The opening smells like my fingers after I've been eating cheese Doritos, like cheese powder, onion powder and msg. There's iris underneath somewhere. This is very, very strange. It's interesting but it doesn't smell like perfume. Basically smell your fingers after having bar snacks, herby bread etc, this is that. It's definitely accomplished, but not wearable for me.
Le Jardin de Madame Chan is my first encounter with Olibere, and I must say I’m definitely intrigued to try more. This scent is focused around Ylang and does it beautifully well, it’s brilliant. The ylang is thick, yellow and creamy with soft powdery facets, almost as if you could reach out and chew on it. An oriental warmth from coriander and geranium provide a very gentle contrast which is needed, whilst the creaminess is furthered by a base of sweet vanilla and sandalwood. This is a fantastic reference scent for the note of Ylang, it’s extremely satisfying to wear and really epitomises that beautifully tranquil philosophy of the yellow floral facet. I’m considering picking up a bottle but I’m just not sure if I need it!
Percival is a basic cheapie fragrance trying it’s hardest to be something luxurious, a sheep in wolfs clothing you might say. This plainly smells like overly-synthetic shower gel which is a scent profile that’s been played out to death on the designer market. Of course it smells pleasant, but the obscene amounts of ambroxan and amberwood make it smell the same as 90% of everything else on the market which you can get for a tenth of the price. I suppose there’s some hints of lavender and citrus but it is simply an ambroxan explosion unfortunately. Sorry to anyone that loves this but who is paying such ridiculous prices to smell like something that costs £10? I don’t understand it, got to be one of the worst releases from an already poor house.
Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love Roja Dove fragrances, I would say they are my favourite house. Unfortunately, Isola Blu is a disappointment for me. There’s nothing wrong with the scent at all, in fact it’s beautiful, apart from the fact it’s a clone of Terre D’Hermes. It doesn’t even try to hide this either. I suppose bitter orange isn’t listed but the other array of citruses alongside orange blossom recreate a very similar feel, alongside masculine woods which replicate the Vetiver. From the note breakdown you wouldn’t think it would be so similar, but it really is. It’s a lovely fragrance and of course the quality and depth is better than the Hermes, but for the difference in price I’ll stick with my TDH thank you very much.
It’s very clear from the get go that Haltane is a copy of Oud for Greatness with minor tweaks, which isn’t surprising given that the two houses are sister companies. I find this has a slightly fresher opening with the sage and bergamot, but ultimately dries down to the same thing. It’s got the easily-identifiable saffron and oud combo, where the saffron is overly sweet and somewhat screechy whilst the oud is a fairly basic bitter synthetic oud accord. There’s a hint of sweetness from the ‘praline’ but overall I find this is the woodier counterpart to Oud for Greatness rather than being a straight saffron bomb. This is a pleasant scent don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t smell bad at all. But for around £300? That’s a joke. Parfums de Marly have really let themselves go, that’s a crazy amount of money to pay for such a mediocre scent.
Sacrebleu is an old French swear word to express shock or astonishment, however I’m not so sure how that translates to this scent. This is a sweet, fruity and gummy tuberose fragrance with little to no relation to anything along the lines of profanity or blasphemy. As stated above, the tuberose is right at the front of the scent - giving you this massive heady gummy smell which is sweetened significantly by peach. A soapy note of Jasmine alongside rich carnation provide a robust floral heart, resting on a deliciously creamy base of vanilla and tonka. This fragrance is definitely attention-grabbing, so I suppose it has that link to the name as it’s a statement maker, but overall smells incredibly appealing and quite lovely. As tuberose fragrances go I would find it hard to dislike this one.
Néroli Intense - I was expecting yet another weak and pathetic neroli scent but this one surprised me, it actually lives up to the claim of being somewhat intense. Neroli is a note that when focused upon, needs to have a simple backbone to properly celebrate it. The rich, sultry soapiness of the neroli is perfected here. It’s balanced brilliantly and smells so fantastically realistic, if you close your eyes it’s almost as if you’re smelling it directly from the branches of the orange tree. The clean white aspect with vibrant hints of bitter orange and a touch of green aromatics it’s smoothed out by a gorgeously sweet and creamy beeswax note. This is fantastic. As neroli goes, I’m not usually the biggest fan but this is a really nice one. If you consider yourself a big lover of neroli this is a must try.
Caravansérail is one of the more unique coffee-based fragrances I’ve come across, and it’s actually quite lovely. Usually I’m not a big fan of coffee scents as the note itself can become very overpowering, but this is balanced to perfection. The coffee is of course the star - it’s very realistic and natural smelling, providing that rich bitterness and steamy warmth which is accentuated and partnered with an incredibly smooth and creamy note of cardamom. This pairing makes up the bulk of the scent, with gentle fruity touches and hints of woods in the background. Overall a really lovely scent. It’s very serene and relaxing to wear, I can imagine this would be perfect to wear to a cafe. It’s not a scent I plan on buying, as I said because I’m not a huge fan of coffee notes, but I can still admit this is fantastic.
Cuir Cuba Intense aims to celebrate the complex nuances of dry tobacco leaf, connoting the image of a box of Cuban cigars. For a fragrance with ‘Cuir’ (Leather) in the name, I was surprised to see no leather in the note breakdown. The tobacco is front and centre in this scent which is great - it’s incredibly thick, dry and leafy with a masculine warming aroma. The comforting warmth is furthered by the sweetly spicy notes of liquorice and star anise, alongside subtle hints of harsher spices like cumin which give it some edge. There’s a definite minty touch alongside a heart of florals, whilst hay very clearly pushes the tobacco further into that dry, earthy territory. Overall this is a very well done tobacco scent. Definitely unique, and almost unforgettable once you’ve smelled it. The quality is brilliant and it’s really well made, it’s not really my style of scent but part of me enjoys it and I can appreciate what a great creation it is.
One of my favourite from the house. Clean, pure, minimal, reserved, French. I love vetiver fragrances and this one so me has an aura of quiet sophistication. The vetiver to my nose moves in ever so slightly minty and musky direction which gives it a freshness I love. It sits close to the skin which for this perfume makes it all the better as it enhances its quiet class. This is something I would love to use as a daily wear if funds allowed but for the time being I reserve it for daytime wears when I need that dose of French refinement.
I enjoyed my sample of this but won’t seek a full bottle. Performance is on par with the price, long lasting (8 +hrs) and you only need little of this otherwise it veers into headache territory. Good sillage too but not quite beast mode. Fairly linear white floral, heavy on the tuberose, bit sweet from the vanilla but not much else going on. Well blended and has a very “quality” feel. Mature, feminine fragrance.
I bought New York Intense from a discount website, and on a whim I threw this in the basket, as I've heard so many people rave about it in perfume podcasts. It was 10 euros for 50ml, so nothing to lose. What I expected was some sort of childish, synthetic nightmare candy thing, but what I got was far from that. It's a real perfume with nuance and beauty. It's sweet, but not sickly, and it has this fluffy, ethereal quality that I can't stop sniffing. I love the use of licorice to deepen thz composition and give it a very slight edge. The biggest surprise was that I found myself wearing it immediately, and it's wonderful. For the record I'm a 43 year old, smart, professional, self-employed man living in Paris. This is a steal for the price, and is the best sweet perfume I've come across in a long time.
This has some similarities to Tiziana Terenzi Delox. The rose is a bit more sparkling here, and since there’s no coffee in Deliciae the scent is fresher overall. Slightly sour from the lemon, so not a sickly sweet sirupy rose. Quite linear and simple. Doesn’t project much so it’s more of a skin scent, decent longevity (4-6 hrs). The atomiser is atrocious, and the overall packaging looks a bit cheap for the £177 full bottle price. Good pick if you can find it discounted, otherwise I suggest looking for other options as this is not by any means a groundbreaking or unique scent.
Nest fragrances appear to have well balanced compositions, from what I tried. It was difficult to choose between sunkissed hibiscus or golden nectar. In the end I decided to go for hibiscus because the lasting power seemed better and the scent was more unique. I do mainly get a dry, baked, warm coconut with strong amber note and tuberose in the background. There is some sweetness and creaminess from the frangipani but it is not very isolated, more blended in. To me this is surely a summer scent but it feels like it would suit nighttime better, as it has a warm and powdery character. The lasting power is quiet weak, about 3 hours on me.
Top: Apricot and Bergamot Middle: Jasmine, Orange Blossom and Rose Base: Iris I just got this perfume few days ago and I can’t stop wearing it and I can’t stop smelling myself. This will be my easygoing everyday scent which I can pair with every outfit. It may sound boring but it’s not. Actually Jasmine Bonheur is delightfully different Jasmine scent. There is something very old fashioned in it but in a very beautiful way. Apricot is very soft and fragile, not juicy. The scent is a little bit dusty yet full of joy. It’s not like dry make up powdery, it’s rather hazy. It’s really difficult to find a Jasmine scent which makes my husband react like “woooow” but this did it. The longevity is at least one day. Btw this is not animalic in any kind of way, neither heady. This is classy and beautiful. Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
Surprisingly, I like it very much. Was expecting a bit of that “pissy” narcissus from the name, but what I get is a green, “crisp” neroli, backed by - I would say a leather accord - that is a bit barnyard-y but very tolerable. Very well blended too. Will try and get my nose on the original if possible
Inlé is named after a stunning lake of the same name located in what is now Myanmar, and aims to portray the serene elegance of such a beautiful setting. I would say it definitely heads in this direction, but overall falls a bit short of the brief in my opinion. The scent is dominated by a smooth and almost fruity osmanthus, with its dry elements furthered by the addition of Mate tea. The earthy green aspects of this soft tea is elevated by gentle spices and hints of green mint alongside a zippy bergamot. A hefty dose of jasmine then brightens everything up very nicely. The combination of osmanthus and mate is one that has been done a number of times, and this is far from the best. But it’s not a bad scent at all, it’s actually rather pleasant and definitely relaxing to wear.
Sintra is a strange fragrance, an odd mix of notes which I’m not entirely sure work together very well at all. The scent aims to combine the refreshing summery soapiness of white florals, with the sweet and lactonic gourmand elements which seems to be so popular in feminine fragrances these days. Néroli and Orange Blossom are deployed in large amounts to create an intense white floral aura, alongside hints of jasmine and rose. An overwhelmingly sweet concoction of milk and caramel accords contrasts the florals with a sickly creamy facet, alongside copious amounts of vanilla. Marshmallow is not listed in the official notes, but I can understand why it’s voted for as it definitely has that fluffy musky undertone to it. Overall I’m not a fan of this scent. The intensely lactonic sweetness is simply too much and doesn’t combine with the white florals well at all. In the end it comes across fat to sweet and messy, and would definitely give me a headache if I was to wear this in any sort of heat.
African Leather is probably the most famous fragrance from the house of Memo, and I can understand why. This is a cardamom-based scent and overall I feel it’s done very well, it doesn’t convey luxury or exclusivity to me but it’s a nice fragrance and a fairly easy wear. The cardamom is very smooth and warming, which combines with the sharper spiciness of cumin very nicely with sweet saffron running through them both - each in perfect balance. The leather is dark and soft, perpetuated by the brown earthiness of patchouli, Vetiver and an oud accord. I must say I have a lot of respect for Memo admitting when an our accord has been used rather than pretending to use real oud like a lot of houses do. I like this scent, I’m enjoying my sample and I can see why this is popular. Would I buy a bottle? I don’t think so - mainly because it’s not my ideal sort of scent profile, but perhaps if it was more affordable I would consider it.
Absolu Aventus is an interesting release, because it demonstrates just how many people are willing to pay stupid money for a substandard and lazy product. Don’t get me wrong the scent itself smells nice, but the whole release is just a statement piece. It’s got elements of the original aventus in there, mainly the bergamot and juicy blackcurrant, however it’s missing that iconic pineapple and birch. Instead you’ve got grapefruit, ginger and cinnamon which takes the scent in a warmer, spicier direction whilst still maintaining a significant freshness about it. As I said, this fragrance definitely smells good but if I’m honest I’d much rather wear the original aventus. This feels very much like a lazy cash grab release that was made in one day without much thought put into it, very typical of Creed.
This is a horrible, cheap, disgusting mess. Watermelon that's starting to go off. It's fresh for two minutes then the warm, stale melon odour really starts to set in. It's a scrubber, I'm really losing interest in Caron's overpriced, uninspired private collection.
The stemmy, juicy, dry, green, figgy base of Dioriviera is here too, but I prefer Dioriviera. Having said that, this is a lovely, dewy, fresh floral. There's also a musky base reminding me or Thé Cachemire. I like this austere floral DNA of this line, it's pretty original.
Very strong sandalwood and cederwood notes. This is all I get from this. It is a bit nauseating to me. I put it on my boyfriends arm and it lasted all day but I did not enjoy it on him. As I have never smelled santal 33, I am unable to compare but it might be a good and natural choice for santalwood lovers. It might work better as layering scent though.
The notes do not reflect what I smell on my skin unfortunately, as they sound beautifully. On my skin I get mostly a burst of refreshing citrus with some aquatic notes which give of a masculine vibe. The lastingpower is quite poor, I can barely smell it after 2 hours.
