The note list for Un Jardin Sur Le Nil is pretty unique, but honestly, I don't get a lot of the more interesting notes, though that could be due to me not really knowing what they smell like individually, so it's tough to pick them. What I do get is a blast of grapefruit and mango in the opening that's very fresh and juicy. It's definitely the flesh of the fruit you get. The two together give an interesting mix of sweet and sour, with an almost plastic-y feel, though it's not at all unpleasant nor synthetic smelling. After these two dominating citruses relax, which takes about 30 minutes, the florals, noticeably the lotus and peony, peek through and a subtle floral sweetness flitters in and out of composition, which makes the whole thing smell very romantic and slightly mysterious. I'd say that "romantic" is the best word to sum this scent up for me. It does a fantastic job at conjuring up a romantic, secret garden vibe, with hints of rain and fresh vegetation. Overall I think it's a wonderful fragrance that's light, airy, fresh and slightly exotic. I wish the incense made a little more of an appearance, but you can't have it all I suppose. The performance, as has been mentioned is poor, which is the scents biggest letdown. I get a big citrus for about 2 hours, then a soft, skin scent with the florals and the citrus taking more of a back seat for another couple of hours and then poof, it's gone. For a refined, fresh day scent in spring/summer or a rainy day scent in the fall/winter, this is impeccable based purely on the smell though. One for the romantics and the dreamers. Despite its longevity issues, I can't help being in love with this. It's fragile, beautiful and unique enough to warrant a place on any shelf, male, female, young and old. Class as always from JCE.

This is probably my favourite creed that I've worn. The performance is not great, let's get that straight out of the way. I usually find scents last well on my skin and I'm more into close, skin scents than beast mode, WMDs anyway, but it's weak after 2 hours even for me. Now we've dealt with that, the scent itself is glorious. The opening is absolutely fantastic, the lime and watery mettalic smell, which I would guess is the blackcurrant mixing with something else, is beautiful and fragile. Very glass-like. As it settles it moves more into a soft, slightly mettalic, icy, floral scent, it isn't going to challenge in my opinion but it just smells good. I feel like some might find it boring in the dry down, but I see it more like doing a fundemental with an absolute class and precision. Beautiful. 100% unisex imo. Love it in the spring and summer but I enjoy it on a fresh winters day too. Occasion, I think it's more of a daytime scent but dressed up or down works. Maybe a little dapper and clean for a grungy look, but it works well with more smart-casual or smart dress.

Oh, Layton... You're very expensive for a fragrance that's so similar to a lot of other, cheaper fragrances. I'm not going to rag on this too harshly though and I think it's actually a gorgeous scent, so stick with me. The opening I find to be very loud and very jumbled and it reminds me instantly of the spicy, sickly sweet designers that are a bit of a trend as club bangers. It calms down quickly though, within one or two minutes it elevates itself and shows its class a bit more. It still sits in that very sweet category for me, but it's lighter, fresher and for that, infinitely more wearable as I just can't do heavy, sweet fragrances at all. The vanilla, cardamom, apple and sandalwood stick out to me instantly, but I don't get too much pepper until later in the dry-down where its soft and sits nestled right in the heart of the scent. I feel like the orange note is one of the keys to making this a lighter wear than most sickly designers, it sits really hidden away but small wafts seep up out of the undercurrent in the sillage for me and it really shows what a classy, well-blended fragrance this is. Outside of work, I think this fragrance would work anywhere, dressed up or down, though if I was dressing up, I personally might reach for something that sits a bit closer. I absolutely would not wear it in the summer, but for fall, winter and maybe the cooler days of spring it would be a bit of a crowd pleaser I'm quite sure. Layton is definitely one of the more easily likeable niches in my collection and a great fragrance that has made me want to try Herod from the same house next. EDIT: alright, I've been wearing this almost every day for a week straight. Very quickly turning into one of my all time favourites. Gorgeous scent with one of the best, sweet dry downs of all time.

Really nice fragrance. I picked this up because I was interested in a chestnut scent but I actually found the cloves to be the real gem note. The opening is really one of my favourite openings ever. The smoke is soft, round and not as dry as some smoke. No spikey ashtray vibes at all. As it settles down, the sweetness in the vanilla rounds it out, it's not an overly sweet, cloying vanilla, just soft and comforting. It's not on the level of Guerlain, whose vanilla notes I think are fantastic, but it's not hyper-synthetic either, it just about sits right. I have one problem with this fragrance and I'm surprised it's not been mentioned in the reviews yet, but in the middle, as the sweet vanilla rounds it out and the smoke dies out a little, I get a very strong, cheap, sandalwood incense stick vibe which reminds me of bong shops from the 90s and it really puts me off. The one saving grace is the clove note which hangs out of this soft round bubble and snags you, drawing you in. It also separates it entirely from the cheap incense vibe. Overall I can look past this stage, as it reaches it late dry-down it drops this and returns to a soft, comfortable blanket. I can see this working really well on cosy nights with a partner, or even really well on a date night, when you don't want to come across as a sex-driven alpha, rather, someone more sensitive and pleasant to be around. Overall, great fragrance. Absolutely love it. Probably one of my favourites for fall/winter casual wear.

This fragrance is insane, for anyone worried about "reformulation" and it being weak.. Well, I dread to think what the original was like. I bought a new bottle today and one spray is enough to fill a room easily. As for the fragrance, it's absolute class. I get the feeling of the earthiness from Terre d'Hermes without any of the brighter edges. This smells like the frag dug down into TdH, ripped out its heart and carried it back off to the forest in a dirty rag. I get a touch of spice which I'm guessing is the Cashmir, other than that, it's all earthy, woods and vetiver. Completely unapologetic in its raw-ness. I think for that you'll either love it or hate it. As a fan of vetiver, I'm firmly in the love crowd. It's deep, rich and well-rounded. Absolutely masculine, but it does have a softness to it, there are no hard edges in sight. If you think you might like the smell of a forest fire, you'll love it. It won't be for everyone, but it's unique and a deep, interesting, enrapturing frag. For the price you can grab this at online, it would be rude to not own this imo.

Burberry London is a really interesting scent. It gallops through the top notes and when I use it on me, I get a strong lavender and a fair lump of cinnamon right up front, fairly sweet and a nostalgic 80s sort of vibe. After a few minutes, it tones down and the lavender drops into the middle a bit more opening up to a very strong note that smells a lot like pine, then comes a really spicey note. I actually agree with the below review that at this stage I get a spicey sweat vibe, but gross as it sounds, it isn't unpleasant for me. It passes as quickly as it comes however and as it fades after just a few more minutes cherries come out along with mimosa and a little smoke, which seem ever present from this point on, giving it an incense sort of vibe. Here I feel like it finally settles down and rounds out into a soft, lightly powdery, smokey, heavily woodsy and lightly floral scent with small hints of moss, pine, spice and a little cherry tobacco and leather. I don't get the upfront tobacco note as others do so much, but it is there. Overall I think it's a beautiful scent and in the cold months, the real depths of winter, this is surely a nailed on "go to" scent for a gentleman. It's quite mature I would say, not sure I'd call it sexy per-se, but it's the sort of scent that is going to make people smile. Whilst quite narrow in that it's really a winter scent only, maybe autumn, I feel like it's versatile in terms of occasions and it would work equally well as a dressed down, casual or for a classy, sophisticated evening since it sits quite close and isn't oppressive in any way. I really rate it. Beautiful scent and for the cheap price, almost criminally high quality.

There's a lot going on but I absolutely cannot stand it. Way too heavy for me, it's as subtle as a brick wall, just oppressive and nauseating. I feel like if I could just water this down to about half the strength, I could get my nose in and there might be something interesting here, but as it is, if I try it's just headache inducing. Total scrubber for me, but to be fair, I really just can't do these heavy, sweet scents. Just not for me.

When I first smelt this, I thought the smoke note was a little bit challenging, it opens strong and bold and the smokiness tested me, but I loved the leather and fruit. It definitely grew on me though and over a couple of wears, I started really coming around to it and eventually found the smokiness that I originally struggled with to be pleasing. I'd say it drys down a little on the feminine side as the florals and fruit come out a little more, but it does maintain a quite rough masculinity at the same time. I really like it and think it's a great scent, a little difficult to wear at times and I wouldn't call it a crowd pleaser but it's unique and interesting and has a lovely, gentle, warmth and darkness to it. I appreciate that it's quite a heavy scent but never gets cloying or oppressive and at £20 for 100ml, it smells significantly more expensive than it is. I have no idea about TL, so can't say anything about that. I bought this because I wanted to try out a leather and see how it suited me but it has made me curious to try TL next.

I bought Terre D'Hermes for work when I started a new job. I'm generally quite close to people for prolonged periods but it's a fairly fashion-forward industry so you can't just call it in. I'd heard TD'H was versatile and inoffensive but still interesting. I thought I'd give it a test, feeling hopeful. Not much else to say, it ticked all three boxes and then some. Others have waxed about it so I'll just back them up and say that I think it's an absolute masterclass in perfumery. The very opening upon spraying is a bit harsh for a few minutes as the orange settles down, that's the only criticism I have and it's a push to even bring it up. The harshness fades quickly to just an absolute beauty of an orange, rough scent that just grows softer and more comfortable throughout the wear. It's undeniably masculine, fresh enough to pull off the dirty undertones and drys down with just a hint of darkness to keep you guessing. Glorious. I've had so many compliments on the smell and yet with its high ratings, it always seems to remain unique. Notes: Dirty, earthy orange, a little bitter and not sweet. There is wood and some spice in there and some mossy, patchouli with the tiniest hint of some kind of smoke in the late dry-down, which I don't think is listed, rather an amalgamation of other notes. When: Any occasion any season IMO, very versatile. It's definitely got a class and sophistication but can be dressed down too. The only time I wouldn't wear this would be the high heat of mid-summer. I think you could pull it off, but there are probably better choices at that point.