Terrible! I just can’t stand this scent. I like all accords and all main notes but still this is one of the worst scent that I know. That’s why you should always test and on the skin, not just rely on notes (like I did with this). I blind bought this and I just gave it away. Anyway when I bought this I didn’t even know the hype over this. I think if I had known that it’s so popular, so copied and there is so many dupes of it, I wouldn’t even have bought it. Longevity is forever and projection really good. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
This really is Anis and really aromatic, the strong one! I don't like this but with Tiziana Terenzi's good quality is present here as well and many people would get personal unique signature scent from this. This is the beast, I recommend not to use for example in the open office. (This sample I got randomly, I didn't choose this.) Projectivity and longevity is insane.
THE SPIRIT OF DUBAI Narjesi Second Generation Collection Unisex This is just something which I can’t describe in the way it deserves. This was launched already 2017 and I’m so happy that I was introduced to this in November 2022 at @profumeriacaleri1898 in Genova. I really didn’t know how much I can love Rose🌹 and this started my obsession for rose scents. The first inhale is breathtaking and mind blowing. It’s intoxicating. “What is this” - I was thinking. The scent is straight away everywhere, it’s really amazing, so beautiful divine mix of roses (plus mix of dozens of other notes)! It’s so mellow, rich, fresh, clean and natural in the same time, not sweet, nor “jammy”. I think it was unique as well when it was released but during the last years many perfumes with same kind of scent profile has been made. None of them beats this what comes to the quality though. Oud and Vanilla don’t pop out, neither Patchouli, which I love here, this is all about a majestic rose with smooth, complex, sophisticated base. I can imagine to wear this after the bath wearing a bathrobe or I see myself wearing the most luxurious evening dress and this magical fairytale like scent hugs me inside the huge bubble. This is very versatile yet potent. I love it oversprayed. And if I’m thinking some handsome man in the suit wearing this, just wow! There are so many notes in Narjesi (even animalic) so don’t get confused, this is a kitchen sink but a beautiful one. Roses play a main role and Narjesi is distilled from Rose Bulgarian, Pure Taif Rose, Rose de Mai and Turkish Rose, along with oriental notes. The bottle and the whole package with the travel case is luxurious even if more simple would be more classy imo. The scent itself is really sumptuous. If you want something extraordinary and utterly luxurious- go for it. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
Nice opening and first I was like wow but straight after that too synthetic. I tried many times because I wanted this to be the perfume which would have been easy to take with us (me and my husband) while traveling (not so big loss if I he would loose it or drop it or what ever...) BUT impossible. I don't know if there is something wrong in my nose or what but I just find all Mancera's so synthetic and cloying. :(
Nice opening and first I was like wow but straight away after few seconds too synthetic. I tried many times because I wanted this to be the perfume which would have been easy to take with us (me and my husband) while traveling (not so big loss if I he would loose it or drop it or what ever...) BUT impossible. I just find all Mancera's so synthetic and cloying, I have tried many. Synthetic “Oud” here is terrible and you notice it in the opening. Even Vanilla is made in the poor way and it's unpleasant and screechy. Because of the bad quality I don't even want to try to write a longer review. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate if you follow me IG @ninamariah_perfumes
Not bad scent at all but there is a plenty of same kind of scents already. Unfortunately I get Baccarat vibe and I hate when everything is compared to that. Quality is not bad but unique dimensions are missing. And like Pink Me Up champagne-note, this perfumes caviar-note is just there because of commercial purposes. Performance and longevity is good. (This sample I got randomly, I didn't choose this.) After 1,5 year: Feels earthy with tea like aroma from Mate and saltyness from Caviar note. Nothing animalic in this. Smooth enjoyable dry down, unisex. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
Really nice blend, soft and first breath is like I’m in the heaven. After for a while I find this a little bit cloying and I really don’t know why. I wanted to like this so much but I don’t. Normally I love this kind of scents. It’s anyway well blended, round scent because it’s difficult to separate a single notes which there is many. After testing MANY times (I was thinking some miracle happens like with Xerjoff's perfumes which I adore after a couple weeks testing) I still feel the same. Opening is nice and interesting but after that it just start to be really cloying. EDIT: As I have been still testing this and I noticed now comparisons to Angel’s Share and Straight To Heaven but I don’t find ANY similarities. Cloying blend in overall, the mix of dried fruits, Tuberose and Amber doesn't work here. Had to scrub it off every time when I tried it. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
Really basic fruity floral women scent. Definitely not for me. I don't find any unique things in this perfume and I don't even like this kind of bottles. Anyway the scent itself is not synthetic at all (which I find very terrible) and quality is not bad at all. Fresh, fruity, sparkling experience but champagne is just mentioned here because of commercial purposes I think. I respect everyones taste and I definitely understand people who adore this because they like these notes and this style. It's just not for me. (This sample I got randomly, I didn't choose this.) EDIT: My mind is changing :) Fresh, fruity, sparkling, uplifting, chic, lady like scent. Utterly attractive yet sophisticated and innocent, natural rosy note. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
Too much menthol for me
Richer than the EDP with a wondeful ginger element. I also get a tobacco vibe as someone else mentioned. Together this makes for a sexy, smokey scent. On the opening, it's seems similar to the wonderful Homme Idéal Intense from Guerlain, but this one has stronger sillage, legs and complexity, which is only right given the huge price. Given the criminally bad performance of the EDP, the Parfum slightly redeems the line. I say slightly because it's way overpriced. Now I have smelt this, I find the EDP insipid and quite horrible.
This leaves me completely cold in the winter but is incredible on a hot, humid day. Who would have thought 🤷
Hands down the best wearable, sexuest coffee frag I've tried (and I've tried more than a few haha). This is soooooo sexy!. I keep sniffing myslef, it's like a coffee and cacao blend with some cardamom and vanilla. If Gourmand coffee was a genre/category, then this would certainly fit the bill. Defo my fave coffee scent!.
Wonderful opening, stays wonderful for an hour, then becomes a basic, cloying, nauseating horror show.
An air banquet of rare truffles and chocolate flakes, oozing and wafting, deep and dark, velvety and smooth. Just delicious and super addictive. This is one of the only perfumes I can sniff close up and deep and there's nothing but joy, no harshness. I love it, it may even be the most exquisite perfume in my collection. After a long while, the dry down reminds me of L'Instant de L'homme EDP by Guerlain, but while I love the Guerlain, this is next level. Perhaps it's the quality of the ingredients, I don't know, but it's sublime.
Craaaaaazy performance. One spray, then wash it off a bit, then dominate the air of any space you occupy. The scent is addictively sumptuous, rich and complex. Every note described above is discernable, loud even. Truly gorgeous and for the bold/attention seeker. It's no surprise this is by the nose behind Interlude.
Smelling this having recently bought 100ml of Imitation Woman, I can really link the two. This is like the sketch version, whereas years later the same perfumer realized a magnum opus for Amouage based on the same basic principle. I feel like Tom Ford took this composition to one apex in the form of Noir de Noir, focusing on the chocolate patchouli sumptuousness, and Amouage saw the idea reach a different conclusion, this being a juicy, psychedelic blackcurrant and aldehydes explosion (there are aldehydes in Black Orchid if you look for them). All of the above-mentioned perfumes are great, but my heart stands still for Imitation Woman, and wearing Black Orchid just makes me wish I was wearing that. If I'm gonna wear one of this collection, I'll opt for Black Orchid Parfum, as it's less shouty and further down the truffle road, or Velvet Orchid, which is a crazy fun time in a bottle. Shout out to Orchid Soleil too!
So. Clearly I did review this back when I received a host of samples from this brand to have a really deep dive and figure out just how much I resented their whole, Middle east meets French, Oud centric, fleece folks, 'borrow' Tom Ford Private blend aesthetic, Swarovski encrusted LUXURY shtick! But I kinda quickly discovered I couldn't. Or perhaps I resented them more because they were just so mellow, easy going and sort of quite faithful to a certain, Frenchness in the main. Most stuff I tried was quite lovely really, without ever standing out or compelling me to own a bottle, this one was so much in that category that I'd forgotten to review it until you lot were lucky enough for me to find a sample vial and pop some on, several years later. Patchouli Argent is a fairly straightforward oud/rose/patchouli affair, it's deeply faceted, well made, quite dark and evolving but it's something else too, it's a bit dull. Sorry but it's true. I like that the rose isn't chintzy or cheap smelling or too bright or fruity, I like that the darkness dominates without murkiness, I like that it's NOT a patchouli dominant fragrance in the true sense (some people have made the comparisons to the dior and TF 'true' patchouli's which I don't get at all but hey) but there's a presence and clever use as a leg in the rose oud tripod and I like the ratios at least. There's some little notes which emerge from nowhere, a sort of musky, sweet sumptuous thing, then a kind of mild floral skank, a little like ambergris, mild saliva on skin effect, either that or I have an infection in my wisdom teeth again? LOL Yeah I dunno, it's fine, it's nice, it's good. There's many many worse in this category and perhaps you can take something from the various dessert trolley of vibes which pop out.
For nearly 200 euros, I'd expect some performance, even just moderate performance, but this is truly non-existant. Several sprays and no scent bubble, no projection, no sillage, nothing. What a con! It's a shame because the fleeting scent is exquisite, but it's gone within 10 minutes maximum.
Strong mosquito repellant... the hardcore stuff that makes your skin sticky with pungent citronella, or is it...? Yes it is, but at the same time, I do find myself going back for more. I don't necessarily dislike the smell of mosquito repellent, but do I want a very expensive perfume that instantly conjures that up? I just can't decide how I feel. Perhaps summer will change my opinion, better still, perhaps this stuff will actually deter mosquitos from feasting on me, in which case I can get on board. The thing is, as it dries down, it becomes clear that there is no citronella, it's probably the combination of geranium and anise (the latter of which is way stronger than I expected, and it's not even listed here) giving me that vibe. It's a complex fragrance, and interesting, I'm just not sure if I can bear it if someone says I smell like bug spray, and it seems inevitable. Following that, the bottle will sit there unused reminding me I spent too much money on it, even though it was discounted. I realise I'm confused. It's a confusing fragrance. Update: After several wears, of course I love it, it's magic! I think this is a thing with Tom Ford perfumes. They're not mass appeal, so it takes consideration to appreciate them. I must say I've yet to find one I didn't love, even if I wouldn't wear them all.
My experience is that perfumes with amazing performance smell overpowering and often quite rank. Not so with OL EDP. One spray on the neck gives me beautiful, radiant projection, even in terrible weather, without being overbearing. This will last forever. Everyone here is on about new car smell, I don't get that. New car smell is industrial, headache-inducing and plastic, this is floral, delicate and soft.
It's Boss The Scent Intense rebottled.
To my nose, this is an exact dupe for LVEB L'Absolu! Not the regular LVEB but its flanker. I have tried them both side by side numerous times and we are certain there's absolutely no difference between the two other than sillage, which is massive on L'Absolu. The sillage and longevity are quite good.
I can pick out most of the notes here, but the ones I particularly like in no particular order are the cedar, eucalyptus, moss, and castoreum. Oddly, I’m getting a bit of a soapy, cream soda texture overall, which is really quite pleasant. And at points it reminds me of the specific, and somewhat comforting smell you often experience wandering around art gallery gift shops. Don’t ask me why, I couldn’t tell you.
Smells like food. I'm even getting garlic. Very bizarre
After getting card strips of all the Absolus d'Orient from the Guerlain boutique, I found myself obsessively sniffing the oud essentiel (but not exclusively). So I went back for a sample... I am torn between loving it and feeling like it's impossible to wear. I think I love it. Here's the thing... The opening is a horrible, agressive dusty old church lamp bashing you in the face, but then after about five minutes the rose starts to come through, then the whole thing softens and becomes a beautiful, warm envelope of charming oud and floral notes with a lovely leather spine. I'd say this is old school in terms of strength and performance, i.e. you barely want to spray it on your skin. Instead, spray in front of you and walk naked into the cloud. You don't want to gas everyone around you when in public.
So some people are bothered by Zoologists shtick. Apparently according to people who frequent online 'community' stuff they are fanboy/girl/personed about pretty hard as well and clearly they have commercial success because they keep knockin' animals out. I however, am indifferent. I don't really have much of an opinion either way, I see what it is they are trying to do and I've been largely complementary about them when they achieve what I see as the brief and I'm slightly perplexed when they do hit a brief but make an unwearable (in my opinion) perfume. So anyway Moth was sent to me as a kind of 'you probably won't like this but...' sort of a fragrance, but to his and my surprise, I thought it was not only wearable but pretty fantastic to boot! It's largely a big, oldskool feeling castoreum focused perfume, dark, animalic but also quite classical and in the image of a floral chypre but I feel that's a bit of a lazy description too. It has a nocturnal feel perfect for the moth, but the castoreum and all it's savory, meatiness is complimented with a honied floral accord which works a treat. I'm a big fan of Moth, I think it's one of the better ones from the brand and there's been some excellent examples of this kind of faithful, vintage recreation stuff from Beaver to Nightingale. Really good.
This is rose, saffron and oud executed with deft control. Do not expect any big, bombastic accords, this one is gentile and stylish, reserved and muted. Yet still, it’s got enough heft, particularly from the saffron to warrant a steady hand when applying the oil to the pulse points. It’s hugely wearable and totally universal. A big like from me.
