I couldn’t believe I had this in a bag of samples marked ‘okay’ Anubis is far from okay it’s a brilliant fragrance with a very luxurious and evocative allure. The opening is a sheer onslaught of resinous goodness and heady saffron, then the leather accord develops and it’s unmistakable, slightly smoky and realistic. This is where my original appraisal comes back to haunt, because for all the beautifully smooth myrrh and benzoin notes, the lovely buttery and masculine suede/leather body, and the hints of spice and sandalwood, it’s not a very good performer and I wish it was heavier and more complex. The opening nurtures hope and gives the impression you are in for a epically, progressive scent but the disappointment comes around very quickly when Anubis becomes a linear and not as strong as I'd hpped. I love the ancient Egyptian thing and Anubis is especially cool if I was to weigh the heart of this fragrance it would be pretty lightweight in all honesty, vasnishing quickly after a big statement opening. Which is a shame, however I don't want to sound like some 'beastmode' performance obsessed idiot, because there's more to fragrance than that. I respect this perfume for what it is and it's definitely evocative of the name, if only at the beginning.
I’ve no complainants about this fragrance, I quite enjoyed it. Then again I’m really not all that hard to please and to over more balance and critique I’d say this stuff is unlikely to blow anyone away either. I’ve become very accustomed to JHaG and their subversive, minimalism especially with recent releases and Moscow mule is no different. The opening is slight, a hint of sharpness from lime and ginger and even a hint of booze but there’s the overwhelming sense that this is another modern art piece a white on white Rothko type of effort. The base of this is a powdery, warm, woody, synthetic amber somewhere between iso E super, cashermean and ambroxan. It reminds me a touch of a more masculine, ‘Anyway’ a JHaG release I liked very much indeed and own a bottle. The spicy ginger lasts throughout and the drydown is warm and cozy and actually reminds me of bits and pieces of other stuff like this (not quite sure what off the top of my head.) I like it though, quality is good, performance is good, it’s a mellow low lying fragrance in the main part but that’s fine by me. I would definitely wear this again, I think I fell for it today but I’m not going to run out to buy it.
Wow! This stuff is opulent. I got my samples of this when it first came out and inexplicably found this is a bag labelled ‘okay’ which is crazy, because upon revisiting Malefic Tattoo is everything I love about fragrance. The opening is a zingy, uplifting incense vibe which has all the hallmarks of my favourite fragrant resin, labnaum. Labdanum is the perfect catalyst the gelling agent for amazing woody and luxurious notes of saffron and oud which I actually don’t think feature as prominently as the darker resins like styrax. This perfume manages to strike the the perfect balance, cool and cerebral but at the same time dark and alluring without becoming heavy or overly cuddly. A minor criticism could be the performance but a heavy application on clothes and hair will boost that into reasonable territory. This fragrance had me at hello, and then charmed me even more as we got acquainted, not sure what happened the first time I sampled it a few years back? The point is I’m in love with it now so yeah LM have made a great incense fragrance here, basically put labdanum in anything and I’m there.
Well, this is yet another review I never bothered writing when I first sampled this as I found a sample recently in a bag marked ‘okay’ I know exactly why I put that first time around. It’s certianly not because Tacit is ordinary or pedestrian the composition is very carefully constructed and well realised, simplicitic yet deep and more than the sum of its parts. However performance let’s this one down and doesn’t scream high quality as much as the pleasant aroma does, at least at first anyway. The opening is yuzu and a strong basil note, the overall feel is a little green and fresh. It starts to settle and develop spicy facets and the basil even has a slightly minty feel and a medicinal touch of cloves. The body of this fragrance is vetiver and it’s a perfect companion for the herbal and citrus top notes and the vetiver in here is spectacular, thick earthy and clean but with a presence not dissimilar to licquorice but with a slightly cleaner soapy edge. Projection? None existent and performance was poor. Such a shame though because Aesop were onto a winner with a great concept.
Patchouli has to be in this perfume...surely? Anat Fritz is a very interesting, lovely Potion which evokes that earthy, moist, but sandy smell (perhaps the sandalwood?), with a strong lavender note which almost goes a touch minty for a second I think. This is classic patchouli heavy perfumery but bound to be divisive because of its bold herbal, earthiness. The problem I have with classical is that it’s not quite bold enough and looses complexity quickly, and didn’t last well either when I tried it initially in 2013, nor does it now when I’m revisiting it. The sample was in a bag marked ‘meh’ along with several others and my opinion hasn’t changed, but I did like it though and the bottle is pretty novel.
I have to give this particular extraordinary extract de Parfum a lot of credit, it’s quite simply the most entirely vivid smelling floral you’re ever likely to smell. If it is largely based on champaca then I will have to reevaluate what I think about that ingredient because I remember disliking Tom Ford’s champaca absolute when that was around. Regardless this is a triumphant and delicate smelling floral, moist, juicy, with almost fruity, green notes and a ozonic and citrus opening. The floral smell is somewhat of a mixture of ylang ylang as jasmine a sort of sweet, white/yellow floral and maybe a touch exotic too. This stuff smells of massively high quality to me and I’ve no doubt there’s some orris, and sandalwood in the base, because when first applied it oozes, heavy multilayered luxury. It’s not very long lasting which is not what you expect from something so concentrated but can often be the case.
This is a linear fragrance but I don’t think we should dismiss the base too much because it’s very light and woody but carries the top notes much better than something like shay and blue’s blood oranges just as an example. This is a prince among orange scents for me, super fresh and juicy, it’s gorgeous and at the right price, I’d add it to my wardrobe.
This is a galant effort, I have to give it some credit. I thought this kind of thing to be a waste of time, the original light blue was ultimately forgettable but didn’t offend me in any way. This zest version is actually okay because, although not groundbreaking in any regard, it knows what it is and doesn’t have any of that generic and despicably, mixed up cynicism of many second rate and redundant flankers. The grapefruit, lemon and mandarin in here are very pleasant in the opening and the base is a light, musky powder poof! I mean it’s no Chanel Allure homme edition Blanc but it’s very wearable and surprisingly long lasting for such a subtle scent. I think I’m going soft in my old age as historically, this scent would’ve got the usual Houdini scalding, but I’m in a good place and really digging on citrus and fresh fragrances at the moment, so this gets off easy. It’s okay by me. What I don’t like is the cheapness of the bottle. Is it me or does the font and all that writing on the bottle look a bit tacky? Not to mention the puke yellow stopper.
I have to say I really enjoyed this fragrance, I kinda expected monsieur geranium to be a modified version of Monsieur, despite being from different perfumers and the fact FM doesn't do flankers, not sure why I thought that then? In any case I love geranium as an ingredient, it's up there with labdanum as a favourite of mine and I appreciate that it does have somewhat of a minty quality but this is definitely amped up by the addition of a hefty mint note. I really like the smell of fresh mint and always have it growing in my garden but I can't say that I like it so much in perfume. I suppose the little hint in some perfumes is nice and I do like stuff like Guerlain Homme intense so why not? This stuff is UBER minty and opens with a real smack in the face of mint, but it's still very refined and not too sharp and in some senses addictive. There's a kind of woody powder surrounding it and hints of clove and anise but very fresh like a fennel sort of vibe. It's lovely and as the minty smell dies back (which incidenatally takes a couple of hours) the geranium really shines as a lovely thing. Masculine, clean and just plain lovely, I'm huge fan of geranium and this smells very high quality and precise in it's delivery. It's a low lying scent for me which does project to begin with but becomes more subdued. I have to say I adored the drydown, I thought it was heavenly but makes me want to seek out the Guerlain and Dyptique listed in the smells like because I'd like a cheaper alternative. Without smelling either this could be far superior but a very nice perfume when the geranium starts to shine and the base comes out later on. I liked it.
Psychoanalysis is an absolute knockout!!! First of all I'm suspicious of Bella Freud and her family, it's not really entirely rational on my part but there you go. I find something sinister about Sigmund Freud, Lucian her father is actually an artist I admire but he's a bit weird too and the least said about Clement the better. However in spite of this background I've let the fragrance and the feel of the brand do the talking and I've been reasonably impressed with most of the Bella line. In the most part they are fresh takes on traditional formats and Psychoanalysis is another one in this vein. Reading out the notes and you'd be forgiven for thinking it wouldn't be very nice or wouldn't work but you'd be very wrong. The opening is a fresh blast of lemony petitgrain. Herbal, green and maybe even galbanum/elemi ish? It has a bit of a cologne feel and makes you go hmmmm...that is nice... but not exactly inspiring, but just wait for it to develop. The base feels like vetiver, and cedar, dry, clean, woody fragrance but as it dries down gets more and more masculine for me, it's dry and like no tobacco you've really experienced. Actually come to think of it, it is....slightly. The modernity in here makes it lean toward a Montabacco type of thing I wouldn't be suprised if Iso E super featured heavily in the formula but the tabacco note is slightly earthy but not the traditional dense or stale vibes you usually get, it's very nice indeed. When dried all the way down psychoanalysis leaves a gorgeous deep woody, leathery, scent, but before that the citrusy notes of petitgrain last really well. I love it. I have to say it might just be my love of all things zesty and uplifting at the moment but this stuff is great and actually has me tempted to buy a bottle.
Petit Matin or early morning is typical of Francis Kurkdjians style, fresh citrus top notes, with some herbal facets, and then the main heart of white florals, usually orange blossom, with a musky, woody or amber base depending on Homme or Femme or just to give some variation generally. I wasn't a fan of Fleur du male and some of these MFK's have been a bit too heavy on the white florals. For example I wore APOM Homme yesterday and it has some peculiar notes in the opening which are quite sour and strange, that's before you even get into the neroli and orange blossom. I still quite liked it but I liked Amyris too while kinda thinking it was a little 'off' at the same time. My point being that MFK is not my usual taste and neroli and orange blossom can give off a creepy, hand cream vibe which I don't enjoy. So with that background covered I have to clarify when orange blossom and neroli are used in the right composition they transform into some of my favourite notes. Examples from MFK, Guerlain, Mugler cologne and Acqua Viva to name a few. Petit matin is a modern, clean musky opening with a shear masterclass in citrus which is long lasting and beautiful, hints of lavender add to the classic cologne feel which is modernised with a powdered, warm base of ambroxan which is not heavy in the slightest if you are one of these people who hate the stuff. It settles right down after projecting for an hour or so to a very low lying but very long lasting and super high quality scent. I smelled it on the wrist of the SA and it was warm, feminine and frankly just wonderful. It also gave me the opportunity to smell the opening and the drydown simultaneously, albeit on someone elses skin. On me it was fresh and the white florals and ambroxan just boosted the citrus top and the balance of elements just superb. This is a really, really, good, bright, optimistic fragrance, I loved it.
This is a knockout! A smooth, yet bold and multifaceted amber evoking lots of different notes from classic perfumery like lavender, labdanum, and vanilla. I was in love from the opening balsamic hit and incense sharpness, to the sedate, woody, creamy sweetness of the drydown. This would feature very highly on a list of alltime great ambers. However, on a personal note I can take it or leave it, Grand Soir doesn't get me as excited as it once would have done. This is due to the fact that my tastes are always drawn to heavy orientals and it being so in my usual wheelhouse is not necessarily a good thing. The reason being, I'm making a conscious effort to get more fresh and light fragrances, but otherwise I'd be all over this.
I really enjoy this perfume, it's a rose fragrance not really for rose fans. This is for people who like the harsh, opening stinging the nose with opulent saffron but rapidly becoming a darker shade, full of incense and sandalwood. The rose grows gently in the background and the whole thing settles to something not dissimilar to Penhaligon's Levanthium, a really spicy rose affair. I love the stuff but it's not got the performance or complex power of levanthium, nor does it have the rose sweetness, it's like a subdued version but very nice nonetheless.
I really hope this doesn’t disappoint because it’s got everything going for it, the legacy of the original XS need not be ruined by some dodgy reformulation/reimagining. I must admit I do like the chunky design of the new bottle. I remember thinking it was a shame I didn’t really like pure XS because I’d just quite like that bottle in my wardrobe. I owned a couple of bottles in the 90’s/2000’s and even my dad was a fan of the original, the more I think about XS the more I’m tempted to get a bottle now, whether it’s this one or an older bottle.
This is a fragrance that I wasn't familiar with the first time around and what a crime that was because it's an absolute triumph. Really this stuff is superb, masculine even a little butch but not a powerhouse in the obnoxious sense. The opening is chunky, rounded and heavily spiced affair of coriander and pepper with an immediately mossy, herbal, woody feel. I get a big musk note too, potent but dying back quite quickly. The chunkiness I mentioned soon becomes apparent the creamy, spice of sandalwood and the main player patchouli which doesn't hit you straight in the face but builds steadily in the background. It's starts as an almost gourmand, cocoa type thing, steadily becoming more earthy but never overstepping the mark. I'm not overstating this but Balenciaga pour Homme might be one of the best patchouli fragrances for men that I've ever tried. To say that it's just a Patchouli fragrance is to do it a bit of a disservice, because it's a great blend of notes and even non patchouli fans would like it I'm sure. Such a shame this stuff is no longer in production because it's excellent.
A decent fragrance, but something just didn’t quite work for me midway through my wearing. I think it’s because Prive doesn’t quite know what it wants to be? On the one hand the opening is great and really leads me to thinking it’s a classy, niche type affair, however when it dries down a little it’s right on the edge of one of those murky, confused compositions I’m so quick to critique. It’s in a place between a sexy night scent like l’nuit, with its caradmom smoothness, and boozy opening screams I’m high class. Then the Tonka and vanilla I’m the base starts to muddy it slightly. It does also have a hint of 212 Men to it all the time just grounding it back in the designer, men’s sporty realm. Look...the fact that I have so much inane waffle to spout about it says that it’s an interesting fragrance and sure enough when it really settled I very much began to enjoy the drydown, with hints of resinous sweetness. It’s nice.
I’d been trying to find this for ages with little success until I found a sample recently and it didn’t disappoint. Leather blend is an opulent mixture of heady, middle eastern vibes the most prominent note being oud, heavy sweet and smooth vanilla/amber and an opening of nose tingling saffron with a low lying rose note in the background. This combination absolutely conjures a leather note to me and very nice it is too but it could quite as easily have oud in the title and I wouldn’t bat an eyelid. I really like it but I can’t say it’s original, I’ve smelled quite a few like this but I have to say I don’t care & I love it. If it is cheaper than many fragrances like this, it certainly doesn’t smell that way, giving leather blend a deserved feel of high quality.
I’ve been wearing Addict ever since it came out, but I never really came around to review it. I guess I took it for granted. My review is for the 2002 original of which I’ve been lucky (and wise) enough to backup 2 100ml bottles as soon as I got my first and long gone one (September 2002) and for the extrait which I bought the same year for Xmas. As of now, it’s still found on Ebay, though getting harder to. Addict embodies all that was happening in the turn of the Millenium. In a sense, it’s a scent capsule. While mainstream had a few good years left, Dior didn’t, and luckily Galliano had the opportunity to envision this and Dior Homme as his exit opus. Kind of vulgar, at times trashy, but always addictive, Addict is logomania, glossy bronzed skin, lots of naked skin actually, gloss, neon colored huge sunglasses and electronic music. Everything that was in and cool at the time, and part of what catapulted Dior to 21st century stardom. Created by a younger Thierry Wasser, this is a vanilla rush; smoky, leathery, sexy vanilla. The original opening (and this has been lost in subsequent reformulations) is a slightly bitter and green mandarin leaf (all the rage as a note back then) that avoids turning Addict into a gourmand as they are known today. Addict is a full fledged sweet floriental; rose, jasmine, night blooming cereus or night jasmine or queen of the night (take your pick!) that move in and out and all around the vanilla, which is beautifully dark like the Mexican variety, and is surrounded by a smoky veil that leads to adult creaminess. The sandalwood, which was always stated as Mysore is not; it would have been extremely expensive to use, not to mention almost impossible to obtain by then, but it isn’t screechy or sour; it’s creamy, buttery, boozy and it shows how it can feel like phantom Mysore when mixed with care and talent. I never got the oakmoss, but I did get the most creamy florals, in a most addictive way, which every once in a blue moon take a slightly plasticky feel. Weird, but it’s part of the magic that makes Addict a friend of Shalimar, Habanita and Lou Lou, each showcasing the dirtier side of vanilla. Addict is a beautiful scent. It followed the success of Hypnotic, which took me longer to appreciate, and showed a somewhat younger and more energizing facet; it came at the right time, at the right place, and with the right name. Hypnotic was almond liqueur Femme Fatale while Addict was an intoxicating vanilla elixir, felt like a drug, and had a naughty first add which got banned months after its release in favor of a censored one. In a subliminal way, Addict was Opium for the new Millenium! The forgotten extrait feels like the heart and base of the edp from the start, has a bit of powder in the middle, and lacks the sense of rush that the edp has. It’s deeper, very oily on skin with a deep amber color that stains, and lasts until you wash it of. Total powerhouse power for both! As for current Addict, which I tried just for the sake of it, well it does smell like Addict (still) but it’s basically orange blossom and vanilla. The green opening tinge is gone, as is the smoke that surrounds the vanilla, and the sandalwood feels very ‘Le Labo Santal’. Not the worst reformulation out there, but it’s definitely not Addict(ive). It would have worked better as a flanker.
Addict pure parfum, limited run in 30ml bottles that was soon discontinued after launch. 2002 batch. I’ve already left a review for the original version of Addict. The extrait goes even further into that neon party night that the edp is (was). Beneath the glistening baby oiled skin, sunglasses at night and Marlboro lights, the extrait is the after party. Once the club lights go out, once the glow sticks fade and all that’s left is the glitter in your hair, there’s the after club. The beach club. You’re tipsy but not drunk. You’re not high yet. But the mood is right and Tiësto is banging it with Traffic. The air is warm with a cool breeze. You feel alive. And you’re ready to keep partying till the sun rises. Addict encompassed a mood and era that went by and now feels distant. It was the early Millennium in a bottle. Deeper, oilier, more intense and ecstatic, the extrait walks the extra mile. It’s where the fun continues. It’s pure ecstasy, figuratively and literally. I don’t think you need both, as vintage Addict in edp feels complete. But some days you just need that little bit of extra, that need for the night to never end. And that, that is the parfum!
I'm wearing a sample of this today and I must say smell wise, I actually really liked it a great deal. However, everything else about it is wrong from the rubbish sample in one of those annoying card sprays to the feeble performance and lack of body in the fragrance in general. What I mean is that it opens well and smells really nice of quality ingredients and a nice wearable, well balanced, fresh, aromatic, scent but everything needs turning up to 11 and maybe would benefit from a bit of oakmoss or something. It's meek. That's the issue and maybe I should expect that from a fragrance called eau fraiche but it's not good enough really. I get citrus, ginger, pink pepper, neroli, lavender all very nice settling down to a base of vetiver and then when it's a almost dead skinscent after several hours a tiny hint of sandalwood. I've seen this going reasonably cheap now, but I believe at one time it was pricey and barely worth what it is now. I don't want to hate it because I've mentioned a couple of times that it's a nice smell but in this instance performance matters and a bit of longevity would elevate this scent no end.
I'm going to start out with my initial thoughts on this perfume and it was...oh...it's another Aventusesque perfume from a nose who I know isn't in the business of jumping on a bandwagon, regardless of what you think about him. It can't be denied though that this is one of Roja Dove's more mainstream style, masculine fragrances. That's not a bad thing either because this stuff cannot fail to have broad appeal. I started off with the Creed Aventus comparison but please don't be deceived by this initial impression because in fairness Elysium has it's own character and masses of hidden depth, something which I think haters of this brand and perfumer are quick to dismiss in many Roja creations. It's a creeping kind of fresh and uplifting opening with the extra bitter, sharp dimension of grapefruit and juniper, then more of a blackcurrant peeking through as it dries down. The body of the fragrance is of incense and I mean in the broader sense as it's difficult to detect exactly what is there? Maybe lighter stuff like elemi and olabanum but I also know that Dove is fond of using Labdanum. The base is cedar and vetiver giving a touch of the smoky earth to the base which might be conjuring that Aventus Birch. This is a composition which sounds simple but when you smell this perfume, I'd say it's more effortless the way the accords are permeable, bleeding into one another. Comparisons with Bleu de Chanel are valid when you look at the note brakdown and Creed as I keep mentioning, so it's in good company really. The issue comes with performance, which incidentally I found to be quite good, but I'm assuming Elysium is very expensive so anything other than massive, won't do for most consumers. I really liked it and the longer it went on the less I wanted to make reductive comparisons because this stuff stands up by itself. I won't be buying but I think it's a very fresh, High class, citrus fragrance with tonnes to offer and hard not to like really.
Tried this today at a 'vintage fair' AKA: old, tatty, mothball infested crap, jumble sale...and it's impressive how much of the fragrances character had been retained. The bottle was old I'd say at least 70's maybe 60's? The top notes of ylang ylang and jasmine, still intact and packing a punch but thankfully fading quickly into a perfume with a hearty dose of oakmoss and vetiver, making this more of a spicy woody affair. I wouldn't say it's masculine but it's easily wearable for a man. The drydown was mustier still but not a powerful scent and not really all that impressive, needing a lift of something. Interesting to try things like this but I wasn't tempted to purchase.
Wow! I've owned this fragrance for several years and never posted a review. I think that is a perfect reflection on just how underrated it is, even in the microcosm that is my wardrobe. I'm wearing it today and really enjoying the experience. To me it's a fantastic, sweet and uplifting violet accord which is very similar to Zegna Uomo another fragrance I own but this is much more effervescent and fresh. This Homme line has it's fair share of success stories but like many has lots of failures too. The original is great, no matter how you look at it. L'nuit de la Homme is a fantastic fragrance which is rightly praised by fragrance lovers. Then the rest of the flankers are either pointless or just plain bad. The frozen Nuit was okay and the parfum, although totally redundant, did at least smell good. However, Parfum intense and L'intense and several others were terrible. This one itself even had a big brother which I remember liking but this cologne tonic was much the same and significantly cheaper. It's lasting well and smells amazing on me today.
This is the least interesting of the Luna Rossa line that I can tell from one wear. However I'm such a lover of the subtlety of Andrier's work that I'm prepared to give this more of a chance in future, so this review is subject to an update at some point. I was pretty gutted when I learned that Luna Rossa Extreme had been discontinued, I just hadn't realised. This is pretty much in between the original and Extreme but not quite as standout as either of them. The tonka bean is handled well considering other scents around containing this ingredient and comes off as a milky musk. There's lavender in here, it's not listed but I reckon it's there. Angelica could be giving some sweetness and as for patchouli? maybe but it doesn't seem like a patch heavy scent.
One thing for certain about this new One Million flanker, it delivers one of the notes listed in abundance, particularly in the opening, and frankly, validates my nose if I ever had doubts about my nasal calibration (which does happen from time to time) they have been allayed. That note is hazelnut, it's very clear and nutty and quite lovely actually, strangely coupled with a fresh and fruity blast. It then becomes reminiscent of Ferragamo uomo which was a surprisingly good gourmand release of the last few years. However, This is where it starts to venture into the banal and painfully generic. Where Uomo had a lightness of touch, a blending of notes which could come off as sledgehammer harsh or sickly it gave them a bit of lightness and freshness. One Million Lucky is not that way at all, after the promise of the opening it becomes a messy, confused and synthetic bomb of 'dark' but I'd say just murky, honied, gourmand notes and modern trickery. Yet again, I can't say I hate it, it's serviceable, wearable, it has better performance than Uomo and that nutty note in the opening truly is something to behold, so it's not without merit. Lucky doesn't draw me in either though, it's not got the charm of Ferragamo uomo, but if you want a clumsier and better performing version this is not dissimilar.
