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My Signature
627 reviews
I blind bought this, and while I was waiting to collect it I read through the endless repetitive "it's synthetic", "it's not synthetic", "oh the price the price!" blah blahdee blah zzzzzz reviews, and felt buyer's regret creeping in. Now I have the bottle and I've sat with the scent for a while. People can gripe and moan and whinge about price, but taking the scent at face value, it's an exquisite example of fine perfumery. For me, it's close to perfect. Since the beginning of my scent journey, I've come to learn that, despite not wanting to believe it, vanilla and honey are among my favourite notes (when done well, I'm not talking about the likes of Gaultier or most designer houses). Fig is another one I didn't like, but now love sincerely. Here, my favourite notes are perfectly balanced atop a bed of warm oudy, cedar (which mercifully doesn't scream AMBROCENIDE like most). All listed notes are discernable if you look for them, but nothing dominates. It's balanced and refined, delicate yet rich, a real work of art, divine.
My first thoughts (with it on my skin fresh from the shower) were "hmmm, more like Aqua Petroleum Burning Tyres Yuzu". It doesn't smell like oud, but there's something definitely something going on underneath the citrus. But I don't hate it! I may even be compulsively sniffing my arm right now.....
This is molecular perfume, like Escentric Molecules, as others here have said, and just as is the case with EM scents, Not a Perfume, etc., there is a high likelihood of anosmia for the wearer. I don't find Trash to be weak, if anything I find the Iso E Super almost too strong, and I suspect others around me may smell it even more. I like the perfume, and I really appreciate the concept and ethos. I for one am glad it doesn't smell like bin juice.
Got a vintage 10ml. Love it! It's old-school aldehydic floral complexity with an emphasis on minty, green patchouli (clean). Perhaps I'm romanticising it to myself but I can really see how this and other such perfumes shaped the course of things to come. Here we also have quite strong violet, and there's something about the whole composition that reminds me of Lipstick Rose. Update: Chypre Palatin! That's what this resembles too, gorgeous mossy sweetness.
Tested in the boutique today, on card and on my skin. The opening seems delicate, but in fact this is super strong, heavy honey. It's VERY similar to Tobacolor, too close to warrant buying it, for me at least, as I already own the latter. At home I put one on each arm and they're indistinguible. Perhaps Dior has a very slightly richer opening, but after an hour they're identical to my nose.
Incredíble opening which goes from Guerlain to generic Xerjoff crap within 1 hour. Cheap synthetic oud accord. Boring, screechy and bland, great opening though.
Cringeworthy sexual marketing aside, I've just tested this in the boutique and it's wonderful. On the card I don't get much, but on the skin, it's very complex and interesting. There's powdery iris, but the carrot seed and ambrette make for a unique blend, and the powderiness doesn't last long. After 20 minutes, a sort of metallic sheen becomes apparent. I'd say this perfume doesn't fit into a genre other than bearing the stylistic hallmarks of the great JC Ellena. I'm not sure this is for me, but I applaud the release of another beautiful, interesting and unique scent from FM. 2 hours in, and the vetiver and plum are much more apparent. I'm not generally a fan of vetiver dry-downs, but this one hasn't become pickley so that's a plus in my book. 3 hours in... well, it's fully transformed into the dry-down of Guerlain's Vetiver. Hmmmmm Update- Wearing it in public and within minutes people in the metro are muttring about how great it smells.
It does remind me of old school lipstick, and most of the reviews here are spot on, but I also get a sort of fudgy, sweet, sticky undertone which is delicious and addictive (benzoin with orris?). It makes the florals jammy but In a different way to most jammy roses I've come across. The raspberry and grapefruit are fleeting and unidentifiable to me (i.e. If I hadn't read the notes..), and make the opening quite sharp and screechy, but only for a couple of minutes. It seems a shame to call this lipstick rose, as it's much more complex than that suggests. To me, it's also less powdery than many here are claiming, although there is powdery iris, it's just the warm, almost spicy, caramel underbelly smooths the powder out so it's not dominant.
It smells exactly like 4711, so I'm paying 250 times more (yes, I worked it out) simply for improved performance. I'd rather keep buying 1 litre of 4711 for 20 euros and carrying a little decant around.
Not my favourite. I'm not keen on the combination of oud and vetiver, it comes off a bit pickley, especially with the apple. I'm a fan of animal skank but this is bin-juice skank, and at best I feel like I'm wearing spiced chutney.
Wonderful for half an hour after which it settles into a standard chemical wood base (probably ambrocenide or similar). Pass.
