Vaniglia del Madagascar feels intensely Italian, as I suppose it should considering the house’s heritage. It’s a shockingly strange combination of notes which at first I found a little weird and off putting if I’m honest, but the longer it’s been on my skin the more it’s growing on me. Lily of the valley is a note I love and adore, a flower which provides no natural raw material to use in perfumery, and so synthetic accords vary drastically in accuracy. This doesn’t smell like the lily of the valleys I know and love, but that’s not a bad thing. Instead it comes across intensely soapy, like sudsy white bars of soap in a sparkling garden of flowers. The creamy vanilla brings a much needed sweetness to the party, but doesn’t dominate, they mingle with each other in perfect harmony. To me, this smells like an expensive bar of soap in a fancy Italian hotel. Glorious, but I’m not sure I’d buy a bottle.

Durocaffe is one of those perfumes which slaps you round the face as soon as you spray it, and will continue to brutally overpower those around you for the entire day. I think it’s great, but it’s not the easiest wear if I’m honest, you have to really love coffee for this one. Of course the coffee is the star, hence the name. It smells intensely bitter, steamy and slightly earthy, as though you’re inhaling the scent of freshly roasted and then ground coffee beans. A sweet touch of sugary vanilla helps to temper this slightly, but pales in strength to the coffee. It’s got that earthy, slightly chocolatey patchouli base furthering that bitterness, resulting in a scent you simply cannot escape from. I think it’s great, an astoundingly unique and innovative creation. For those big on coffee fragrances this will be a hit for you. Whilst I’m enjoying it on my arm, I can imagine I’d have a hard time wearing it - I can’t really imagine when I’d reach for it if I’m being honest. Lovely, but not full bottle worthy for me.

Tonkade was not what I expected given the name and the note breakdown. I was expecting something intensely sweet, creamy and vanillic, something overwhelmingly edible. And whilst it has elements of these things, overall I feel it heads towards a slightly sharper, smokier dimension. The tonka is there, front and centre - it’s addictively sweet and creamy, alongside copious amounts of vanilla of course. From here it begins to become a bit spicy, the warmth of cardamom amongst dried fruits darkens the scent profile. Not long after, a sudden smoky sharpness emerges, I imagine from the combination of frankincense, patchouli and cedar. It’s a lovely fragrance, one that I will enjoy wearing my sample of, but I had hoped it would lean into gourmand territory a bit more. For me, it could have done without the smoky woodiness. But either way it’s a gorgeous scent, and if you enjoy your tonka/vanilla not too sweet then this may be the scent for you.

“Yes I Was Madly In Love, But That Was Yesterday.” What a strange name for a fragrance, a name that doesn’t really resonate with the scent profile or any related story at all really. Forgetting that, the scent itself is rather quite nice, but I’m not crazy about it. Raspberry has always been one of those notes I have a hard time enjoying, in fact I’m still yet to find a single raspberry perfume I actually love - I always find it too sweet, cloying and plasticky. Here, thankfully, the raspberry is rather tame whilst still acting as the most dominant note. It’s definitely sweet, juicy and gourmand, but thankfully the tobacco balances it very well with a touch of dryness. I’ll admit I was concerned when I saw raspberry and leather together, it gave me flashbacks to the abomination that is Tuscan Leather. Thankfully, this is nothing like that - I would happily wear this and enjoy it, but I don’t love it enough to buy a bottle.

Pearl Oud is an astonishingly and surprisingly deceiving beauty; it’s one of those fragrances you catch in the air and something awakens inside of you, demanding to explore it further. Those expecting a real oud fragrance, you won’t find it here - but why would you expect that from Kilian anyway? What you’ve got with this scent is a wonderful sweet rose. This rose is the most dominant note to my nose, tempered by the soapy delicate nature of jasmine and Iris, warmed by the comforting embrace of saffron and patchouli. It doesn’t smell like oud at all to be honest, but I’m not complaining, because either way it smells damn good. I’m not sure why castoreum is listed, for those that have smelled true castoreum fragrances it seems undetectable here. It’s not animalic in the slightest. However, as someone who often struggles with rose-forward fragrances, this is an absolute delight.

Straight to Heaven Extreme, why oh why did they discontinue such a beauty. The original Straight to Heaven is a firm favourite from Kilian for me, I adore it. The Extreme is, as you can probably guess, a step further into intensity and depth. It’s richer, darker and boozier which explains its popularity. The dry, slightly piney cedarwood and earthy patchouli are still the stars of the show, creating that dark, slightly green woody feel we know and love. However, here the rum and the dried fruits seem to be elevated - the patchouli seems drunken, soaked in sweet rum and it smells absolutely delicious. Overall the scent profile is rather similar to the original, so it would be redundant to own both. But if I had to choose from the two it would be this one, it’s noticeably sweeter, cosier and just a tad more edible than the original which makes it all the more sexy in my opinion.

Straight to Heaven has always been one of my favourite Kilian fragrances, there’s something so comforting and alluring about it. Dare I say it might be one of my favourite patchouli fragrances of all time - and I don’t say that lightly. Patchouli and cedarwood are at the forefront of the composition, giving the scent an intensely woody and earthy feel. The cedar provides a sort of dry, pine effect whilst the patchouli is rich, dark and slightly green. This is wonderfully offset by the subtle sweetness of rum and dried fruits, creating just enough balance between light and dark, whilst still allowing the darkness to envelope you. The name doesn’t lie, it smells absolutely heavenly. This fragrance has been on my wishlist for a long time and now that another sample has re-entered my collection, it soon might be time for me to finally grab a bottle.

I can see why Moth is a fan favourite from Zoologist, and a hit amongst those who enjoy weird and wonderful scent profiles. It's unique, and not suited to everyone's taste including mine, but that's ok because it's actually a great creation. I don't personally enjoy the scent profile nor would I really want to wear it, but without a doubt it achieves the brief of smelling like moths - despite moths not really having a smell. It highlights our extensive imagination and brings it to life via connotations. First of all I don't get honey, I get smoke alongside this slightly unpleasant dry powderiness. Typically I enjoy powdery scents, but this feels a lot more like dust than powder - like the surface of an old, musty, slightly rotting bookshelf. It brings to life what you might imagine a moth to smell like; from the dry, withered husk of the cocoon to the brown, slightly furry wings flitting around a lamp in an abandoned library. As I said it's definitely unique and thought-provoking, it conjures a lot of imagery in my head, but I simply would not enjoy wearing this. I feel like it would come across that you naturally smell quite old and musty, rather than wearing a perfume. If this is your sort of thing then I respect that, good on you - but I rather dislike this.

SilencetheSea was a scent I had owned for a number of months in EDP form, and yet only wore it twice. Despite how impressively creative and unique the scent profile was, I found it simply unwearable; it was far too fishy for my taste and yet I really wanted to love it. I reluctantly sold my bottle on and kept a small decant to smell on occasions I start to miss it. I expected the oil to be much the same, but to my surprise I absolutely love it. It takes all the elements of the EDP, and once again smooths it oud, softens the edges and removes all the harsh fishiness I couldn't tolerate initially. Ambergris is obviously the star here, which is deeply musky and marine, alongside truffle which is what gives the scent that dense, meaty, fleshy, almost fatty feel - which I think is what I struggled with in the past. The difference is, the angelica and white florals are far more noticeable here, elevating that aquatic seaweed-y feel and tempering the raw animalic edge. I love it. I absolutely love it. As I said with the other Strangelove oils I have reviewed, it feels like this is the way these scents were supposed to be experienced. When it came to FallintoStars and DeadofNight I felt happy with the EDP, gracefully surrendering to their slightly obnoxious brutality; but with SilencetheSea, the soft and gentle nature of the oil is what makes this scent palatable. I would absolutely love to own this at some point.