dirty vanilla/Tonka, modern style nonsense, it’s all those things but I still sort of liked it. Yeah that’s right I think this is a worth while fragrance and you know the most prominent note right from the opening is Apple and Apple notes usually mean cheap and nasty with very few exceptions, as I said this is cheap but with less of the nasty because the rest of the notes are constructed around that ‘sexy’ gourmand vibe of a few years back the code Profumo, ferragamo uomo, some extreme flankers you know the ones? All that Tonka bean stuff. This is more of that but I don’t care, something about it just plugs in to good receptors in my brain and says you know this is generic but I like the Apple and dirty vanilla in here it’s a guilty pleasure I’m sorry. It reminded me of that cola/dr pepper thing of a lesser known Dunhill I own, you’d think boss bottles by the notes but it has more nods to D&G the one than anything. It’s not well finessed though it’s clearly modern and throwaway but if I see this heavily reduced in a bargain bucket somewhere I might just add it to my wardrobe for the sake of it. It lasted okay, stayed close and I was surprised just how long the drydown lasted and just how nice the resulting kinda spiced rum/vanilla that remained was.

This is beautiful. Truly beautiful. I’m a big fan of Andriers work and this is no exception, I think the way it complements the men’s version is clever also. This is the second time this year that a ylang ylang fragrance has wowed me but I’d say this isn’t your typical yellow floral nor is it in anyway your typical tuberose, I actually found iris to be prominent. I think all the florals in here conspire to create an almost exotic fruity vibe, coming from the frangipani more than likely but the powdery smoothness of iris making it all come together. It’s feminine but not completely outside the realms of wearing for me. I found it to be a very warm, oriental fragrance definitely check it out.

A fragrance that doesn’t open well for me, a very ‘of the moment’ vibe to it and what I considered to be a bit of a messy composition, not unpleasant just that usual swirling mix of too many notes, which is neither one thing or the other. However, I have to say the way it settles down Icon racing really comes into its own. The oud in the base, although quite typical of a designer sort of oud is actually quite pleasant combined with the caradmom and white floral of the original it’s kinda creamy and enjoyable. This is a passable woody scent and that base of vetiver/oud/cedar is nice and the orange blossom is long lasting. Doesn’t stand out enough to peak my interest but I liked it more towards the end for sure.

White gold is absolutely stunning. I don't think I could ever wear it myself because it's very heady, so intoxicating and powdered, it's like the texture of somebody poofing a talc bottle in your face, to the point you can taste it. The florals glide and soar on top of this powder which is narcotic in it's addictiveness. The opening is very floral and full to the brim with jasmine and freesia settling to an exotic orchid which is delicate as the powdery orris root and cashmearan build. The balance between powder and florals is completely perfect and it dances between the two never settling to a linear smell. Despite this balance I'd say casherean is the main player in this scent because it assumes the role of warm, woody base giving it a cozy feel but also acts as a floral booster. It's also very complementary with orris or iris and carnation which are all present in this fragrance. I love perfume and I always like to think I'm open minded and not opposed to wearing ANYTHING. However, some fragrances just scream femininity and I imagine what it would smell like on a woman because that's where I believe it is more suited. This is one of those occasions. What I like about Ormonde Jayne is that they are not afraid to mix the synthetic molecules with the more natural or perceived as natural aromas. ISO E Super, Casherean, synth musks, Abroxan, when used correctly they can boost other notes and make an otherwise ordinary fragrance very special indeed. I think this stuff is a triumph, I sprayed the tiniest amount bearly even there and it was massive in projection and longevity. Please check this out, I thought it was amazing. Update: just realised why OJ are so heavily into the man made molecules due to the fact that Geza Schoen seems to be the nose of choice and even though White Gold doesn’t have a perfumer listed, I’d bet my house this is his handiwork, they all have his style written all over them.

You know when a fragrance instantly transports you like a time machine to a very specific and actually quite insignificant and innocuous moment in your life. In fact the smaller the event the more you marvel at the complex workings of the human brain and how it stores, and more importantly accesses memory. Ta'if took me to a Sheffield dry ski slope some 25+ years ago... so weird. Anyway... I've decided that Taif roses are very interesting smelling and aren't really very traditionally rosy. They are heady and floral but powdery and more like dried pot pouri petals, definitely have a quality of tea leaves to them, reminding me of tea chests, (something else you don't really see anymore) wow this fragrance is really making me reminisce! There's spice to this too from pink pepper and saffron which are definitely big players, with a warm ambery base. I don't really like it, nor would I wear it but Ormonde Jayne is a quality brand and the line interests me greatly. I must say this is a unique fragrance at least to my nose and definitely polarising I'd say. If you go into it with the mindset you're getting a rose based fragrance you will but not in any traditional sense, to me this isn't rosy really.