First blast and I'm like mmmmmmm this is lovely, then it quickly becomes nauseating... I didn't think Black Orchid EDP could be outdone for its screeching, obnoxious, attention-seeking stranglehold but voilà, here I am. This lies somewhere between BO EDP and Parfum for me in terms of the scent, but it takes the TOO MUCH factor and cranks it up to 10. And I only sprayed twice.

Lovely, a bargain gem, like many other El Nabils.

Can be ghastly in the wrong context, but going for a stroll on a warm, sunny day with a breeze it's absolutely perfect. I thought Myths Woman was the essence of the forest floor and it's earthy mulch until I smelled this. Exquisite, moldy, wet and green this is the photorealistic natural environment, whereas Myths Woman represents a melancholic hydra slithering about in the swampy mud. Further exploration reveals minty sweetness with some sparkle, I guess the geranium and vetiver. Card testers don't do this justice, put it on your skin. Uodate: annoying aftermath from this perfume is a permanent geosmin smell on fabric - powerful and eternal. It makes me hesitant to wear it.

Blind bought. Preliminary thoughts: Yeeeeessss!! Its nothing like Interlude. It's not very animalic. It's beautiful and addictive. On card, it's herby, piney green. On skin, it's lavender and caramel over oakmoss. I love it. Strength = nuclear, indelible, permanent, but not suffocating. That said, I'll be wearing half a spray shared between both wrists and picking the occasion(s) prudently. Update: smells evil on card and thus on clothing, especially over the following days, and will never dissappear. But on skin it's a different story. The issue is the strength, as I can never decide where to spray it. Inner elbow smells best but I don't want it on my clothes, neck is too close to the face and your central nervous system will begin to shut down with the humming potency of the juice. I guess one wrist will do. Two sprays is too much, so one little spray on one wrist then dab together. Edit - having now tried most of the house's scents on my skin more than once, this is the best for me. It's the only one they doesn't seem like it's trying first and foremost to smell expensive and loud for the sake of it, and the only one to show a visionary approach. Bravo, clap clap clap, bravo. I want to try more scents by Miguel Matos.

Decant into a roller and dab minimally on pulse points, otherwise it's too much, but with this minimalist approach it's phenomenal. You're welcome.

Expertly done, boring and generic. Smells exactly like every other release from every other designer house this year, which I'm sure is what they wanted. Don't take any notice of the notes.

Dior Granville gone rancid. So repulsive. It's the only perfume I've ever thrown away. I can only imagine what the original must have smelled like, this is a total mess.

I've had two batches and they were totally different. The first was nuclear and eternal, the more recent a mere ghost of the former, while still smelling good; faint and fleeting. I'm not normally one to wank on about bathes, but when it's this expensive it's worth knowing. As for the scent in my old bottle, it's the most incredible perfume I've come across. Never the same on any two days, complex, dynamic and majestic, it never fails to make me frequently pause for thought while I'm wearing it. Magic.

I think Tom Ford's leather accord relies heavily on cypriol, because I get a strong whack of it here, as I do from all of the other TF leathers I've smelled. Not that it's bad, but it isn't what I expected. I prefer Rose de Chine [EDIT: Nope, I prefer this!], however this is more wearable for me out and about, at work etc. as a 43 year old man. Anyway, I was lucky enough to get a grey market bottle for 150 euros so I'll be eeking it out carefully over the years. Update: Giving it a proper wear today, and it smells 100 times better on skin than on card or clothes. Imagine the aftermath of a Shakespearean tragicomic massacre, with one guy left alive with a precious rose he salvaged clenched between his teeth to take home to his loved one. That's what this is. I've realised I love this so so much, and for the first time I feel like it's "me" through and through, perhaps a signature scent finally. Not only have I had several compliments from clients over the last two days, one of them said "it's perfect for you". It's bold, but not aggressive, and the jammy, dripping rose on the leather base is to die for. This is waaaaay better than Ombré Leather whilst sharing a little of the leather DNA. Re. comparisons to Rose et Cuir... It's like comparing two different fruit tarts. It's the same principle but one has apple and the other apricot. Here we have rose, the inaccurately named Rose et Cuir has geranium, and minty geranium to boot, so the resemblance is there, but it's more of a genre resemblance, and one certainly cannot substitute for the other. I prefer Rose de Russie, it's jammier and way easier to wear, while Rose et Cuir is perhaps more technically impressive. Another update: I reckon there's a hefty dose of cypriol here. Shem by Nishane does the same trick, using cypriol with rose to make a rosey leather, but Nishane overdid it, this is much better, although not actually any cheaper.

I have a boxed, sealed 50ml bottle, Paris, France, if anyone is interested in buying.