Not good for Chopard, and one of Ropion's worst in my opinion. Smells like a generic designer scent, and a bad one at that.
Oh so delicious citrus top with a rich, smokey base like bonfire toffee, but not too sweet. This is a stunning old-school chypre, love it.
A very good quality, lovely perfume which won't offend anyone, but won't captivate either. It's the most polite, banal rendition of saffron I've come across, sweet and gentle. There's nothing wrong with this perfume, but it leaves me cold.
Baffled by the reviews here. To me this opens with a leathery, dusty saffron. It's dry and absolutely not too sweet, although it does head in that direction. It is super wearable and this very morning, as I was paying for my fuel, the cashier stopped me to write down the name of my perfume. I adore saffron. Done well, it's probably my favourite note. And here, I find it addictive. Majestic Nard is quickly becoming my favourite perfume. Follow me on Instagram: @TheScentiest
Such a subtle balmy, fragrance opening with that typically vanillic, orris signature, sweet but not overtly so. I'm surprised no one has mentioned the looming spectre of TF's tobacco vanille. I mean this is a million times classier and plain doesn't even smell like it at all immediately but as it settles to a skin scent I can't help but get the association and I'd be the first to say I hate these crude comparisons but that 'tobacco' accord exists in perfumery and similar components come together to conjure this in quite a few fragrances, whether overtly, covertly, intentionally or unintentionally. I think Black tie has more mainstream appeal while simultaneously being one of the richer/bolder/spicer ones in this collection (from what I can tell so far) clearly well made and nuanced. I like it obviously but I'm more interested in others from Celine if I'm honest.
For me Celine have joined an elite group of designers who rarely seem to put a foot wrong with ultra chic, subtle and classical but still not devoid of creativity, perfume. La peau nue is very much in my wheelhouse and a pleasurable, powdery iris floral perfume it is too. There's a woody undercurrent without decending into papery, ionones which even a couple of the best Chanel iris/violet perfumes can have a tendancy to do. I've seen La Pausa in the smells like and without having smelled that in a while I'd say sure, okay, because the chanel synergy (without plagiarism) throughout Celine is evident. I think Polge made some of these didn't he? A minor critisism could be that this is almost too refined, refined out of existance and if you maybe want something which smells more of violet, iris/orris, luxury leather handbags and cosmetics, lipsticks etc... there are other fragrances which fulfill that brief better. That's me playing devils advocate though because for me this strikes the perfect, quiet, unassuming tone, I think it's a lovely perfume.
More like a Guerlain than a Chanel, perhaps because of the vanilla. It's a VERY polite, delicate little floral scent in the vein of Joyeuse Tubereuse. I always love gardenia for its lushness and this is no exception.
Oddly enough just as I think I'm sick of sub fougere nonesense from niche brands, this comes along and actually turns out to be one of the better ones in this collection, if not only for the fact that it's bold and lasts on skin, and not even all that well. Jeez. What has come to? Right so the opening is a mass of fresh citrus (assuming elemi) & orangey stuff (assuming that's the orange blossom accord?) and a great wallop of custardy, ethyl vanillin driven, fuckery. However it's encapsulted in a fougere warmth, a kind of medicinal, balsamic effect which is HEAVY. It's hard to know what to make of it really? Sickening triffle of vanillic notes or in actuality quite a rough, dense, hardcore coumarin fougere thing. I'd say this is more of a tonka fragrance than anything else, leaving a slightly coffee infused, spun sugar aspect, certainly more and moreso as it dries down. I can say that at least this has some balls to it, without totally annoying me, but in truth is, I can take it or leave it. It is the one in this collection which I found had a bit of tenacity, but it;s a twisted, dirty vanilla tenacity many folks won't like.
Stunning opening!!! Lush, fruity floral accord with LASHINGS (and I do mean lashings!) of pink pepper. Even for me a big fan of pink pepper, it's a massive overdose. It's an invigorating mixture which explodes out of the gate at first and as it transpires actually has better legs than some of the others in this line but unfortunately is top loaded in that way Penhaligon's seem to be guilty (or at least accused...) of doing. As it settles I get something of a 'shower gel' association which is probably just the clean musks and floralising stuff driving this perfume along. But as I mentioned... again....not for long. Hate to be a length Qween but yeah...hour or two and barely owt there.
I feel I've a lot to say about this line, campaign... whatever...and it's largely positive, putting the most important thing to one side for a minute (the actual perfume) and looking at all the peripheral stuff I have to say that concept wise I like what Penhaligon's are doing here. The design and marketing is all on point, the bottles look great and clearly they must've spent a staggering amount promoting the potions and remedies collection, because either I'm stupid and can't tell augmented reality or photoshop from real life, but I could've sworn they had 100ft tall factice bottles on London's iconic Tower bridge. I mean hats off to them for that. Last general thing worth noting, I found the collection to be one of the quickest & easiest to review, understand whatever, and have compared it to a high concept movie pitch. If you can't explain the synopsis (or at least the general plot points) in 30 seconds or less then your idea is not by definition high concept. I'm often reluctant to jump in and review perfumes without a proper wear or two under my belt but these seemed easy to 'get' and subsequently wearing them I discovered no hidden secrets, or depth and take from that what you will. This is the first one I've properly worn and as usual I didn't consult with any notes or marketing bumpf even, I dive right in and give raw opinions, then look at that stuff later and compare notes (quite literally) and stuff and such. So immediately having just tried their newest portraits one (Mr Thompson) I was struck by the similarity in this one, being that it does have a prominent iris leaning vibe to me which perfectly embodies the feeling of calm and somewhat 'balm' as well, so the name is an apt one. My interpretation is of a figgy top note, with almost too smooth lavenderesque, lightly nutty iris, but without the leathery aspect or opulence of the Mr Thompson one, so in effect for all it's initial similarity they are very different perfumes in actuality. I'm getting strange hybrid of Valentino Uomo, Vera Wang, Ferregamo uomo and maybe even Le Male parfum, but also a host of other recent shit and I'm kinda thinking this is a little bit too commitee'd out of existence. It's difficult and unfair to quote all this stuff as reference context, because I'm despirately trying to mark balm of calm on it's own merits and comparing it to perfumes which I feel do mark themselves out. I like all those perfumes so I'm not having a huge downer on this, I'm just not sure this gourmand/amber/fougere hybrid stands out enough at this pricepoint to convince me. It's just a bit 'meh' if it took this concept and elevated it, I'd be singing it's praises gladly, but it's not a bad perfume, it's just not good either. Okay so looking at the notes now and clary sage, lavender and cardamom are not entirely unexpected in a perfume of this name and 'smooth' is often what I associate with cardamom, lavender here but they only chime after a very 'generic' opening, This is a much better perfume when settled on the skin, rare for Penhaligons and rare for this collection as it will become apparent. Rum? Okay Iris accord was clear to me right away and the rest of the sandlwood, vetiver and oak is it? represent the woody balast at the base of this perfume, fine.
Smells like mulled wine, I love it.
They thought of a concept (vegetable notes) then crowbarred a load of perfumes into it. You can smell them and be like, "oh yeah, that's interesting" but in actual fact they're mostly awful and certainly nothing I'd ever put on my skin. This is the worst of the six. This is a ghastly perfume, really bad.
I Iike this one, but it's as derivative as the majorly of PGs. Here, Épices Exquises and Noir Extreme immediately come to mind.
Nice idea but it smells like it's made with bad quality ingredients. There's something off in the base that remains throughout.
Reminds me of Oud Malaki. Nothing new. Oud Malaki is four times cheaper.
Danone caramel yoghurt dessert containing no natural ingredients and many chemical sweeteners. Pungent and obnoxious.
The only perfume in PGs vast catalogue which has something skanky underneath. Having said that, it doesn't intrigue me that much. It also has a lot of "fresh" toilet product notes up top which do nothing for me.
Fetish Pour Homme is a masterful creation for the most confident of men. Opening very bright initially with lemon and lime, at first you’re not sure what you’ve got yourself into. As the soft florals begin to make way for what can only be described as an intensely rich, dirty and animalistic scent, you begin to become excited. A powerful leathery labdanum is joined by heaps of the highest quality castoreum, and an overdose of spicy cinnamon. Three dominating notes all fighting for attention, with the lime running through the background as a refreshing constant. The other notes listed don’t really stand out to me, likely just providing further depth and warmth. This fragrance really impresses me as it combines two strong fragrance families - chypre and amber. The classical elements of the Chypre structure combined with the warming Amber accord in the base take my breath away every time I smell it. I love animalic perfumes and this is one of my absolute favourites of all time.
Very nice, original smelling amber twist.
Bit like Eau de Campagne, but less complex and less subtle.
It's quite nice, but it immediately makes me want to wear Fate Man by Amouage, which is the greatest of curry/cumin perfumes for me.
Trying to put Sweetie Aoud into words is an incredibly challenging feat, as nothing out there smells even remotely close to it. As soon as you spray it you’re transported to a classy French patisserie in the heart of Paris - hot, buttery pastries and burnt sugar fill the air of this quaint little shop, I picture marbled floors and luxurious leather seats in the background. As it settles on the skin it takes on this very warm and spicy cardamom note, accompanied by a dry and woody oud. An intense concoction of various resins and balsams add to the ‘smoky’ element of the scent, alongside soft florals and a smooth base of labdanum. Usually I’m fairly good at recognising certain notes but for the most part here I’m just trying to ascertain how the notes listed are working together. You genuinely cannot pick out any singular note. Sweetie Aoud is one of the most masterful creations from Roja Dove in my eyes, demonstrating talent and expertise beyond most of us. This truly is the best gourmand I’ve ever smelled.
I really like this on card. It's an original, grassy fig. Looking forward to seeing if it agrees with my skin, which most PGs do not, sadly.
Much less spicy than some other PGs. It's a leather scent to my nose. The saffron is a bit B.O.-like... Not sure about this one .
