fragrances
reviews
My Signature
627 reviews
Dazzling and fun. This is not the sassy girl who tells everyone she's a bad bitch who takes no prisoners, this is the bad-ass boss bitch who actually takes no prisoners, and doesn't need to tell everyone about it. Youthful, but serious and complex, it reminds me of whisky and diet cokes when I was 18 in terrible dives, but in a charming, nostalgic way. That said, it's also a cracking spicy, patchouli, sparkling retro amber bomb which stands the test of time. It's unapologetically sweet and loud, but not suffocating or headachey. And it's dirt cheap. Love!
Harsh, synthetic, too much. Same elements as Aventus in principle, but I'm wearing one on each arm, and Aventus is infinitely better. Hacivat has good performance, but so does Aventus, and given the price of Hacivat, why bother 😒? It has none of the finesse or shimmer of Aventus, it's just thick, oily, screaming and suffocating.
An exquisite rose-oud fragrance. I get absolutely none of the faecal skank, for me it's medicinal and oily, slightly petrol-like, but no barnyard element. The drydown is almost leather-like. Update: this really is a magical journey every time I wear it, possibly my favourite perfume.
Leaving this for a couple of months after the first spray did wonders. I was very underwhelmed at first sniff, but now it's developed and I get the chocolaty, spicy undercurrent, which makes it warm and special. So so cheap too!
A nauseating blend of rotting fruit and blackcurrant Airwaves chewing gum. Ghastly.
It's not oud, it's ambro-chemicals. Nice perfume though. Seriously, 0% oud.
A spectacular perfume that puts me in mind of Melt My Heart, although it replaces oud skank and wood with castoreum skank and leather, and I'm here for it. Real, buttery Orris envelops me, but with that "nasty" animalic edge, very sensual but not offensive. My only gripe would be the colour of the liquid, as you have to be careful where you spray it. Update: a lot of perfumes get labelled 'eternal' but this one really is. I sprayed it yesterday morning and I've had two showers since (climbing session too, very sweaty) and it's still going strong on my wrist! Sprayed on my inner elbow (my favourite spot for revealing the true faces of a perfume, perhaps because of the heat), I get Iris Silver Mist spilled into an exquisite Italian leather bag that's being used to carry mimosas at their most honking and pungent. To compare this to Cuir de Russie, its inspiration, the Chanel has that trademark ethereal sparkle and politesse, whereas Bianchi replaces sparkle with cream and restraint with salaciousness.
Strangely compelling, but I wouldn't buy it. I do think it's a unique balance of notes, and no element dominates, although the chamomile is quite pissy/rotting-fruity, and noticeable. It's kind of like a Xerjoff but with more restraint and less saccharine. I'm sure someone loves this perfume, but it's not for me. ... Now I've worn my decant a few more times, I really don't like it. It's nauseating and relentless. I get a sort of rotting peach/bin juice vibe from it. Really horrible.
The thing with hyraceum, if I've understood correctly, is that unlike with other animalic skanky notes, they use the real deal, the dried droppings, giving the faecal, urine-tinged realness. And I can honestly smell that in this perfume. At first sniff I was like HELL no, but then as is often the case, I went back in, and have now purchased a decant. It's right on the precipice of being unacceptably toilety, and it does remind me of the urine-damp, poo-strewn straw I used to clear out of my hamster's cage when I was wee, but it goes to show what skillful perfumery is capable of. Update after a few more wears... Nope, the everlasting stale urine soaked hamster hay is gag inducing. Horrible.
Ghastly, obnoxious, screechy migraine hell. There's some nice notes but they're overwhelmed by overdosed aroma chemicals, one of which I'm sure is ambrocenide. If you're "blessed" with the ambro-sensitivity gene like me, this will be noxious chemical warfare for you. It's almost as bad as Sauvage.
