I'm surprised there's not some ridiculous 'ye olde' Creed tale to go with this perfume (maybe there is?) but it could perhaps evoke one? The reason I say this is I get a distinct traditional cologne sort of vibe from it, super fresh and clean. The juniper and fruits are biting and zesty and the basil is fresh. Despite not being anything overly innovative note wise this is a citrus/juniper/musk combo which delivers quality and sophistication. Also there's something uncomplicated and has a masculine simplicity about it. That's not the whole story though because the drydown has a characteristically intricate touch of the herbal and what I can only assume is ambergris? This is something I can identify in this as well as millesime imperial, silver mountain water, erolfa etc... Royal water is slightly more appealing to me than erolfa or MI, don't know why it just is. I like to bash Creed a little but in all honesty I love many of this houses fragrances and if I can get them at a knockdown price, I would consider it. Longevity and projection pretty average but again not bad for a citrus. I'd wear this on a warm spring or hot summer day and thoroughly enjoy it I'm sure.
I've had this for a week now and being the proud owner of the entire 24 line I was eagerly anticipating the launch of this one. Blind bought from the back room of the store because they hadn't even put them on the shelves yet and had no testers. Frankly, I thought how much better can this be than the original(?) a fragrance which was right up my street, sweet, fruity, gourmand but resinous, woody and creamy with vanilla. Well Scent story have managed to nail it again! This is quite simply 24 Gold with an amped up Oud note which is prominent and obvious from the very beginning. It's woodier, spicy in a darker way with more pink pepper in the opening for sure but with that sweetness lingering underneath. This lasts for several hours and then it dry's down to a very familiar vanilla 24 Gold accord. This is stunning juice and a perfectly welcome addition to my collection despite owning the original. Although I love it 24 Gold can become a little cloying after a while just due to it's sweetness and massive longevity and projection. This oud addition is a remedy to this issue because of the definite transition between the opening few hours and more recognizable sweetness later. By the time it does arrive, it's softer and welcome to my nose. Huge projection and longevity as expected...just get it!
So they've finally landed on fragrantica! My main concern when these were announced was really how much better are they going to be? I've had oud editions for a week now and I can honestly say I'm glad I purchased them despite having all of the 24 range (and back up bottles.) I've started with this one because in my opinion it differs more from the original than Gold does with it's counterpart. The original 24 Platinum was an odd fish, a musky oud rose fragrance but with a sharpness of citrus throughout, which made for a strange combo. Stranger still that oud was not listed among the notes, yet abundantly clear to any nose sniffing this fragrance. What I liked about this was that it was unusual and unlike anything else out there. The closest comparison I could draw was Acqua di Parma Colonia Oud and perhaps Tom Ford Oud wood with a nod to more common Oud/rose combos as well..as I said 24 Platinum was a bit of a rubix cube. This oud edition is quite a departure in that it's more of a traditional Oud/rose and frankly not as challenging for me as the original was. Oud edition still has elements of that metallic, citrus thing from the original but it's very muted. Think of a strong musky rose from Montale I think this is somewhere between White Aoud and Roses Musk. I've used those as recent reference points but I think quite accurately as it does have that synthetic OTT vibe of Montale about it. For this reason the opening is too rosy for me and not as refined as something with a more woody charater, medicinal oud vibe or patchouli/vanilla/saffron etc... That's not to say I don't like it...far from it! This is superb fragrance for the price and I would encourage anyone looking for a rose fragrance to check this out before forking out big sums on niche juice. £37.50 for 100ml's can't argue with that! I mentioned the opening but have neglected the drydown somewhat because it is really really nice. The rose is still there but settles back, the musk is less prominent and the woody qualities sing on my skin becoming softer. Longevity and projection are insane.
I'm not the greatest fan of Zerjoff...only a couple of greats among the ranks and far too many disappointing scents. This one 1888, I had no preconceptions about and just picked at random to sample, I have to say I'm inpressed. Shocking really as I'm not the biggest lover of florals and especially white, blossomy ones. That's what I get from this is a lovely balanced floral opening spiced slightly with pepper and cloves. Then a warm woody heart with a beautiful neroli note. Yes 'beautiful'! Not that I hate neroli but it's not my favorite thing in the world. Just surprising when it appeared after what I thought was going to be a floriental/amber/spicy type scent it gives you a lovely fresh balance of the white floral note. The drydown is a soft powdered, suede and florals. Complex and very well conceived juice this one, I'm sure it would be a hit with those of you who like a gentle scent. I found it interesting and stylish, and quite Italian which is not something I often associate which Zerjoff, despite their origin. I loved this fragrance to be honest, a little bit disappointed by the performance it's good but not great, glad a checked it out though.
I don't know...? perhaps there's something wrong with me? I love sweet scents, adore almonds, anything gourmand really and enjoy the idea of wheaty, milky notes. So why on earth are so many of these creations just insipidly unbearable to me... especially on my skin? I have a real problem with some almond fragrances they are just plain harsh and weird, not the lovely creamy almond of something like AdP Mandorlo di sicilia. Jour de Fete isn't one of those deep heavy affairs it's just plain unsettling. The top notes to me are iris and in this instance come over as ghostly and aloof. They float above the milky, wheaty creamy notes of almond and vanilla giving a cuddling effect which just doesn't work for me. It's a bizarre fragrance this one. The more I smell it the more I feel I'm desperately rooting with my snout like a pig searching for truffles, occasionally stumbling upon something remotely pleasing. On the whole though it's bitter to me and gets slightly worse even as it settles down but luckily for me the longevity poor. It didn't stop me buying it for my girlfriend for Christmas though I just couldn't deny £20 for 100ml of L'AP...I hope she likes it and it smells better on her.
I can completely understand the position of the reviewer below this is YET another Full incense/Avignon/cardinal etc etc etc...the list is actually huge! A prominent fresh, light white frankincense note which sparkles out of this creation and I can't help but enjoy it. Sure it's not original and this (as far as I can remember?) is my first from this house so not the best start in terms of impressing me. The lady in the shop had the brief of "I like resinous, woody perfume, complex you know? Possibly something with incense and spices?" As soon as I mentioned incense she sprung to life and offered up lots of very familiar stuff infact she did bring Cardinal over too! When I asked for incense I didn't mean four perfumes which all smell the same!!! Oh and also...to speak on that wooden coffin...apparently they are made by disabled people in Patagonia or the Andes or somewhere? I didn't know if they were promoting the fair trade, ethical aspect of the manufacture or what? I'm sure it's not exploitative or slave labour or anything but when you see a brand demanding a high price, in a boutique store just seems a little misplaced. Anyway morality aside, Fueguia seem to offer up some interesting juice so I will reserve judgement until I've sampled more of the line. Average performance and nothing really new here scent wise but I still adore the smell it's stunning!
You never see this one anywhere in the UK even in shops which have a comprehensive selection of Comme des garcons fragrances. Luckily I found it in the CdG perfume shop in Paris and my word is 3 the epitome of this houses fragrances(?) It's strangely aloof, avant garde and yet inviting. I can see how some of the fragrances from this house can leave people cold (especially this one) but I embrace the oddity and love to challenge my nose. So I get fresh bright frankinsence type top notes even a hint of juniper the heart is slightly peppery and herbal then a woody drydown. It's an odd fragrance and does have that cellophane, synthetic, new magazine, ink print smell to it. To me though it's quite warm and woody and comes across quite natural. I may just have a soft spot for CdG, Mark Buxton's creativity and will forgive them pretty much anything. It has an incense signature to it though and I love that about many of their fragrances, it's certainly not boring. Modern and not for everyone but I enjoyed it, performance was average and longevity was not so good.
This is as classic as floriental amber gets but for all it's 'classicness' it's quite odd. Dated is the word for this one, seriously dated. The floral opening (must be lilac?) is actually quite pleasant but not to my taste. Then the heart of this fragrance is opoponax, benzoin and vanilla. It's very balmy and powdered I sort of love it. Royal Bain represents the warm elements I love in perfume but somehow it's not something I could wear. I can't explain it...there's a certain stigma to it. On my skin a bit strange but I could imagine it being incredible in a hot bath so I've purchased it for my girlfriend for christmas.
Nothing I haven't smelled before but somehow Roses musk has bowled me over. I didn't try it on my skin but chemistry wise I do think that scents can smell different on different skin but not vastly. I mention that because I got my girlfriend to try this as I had samples on both wrists at this point. I kept sniffing her throughout the day and this is what I thought. Roses musk starts out with a very bright, juicy rose note which I deem to be feminine, possibly with the addition of jasmine? It's too rosy for me in all honesty and being a Montale this 'Opening' period is longer than many perfumes but when settled it starts to shine. The rose settles in and a soft white musk and I could swear an almost vanilla and patchouli at the back of this making it almost edibly beautiful. I smelled this in Belgium and just days earlier I'd been in Paris and eaten very fancy fresh Macarons with a rose flavour to many of them, this reminded me of that. This is a lovely, powerful, long lasting but soft rose scent.
Another fragrance I remember from back in the 90's which I simply don't see anywhere anymore. Luckily I managed to stumble upon it once more and the memories came flooding back. This is a complex woody, fresh scent but has an overiding oldskool musky element. It's a masculine, true aquatic, with hints of herbal greeness in the opening and dry cedar oakmoss and sandalwood in the drydown. Still this isn't my style and never really has been but I think fragrances being released today could take note that there's more ways to do woody or aquatic scents than bland fakery. Suitable for all occasions this one and good performance too. Also a very interesting bottle design which has stood the test of time.
Dear oh dear L'Homme Sport is awful! Can't believe it took this line so long to get a 'Sport' flanker anyway and they needn't have bothered. Seriously how can you cock up what is on the whole not a bad line of fragrances? citrus/lemon verbena and mild spices should be great? Well by giving it an insipidly synthetic, chemical amber/cedar base! That has to be it because (and I hate to be melodramatic here) it's offensive to my nose! Generic cheap and hashed together is the feel. Sport deviates too far from the original L'Homme(which is pretty average anyhow), if they'd have gone down a route of bergamot/lemon verbena/corriander/vetiver which would mirror the originals lemon/ginger thing it might have been a bit boring but better than this. The juice is a cool colour, that's about all the positive spin I can put on it, oh and it lasted quite well on my skin...unfortunately.
Who would've thought it but this flanker is amazing! Really! I'm indifferent about the original L'Homme, I like La Nuit and the parfum version and the terrible Sport version but I think this one might be my favourite. It really does invoke an icy freshness the spicy, menthol, citrus is pretty effortless in creating this feel before drying down to a more familiar La Nuit de L'Homme accord. That warm, woody, clean soapy cardamom and fruits. I like this...it's that same method of introducing a brighter fresher element to an already winning formula. However it is only really the opening that is vastly different so I couldn't justify a purchase at the moment. Still I was pleasantly surprised by this one.
The whole point of Clive Christian (Anything not just fragrance) is that they don't care about the consumer who moans about the opulence and pricing because you are not their intended market. I certainly can't afford this stuff and even if I was a multi-millionaire would I buy it?...well no but for those who do then fair enough. I'm the first to despise 'bling' encrusted, vulgar shite for rich morons to show off how rich they are but I don't think that's the case here. Maybe I just have rose tinted view of CC as a company but I defend this being sold. I don't think they are conning anyone that the juice is worth 147 G-birds it's quite obviously the flacon which I think looks pretty cool. If you have concerns about the price, you can't afford it. Three cheers for opulence and decadent excess!!!
Not sure how wearable this would be for me but I was very impressed with this composition indeed. I really haven't smelled anything remotely like this a wonderful fruity/berry/citrus type opening then an explosion of florals which I can't even begin to categorize (at least in the opening)I think it's mainly peony and rose TBH, but I'm not expert. Then incense, musk, patchouli and my favourite saffron this is a veritable classy (up)marketplace of notes! The drydown is a delicate suede, leathery, talc which remains floral and uplifting and works well with that saffron note. I think L'Olympia Music hall is a definitely a unisex fragrance but it would take a man braver than me to pull it off, and I'd wear almost anything! It's not feminine, just very daring. Good longevity and projection a wonderful creation from Gerard Ghislain (someone I can't say I'm familiar with) truly innovative stuff. Fragrance lovers need to get your nose on this love or hate it will reinvigorate your appreciation of fragrance.
This fragrance is absolutely BANGIN'!!! A big regret of mine from a recent trip to France is that I didn't buy this, it's superb and a stand out juice from this house. I'll be honest I'm usually not a fan of immortelle and I definitely smell something of it in here, floral yet sweet and caramelized but in this context it's appealing. That's probably because in the main 1740 is a heavyweight masculine bomb of leather, patchouli and resin which totally speaks to me. Perfect mixture of heavy indulgence and something more animal and dirty. This is a rich, oldskool type of fragrance with the raw power of spicy leather, bracing labdanum (which I love) and even a hint of vanilla detected in the drydown. This sweetens things up and does give add a boozy, maple syrup vibe to proceedings. I love 1740, strong on the skin projecting well and lasting for ages, my collection is crying out for this one.
Late to the party on this one. Some of my reviews are done way after my initial try of a fragrance but some classics do pass me by. This was one which I do remember from the 90's but hadn't seen for sale in years and figured it was discontinued, however recently I found it to revisit. It's a true classic this one. Tsar to me still has an authentic aromatic feel, a great fresh sappy/citrus opening, then moss, leather, lavender and a hint of smoke. As it settles the prominence of the opening sappy green aldehydes show themselves as wonderful resinous pine. Complex, beautiful, masculine and perhaps a little dated but this kind of scent is more palatable to me than VC&A Pour Homme for example. The drydown is a gently smoky, sandalwood/pine/leather I suppose? Lavender and pine give this perfume a laid back, soothing feel to what could be quite a strong manly affair. Well worth revisiting, nice strong silage for the first couple of hours then dying down nicely to a decent longevity performance. Nothing not to like here if you're a fan of the classics.
I have to say despite the lack of creation you could accuse this line of, I like them on the whole. The fact that this is quite different and is perhaps my favourite speaks volumes. It has a wonderfully bright and accurate citrus and fruity berry type opening to me. Then some leafy greenery and a base of patchouli. That's not all I can say about it, there's hints in there nods to wood and resin even incense but very tiny. This makes for a long lasting and interesting fruity scent of which you get more Patch in the drydown. I really liked it.
Unsurprisingly this too has the resinous, woody, oud accord of Black afgano perhaps with a hint of the spicy wood from Duro and magic from Pardon? A well and truly trodden pathe then, some might say trampled but I say...I love it! There's an earthy, tobacco perhaps some patchouli there? It's instantly recognizable for it's similarities to many of Gaultieri's work...but I'm not fussed, doesn't make me want it anymore than the ones I've mentioned. I think if you had Black Afgano and Pardon, Duro etc...would you really need this? I suspect not. Worth a sniff if you're a fan of Nasomatto.
Deep, deep, jammy, dark rose! Although the rose is super dominant I'd almost swear there's a hint of oud or something woody at the back of this...maybe that's just my imagination from all the Oud/Roses I've sniffed. Do not make any mistake this is the epitome of Turkish roses but not something I'd wear as it's too rosy for this gent. The performance and strength of this juice is truly stunning.
Any one here actually tried the fragrance? Well I have and 'Natural' or not whatever the case maybe I thought I loved both 'Animal' Amber (Ambergris) and 'stone' Amber (the fantasy resinous accord) but I have to say I wasn't the greatest fan of this. I was excited to try it too as Ambre nuit from Dior is one of my all time favourites and that too apparently contains Ambergris. I've smelled raw ambergris and although it's a bit weird possesses some gorgeous qualities. This isn't sweet, nor does it have the multi faceted charms again it's just very strong, quite musky and almost medicinal to my nose. I think I will have to try it again but first impressions were not positive.
Wow! These Dior Exilir's have certainly sparked debate. I'm not going to get into it though. Synthetic or not the musk in this fragrance is horrendous! Choking strong and just plain funky! Might just be my taste but the only ones I really liked in this collection were the Oud and at a push the Rose. Whatever is going on here it's odd.
Oh wow! Got to try these in Paris and I have to say I was impressed by how uncompromising they are, this is fragrance for the heads! An Oud of high quality, majestic, cerebral, complex and deep. A perfect balance of smoky, dark, woody spice and animal, musky, slightly medicinal tones. That's not the whole story though because it also has facets of ambery sweetness. Like all these high end Dior fragrances just seems to strike the right balance. I really liked it, not my favourite thing but goes to show Oud continues not to give up all it's secrets.
As a sweet and gourmand fan I loved this. I'd never really given Yves Rocher a second thought until I was with my girlfriend on holiday and she was trying cosmetics in a YR store. I tried a couple of fragrances and I have to say they were pretty good. Only a minor criticism here but I was expecting more pear I'll be honest but I appreciate it's kinda hard to juggle two quite different notes and for me the caramel dominates. This isn't a bad thing the pear is detectable but dies back especially in the drydown to a perfect, not overly sickly sweet gourmand scent. I love it, not great longevity or projection but hey worth a sniff.
So weird that I thought to myself after sampling this entire line (well after about 2 actually!) that these were more than reminiscent of Nasomatto. I thought it was just my imagination because they where positioned next to the Nasomatto's in Jovoy, Paris. Hardly surprising then that they are from the same perfumer and it really shows. This is not a bad thing at all though because you get those lumbering, great big, sledghammer compositions. This is a massively resinous, deep, dark heavy chocolate fragrance with that putty like woods of Black Afgano. I actually loved Boccanera to be honest...but it's undoubtedly well trodden ground, especially from this perfumer. Hey I'm not going to criticize.
