Sample from Discovery set. Paper test. Curiously, an incense floral amber with a note of absinthe that actually adds suavity to the composition. A big like, particularly as it’s quite complex and I can pick out all the notes. I don’t find the incense overt and look forward to wearing it. Follow me on Instagram: @TheScentiest
Sample from discovery set. Paper test, although I have owned a bottle of this previously. It’s in the same ballpark as mfk oud Extrait. A stylish, fresh oud which zips with oodles of saffron. If you like the mfk, you should check this out too. Follow me on Instagram: @TheScentiest
Sample from discovery set. Paper test. This is a really charming rose oud and I largely agree with how HungarianGenius summed this up. Oud is low down in the profile, and this is all about the sweet, warm notes although I’d stop short of calling it a full blown gourmand. I like the hint of booze and the candied rose is sumptuous. Tonka rounds out the base and I’m excited to give this a proper wearing. Follow me on Instagram: @TheScentiest
I think this is the most innocent white floral which I have. It’s so soft and creamy, indulgent and subtle. I love the way how Vanilla and whipped cream blend together with Jasmine, Tuberose and Gardenia. Gourmand aspect is very restrained, I wouldn’t even put this into that category. Amouage’s way to make something as synthetic as a note “whipped cream” sounds is incredibly chic. It’s feels so natural, not cloying at all which I was afraid of. Sandalwood with Cedar wood creates the soft and creamy, woody base supporting all other notes in the charming and delicated way. Whipped cream is mentioned as “Chantilly cream” in Amouage’s web page and it means a cream sweetened with sugar and flavoured, usually with Vanilla. Love Tuberose is quite simple scent but it’s very beautiful and easy to wear. I wouldn’t say it’s sweet but some people may think so especially if Gardenia doesn’t perform in the way how it performs on my skin bringing a hint of earhy touch into composition. Vanilla and whipped cream may perform stronger as well for some. I think this is heavenly perfect. Not childish yet good quality and polished. Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
I love SHL’s exceptional style of combining notes and creating something very unique and artistic. It’s not just about the notes, there is something magical in the way he uses ingredients. Soleil de Jeddah is herbal and earthy yet soft and opulent. There is a hint of peachy sweetness from Osmanthus and very realistic herbal scent of Chamomile. It reminds me of running on the fields during summertime when I was a kid. It might feel even soapy during the first wearings but that is not an accord which comes to my mind anymore - like I wouldn’t call this scent fruity at all. As I’m not a fan of citruses it doesn’t bother me at all like is the case when it’s just used as one of the top notes. One of my favorite flowers, Iris, matches unexpectedly yet perfectly with Chamomile like with indulgent mellow Vanilla and ultra smooth leather. Iris and leather is very common combination though but here it’s totally different than it is in other scents which I know. Vanilla never gets sweet and leather never gets brash here. The concoction is absolutely intoxicating and totally unisex. For me this works best during summertime and the hotter the better. All the notes blends so beautifully and it's melting on my skin. It's utterly polished in hot and so classy. If it's too cold this is performing quite sharply and all the notes are like separated. I haven’t been in Jeddah but this scent makes me curious to visit there. ☀️ Top: Lemon - Wild Chamolile oil - Osmanthus ☀️ Middle: Iris roots - Amber - Earthy notes ☀️ Base: Iris butter - Russian leather - Vanilla from Madagascar Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
Promise is a bold and daring perfume, one that really challenges the senses and shouldn’t be dismissed too hastily. It opens with an explosion of juicy apple and sharp pink pepper which is both refreshing and incredibly pungent. From here a duo of two classic roses emerge to balance the harsh apple with soft floral touches. As this settles on the skin - a dry, earthy cypriol and patchouli become the stars of the show. For me this is where people find the scent to be challenging, cypriol definitely isn’t for everyone. There’s some spicy touches and animalic castoreum lurking in the background, but they’re not overly noticeable. I’ll be honest, this one took some time for me to appreciate it. I was so close to selling my bottle but I stuck it out and wore it a few more times, and ended up falling in love with it. I really had to take the time to understand this fragrance and build a relationship with it. Definitely not for casual wear and definitely not mass appealing.
Burlington 1819 is a fresh, invigorating scent for the modern gentleman. Opening with an incredibly sharp, juicy medley of grapefruit, lime, mandarin and bitter orange - it’s then offset by a delicate mint and ginger. Fortunately, the mint in here isn’t dominating and it actually quite subtle, while the ginger powers ahead and takes the lead. There’s a hint of soft oakmoss and dry tobacco, but unfortunately I don’t pick up any rum. The ginger intensifies as this settles on the skin alongside the citrus and a salty ambergris, which makes up the majority of the scent profile. The addition of cumin here is a strange one, in the air it can sometimes give the impression of body odour in the background, as though you’re sweating through the scent. I don’t get this all the time fortunately, but it’s not ideal. I think this is fantastic citrus scent which is very well made, but for the warmer months I would instead choose Oceania or Elysium.
Fall into Stars is the perfect name for such a sublime fragrance, housed in a modest and unassuming bottle - it really does feel like I can fall into this one. On initial spray it casts a bitter, sticky aroma with Peru balsam, pink pepper, bergamot and ginger - before developing a thick, waxy layer of henna flower and rose. Soon after, a soft and dry oud emerges - not particularly animalic or fecal in any way, but with enough unique nuance to indicate some degree of real oud in the composition. The base is also comprised of a leathery, smoky labdanum and smooth saffron, with subtle touches of a sweet, resinous amber accord in the background. This is a masterfully blended fragrance which is wonderfully smooth and lasts all day. To me and some others I’ve mentioned this to, it almost smells like hyperrealistic black olives at times which can be a bit weird. Overall however, this scent is beautiful and captivating, but not quite enough to justify £760.
This is a weird perfume and probably should have been released by ELDO. A wondeful sweet rose and pepper opening quickly makes way for clovey, salty, fishy even, bizarro musky skank, still with a whiff of rose, sort of like you doused your rose bush in brine from a tin of mussels. If that sounds horrendous, it's because it is, but it's not as far gone as Secretions Magnifiques, there is merit here. I'm only 20 mins into the wear (at home) so I'll reserve judgement for now... It's certainly interesting and very cheap so no big deal if it turns out to be BS. OK, yeah, no. This smells more spunky than Secretions Magnifiques, or does it, I can't decide. I think it's some sort of interplay between the clove, flax and elemi notes. This is a difficult one to call, one day I hate it, another I'm obsessed. Drydown for me is hardcore sandalwood. The whole thing smells synthetic almost like an Absolus D'Orient from Guerlain.
Wondrous opening which is gone in seconds, leaving a not unpleasant scent. It's very musky, and I don't get much grapefruit, which I'm happy about as it tends to bore me being such a common note. The ambergris and apple are dominant on my skin, at least for the first few minutes, with the galbanum giving it a crisp edge. As with most of the "cheaper" Rojas I've tried, the amazing opening is addictive and I keep wanting to respray to get it again, while the main scent is very, very good, but doesn't blow my mind. In the dry down I'm getting A LOT of vetiver and coconut.
I just don't get it, this Roja Dove hyperexpensive crap. This has all the elements of a decent blue fragrance, but executed with absolutely no soul. There's not even any freshness. It's like a hybrid of Aventus and Bleu de Chanel, and it seems like perfumery by algorithm or committee. If this was 100 euros it would leave me cold, but at the asking price it's a total piss-take. There's something about this whole brand that just makes me uncomfortable. I've smelled and worn a lot of their perfumes and every single one is derivative and soulless, and worse still, I can almost always immediately think of something 10 times cheaper doing the same thing or better.
Absolutely glorious from open all the way through drydown into the following day. I get why everyone praises this one.
As Radical Rose is the same scent but with the performance cranked up to SCREAMING, this is a good, and much cheaper, alternative if you don't want to be grabbing everyone by the throat, shaking them and shouting ROSES MTHERFCKER in their faces.
Quite a unique take on a freshie scent. Definitely gives off the Ice in "ice Twist". Imagine that same cooling cold accord from kilian vodka on the rocks, now apply a whole leap of strawberry and fruits and there you have boadicea ice Twist. Nice frag but not my cup of tea. Also drydown leans feminine. 100ml bottle for sale or swap. Uk only
Purple Gourmand does quite well for itself as a very inexpensive fragrance, however I don’t think it’s for me. Immediately I’m greeted by this rather strange coffee and pear combination which simply doesn’t feel right to me, before noticing a dark burnt caramel beginning to build up strength. From here it then heads in the opposite direction once again with the introduction of jasmine and coconut, resting on a base of vanilla and patchouli. I find the majority of the fragrance is dominated by this intensely sweet caramel, bitter coffee and juicy pear. The quality isn’t bad here, it’s actually quite good, I personally just find this particular mix of notes to be very strange and off-putting. It doesn’t smell like you would expect a gourmand to smell, which might be great for some - but for me I find it strays too far in a ‘unique’ direction.
Explicite is an intensely sweet, floral and feminine perfume which I think is fantastic. It opens straight away with bright pink and white florals of peony and lily of the valley, with a soft, delicious darkness lingering in the base from the praline and amber. There’s a gentle spicy kick as nutmeg and pink pepper introduce themselves, resting on a clean woody base. Overall it’s the florals that dominate this scent, the sweet praline and Amber are present but they are but supporting accords. This is a very feminine fragrance and I’m surprised Fragrantica lists it as unisex. I think it smells wonderful but wouldn’t wear it for myself, and find it’s quite overpriced for what it is unfortunately.
Sandalo Nobile is an odd yet pleasant fragrance. Opening with a blast of light, airy Iris and green fig tree, you’re initially greeted by what seems to be a rather fresh, clean and inoffensive perfume. A creamy, powdery sandalwood sets in as it develops on the skin which I must admit is addictive and compliments the Iris very well. There’s a whisper of sweetness coming from the saffron and benzoin however this is very subtle. Furthermore, I find the cumin listed is entirely undetectable - which I think is a good thing in all honesty. As it settles the green fig tree dwindles and the sandalwood becomes much drier. The sweetness becomes slightly more prominent which compliments the woods nicely. This is a very pleasant, mass appealing sandalwood with good quality of ingredients, but I find it lacks character and any memorable qualities unfortunately.
Lune Féline Extrait is the epitome of a great vanilla fragrance - it’s intensely sweet and opulent, fantastically building on the original. Initially it opens very warm and spicy with cinnamon, cardamom and pink pepper. A hint of woody, salty freshness then lingers in the background from cedar and ambergris. From here the vanilla shines through, which is the star of the show. It’s soft, sweet and delicate, and yet somehow also dark, rugged and slightly earthy. This is likely from the styrax and Peru Balsam which gives the scent its addictive animalic qualities. This fragrance smells very much like an amber however lacks the required notes to be considered one. Nevertheless this is a fantastic vanilla and really demonstrates the creatively complex side to vanilla-centric perfumery. An absolute pleasure to experience.
The most antisocial, maybe even sociopathically strong perfume imaginable. Impossible to wear, impossible to scrub off.
Lovely scent but NO potency😭😭😭😭. 0 projection!. I'm only keeping solid performers in my collection now so this has to go. Full 100ml bottle for sale or trade available. Uk only
A wonderful chypre. Divine and addictive. They don't make them like this any more. The subtle balance and elegance is Guerlain level, while the scent itself is a unique masterpiece. The drydown is almost-pissy, benzoin ambery warmth, I can't get enough.
Best dupe of Grand Soir!!!. No cempitition. Performance is phenomenal on this one, 💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿.
First blast and I'm like mmmmmmm this is lovely, then it quickly becomes nauseating... I didn't think Black Orchid EDP could be outdone for its screeching, obnoxious, attention-seeking stranglehold but voilà, here I am. This lies somewhere between BO EDP and Parfum for me in terms of the scent, but it takes the TOO MUCH factor and cranks it up to 10. And I only sprayed twice.
Colonia Oud epitomises the combination of classic Italian perfumery with clean, contemporary western oud. It opens with a juicy burst of bergamot and orange, alongside a refreshingly spicy pairing of amyris and coriander. This is soon followed by a clean-cut, modern, synthetic oud which is smoothed round the edges, and mellowed to match the continental style of Acqua di Parma. Combine this with a soft leather, backed up by sandalwood and cedar - and you’re left with a scent as fresh and invigorating as it is dark and brooding. This fragrance stays true to the heritage of the original Colonia, utilising darker notes to take it that step further. It’s great for casual everyday wear as well as formal occasions, and would work very well as a signature scent for a classical individual.
Cartier Oud Vanille might be my favourite 2023 release so far. As with the rest of the fragrances in this line, there are only 2 main notes that make up the scent profile, however that doesn’t render this scent boring or simplistic in the slightest. The oud is clean, musky and slightly animalic - it’s a step above typical westernised oud and really presents the note in a bare-bones, natural way. On the other hand, the vanilla is soft, creamy, fluffy and exceptionally smooth. It juxtaposes the oud perfectly and fills the air around you with a fantastic contrast of sweetness and bitterness. This is fast becoming my favourite vanilla in my collection, the quality of ingredients here is phenomenal and the blending is superb. Definitely one to check out for all the vanilla lovers out there.
