I’ve finally found my rose vanilla ❤️ this is what I wanted from Intense Cafe and Roses Vanille. I even see me reaching for this before Atomic Rose. Delox is stunning.
I got lucky and got a bottle that was perfect from first spray. My goodness this is gorgeous. I love the opening and dry down of Noir de Noir, but I HATE the moldy mid and lackluster longevity. A scent that heavy should have great longevity, and in CDNIW, it does.
The opening and mid feel well blended and, and although there is no truffle listed, I get a fragrant, soft, dried, and edible feeling truffle accord… a welcome contrast from the fresh-in-the-dirt presentation in NdN. The movement in this fragrance is very enjoyable and addictive to me. The drydown smells identical to NdN, but is stronger. After several hours, the strength begins to mellow and you are left with the same beautiful exiting essence that you get with NdN after only about 30 minutes.
If you like NdN or Mugler Angel, you need this in your collection.
10/10
I was already nervous about applying Blind Date to my skin when I saw the notes, raspberry and leather is a combination I have a tough history with - it’s just a smell I very rarely remotely enjoy. Unfortunately with this fragrance, it really wasn’t my thing. The raspberry/leather combo smells like what can only be described as Tuscan Leather, I truly believe this is a riff on the famous Tom Ford fragrance. If you’ve smelled Tuscan Leather, you’ll know it’s a love it or hate it fragrance - personally I despise the stuff. There is a touch more balance here from violet, saffron and juniper but overall they cannot compete with the head-pounding strength of the raspberry and leather. It’s safe to say I really don’t enjoy this one, the longer I leave it on my skin the worse it gets. If you’re a lover of Tuscan Leather, you might love this too. If you’re like me and you can’t stand it, steer clear.
Vaniglia del Madagascar feels intensely Italian, as I suppose it should considering the house’s heritage. It’s a shockingly strange combination of notes which at first I found a little weird and off putting if I’m honest, but the longer it’s been on my skin the more it’s growing on me. Lily of the valley is a note I love and adore, a flower which provides no natural raw material to use in perfumery, and so synthetic accords vary drastically in accuracy. This doesn’t smell like the lily of the valleys I know and love, but that’s not a bad thing. Instead it comes across intensely soapy, like sudsy white bars of soap in a sparkling garden of flowers. The creamy vanilla brings a much needed sweetness to the party, but doesn’t dominate, they mingle with each other in perfect harmony. To me, this smells like an expensive bar of soap in a fancy Italian hotel. Glorious, but I’m not sure I’d buy a bottle.
Durocaffe is one of those perfumes which slaps you round the face as soon as you spray it, and will continue to brutally overpower those around you for the entire day. I think it’s great, but it’s not the easiest wear if I’m honest, you have to really love coffee for this one. Of course the coffee is the star, hence the name. It smells intensely bitter, steamy and slightly earthy, as though you’re inhaling the scent of freshly roasted and then ground coffee beans. A sweet touch of sugary vanilla helps to temper this slightly, but pales in strength to the coffee. It’s got that earthy, slightly chocolatey patchouli base furthering that bitterness, resulting in a scent you simply cannot escape from. I think it’s great, an astoundingly unique and innovative creation. For those big on coffee fragrances this will be a hit for you. Whilst I’m enjoying it on my arm, I can imagine I’d have a hard time wearing it - I can’t really imagine when I’d reach for it if I’m being honest. Lovely, but not full bottle worthy for me.
Tonkade was not what I expected given the name and the note breakdown. I was expecting something intensely sweet, creamy and vanillic, something overwhelmingly edible. And whilst it has elements of these things, overall I feel it heads towards a slightly sharper, smokier dimension. The tonka is there, front and centre - it’s addictively sweet and creamy, alongside copious amounts of vanilla of course. From here it begins to become a bit spicy, the warmth of cardamom amongst dried fruits darkens the scent profile. Not long after, a sudden smoky sharpness emerges, I imagine from the combination of frankincense, patchouli and cedar. It’s a lovely fragrance, one that I will enjoy wearing my sample of, but I had hoped it would lean into gourmand territory a bit more. For me, it could have done without the smoky woodiness. But either way it’s a gorgeous scent, and if you enjoy your tonka/vanilla not too sweet then this may be the scent for you.
Wanderlust is first crispy, green and fresh. If I were to go for a run or do some other exercise early in the morning outside, I would want to wear this scent. This is so energising. The fruits here are not sweet nor juicy fruity, Apple and Blackcurrant are not detectable like in the way they used to be in many perfumes. Fig makes the texture a little bit milky and otherwise the scent is slightly aromatic. The base is woody and smooth. As the scent develops, the crunchy, crispy essence softens first thanks to the fig, and then the Musk starts to change the scent in a velvety direction while still maintaining a greenish feel. I am surprised to see that the fragrance is not so popular among women. I don't think there is anything that makes this masculine or feminine, the scent is truly unisex. This review is based on a sample. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate if you follow my IG: @ninamariah_perfumes It gives me a lot of motivation to write more. 🤗
This is my signature fragrance for winter days. I've been using it for years and it never fails to grab compliments or leave a pleasing impression
Flowerlush is joyful somewhat delicious yet fresh candied bouquet of flowers, which makes me think that I'm younger than I am. It’s shockingly pretty mix, fairytale like, deliciousness and candies being an abstract scene rather than realistically something to eat. If I had to describe this scent with colours I would say this has all the possible pastel shades in it. The citruses are not sharp or tart, but they are combined in a unique way with the flowers of the middle phase. Despite the youthful essence and beauty, the fragrance is surprisingly unisex thanks to the base where the woody notes balances the feminine side of it and light Western style Oud with Patchouli brings the depth to the composition. Musk completes the mixture to be sensual and attractive from the point of view of every gender. I don’t know from where some people get smoky or spicy elements, but there is a certain hazy steamy vibe in it like airy, subtle earthy element from Patchouli as well. This fragrance represents joy and happiness to me. It has an uplifting character that works regardless of the season. The blend is made beautifully like all from Omanluxury. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate if you follow my IG: @ninamariah_perfumes It gives me a lot of motivation to write more. 🤗
This is very different what I was expecting and actually it's better in that way. What I was expecting has been done so many times. Iris Perle is very fresh and green. It reminds me of my childhood when I used to walk barefoot on the grass on a dewy morning and the air was full of aromas from natural flowers. Violet leaf makes it a little bit soapy like but it's only a little whiff here and there. Mimosa never achieves its characteristic powderyness and Ylang-Ylang doesn't offer that utterly creamy texture which is familiar. Both of them will of course soften over time towards the drydown and some rough edges of the notes are gone. The overall scent is aromatic, a little bit herbal and it comes from Clary Sage. If you love Dusita's perfumes you are familiar with that note. On my skin Jasmine stays in the background as a supportive note. If thinking the name which means Iris Pearl it all make sense. The scent is clear and bright, like a dewdrop on an precious iris petal. If you understand and appreciate natural perfumes this is your thing. If not, I think you should't even think about this one. The performance is like in artisanal products which means that the projection is from weak to moderate and the longevity is great but the scent is is subtle, smooth, almost a skin scent the most of the time. The scent is rated in based off the quality which is great. Green, aromatic scent s are not so "me" so it would be wrong to rate the in based of my personal taste. Absolutely beautiful scent made in the most talented way. Iris absolue France Grand cru 0,3% ( extrait le plus cher au monde). Mimosa absolue Maroc 0,25% Jasmin absolue Inde 0,7% Ylang Ylang essence VOP Madagascar: 0,7% Contient de la Sauge Sclarée des Alpes Thank you for reading, I hope you liked my review. I would appreciate if you follow my IG: @ninamariah_perfumes It gives me a lot of motivation to write more. 🤗
smells like the YSL Kouros of the last century
“Yes I Was Madly In Love, But That Was Yesterday.” What a strange name for a fragrance, a name that doesn’t really resonate with the scent profile or any related story at all really. Forgetting that, the scent itself is rather quite nice, but I’m not crazy about it. Raspberry has always been one of those notes I have a hard time enjoying, in fact I’m still yet to find a single raspberry perfume I actually love - I always find it too sweet, cloying and plasticky. Here, thankfully, the raspberry is rather tame whilst still acting as the most dominant note. It’s definitely sweet, juicy and gourmand, but thankfully the tobacco balances it very well with a touch of dryness. I’ll admit I was concerned when I saw raspberry and leather together, it gave me flashbacks to the abomination that is Tuscan Leather. Thankfully, this is nothing like that - I would happily wear this and enjoy it, but I don’t love it enough to buy a bottle.
Pearl Oud is an astonishingly and surprisingly deceiving beauty; it’s one of those fragrances you catch in the air and something awakens inside of you, demanding to explore it further. Those expecting a real oud fragrance, you won’t find it here - but why would you expect that from Kilian anyway? What you’ve got with this scent is a wonderful sweet rose. This rose is the most dominant note to my nose, tempered by the soapy delicate nature of jasmine and Iris, warmed by the comforting embrace of saffron and patchouli. It doesn’t smell like oud at all to be honest, but I’m not complaining, because either way it smells damn good. I’m not sure why castoreum is listed, for those that have smelled true castoreum fragrances it seems undetectable here. It’s not animalic in the slightest. However, as someone who often struggles with rose-forward fragrances, this is an absolute delight.
Straight to Heaven Extreme, why oh why did they discontinue such a beauty. The original Straight to Heaven is a firm favourite from Kilian for me, I adore it. The Extreme is, as you can probably guess, a step further into intensity and depth. It’s richer, darker and boozier which explains its popularity. The dry, slightly piney cedarwood and earthy patchouli are still the stars of the show, creating that dark, slightly green woody feel we know and love. However, here the rum and the dried fruits seem to be elevated - the patchouli seems drunken, soaked in sweet rum and it smells absolutely delicious. Overall the scent profile is rather similar to the original, so it would be redundant to own both. But if I had to choose from the two it would be this one, it’s noticeably sweeter, cosier and just a tad more edible than the original which makes it all the more sexy in my opinion.
Straight to Heaven has always been one of my favourite Kilian fragrances, there’s something so comforting and alluring about it. Dare I say it might be one of my favourite patchouli fragrances of all time - and I don’t say that lightly. Patchouli and cedarwood are at the forefront of the composition, giving the scent an intensely woody and earthy feel. The cedar provides a sort of dry, pine effect whilst the patchouli is rich, dark and slightly green. This is wonderfully offset by the subtle sweetness of rum and dried fruits, creating just enough balance between light and dark, whilst still allowing the darkness to envelope you. The name doesn’t lie, it smells absolutely heavenly. This fragrance has been on my wishlist for a long time and now that another sample has re-entered my collection, it soon might be time for me to finally grab a bottle.
First, this is an extremely well made fragrance. It's just not for me. This is a very rich classic chypre with a linear path after the opening. It may have some additional changes after 4 hours but I did not make it that far. The florals and aldehydes in this dominate with a background vanilla note. I don't get any of the leather or oakmoss. I found this oppressively strong to the point that I regretted wearing this to the office. Even at 4 hours I was still smelling it like I did at first application. Edited to add: Even the scrub didn't stop it. I can still smell it strongly 9 hours in. Was only two sprays.
Smells of saffron slowly developing into saffron followed by saffron in the dry down. Rose, Oud, Leather are nowhere to found.
I can see why Moth is a fan favourite from Zoologist, and a hit amongst those who enjoy weird and wonderful scent profiles. It's unique, and not suited to everyone's taste including mine, but that's ok because it's actually a great creation. I don't personally enjoy the scent profile nor would I really want to wear it, but without a doubt it achieves the brief of smelling like moths - despite moths not really having a smell. It highlights our extensive imagination and brings it to life via connotations. First of all I don't get honey, I get smoke alongside this slightly unpleasant dry powderiness. Typically I enjoy powdery scents, but this feels a lot more like dust than powder - like the surface of an old, musty, slightly rotting bookshelf. It brings to life what you might imagine a moth to smell like; from the dry, withered husk of the cocoon to the brown, slightly furry wings flitting around a lamp in an abandoned library. As I said it's definitely unique and thought-provoking, it conjures a lot of imagery in my head, but I simply would not enjoy wearing this. I feel like it would come across that you naturally smell quite old and musty, rather than wearing a perfume. If this is your sort of thing then I respect that, good on you - but I rather dislike this.
SilencetheSea was a scent I had owned for a number of months in EDP form, and yet only wore it twice. Despite how impressively creative and unique the scent profile was, I found it simply unwearable; it was far too fishy for my taste and yet I really wanted to love it. I reluctantly sold my bottle on and kept a small decant to smell on occasions I start to miss it. I expected the oil to be much the same, but to my surprise I absolutely love it. It takes all the elements of the EDP, and once again smooths it oud, softens the edges and removes all the harsh fishiness I couldn't tolerate initially. Ambergris is obviously the star here, which is deeply musky and marine, alongside truffle which is what gives the scent that dense, meaty, fleshy, almost fatty feel - which I think is what I struggled with in the past. The difference is, the angelica and white florals are far more noticeable here, elevating that aquatic seaweed-y feel and tempering the raw animalic edge. I love it. I absolutely love it. As I said with the other Strangelove oils I have reviewed, it feels like this is the way these scents were supposed to be experienced. When it came to FallintoStars and DeadofNight I felt happy with the EDP, gracefully surrendering to their slightly obnoxious brutality; but with SilencetheSea, the soft and gentle nature of the oil is what makes this scent palatable. I would absolutely love to own this at some point.
FallintoStars has always been my favourite from Strangelove, I find it simply magical. In oil form, it is equally as beautiful, somewhat softened around the edges and smoothed out as a whole, which I find to be a similar case with all of these oils, but overall is absolutely gorgeous and daring. It conveys the same feeling with a familiar backbone of notes which dominate in the EDP - the thick, indian oud alongside intense balsams creates this powerful oily accord which is redolescent of black olives to my nose. Alongside this you've got the characteristic dense waxiness which blankets the other notes enough to smother them, but not suffocate them. This comes from the slightly honeyed feel of jonquil nectar, a derivative of narcissus. However, from here it's where things start to change; for one I feel like the gentle warmth of saffron and rose is suddenly more noticeable, alongside the creamy allure of rosewood - notes I cannot really pick up from the EDP. Also benzoin and labdanum, beginning to shine through the cracks like a subtle leathery sweetness behind the shadowy veil of oud. I absolutely love it, as always it's noticeably smoother than the EDP and while it smells absolutely beautiful, I find the punchy brutishness of the EDP part of the FallintoStars charm if you will - it's my go to when I'm craving a powerful oud fragrance to blast the environment around me.
DeadofNight is already a rich and beautifying experience even in EDP form, but in this stunning oil format it seems to transform from what I thought I knew about this scent. It's almost as if this is how it was meant to be experienced, that the oil is it's true format - which I suppose is the case for a lot of perfumes which depend on a great number of raw materials. This is oud rose at it's best, simplicity at it's best; celebrating the wonderful and enigmatic glory of these stunning notes. Deep, rich and slightly smoky oud takes centre stage, nuanced by the hidden warmth of smooth sandalwood and amber. It feels quite thick and dense, almost as if the composition has to bottom to it - just and endless pit of gloriously oily woods and other exotic materials. Rose is the other star here, thankfully it is neither jammy nor soapy like some roses can be; it is simply exactly where it should be. The rose provides a delicate balance to the powerful clutches of this dark, almost incense-y oud, a glimpse of crimson light amongst the dark. Violet leaf is also listed as a dominant note, but it doesn't scream to me, merely lingering alongside the warm amber, vanilla and sandalwood. This is oud-rose at its core and needs nothing else in the way. Overall I feel that the oil format of DeadofNight is, as I said before, the way the scent was intended to be smelled. It's noticeably smoother, richer with all the edges softened perfectly. The only downside is it seems to be the softest out of the oils I have tried in terms of projection and longevity, but the scent itself is a downright daydream.
AMOUAGE LYRIC MAN Daniel Visentin 2008 And some words about Lyric Woman. This pair is a great example how you shouldn’t stare at the genders on the bottle. I would say that the both of them are totally unisex but at least Lyric Man is not more masculine than the women’s counterpart. I have written earlier a review of Woman like the comparison as well of an old formula vs the new one. Those are under Lyric Woman . Some words more of it (new): the more time goes by the more deep, dark, round and polished the juice is. The dark petals of the roses are easier to detect and the base is perfectly blended, the spices are still wrapping everything inside them. I love it more and more very time when I wear it. Lyric Man is a chameleon. When the weather is cold, it’s quite simple scent with citruses and roses and it feels very soapy. You may start to think that it’s feminine or “what a perfect scent for summertime”. But when the summer arrives and the weather gets warmer its personality changes. The whole scent is darker, more mysterious and more unisex. The base of Man smells familiar from Lyric Woman since they share all those 4 base notes which Man has (Musk, Sandalwood, Frankincense and Vanilla). The base creates complexity together with the spices but the overall aroma remains fresh - not exactly like in the cold weather but fresh anyway. Pine continues the freshly green aroma together with Galbanum and together they make a big difference between these two scents. Although the base does not achieve the equivalent complexity with Woman it’s enough to build a beautiful oriental Rose scent. It is simpler mainly because of there is missing the half of the base notes when Musk takes over and a refreshing citrus opening found in Man is enriched in W straight away with Cardamom and Cinnamon. The idea of Lyric Man is the same though: roses in a woody base with Amouage’s signature Francincense, everything covered in a spicy veil. If I describe the scent simply: In cold it's Roses with citruses in a clean musky base. In warm it's fresh spicy roses in distinctly oriental base. If you have been overlooking Lyric Man I recommend you to try it and make sure you experience it’s both amazing facets. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
So feminine! I love it 🥰
One of the rare from Clive Christian which has full bottle worthy uniqueness and the pleasant scent and I don't talk about the price, I don't think about the price when considering if something is full bottle worthy. Opening is very strong but intoxicating and it gets the positive attention immediately. It's mostly smoky and spicy with a little bit of subtle sweetness but it's not fruity. Just to mention since I love Peach so much and it's not present here as a Peach. The feeling is like sitting next to the fireplace. The smoke dissipates in 15 minutes and the scent evolves into the smooth blend of spices, not so boozy rum and a sweet, resinous, woody aroma from Labdanum. It's not leathery her at all. This is not a strong scent at all, it's only in the opening. The scent is not actually oriental at all but if thinking the definition of gourmand, it's not exactly that either so the name "gourmande oriental" is fine, it's some kind of mix of those styles made in a unique way. The scent is totally unisex, very wearable and versatile and it's office safe as well as long as you don't spray it at the office. The sillage is moderate and the longevity is good. This review is based on a sample. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
