KILIAN LOVE DON’T BE SHY Calice Becker 2007 This is the best overly sticky sweet perfume. At least for me. It’s so intoxicating, it’s magical, it’s narcotic, I want to smell it more and more. I wear it most during summertime but I missed it so I needed to have a hefty dose of it. It’s marshmallows and caramel but it’s definitely white sugary, not brown. White florals, especially Orange Blossom and Honeysuckle are heavenly. So addictive. Rose is a beautiful light whiff. I don’t think it as a gourmand or I just want to admit that I adore some gourmand so much. Absolutely fluffy and charming. This is the most girly scent in my collection. It took a long time to test LDBS Extreme. Many people say that it shouldn’t be “extreme” version of this one but I disagree. Imo it’s exactly extreme: it’s even more opulent cotton candy heaven and Rose is amped up to the next level. Stupendous. I want it. This is amazing layered with Roja Taif Aoud, Roja Qatar or MFK Oud Satin Mood. Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
I love this so much. Big white (and dusty purple) florals, complexity and quality, all for an absolute snip of a price! The chamomile and hawthorn are strong and realistic, as are the other notes to be fair, which sets it apart from any other designer fragrance. No synthetic pong or aroma-chemical overdose. Update: This time, I'm getting the strong synthetic leather. Maybe it's my skin today. It still smells great but I'm not smelling what I did when I wrote the above glowing review... Sigh...
All I can smell is ambroxan and ethyl maltol. Not that it's terrible, but it's ridiculously strong and over the top.
AMOUAGE Imitation Woman Pierre Negrin 2018 Unisex imo “Life Imitates art” Like this fascinating bottle the scent itself as well is neon colored and a chameleon. It sounds strange but after smelling the scent the term makes sense. First of all the scent is very unique and different than all other Amouages. Secondly the combination of notes is very interesting. White ORANGE BLOSSOM, JASMINE and ROSES in the opening are surrounded with captivating mix of BLACK CURRANT BUDS which is not juicy (it’s not the fruit itself, it’s buds!), ALDEHYDES which is not soapy or frosted, and LICORICE which is not sweet neither Anis. YLANG-YLANG in the opening is not tropical like sweet or sour. Nothing in this scent can’t be imagined with the list of notes. It’s one of the most difficult to put into the words. All the notes are somewhat abstract and something which you haven’t experienced before. The result is vivid, a little bit vinyl like but not synthetic, nor cloying. It’s very enchanting, it’s airy enough yet vibrant without being sticky or headache-inducing. After wearing it a couple of times you will notice that it’s astoundingly wearable, versatile and charming yet totally unique. The drydown is heavenly and polished , even intoxicating, with SANDALWOOD, PATCHOULI and INSENCE while all the other notes stay there until the end creating this magical concoction. This scent is called here Chypre Floral which it is not. I don’t know why so many scents are called as “Chypre” nowadays without its characteristic note pyramid. Men’s counterpart is not for me. It’s very artistic but too plastic imo. Definitely worth to try though. Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
Starkly, sparkly, green opening of petitgrain is really invigorating, further cementing my deeply held beliefs about the quality of these perfumes. However, I get much more of a clean vetiver vibe after that, like that 'handcream' sort of thing I don't tend to enjoy but it's clearly a superb perfume. The surprise (or not, considering this whole line is orris & vanilla heavy) in the base then is a sort of gentle vanilla and orris thing. I say surprise because I was actually quite disappointed with the lack of substantive 'base' in this one. However, it's not a rich orris it's one of those tricky, bois d'argent type vibes, very modern and subtle and definitely more of the sweet almond effect of heliotrope coming through. So all in all you get the electric, cologne opening of petitgrain, into a clean, woody floral accord for a short time and then a comforting warm, yet quite aloof, powder base. I like the perfume, it's pretty elegant and has those development stages as described but it's just a little too shy and doesn't announce itself enough. I evoked Bois d'argent which has a very similar MO but delivers way less of a shy experience. I'm a perfume lover, even if I want something subtle, I want to know I'm wearing perfume and not find myself forgetting what it is that I'm wearing during the day. This isn't a 'forgettable' perfume because that is something different entirely, it's just missing the mark by very small almost impercepable, margins.
Smells like you've sprayed the entire perfume department at the same time (specifically the Montale/Mancera range, with their frat bra, testicle-shrivelling, supercharged fixatives). Pretty awful. I haven't put it on my skin yet, not sure I can bear to do so, but maybe. It could be better on skin. Update: Yes, on the skin the harsh fixative stench melts away (or I go anosmic to it) and it becomes a sweet Baccarat style nutty scent. Not groundbreaking but quite delicious. However I suspect it'll choke anyone around me. Update: Starts to smell like Alien after 30 mins. Strong, synthetic jasmine with a sort of pungent, ambery soapy musk underneath. It's getting very irritating.
What seems like a polite, delicate floral soon becomes skanky and rich, and I LOVE it. It's never the same thing twice, being green, indolic, cold, rich, delicate and wild, a real conundrum of a fragrance. I find all of the Dusita florals like this, but I think this is my favourite... Dusita does florals like no other., truly masterful.
For those asking why oud is not listed as a note in a lot of manceras perfumes it might have something to do with the fact that none of their fragrances contain any real oud. It would be difficult for them to turn a healthy profit considering that they are one of the cheapest niche houses around and real oud is a very expensive ingredient. They supply the oud scent in the form of a constructed accord using woods.
So it's a bit of a running joke to me that I'd never tried this classic and I'd started to resent the fact and the people who had. All they'd really done was to buy massively expensive bottles and flex, you know who you are! Anyway....A very kind perfumista friend of mine once sent me a sample of PRIVE the flanker of this but sniffing out the original had still always alluded me, until another wonderful perfumista friend sent me a sample of this recently, Thanks. (you also know who you are) Well, I found it a little disappointing if I'm honest. haha...AFTER ALL THAT!!!! Perhaps because of it being built up on this pedestal I'd had it on, being the forbiden fruit? Perhaps it was simply the fact that it's just an old vintage and a little deplete of top notes and vigour? I don't know? It's clearly great, leathery, woody, spicy, mossy, masculine outing as expected but is it really any better or worse than much of it's time? ... not really. Wearing it I could feel the depth of animalic sandalwood, vetiver and patchouli all the stuff you'd expect to remain strong and get ever deeper has, but that's not what is in question here. I want some of the perfumers original intent, some of the top, mid, detail to remain and some vintages can achieve this through lack of oxidation, good storage etc... but it's unfair of me to expect it of such an old boy. So the wear was a touch lack lustre, however my long suffering partner (god love her) picked up the vial in my car on the way out somewhere in a hurry and said... "I'm putting this on." and I only marginally recoilled because... as I mentioned above this took me an age to finally try, and (dear...) that little spritz you had at today's prices probably cost about fifteen quid, so yeah...knock yourself out lover! I will say this though, she smelled far better than I, and I got new perspective on the fragrance smelling it on someone else. I mean it was quite butch or a petit lady but was quite the turn on for me...perhaps that says more about me...hmmmm.... but yeah I definitely perceived more going on. Don't think I'm gonna be dropping £800 on a bottle anytime soon.
Guerlain are really good at misnaming their perfumes, in my opinion, and this is no exception. It's a sultry, slightly green, brooding iris scent, very complex, and dynamic. It has elements of the stemmy green floral lightness found in Joyeuse Tubereuse, and the dusty iris is immediately evocative of that found in Iris Torréfié. I like this shared DNA, it gives consistency to the line whilst those fragrances are actually pretty different. The jasmine takes a back seat at first, just giving a bit of flesh to the shadowy composition. It's a nighttime scent, a dark, spooky dreamland with twinkling beauty, an English garden bathed in magical twilight. Then after an hour or so the jasmine comes forward and begins honking and throbbing, a bit like a rich tuberose can do, but it's not skanky to my nose. There's some quite prominent aldehydes on top of it all, but nothing too overwhelming.
Very complex, super savoury, and unique. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet but I can't deny it's interesting. The note breakdown above seems accurate, I can make everything out. The cinammon seems slightly at odds with the mix, but I think it might grow on me. That said, there is a slight hint of cheap, tinned tomato soup. The kind that's a nuclear orange/red colour and contains like 10% tomatoes.
I've smelled a lot of other perfumes that offer this type of nutty, resinous, chocolatey scent, but this is the only one that doesn't have a horrible, harsh fixative underlying it all. This is an absolutely wonderful perfume, delicious and addictive, gourmand but dry. It looks like they've bought it back recently after it'd been impossible to find for a while. It would be really great if it were available in bigger formats, but as the performance is great, 15ml is better than nothing. Perfect for cold weather.
NARCISO RODRIGUEZ 🤍 Narciso Poudrée 🤍 Aurelien Guichard 2016 ❤️ Narciso Rouge ❤️ Nadege le Garlantezec and Sonia Constant 2018 I fell in love totally with these cubes (Narciso line) - brands cozy, soft and subtle yet rich perfumes with NR’s signature musk, like the delicate and more simple clean musk scents as well from “for her” line. Both of these two are very feminine. These minimalistic bottles are simply beautiful. 🤍 Poudrée opens up with a powdery opulent floral bouquet of white Jasmine and Bulgarian Rose and it’s velvety smooth musky heart makes it so fluffy. It’s creamy, mellow, sensual and it’s clean and cozy in the same time. Poudrée is not fresh and airy like perfumes in “for her” line. It feels that it’s close to the skin but after smelling the clothes next day you notice that the scent it’s persistent and long lasting. The scent has woody base with Vetiver and Cedar. You can’t separate Vetiver here anyway. ❤️ Unfortunately discontinued Rouge is a little bit more powerful and Iris brings a different kind of powdery feeling to it. It’s deeper, lipsticky like, even a little bit plasticy, yet Bulgarian Rose keeps it still very soft, feminine and warm. The concoction is still smooth, fluffy and creamy yet the overall feeling is woodier. The colours of the bottles indicate perfectly the character of the scent. ➡️ These scents are not like “Rosy”, “White floral” or “Iris” scents like you may think. Both are pretty scents, I like them a lot but the flowers are not like I have used to experience them - in natural way. Scents can be as well cloying especially in hot weather. I have noticed that it’s better not to spray them straight away under the nose or sniff them close to the skin, the moderate sillage lingering in the air is very attractive and indulgent though. Imo Rouge and Poudrée are the most gorgeous on clothes. The smell is irresistible and addictive. People seem to find Vanilla accord from Rouge but I don’t agree. It’s rather that cozy soft slightly sweet feeling in the dry down. Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
NARCISO RODRIGUEZ 🤍 Narciso Poudrée 🤍 Aurelien Guichard 2016 ❤️ Narciso Rouge ❤️ Nadege le Garlantezec and Sonia Constant 2018 I fell in love totally with these cubes (Narciso line) - brands cozy, soft and subtle yet rich perfumes with NR’s signature musk, like the delicate and more simple clean musk scents as well from “for her” line. These minimalistic bottles are simply beautiful. 🤍 Poudrée opens up with a powdery opulent floral bouquet of white Jasmine and Bulgarian Rose and it’s velvety smooth musky heart makes it so fluffy. It’s creamy, mellow, sensual and it’s clean and cozy in the same time. Poudrée is not fresh and airy like perfumes in “for her” line. It feels that it’s close to the skin but after smelling the clothes next day you notice that the scent it’s persistent and long lasting. The scent has woody base with Vetiver and Cedar. You can’t separate Vetiver here anyway. ❤️ Unfortunately discontinued Rouge is a little bit more powerful and Iris brings a different kind of powdery feeling to it. It’s deeper, lipsticky like, even a little bit plasticy, yet Bulgarian Rose keeps it still very soft, feminine and warm. The concoction is still smooth, fluffy and creamy yet the overall feeling is woodier. The colours of the bottles indicate perfectly the character of the scent. ➡️ These scents are not like “Rosy”, “White floral” or “Iris” scents like you may think. Both are pretty scents, I like them a lot but the flowers are not like I have used to experience them - in natural way. Scents can be as well cloying especially in hot weather. I have noticed that it’s better not to spray them straight away under the nose or sniff them close to the skin, the moderate sillage lingering in the air is very attractive and indulgent though. Imo Rouge and Poudrée are the most gorgeous on clothes. The smell is irresistible and addictive. People seem to find Vanilla accord from Rouge but I don’t agree. It’s rather that cozy soft slightly sweet feeling in the dry down. Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
Okay so this perfume represents the golden ratio of EDC, the absolute perfect proportions of fruity, floral, woody, mossy and musky, in so much as you could say they cancel each other out, creating an effect that is to most people, lacking originality and spark. Well, here's why they're wrong. Hahah...so I just made someone up, so I can argue with them about a perfume, as good as it is...I can't defend too vehemently because it's just a citrus, white floral trope and not much else at the end of the day. For arguments sake though... you can say that about MANY fragrances, it's the execution which is important here. I don't really like overly waxy white florals....this isn't. I love that sense of reality and naturalism you get with good bergamot oil, this has that effect. There's a moment of moss, a wee clump as it settles, never reaching the point of an eau sauvage or anything but just reassuringly, classic. I can smell the signature rounded, iris/orris/vanillic/woody base, juuust peaking through and then even later, vetiver!!!! Yes even that rears it's head later on. It has a musky, carrying base materials which are ambrox/type but doesn't overstep it's bounds into modern, cheap, shite. I love what this perfume does, a balancing act. That's what good perfumery is and the clarity of this one is apparent, Parade has real intent and it delivers. If you were to buy any of these perfumes retail, I couldn't critisise you for it, you'd be geting a great perfume, if you know where to get better for cheaper then that's fine too, but I'm okay. I'm okay with Celine. They've done nothing to annoy me so far and everything to be happy with, they are a class act.
MAISON FRANCIS KURDJIAN Oud Satin Mood (2015) I don’t know if there is anything left which is not already mentioned but some words about it. Definitely one of the best and memorable combinations of Vanilla and Roses. It’s so perfect in every kind of way. It’s beautifully powdery, vanilla is not sugary sweet, roses are like fragile baby pink petals and Oud in the background brings the final luxurious touch to this blend. The scent feels like some thick fog or mist descending from the sky over you. After that you are inside the most beautiful cloud - it moves with you wherever you go. It’s classy and elegant yet cozy, opulent and long lasting. I love to wear this mostly during summertime but I know it’s a scent for colder months for many of us. I think I will never get bored with this one. My first bottle was finished one year ago and I was thinking not to buy a second one but I can’t be without it. Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
So popular, so hyper, so sweet and so addictive MAISON FRANCIS KURDJIAN Oud Satin Mood (2015) I don’t know if there is anything left which is not already mentioned but some words about it. Definitely one of the best and memorable combinations of Vanilla and Roses. It’s so perfect in every kind of way. It’s beautifully powdery, vanilla is not sugary sweet, roses are like fragile baby pink petals and the western Oud in the background brings the final luxurious touch to this blend. The scent feels like some thick fog or mist descending from the sky over you. After that you are inside the most beautiful cloud - it moves with you wherever you go. It’s classy and elegant yet cozy, opulent and long lasting. It's like a dream. It's pampering and cocooning. I love to wear this mostly during summertime but I know it’s a scent for colder months for many of us. I think I will never get bored with this one. My first bottle was finished one year ago and I was thinking not to buy a second one but I can’t be without it. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
CLIVE CHRISTIAN ✨ No 1 Feminine ✨ (2001) One of my perfumes which has a very special place in my heart. Something which I was dreaming of but never mentioned it to my husband. And just one day he came home from his trip to Italy and he gave me this as a souvenir. ❤️ I remember when trying this for the first time a long time ago. My first impression was “hell no, what is this”, the blend was so unfamiliar. Later I found myself spraying the little vial and sniffing myself continuously. This is one of those vintage style perfumes which has a successful yet totally unique scent profile. It’s glamorous, rich and very complex. It’s charmingly soapy and it’s powdery but it’s as well woody and even fruity but not in the way than the fruits are mostly performing. There is a rich floral heart of Iris, Osmanthus, Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang, Carnation, Rose and Orchid. The whole mix opens up with fruits including many of my favorites - Plum, Peach, Apricot and Mandarin (+ Mirabelle, Lemon)- with a spicy kick from Pimento and Cardamom. But those fruits are not juicy fresh joyful ones, they are so refined, luxurious and classy fruits, a little bit dusty and melancholy ones (in the nice way). They are like that ancient painting of fruits with dark yet faded colors. All those flowers and fruits are laying in the bed of Vanilla, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Cedar and Tonka beans. And again it’s not how it sounds - not sweet, not Vanilla like. It’s creamy and soft though. This perfume is not only special because of how I got it. It’s very special as a blend and it’s not anything like Chanel No 5 or Samsara (I love those both) or any other vintage scent. Just wanted to mention since some seem to find it similar with those which I absolutely can’t understand. Special is as well the formula which has remained unchanged. I highly recommend this one for everyone who love vintage or vintage style scents. You won’t be disappointed. 💎 Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
Запах хорошего Рокфора или любого другого сочного сыра с синей плесенью. Не дослушала до конца, может потом и будет уд и прочая красота, но Рокфор принудил меня оставить блоттер на стенде в магазине.
Dans Paris is lovely. I hate to keep reducing my reviews down to this smells like... X.... but in this instance it was immediate and striking association for me with L'Occitane Eau des Baux. Not a bad thing to smell like at all, in fact something of a community darling and sort after (I think discontinued right?) fragrance. You could say... Booooo! Celine charging top dollar for what is a clone of what was quite an affordable and unique fragrance, but I think all that does is to speak to the quality of L'Occitane really and just how good their products are. The difference here being a softer, very slightly more refined vanllic/powdery/smooth effect but it's only very slight because I get that wholly resinous, herbal amber which I associate with REAL, NATURAL vanilla materials anyway, but there's something of spiced, herbaceous, tonic to the Eau de baux accord, it's very medicinal to me, but the kind of medicine you might get in medeval times and I don't know if it's because of the chic packaging and the fact I know it's a Celine that I don't quite get that rawness. It's actually to it's detriment because I'd say Eau des baux is marginally better and obviously the innovator in this olfactory space, but frankly it's nice to see this represented at any price point and if you bought this fragrance I wouldn't blame you, you'd be getting a really good perfume.
An assault on the senses with a beautiful drydown 12 hours later. The opening is horrifying clash of jarring, pungent, random notes that makes me feel sad. It's also hyper-nuclear.
Cheap smelling designer fruity floral with ambroxan punch to the face. So boring, so many bajillions of other perfumes doing exactly this. Do people love this type of thing? I can only guess they must do, otherwise why would it be so prolific? But who is wearing this? My guess is someone who tried this and didn't bother smelling anything else. Neeext.
Cheesey, chemically leather-esque cheese. Very aldehydic and green, honestly it smells exactly the same as Cabochard EDT, I'm smelling them side by side. Cabochard costs 17 euros for 100ml, but I hate it anyway.
My sister gifted me Star Child and I loved it from the start. A very cozy, creamy and skin close scent. The main notes that I get are rose for sure and a creamy vanilla note. The listed notes, "rose and sandalwood" might give the impression that this is a woody/floral scent with no sweetness, but that's not the case. It is actually a very sweet scent, and my partner would describe it as vanilla oatmeal. Unfortunately, I used it up pretty quickly, and I find it not easy to find any Pacifica fragrances except for the Wanderlust line. As far as I know, this scent is discontinued, which is sad as I would otherwise buy another roll-on.
Stila got me quite a lot of compliments. The simple combo of vanilla and lilac really does a good job in leaving a comforting and alluring feeling on your skin. I only had a roll-on of this and already used it up. I remember it had a strong lasting power. Nowadays, it appears to be discontinued, but I would consider repurchasing it if they released maybe a reformulated version of it.
