fragrances
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My Signature
627 reviews
Very unpleasant, cloying. Awful.
Oh my. The opening reminded me of a million other perfumes, not in a bad way, but I was like er OK nothing new, and I even got some of those frags out and smelled them alongside it (they were totally different of course ha). But what ensued was a journey into heaven, with fizzy citrus top notes glimmering above a mossy, musky, spicy and rich base. It keeps getting better and better and yes, it's as good as eveyone said. For the record, two of the other frags I immediately tested alonsgside were Bois du Portugal and Lalique Pour Homme (Lion). They are identical to each other after the initial 5 mins, but don't resemble NYI at all aside from being roughly in the same wheelhouse. I really don't get the comparison. NYI is far better than either of those two (the Lalique being my preferred scent thereof due to price, lack of cuntyness, and price). New York Intense has to be worn to be believed. It is traditionally masculine, which is one of the things that put me off at first, but it's so good it transcends this piffle of masculine/feminine fragrances. Also. I'd love to smell this on a woman I was dating. One more thing, after a while, the incense starts to creep in, putting me in mind of Amouage, though not one specific perfume of theirs, more like their vibe. Or maybe it reminds me of the remnants of Sunshine Man. Either way, it's a win by all measures. I agree this is a masterpiece, up there with Interlude Man. Update: this is the most "goes on a journey" perfume I own, just utterly brilliant every time.
At first sniff you might fleetingly think, oh yes I've smelled this before, Guerlain, Frédéric Malle etc etc., but no, hold your horses. This is the best vetiver perfume I've ever put my nose on. The delicate touch of violet, the shimmer of the Chanel aldehydes, the rich tobacco, the exquisite vetiver and sumptuous sandlewood. It's a gorgeous, complex celebration of vetiver, streets ahead of any other in my opinion.
It has the Rasquinet fixative overdose which, for me, ruins it from the get go. It's all I can smell. Norlimbanol maybe? It's noxious. That aside (as some love those bases and/or don't experience them as sinus-razing), what you have here is high-pitched, ultra-modern screeching/screaming aldehydes and white and tropical florals. On the right person I think this could be awesome. I don't normally feel that way about perfumes, as in it depends on the wearer, but I could only imagine a super hot, sporty, young club kid wearing this.
It's like Oud Essentiel with better ingredients. The oud accord is exactly the same ashy, incensey affair, with the rose here being slightly more pronounced. I like them both, but this smells more expensive and possibly slightly more like real oud, although to be honest it doesn't seem to contain any real oud to my nose.
Highly synthetic smelling, smells like coconut shampoo or some sort of lotion. Sickly sweet and juvenile. Hard pass from me.
I visited the boutique today near Place Vendôme, and yes, I lost respect for the brand when I saw the typo on the bottle. The sales assistant (who was bilingual, like me) said she hadn't noticed it before and seemed mortified. Epic fail, I believe people would have said ten years ago. The perfume is OK, I smelled many of them and nothing grabbed my attention.
Incredible oud perfume. Aside from the listed notes I get a booming whack of cheesey aldehydes sort of akin to Dior New Look (maybe as they share the incense accompaniment). This is a proper serious oud perfume, no BS, none of this gentle oud for people who don't like oud etc. No. This one is frômagetastic, sick-bay at the farm, balls to the wind oud, and it's wonderful. Someone below said they couldn't understand how anyone could wear such a scent, but also said they hadn't worn it, they'd just smelled it on card. Please try this on skin before passing judgement... ça n'a rien à voir, as the French say.
Aldehydic, Chanel opening with powdery, citric sparkle, giving way to an ice cold, austere mixture of sharp orange blossom and iris, and quite pronounced coriander. The quality is undeniable, but I can't imagine wearing it, it's almost sour somehow. I can imagine a very, very rich, very, very unhappy Dickens matriarch smelling like this. (10 minutes later) OK yes, now the magic is starting.... There's something warm coming through, but only slightly,. The musk smells wonderful, powdery, delicate but powerful, and the bergamot, iris and orris are floating and swirling on the fluffy, musky clouds. Wonderful. It take it all back, I can wear this, it's a masterstroke, how could I have doubted. No-one does it like Chanel.
I hate Santal 33 so much that I have a fear of accidentally putting anything even close to it on my skin. However similarly this opens to the aforementioned ghastly perfume, the resemblance is surface only and doesn't last long. This perfume is subtle, complex and elegant. It's strong, but changes and evolves over time, incorporating the smokey, incensey elements as the light floral touch subsides. Where Santal 33 is relentless, linear and nauseating, this is old school fine perfumery which knows how to combine tenacity with restraint. A sandlewood-forward perfume is probably never going to make it into my favourites list, but this is great all the same.
