Amber Pour Homme is the scent of a refined and modern gentleman. It opens with bright and juicy top notes of neroli, bergamot and orange blossom before developing a warming and musky heart of myrrh, geranium and vetiver. This smells like a fantastically expensive and classy bar of soap, with natural spices and florals. In the dry down is where this fragrance shines - sweet saffron and vanilla join the myrrh and musk to create a warm and enveloping scent bubble. Labdanum, leather and patchouli add a smooth darkness which builds mystery and sensuality while still staying somewhat bright and airy. Prada has always produced fantastic soapy fragrances, and this one has to be the best of the bunch. Unlike their modern day releases, this scent is creative, unique and masterfully executed with high quality materials. If you want to smell clean and soapy without being generic then this is a must have, it’s just a shame this kind of execution is no longer seen in Prada’s current releases.

Opening with sharp olibanum, warm cardamom and sweet saffron, Secret Tryst takes you on a romantic and complex journey from start to finish. These notes comprise the majority of the scent profile, creating a spicy and alluring experience. It starts off sharp and tangy, but quickly dries down to an incredibly smooth and well-blended scent. This is a fragrance that is perfectly unisex. It combines masculine notes of earthy vetiver and patchouli, with gentle touches of sensual femininity with rose and jasmine. Saffron, labdanum and vanilla bridge the gap to unite these notes, leaving you with something beautifully romantic and unique. A tryst is a private meeting between two lovers, secretive and scandalous which is conveyed perfectly in this fragrance. Secret Tryst is the epitome of high class and romantic sensuality, exquisitely crafted and perfect for date nights between couples, or to attract those around you. A must have fragrance in my opinion.

Amber Aoud opens with the most realistic, juicy fig note with bright and sparkly florals such as rose, ylang and jasmine, accompanied by refreshing hints of bergamot and lemon. It’s a much fresher and fruitier opening than you would expect for an oud fragrance, but it’s stunning nonetheless. Following this, it develops a robust heart with intense sweetness coming from the fig and saffron, but with a slight earthy bitterness and warm spiciness from the oud, civet, ambergris and cinnamon. Amber Aoud takes a while to completely dry down as the sweet fig, saffron and cinnamon lingers leaving an addictive and alluring scent trail. Eventually you are left with sweet florals of rose and saffron, expertly blended with an oily oud and creamy ambergris. The warm spices linger gently overall creating the most addicting scent bubble that just oozes quality and class. Amber Aoud is simply stunning, however despite how much I love it I personally think Aoud and Musk Aoud are better. Amber Aoud is slightly overhyped and overpriced, and judging from the name you would expect the oud to be more prominent. Nevertheless this is a modern masterpiece and one of the best floral ambergris scents on the market, a must try for those who adore sweet fragrances.

After finally acquiring a bottle of Amber Aoud, I feel I can write a second review now that I’ve been able to wear it more often. This opens very similarly to the original Aoud, hints of lemon and bergamot alongside a floral medley of rose, jasmine and ylang compliment that classic woody base perfectly. Soon after the spraying, a juicy note of fig emerges which takes the first steps into a sweeter direction. This sweetness is intensified by cinnamon, saffron and a delectable Amber accord of the highest quality. Alongside this is the classic salty ambergris and oud duo which is so loved in the original. Amber Aoud is an absolute masterpiece and I can see why it’s the best seller from the 3 - it’s simply the most captivating. Where Aoud is dry and regal, and Musk Aoud being clean and subtle, this one truly pulls you in and seduces you straight away. I find this fragrance to be much more youthful, playful and versatile than the other two Aouds. Such a beautiful creation perfect for evening wear when you’re looking to attract others.

Moonlight patchouli opens with bright and creamy florals of rose and iris, with a subtle hint of sweet fruity accents before developing a smooth earthiness coming from patchouli and cacao. In the base the creamy rose and iris remain a constant, but with an added depth and darkness from the leather, patchouli and suede. I’m not sure why this is listed as a chypre fragrance as it doesn’t contain the right notes or structure to be a chypre. Nevertheless this fragrance is mind blowingly good, especially for the price this can be found at. It’s dark, mysterious, romantic and alluring - perfect for date nights and evenings all year round. I feel it’s perfectly unisex too. This fragrance perfects the rose and iris combination with fantastic quality of ingredients. Van Cleef & Arpels created a masterpiece here and it’s a shame the house as a whole is so underrated. This is a must try if you love leathery florals and will always have a place in my collection.

This is a review of the EDT: Bal à Versailles is a timeless beauty. It opens with a very thick and heavy dose of civet joined by a sparkly touch of orange blossom, jasmine and rosemary. The civet note almost turns slightly sour as it combines with the resins, balsam and benzoin, giving the heart of the fragrance an almost dusky, powdery character. In the dry down the civet, resins and balsam remain a powerful constant and make up the majority of the scent profile. However a powdery and musky softness is present with leather, orris, ylang and rose. These notes blend beautifully together to create something that is truly stunning, but also quite challenging. This is a fantastic example of classic French perfumery, the pure parfum version is a lot richer and deeper however the EDT is more affordable and easier to wear. Despite being marketed towards women I actually find this scent to be very masculine. If you enjoy ambery animalic fragrances then this takes that to the extreme - the performance is nuclear. Unfortunately I find it’s wearability limited and have a hard time imagining getting compliments with a scent like this, but for those truly passionate about perfumery this is a must try.

After selling my EDT, I recently bought the pure parfum and I’m very glad I did. This is such an opulent, regal perfume which aims to recreate the kind of smells you’d experience at a ball during the 17th century among the richest and highest class of society. There’s so many notes in here that it’s very hard to pick out specifics, but there are a few that stand out from the rest. This without a doubt is an animalic amber fragrance at heart, and a strong one at that. A sharp and slightly sour note of civet is paired with beautifully deep resins, tolu balsam and benzoin which is incredibly warming and luxurious. There’s also heady musk and dark leather which lives throughout the scent - this is all balanced perfectly with an array of soft, powdery florals such as orris, rose and ylang with a touch of creamy sandalwood and earthy patchouli. I much prefer this to the EDT, it’s so much more rounded, refined and the florals seem to be a lot more noticeable instead of simply being a civet bomb. This is one of the most renowned classics in perfumery and is so well respected by perfumers all across the world today for a very good reason. This is the pinnacle of vintage-style perfumery, a true masterpiece and one of the most multi-faceted fragrances I’ve ever smelled. Absolutely wonderful.

From the very beginning, Xerjoff’s More Than Words is intensely fruity, it seems to be a combination of lots of different fruits and creates an almost overwhelming burst of juiciness. Floral notes soon begin to shine, namely rose, which only adds to the sweetness of this fragrance. While official notes are not listed for this fragrance, it is undoubtedly led by rose. The rose seems slightly synthetic unfortunately, and the fruity notes can be sickly sweet at times so this fragrance isn’t one to overspray. I’m not sure why the leading accord listed here is oud, as it is completely undetectable from my bottle. All I’m left with is an overwhelmingly sweet rose fragrance with not even the slightest hint of any woody notes. It’s a pleasant fragrance but I’m disappointed by the lack of oud, which I imagine if it was present would balance the other notes in here beautifully. I am unsure whether older batches might be more what I was looking for.

Prada L’homme intense is a modern masterpiece and undoubtedly the best fragrance from Prada. It opens with a beautifully clean and powdery Iris complimented by subtle nuances of leather and tonka. It soon dries down to that signature Prada soapiness from the Iris, however with an added darkness and mystery. Undertones of patchouli and amber add some depth to the scent however for the most part the fragrance is pretty linear. The performance is good and it gets great reactions from those around you due to is appealing and inoffensive scent profile. This truly is one of the best iterations of Iris on the designer market, up there with the likes of Dior Homme Intense. It stays true to what the original Prada L’homme stands for, but with a much needed intensity for the colder months of the year. Such a shame that this is now discontinued as it was definitely the best fragrance Prada had to offer.

Le Male Le Parfum starts off almost fougere with a heavy dose of lavender, linking the fragrance to the classic scent profile of the original Le Male. However this soon dissipates and evolves into a sweet vanilla and smooth Iris combination, with cardamom and warm spices to create a sexy and inviting scent bubble. The lavender stays somewhat consistent throughout the fragrance as does the vanilla, a fantastic homage to the roots of Le Male - however the combination of the other notes mentioned brings out a much warmer side to the fragrance perfect for evenings out in the colder months. The performance is decent however nothing impressive, however it’s very mass appealing while still having character. This is probably the most popular fragrance from Jean Paul Gaultier for a reason, it’s just a shame they can’t translate this level of perfumery to their other releases.

Sauvage opens with fresh and sparkly bergamot with a peppery kick. Lavender and ambroxan combine to give a fresh and juicy opening which is actually quite pleasant. As it dries down the lavender becomes slightly greener and soapy as the pepper maintains that kick of masculinity. The EDT itself lasts all day with fantastic projection which is impressive. Sauvage is undoubtedly a pleasant fragrance with a decent quality of ingredients, and will get a lot of positive attention from those around you. Back when it was first released the scent was fairly unique as there is nothing else that smells quite like it, however its popularity and success became it’s own downfall. Everyone and their mother has this and while it may sound snobby, a lot of people in this hobby (myself included) don’t want to smell the same as everyone else. I somewhat like Sauvage but at the same time I find it a bit boring and uninspiring these days due to its overuse. It doesn’t feel special to wear which ends up leaving it to gather dust. I definitely think there are better scents to go for these days especially considering how much Sauvage costs now.