Such a disappointment. I cringed at the name and I cringed at the first spray of this fragrance. What is it about 'this' vibe at the moment? I'd say it's borderline gourmand but actually smells so chemicaly harsh, that I doubt you'd ever eat anything remotely similar. Immediately Code profumo/one million prive/Ferragamo Uomo all sprung to mind and they are even scents I don't think were that bad, somehow this is so generic and lacking that it's worse. Did we really need another fragrance of this ilk? No!!! I wouldn't even mind if manufacturers returned to the same thing, I mean it's inevitable but release after release? Come on. It obviously must make business sense, cashing in on the success of other fragrances but let's have some artistry. On the upside I like the bottle and to be honest I don't hate the fragrance (it dries down much nicer than it opens) it's just boring in the light of the wave of fragrances like this that have come out in the last year or so.
Never let it be said that I don't give credit where it's due because I think Paco Rabanne's XS line is not bad. The original has actually become quite a beloved fragrance for me and reminds me of the 90's. XS Black is a bit too sweet but is weird in good way and I appreciate the effort in making something original. So I have high hopes for this one, interesting notes but I never read too much into those, look forward to getting my nose on this.
What a shame it is but Pure XS is absolute bumwash! It's in the same vein as recent oriental releases to the point it's ridiculous now. I tried the new Armani scent on the same day and although this is different it still exists in the same sphere of modern gerericism masquerading as depth, warmth and sexiness. The opening is kinda subtle and slowing growing but similar to Ferragamo uomo or something? It does have a somewhat bracing freshness, maybe the ginger? A herbal woodiness, aquatic at times even but a base which is that silly generic accord present in loads of uninspiring new releases (One million/Invictus/Wanted/ etc...) and a bit of a resinous vanilla drydown. I don't completely hate it, Pure XS is just a bit of a mess and I was maybe expecting to get something good. One thing I am surprised about is how low lying it is on the skin. I'm sure the noses who create these fragrances have the best of intentions but sometimes the combination of notes and disparate ideas culminate in a boring, stilted composition. Oh before I go ...the flacon is MASSIVE and oddly weighty and impressive either as a paperweight or something you could bash a burglar over the head with.
I'm yet to find a Tiare flower fragrance which would be suitable for a man to wear. There's something inherently feminine about it in my opinion but that doesn't detract from this being a nice perfume. Despite the focus on tiare I'd say the main note is a lighthearted rose smell when it's all settled down and that's safe and crowd pleasing to most people. The opening is quality, sweet florals with a touch of the tropical about it, putting me in mind of something kinda Hawaiian. I think it might be the vanilla and touch of coconut making Poudre de riz a bit gourmand at times but with a warm ambery base and although I don't really detect tolu balm or even know what rice smells like I can believe they are in the mix. This is because it smells complex and very much a go to, quality powdered floral for women...basically it's versatile. The quality of this is undouubted and I don't know what it costs but I suspect it isn't cheap. My knowledge of similar perfumes is lacking but I think you might get something similar cheaper. I liked it though but from a practical point of view I could never wear it myself.
I've been aware of this stuff for years but was reminded fairly recently when I saw the old Sacha Distel advert for it, kinda wish I'd been around in the 70's to smell the original but the Eden Classics version will have to do. I'm keen on Classic fougere fragrances and this was very much what I was expecting from this and to a large degree it exceeded those expectations because I think Mandate smells unique. It's not a fougere in the rougher sense like a Paco Rabanne for example, it's much smoother and more mellow, with more of a powdered focus of geranium and lavender up front with the classic touches of pine cedar and oak moss and cloves very much lower in the mix. The one note that jars for me from the outset and until it settles right down, is a sweaty unpleasant smell which I can only attribute to clary sage and I wasn't surprised to see it amongst the notes here. This is the only thing that puts me off because when it fades this is a nice scent, which smells inherently cheap but very cheerful, performance was not great but I wouldn't say poor. For 3.99 worth a punt and I actually will wear it. Paradoxically I think it's that stale sweat and cumin smell which although unpleasant actually gives Mandate it's character it would be a very much duller and more forgettable affair without it...strange when that happens. Update: Mandate is superb. I've worn it three times this week and that's unheard of for me. I totally got over that smell in the opening and as I said above it actually contributes to what is an excellent fragrance and it was only £3 for 50ml...amazing. I bet the original was an absolute treasure.
This already had a like on it and I do recall getting a sample a good while back and I suspect I've written a review already and just not posted it. (I do that a bit) Well I was surprised I wasn't keener to let people know my thoughts because Carner Barcelona's El Born is a fantastic and original fragrance. I say original but I can draw some comparisons even with things I've tried and reviewed recently like Aomassai. However El Born has it's own unique things going on. The opening is very reminiscent of my childhood and I can't quite place what it is? something sweet no doubt. This is a gourmand vanilla steeped in lovely honey, heliotrope angelica with a blast of elemi in the opening and a drydown of peru balm it's pretty special stuff. I love the almost boozy liquorice quality in el born opening and settling few minutes and later on that almond smell from the heliotrope. Yeah it's magic. I'm wishing everything was stronger at the moment so I haven't been commenting in much detail on performance, this isn't massive and due to it's make up a naturally low sitting skin scent.
As a lover of Peru balm, ladandum and damned near everything in this perfume it's unsurprising that I'm pretty smitten with it. It's as precious and of the most exquisite quality but like tolu, peru etc...it sits very low and quiet on the skin. The opening is actually quite difficult to detect at first, there's no noxious 'wowing!' ploom of niche gas coming off this, Ignes going on more like a dry amber or one of those escentric molecules, ISO frags bearly there at all. Then it builds to a gorgeous woody, resinous and subtlety beautiful scent. It is largely Peru balm and labdanum but there's perhaps some patchouli and maybe some sandalwood in there too? The one note that is beyond question is tobacco. Now just to restate...not only am I an authority on resins but I'm a keen cigar smoker and this is the most accurate and carefully nuanced smell of a cigar wrapper I've ever smelled. Pure peru balm doesn't have this quality so I'm deducing it's another ingredient or the interaction that is creating this effect. The humidor note doesn't last however, existing between the opening few minutes and then gone by the 1/2 hour mark but a really lovely and naturally earthy, spicy smell. I love this scent. It retreats low but that is the nature of this kind of scent and I think if I had a full bottle and slapped a load on it would perform better. How about that bottle too? Ignes would look cool on my shelf.
A classic chypre, beautiful, elegant, completely bang in the middle unisex and the term timeless most definitely applies. The opening is stunning the drydown is gentile and complex vetiver, oak moss, geranium citruses, musk. Nothing earth shattering or ground breaking just really really well done and smells quality. Major drawbacks are price and performance, I could let the price slide if it was potent and long lasting but golden chypre ain't.
I'm getting slightly irritated with the amount of smoky fragrances out there, whether it's intentional or not especially the ones that smell of food or BBQ sauce. Tonnerre however is pretty stunning to my nose and despite the huge amount of thick birch tar and realistic smoke in here I actually get a overriding freshness and metallic citrus too. What a fascinating combination of notes, the smoke is very very apparent in the opening and I actually thought would be the only thing left even after a very short period but that's not the case at all. It's actually the smoke that dies back on my skin. It's still there but giving way to more of a prickly gunpowder smell and slightly boozy woods and even a marine/aquatic suggestion. It really does have a brandy or whisky note in there, I often smell my whisky before drinking and it's reminscent of inhaling the warming vapours. It reminds me a little bit of MiN Moon dust and equally divisive scent but this is nicer in many ways. I like this a great deal, it's kooky in a good way I smell like I'm wearing some fresh citrus/aquatic and I've been sitting by a campfire for 2 hours. Oh the smoke does remain and looms large again as the rest of the notes die back in the deep drydown. Update: This stuff lasted very well on my skin and kinda smelled like aqua de Loewe EL a bit of bonfire and that flint like, wet stone, gunpowder note which is an acquired taste but to me totally captivating. Update 28/09/22 Well it appears I've truly come full circle with this one. I'm not annoyed by the tenacious smoke, and I stick to all the broadly positive stuff I said about Tonnere and it's mixture of flinty, BBQ meat smoke and dark old ship, salty sea spray and aquatic limes. HOWEVER... There's an element to that metallic, musky, biting aquatic accord which no longer sits well with me and I just can't let this go without expressing it. I once called 212 Men Surf one of the worst pieces of shit I'd ever had the misfortune of smelling because of this said same, 'DEATHLAC' bug spray note within that perfume, well surprise, surprise, because it exists in Tonnere too. Not quite enough to put me off the good stuff, the creativity and narrative building but enough to make me never want to purchase this perfume or ever wear it again. So there's that.
My partner works at the airport and often samples the new duty free perfume while passing through, a nice perk of the job you might imagine. Unfortunately it's me who has to endure some of the awful stuff she just happens to slop on herself...JPG's Scandal is one of those. It's kinda in that vein of recent releases from Marc Jacobs and Mugler, sort of chintzy takes on the black orchid theme. Big, heavy, chunky chemical clouds but this one is an insult to those others I compared it to which actually aren't bad. It smells like very toxic, sickly sweet berries and some kind of god awful 'floral' smell which could NEVER exist in nature, It's pretty hideous but sadly generic because there's loads of tat like this around. I had to tell her to keep away because it was knocking me sick. She commented that the bottle design was very cheeky and pure JPG all over but it's not even an original idea as there's a Revlon perfume with almost the exact same bottle! JPG's line has really redeemed itself for me in recent Le Male releases for example but this is an absolute abomination. I suspect the silage and Longevity are atomic...at least it seemed that way to me. Yeah...I don't like it.
I think the first review pretty much nails it, however I think Bang! is spicy with pepper and actually has more of an edge. To say this doesn't last as long as Bang! a notoriously poor performer is really making a statement and I can't say I would disagree. This is not to say I don't like the smell of Tundra, it has a fantastic opening of fresh and vibrant elemi, greeness and slightly smokey cedar/vetiver combo. It has that uplifting (I often describe as 'fizzy') vibe you get from elemi which is like olibanum and fresh juniper/gin & tonic. Unfortunately it suffers the same problem as the 3% elemi dilution tester I got...it doesn't last. What you are left with is a very weak but pleasant cedar aroma. What I do like is that it develops past being just another incense fragrance into something woodier and generally a good ensemble of notes. Nothing high original but not bad stuff.
Yep, this really smells a lot like Chanel's Allure, without the little citrus note. A really powdery and comforting scent, but not what I would expect from an amber classified fragrance.
A very nearly an orgasmic opening for me. Palo santo is right up my street in oh so many ways, it smells like as if Alessandro Gaultieri made a gourmand. This is the acceptable and enjoyable side of the warm milk fragrance because it's a little smokey and woody unlike a jeux de peux for example. Boozy, tonka bean but with gourgeous guiac wood underneath, grounding it and adding a hint of spice and earth and most importantly curbing some of that sweetness. The only downside and this seems to be a theme of my reviews of niche perfumery at the moment, is the longevity. I never used to be someone who associated a high price or exclusivity with long lasting performance, not all fragrances need to last or have massive trails. However, I do feel a little short changed when they fade in a hour or two. This is usually exacerbated by the fact many of these niche scents open so strongly you think, wow I'm gonna be smelling of this for a week and when you can barely smell it an hour later, it just kinda sucks. Anyway Palo Santo looses some of it's complexity in the drydown and gets a bit sweeter and creamier, more vanilla like basically but very close to the skin. Only a minor complaint because this is an amazing fragrance with lots to enjoy. Update: The second time wearing PS and it's lasted much better although it's primary on clothes but that's still fine. Also I noticed in the opening it was a little reminscent for a second of Rochas Man but hugely high end and much better, thicker and more complex mind. Then the deep drydown like 6-8 hours + smelled a lot like Givenchy Play Intense, another fragrance I really like but didn't start out that way. All these comparisons are only slight and even if they weren't still positive because I own and like both, PS has a lot going for it.
First of all this is quite an original fragrance and I take my hat off to it for that but it's not entirely without comparison. The opening is extremely loud and makes me immediately think that the name is appropriate as it runs at you head on, barging and gouging you with it's horn! The opening is sharp, slightly bitter and very off kilter. I get a massive dose of elemi, a yesty resinous smell I usually like but coupled with a dizzying booziness and a horrid tanning leather, oud accord. This is pretty much a perfect storm of things I might like individually or in another context but when put together in this just become gross. Kind of reminds me of the more ill judged fragrances from 4160 Tuesdays, messy and deliberately weird, something I'd usually say is cool or funky. Well this is just plain FUNKY...in a stinky way. The oud is transparent and has a leathery, barnyard feel at times but as it steadily dries down this fragrance becomes more tolerable. In fact it dries down to a complex oud/rose type smell of undoubted quality but I still just don't like Rhinoceros. It's pretty much a scrubber for me and I consider myself into some 'out there' stuff fragrance wise. I thought the longevity would be massive but thankfully it isn't...pretty average really after an invasive and strong start. Needless to say this stuff is not my cup of tea as much as I want to be praising trendy niche perfumes there's no accounting for taste and in this instance my taste says "errrrr...Yuck!"
The opening of this fragrance is extremely weird, thick, very indulgent, very Mugler and actually quite reminiscent of intense oriental releases of late, that Marc Jacobs one that looks like a handbag springs to mind. I've actually enjoyed the last few feminine fragrances from TM and some are almost something I would wear but sadly I don't think this one is quite in that category. Anyway back to that opening, it's jammy with what could be described as exotic fruit and maybe rhubarb but then there's a tar like almost rubbery, signature Mugler oddity in there and I actually really like that. Then the bourbon vanilla comes on stronger and stronger, sickly sweet and developing all the while with a fruity floral texture which is strong and feminine but frankly far less interesting than that wacky, extraterrestrial bottle would suggest. The dry down is very lovely stuff and feminine I'd say it's like a soft vanilla and white musk something I'd be more than happy with my missus wearing.
This takes soapy to new heights of genericness, it goes through generic and flips right out the other side into something which might just be causing a complexity, placebo effect, such is the paradox that is Kenneth Cole Vintage Black. So it's good then? No...it's very bad and here's why. I read notes like 'Lime' (In fairness it does open with a very fresh lovely lime smell which only lasts seconds) and 'tequila' and sniffing very hard through the matey bubblebath once settled and I'm thinking..."Yeah....Tequila maybe?" but There's no agave/tequila smell to this, I'm almost positive of that now. It also reminds me quite heavily of Dior higher (a fragrance I gave away) but not as good. Normally I'd say this is 'fine' and perfectly 'wearable' (and it is) but the mood I'm in of late is one with a no tolerance policy for this absolutely uninspiring twaddle. The dry down is actually annoying me there's hints of white florals in there and it's actually quite a prolonged ordeal. I actually quite like the bottle and label design, it looks like something from a trendy concession like Kiehls or something?
Alegria is another floral fragrance by the Lili Bermuda Line, but this time I feel the patchouli from beginning to the end. Sadly I'm not a big patchouli lover, so this isn't for me, but it isn't bad either and could smell wonderful on someone else. There is also a floral note and a bit peppery/incense background, but very subtle. The notes are good balanced not very overpowering, which is good is definitely a plus.
Passion Flower has a strong floral touch throughout all accords. On my skin I get mainly gardenia, ylang ylang and sandalwood, maybe a little touch of peach too. Really warm and opulent but very soft in the silage. The scent just sits close to the skin. I believe this is a good nighttime or a rainy day scent, and I can imagine wearing it more on colder than warmer days. Again, very a natural and realistic fragrance.
Another really floral fragrance by Lili Bermuda. But this one is not the fresh flowery type of scent, but it is a warm floral. I smell Oleander mixed with amber and vanilla predominately. You get a powdery and musky touch from this scent as well. Really nice, rounded and natural. Would be good for a summery night out.
This Sephora perfume is a powdery fragrance. It almost reminds me of Frederic Malle's Lipstick rose, but a little different when it comes to the rose. I don't think this is just a solo floral cotton scent, but more a mix of powdery flowers. A light clean smell, easy to wear and not overwhelming. One of the cheaper scents which is has not such a cheap synthetic smell but works as all-rounder.
Petals is a very realistic floral scent, which reminds me so much of the blooming linden trees here in the parks in Germany. Very pretty! The orange blossom is very dominant and uplifting, I also feel the jasmine and ylang-ylang, but not really any fruity notes. It lasts very long, even after 6 hrs I am able to smell the base notes. I'm impressed, a perfect perfume, if you love a natural realistic flower scent, mainly white flowers though!
Pink is a light and airy mimosa scent, a bit powdery too. A soft skin-scent with very light lasting power. More suitable for spring and summer, that is for sure.
You really get a lot of clementine and water lily from this fragrance. This is a really soft and light, happy scent. Coral has aquatic and fresh but also flowery vibes, I like it. Easy-going, for warmer days.
I feel Calypso is more a male than a unisex fragrance, but also wearable for women who like herbal scents. You get a burst of freshness, green/wood and citrus notes. Reminds me of the Cool Water fragrances by Davidoff. Such a refreshing summer scent. I personally wouldn't wear it according to my taste preference, but I think it would be nice on other people who enjoy this scent-profile.
Hopefully when I review it properly I'll be able to say things like 'set phasers to stun!' or this 'boldly goes....' etc... I'm not really a Star Trek fan as such, I like it though and usually these kind of scents wouldn't appeal to me but I'm actively going to seek these out.
