Aldehydes with a milky, wheaty perfume seem to curdle unless properly handled. I have to agree with Roge here this comes across floral in the opening and not at all what I was expecting. The base is creamy but not really almond like in my opinion, there's sandalwood and a hint of tonka that's it for me. Not very balanced for me but not unpleasant and another thing Roge points out this fragrance is supposed to be aimed at women so my comments are pretty redundant. Put it this way I wouldn't wear it! Some positives are that Tonkamande dries down nicely and does reveal a yummy creaminess of vanilla but it's too little too late. It projects well for the first hour or so but the longevity was poor on my skin.
Okay so I was really looking forward to both sacred wood and imperial tea but I'm left feeling a bit underwhelmed. This fragrance is mainly jasmine and that's not a bad thing it's a lovely thing but I had expected the bitter, metallic, dryness of tea and although it's there it's not nearly enough to satisfy the name. This is a clean fragrance in which the tea note balances with the jasmine nicely but kind of removes the sweetness a little which to me is the whole point of jasmine. What you're left with is just a vaguely floral scent with hints of tea. The main problem with imperial tea is the longevity, not very good at all. Pleasant fragrance but I was expecting a really special tea and as such am a bit disappointed.
An interesting outing from ODIN a house which has produced two good fragrances so far and with the addition of this effort...a third. I'm not instantly reminded of Spicebomb as many are I find it opens like a warm spicy tobacco which is much more pronounced than V&R Spicebomb. When Semma dries down further though the aspects of spicy pepper and cinnamon become more apparent and the balance of sweetness is tipped more in the direction of Spicebomb territory. However this scent is all about the tobacco note for me which is deep and cosy with a great balance of sweetness and a hint of resin. A classy scent then and not the best tobacco I've smelled but certainly not the worst. Longevity is pretty good sillage is okay too.
Oh wow leather! I can't wait to try this as the Oud one is unusual and very nice.
(THIS REVIEW WAS PENNED A WHILE AGO WHEN THIS CAME OUT.) I've Been waiting to try this for ages! Took so long for stores to get it that I actually stopped looking and forgot about it to an extent. The reason I was anticipating this so much was due to my love of leather fragrances and my hope that this would be the holy grail...and is it? Well, sort of? It is and it isn't... Reason being the opening was stunning, really great, rich, opulent almost dark, slightly smoky leather. When I say 'leather' I do mean an accurate and stunning leather note. So far so good you might think and you'd be right it's worthy of praise but then starts to change into familiar territory. By this I'm talking TF Tuscan leather and Clive Christian C complete with raspberry note and all...again not a criticism, C is one of my absolute favourite fragrances and I've extensively tested Tuscan leather (which I controversially said is not as good) so I like to think I know what I'm talking about here. In fact I think this is less complex than C more toward Tuscan leather but still very complex and different to both in the most subtle way. It tightropes between smelling like an accurate leather, maybe even a hint of citrus, something slightly more soapy and cleaner then back to CC C/TF TL. Now I have Oud concentree and that has epic longevity and obnoxious silage on my skin, almost to the point of it being too much even for me to wear and I was expecting the same from this juice. Don't get me wrong here the performance of this juice is very good and way, way up there. Silage and trail are pretty massive for the first few hours but doesn't quite have the godlike longevity status of Clive Christian C....nor is it as heady and complex, magical or even 'harsh' for want of a better word.
Wow! gorgeous green ivy like opening which then reveals a sweetness of clean white florals it must be the jasmine and magnolia, although it doesn't smell like Jasmine...more magnolia perhaps? The overall accord is one of cedar but it a sweet refreshing cedar and musk. This is due to the mastic/lentisque resin which gives a turbo charged cedar smell that is sweeter than cedar alone. I don't get a great deal of much else from this scent but I really like Amanu it's a clean, bright green effort from Odin. I'd wear this in summer for sure. Projection & Longevity are average.
This opens with a bang strong, zing of lime and lavender, with a slightly smokey incense accord reminiscent of CdG Zagorsk (smells nothing like it BTW) but has that fresh pine/fir thing from the hinoki and a church sort of a vibe. Peppery wood and with something of the carming meditative zen about it. The dry down is laid back and woody. I'm an incense lover(whatever that means?) and this instantly delivers a hit so don't be perturbed by this luke warm appraisal because I'm going to wear it properly a couple more times and update my feelings. Initial thoughts are positive. Next wear.... This is my second wear and I'm in love with Liquidnight it somehow does evoke the night to me. It's not a quiet peaceful night in the countryside but a sexy night out in a bustling metropolis, complete with a slight smokiness of exhaust fumes. Don't let that description mislead, this is a smooth, aromatic beauty which for a split second evokes the leather and magic of Clive Christians C or TF Tuscan leather. It must be the hinoki wood which makes this fragrance such a winner. I recently got to smell hinoki in its pure form and it's gorgeous! Starts out a little resinous and heavy but with such a light touch all the same, then into the drydown comes a greener more woody quality and still odd hints of lime from the long forgotten top notes. Liquidnight is a magnificent fragrance, complex, elegant, masculine I love it and I'm really tempted to get a bottle because I'd wear it a lot! Latest....I bought a bottle and I absolutely adore it a great fragrance this one!!!
Okay... Uden from Xerjoff is a calm creation which is sweet and subtle. The quality is evident and although it puts me in mind of vanilla/tonka designer fair like Le male or Armani code, I think it's a bit unfair to tar Uden with the same brush as it's undoubtedly better. The opening for example is a beautiful mix of citruses and the main note I get is one of coconut which is only very brief but really nice. Uden dries down to a lovely soft, sweet vanilla, musk and creamy sandalwood. Also I get the coffee note after about 2 hours I thought it wasn't there but it is very subtlety is... like Rocas Man. I've no doubt there's superb quality in this fragrance but has it blown me away? not really. This is the problem with Xerjoff the greats are too few but to be fair they're getting better as I try more & more.
I've tested my fair share of Oud/Rose fragrances now and frankly I'm getting a tired of the staggering array of them out there. This goes on pretty deep and stays that way but the rose in the opening hour or so, is quite unpleasantly floral and rosy for my taste. However the drydown reveals quite an elegant scent of rose, iris, patchouli and Oud which definitely has more magic when it develops. Great quality and longevity, projection etc... A good outing generally but I can afford to be more particular with so much choice out there.
The first thing that hits me about Victrix are the green notes of bay leaf and coriander then the spice of pepper. It's gets very peppery then balances out beautifully and for me Profumum have another hit on their hands here with Victrix. The drydown is clean and really enjoyable, slightly earthy vetiver, I love the mixture of wet and dry notes in this fragrance it's aromatic, woody, herbal great stuff. I'm thoroughly impressed. Longevity is good and sillage and projection pretty quiet but that's more than okay.
Ahhhh...Mark Birley For Men, it's amazing that this fragrance has been around for nearly 20 years and yet you never see it anywhere...I mean who sells it? For a British brand it's not exactly readily available in Britain. Just briefly on Birley himself I kinda like the idea of a multimillionaire creating his own fragrance and tasking two of the best in the business with the challenge of getting it right. Oh how they got it right! This fragrance is wonderfully fresh, masculine, refined and with a hint of mystery. The opening to me is a lovely blend of citruses, leaning more towards lemon but still with accents of bergamot & orange. Then after the initial few seconds the sweet, refreshing citrus is bittered by musk and it's then you realise Mark Birley is a little more complex than your run of the mill citrus. The primary players in this fragrance are vetiver, Cedar, carrot seed and incense which give a subtle spice but ultimately an overriding clean quality. I can't say I detect violet (listed here) or that this is particularly powdery. The smell is very addictive and nods at a more balsamic, incense type fragrance but with the light touch and cleaness of a vetiver/citrus combo. It's great and in my book is worthy of the praise it receives. To echo other comments regarding longevity and projection which are not good but acceptable at about £60 for 125ml which is around a higher end designer price such as Dior or Chanel. Just treat it like a cologne and spray more, also put some on your clothes to get the lasting effect. Really keen to try the other Birley fragrance now, which is leather based.
Basically I can sum up Tralala in a few notes... Musk, vanilla, BOOZE, and saffron. I'll just mention the saffron it has an odd sharp quality and is pungent but I love it in fragrances. Although it's not a major player in this one, you can detect it and it adds to overall opulence. Quite a theatrical bright, rough, almost gourmand opening which is pretty spectacular in truth and the whisky element is present straight away. A whisky note is not something I like in many fragrances I'll be honest but here in Tralala it's somehow exceptable. As it calms the fragrance becomes quite smooth and vanilla like almost like a milky drink with alcohol in...a white russian prehaps? (But far dirtier of course!) In fact I had a bourbon whiskey float cocktail a few weeks back and this reminded me heavily of the curdling combo of strong booze and ice cream which is not such a pleasant thing! So as Tralala rages on my skin it starts to become cloying and there's only so much I can take of the musky vanilla which does get a bit much after a while. It's a little more complex than I'm giving it credit for and after you get past the cloying faze and it really dies down it goes nice again, even a bit soft and leathery. So all in all an interesting fragrance and great longevity one of the stronger Penhaligon's I've come across. Tralala is an acquired taste maybe but so is the creepy dolls head stopper on the bottle. I wasn't familiar with Meadham & Kirchhoff's fashion house before but I get the picture with the style and this scent certainly ties in with the look of there clothes, bold and slightly eccentric!
In my experience Penhaligon's deliver very well blended compositions and LP No.9 is no exception. Usually when looking at the notes (especially on here) I'm a little perturbed by the main note sometimes and clove isn't one of my favourites. However, Penhaligon's deliver yet again on quality and none of the notes in this are too prominent. It has a opening of bergamot with the warmth of amber and the spice of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. LP No.9 is also peppery, dark feeling and musky...typical complexity which comes off as effortless simplicity. It's quite intoxicating really and very masculine, I've got to admit I'm really taken by it. Longevity is not bad at all either and it projects pretty well.
Okay so I tried this new 1 Million and I have to say it hasn't really changed my opinion much. Without doing a direct comparison with the original 1 Million EDT I can't comment of the differences but to me (from memory) they smell very similar. I removed 1 Million from my dislike list on here a while ago. I had indeed taken a instant disliking to it, although admittedly this kind of strong sweet fragrance should be right up my street. After sometime I tried it again and thought I had maybe been a little hasty and it wasn't all that bad. I'm not someone who bashes a fragrance just because of it's popularity with the masses or gaudy awfulness, I like to think I judge on it's merits. Trying this new one however has firmly cemented my dislike of this fragrance once more. I literally (or illiterately more aptly) cannot describe the reason why I'm just utterly repelled by the cheap sweetness and opening which lasts for hours. If you can stomach it to the drydown it becomes okay after several hours but even that can be said of some truly awful fragrances I hate! If anything this Absolutely Gold version is stronger and projects more than the original, the mind boggles at how and why this is possible. Well it confirmed a nail in the coffin for my relationship with the whole 1 Million range, I simply don't like them.
I don't usually talk about Longevity as a way to kick off my review but this stuff is VERY long lived on my skin and I'm notoriously unforgiving, so trust me folks... this one lasts. I tried Black XS Potion on the back of my hand yesterday afternoon and despite washing my hands several times since then & showering this morning I can still very faintly smell it on my skin. As for the fragrance itself, I thought despite the glaring similarities to the original that the opening was a little deeper. Similar to the way that A*Men flankers are different but still in essence the same thing, just with more emphasis on certain aspects. These aspects in this case are a intensity of labdanum and booze which give a slightly sharper and more high end feel to what is essentially the same very sweet, fruity, wood fragrance as the original. As it dries down it's harder to identify the difference it's still a bit chocolatey like the original and still has that dense wood, tulu balsam and berry notes. So if you're expecting a vast difference be prepared for disappointment, however if you like the original you might even like this better. The projection and longevity are huge as I mentioned and I much prefer the bottle for this one due to that cool wax seal thing. The same can be said of this as the original, something inside me loves the initial smell of Black XS and it's sweet unique nature. In perspective though I can't help but find it cloying and unpleasant after a while and not something I'd be happy to wear, especially with it's strength and persistence.
I can't believe the negativity aimed at this fragrance from the majority of reviews here. On the one hand I agree that play sport is never going to wow anybody with its generic fruity musk and woods but for me it's a solid citrus release from Givenchy. Another criticism could be that it doesn't retain much (if any?) of the character of play or play intense which are popular fragrances and Play Intense is a real true love of mine. Not only does Play Sport smell very good, those top notes last very well as does the fragrance in general, longer than many niche citrus fragrances I've tried. The opening to my nose is a gorgeous bergamot and mandarin orange which is fresh and zesty then the musk and amyris wood give play sport a solid platform for the citruses to shine for about 6 hours. I like this...it's never going to inspire the same fan base as Play Intense for example because it's quite a flat composition. If you're looking for a clean linear citrus with good lasting power then play sport should not be overlooked.
Wow! Love the opening of this fragrance straight up cypress and olibanum and you pretty much know what you're going to get for the remainder. Yes it's a gorgeous incense fragrance along the exact same lines as Heeley Cardinal, Montale Full Incense and CDG Avignon. If you like any of the aforementioned fragrances then this will float your boat too, luckily I have samples of all four and have tried them side by side to identify differences and there are some very subtle differences. I have to say I might be imagining it but find this a touch fresher and has a different opening too notes. LLDH is of extremely high quality. Non of these have huge lasting power on the skin but do very well on clothing(as most scents do) I found this one to be much the same. I love it...but then again I love the others too!
Gardenia Passion can be a bit misleading, because other than the fact that Fragrantica has some notes missing (tomato leaf, myrrh) it's an extension of Goutal's Passion which was released earlier and is a floral chypre. Gardenia Passion takes the base and intensifies the floral heart with added gardenia and tuberose. Frankly if you own one out of the two you don't need the other unless you're a white floral junkie. That said, Gardenia Passion varies on different skin chemistries. Some people get more tuberose while others get more of the gardenia part. I get a cheesy gardenia that's still covered with earth. I've been looking for a dirty or animalic gardenia, something more carnal than your average white floral, and while this isn't animalic it is definitely fleshy and carnal, the scent of hot skin. Gardenia Passion opens on my skin with the green bitterness of the tomato leaf, slightly similar to galbanum. It's quite astringent without being harsh. This lasts just a couple of minutes before I am immediately greated with a cheesy gardenia. The flower is wilted and it's turning brown. It's just beyond its prime but the gardenia hasn't lost its scent, it just shows it's more carnal qualities, its fleshyness if you will, like skin that is hot. The tuberose doesn't really show on me, and the jasmine adds just a touch of honeyed indole that further contributes to the carnal effect. The white florals basically form a choir that make up a quite realistic gardenia, without falling in the usual cliches. Carnal flower would be a very apt name, as it feels more apt than simply Gardenia Passion. The sillage is quite subtle, on a hot day if I'm lucky I can get it to moderate, but it never gets suffocating, even being heavy handed. Longevity is average, but I find that deeply moisturized skin enhances the longevity substantially so no complaints there. As to the comparison to other white floral powerhouses... Well I don't get any similarities neither to Fracas nor Carnal Flower, mainly because those are tuberose bombs on my skin while this is not. If you like Gardenia you will probably like this, if you love Gardenia here you have a very high quality realistic rendition of a wilting narcotic flower. Try on your skin and give it some time to evolve, warm temperatures favor it enormously. It doesn't shout so it can even be used in closed settings, and unless someone comes close, it won't announce your presence to the entire world. Me, I love it, I have my ladylike gardenia from Lauder, and my carnal one here. I'd ask for some more sillage but I'm perfectly content. Another high quality Goutal that I'm sure won't disappoint.
Well there had been speculation for a while about this one and finally here it is. Interesting though because one thing A*Men and it's flankers have never been is woody, so the addition of woody notes is welcome & needed. I can't say I'm not excited to try it but I think we need to manage our expectations here people. Lets not get too carried away imagining it will be some holy grail, that only leads to disappointment. Bottle looks awesome though! Roll on 7th of July!
Okay I'm pretty impressed with this scent after an unsure first impression. I can tell you straight away that it's not as loud as AMen or many of the other flankers and has a toned down feel, no over sweetness or caramel. This refined approach is what makes me like the Pure Malt/Coffee/Havane/Wood range more than the original, which is so complex frankly it needs reigning in a little. It's these differences which set them apart but retain the common theme brilliantly. What I mean is that in my minds eye (or nose more accurately) I smell a new AMen flanker and think hmmmm...that's the signature AMen accord I enjoy without fully appreciating the differences. It's only when you try them against each other do you realise just how different they are and pure wood came to life against the others. I didn't find this particularly woody at first, which is strange because it's usually the top notes which are distinct in these flankers, before settling to something more familiar. This starts out quite boozy and Pure Malt like then the wood starts to emerge and it's almost a peppery, dry edge to it. This almost reminds me very slightly of if Comme des Garcon did an interpretation of AMen. Don't get me wrong though this is not a woody scent in the usual sense of the word it's very much a gourmand oriental, an authentic AMen experience but with non of the cloying thickness. It seems to somehow have added some savory touches to that indulgent dessert that is the AMen accord. Sanding down any sharp edges to use a woodworking analogy, its softer and smells positively woody compared with say Pure Coffee for example? I like it, it's also not as intrusive as Pure Malt or Pure Havane and dries down quickly, not projecting as much...but that's totally fine for me.
Understatement and balance are the key things here. I'm sure there's many a similar fragrances I wouldn't like because of overuse of certain aspects. For example like too white floral, or too much of a particular spice like ginger or cardamom or the citrus notes seeming cheap, Roadster sport doesn't suffer from any of these. Roadster sport opens with a gorgeous citrus combo with orange in there too. Then a distinct white floral which in this toned down context is absolutely perfectly balanced and doesn't detract anything from the fragrance. You can definitely smell the herby nature of sage and the patchouli is not dirty at all but clean and green with some nondescript woods in the base to round off a lovely dry down. I really like the smell of this fragrance it's incredibly well done, more classy stuff from Cartier.
First of all... no matter how bad or boring the majority of Lacoste fragrances are (and let's face it they are!) I'm always keen to try anything from them just on the strength of eau de Lacoste Blanc which I love with everything I got! Now personally where the bottle is concerned, it's not bad but I'm not crazy about the presentation. What I do like is the shape of the bottle, it's a squat lil cube like Encre Noire or something? Seems like an obvious choice to make a cube but not many others copy that format. Another small criticism was my first impression of the sprayer was not good it squirted out a feeble jet rather than a mist, which also soaked my trigger finger. Anyway the juice is the important thing, so what is live like? Well unfortunately it falls victim to crowd pleasing and in epic proportions. The opening citrus makes way for a predictable but not unpleasant scent which seems very much like other sports fodder. It's kinda green but not natural at all and woody I suppose but I really don't get the typical signature of guaiac wood nor did I really get any liquorice. I may have to try this again you know because there's some interesting ingredients which seem to have been blended out of all recognition into a generic mess. Not bad, not good either and the longevity was poor on my skin.
The bottle looks great...really fantastic! The notes however don't look very appealing to me but everyone of the prive's I've tried (which is pretty much all of them now) whether feminine or not are really well executed. I'm such this won't be an exception, can't wait to try it and find out.
I wrote another review of this then misplaced it and obviously didn't post it here, let's try to remember how it went shall we??? What a let down! Something like that...I don't know what I was expecting from this new 'Intense' He Wood but needless to say it didn't even live up to my non existent expectations. Come on DSquared2 this is lame! I have He Wood which in it's self took a while to charm me and if I have a collection purge at the end of the summer will likely be one of the first out of the door. Don't get me wrong I quite like the strange ghostly violet and wood combo but I just don't love it enough to wear frequently. Tried this side by side with the original and the similarities are obvious as you'd expect but I have to disagree that it's 'stronger' than He Wood certainly not in sillage/projection or Longevity terms. Deeper? perhaps yes and less powdered violet which in essence does make it woodier but not nearly enough to warrant the name. All this being said I think I prefer this version due to the top notes not quite being as intrusive has He Wood but still I'm a little irked at the rehashing of a tired formula when they could've given us something new. Instead all you end up with is a slightly tweeked juice in a more boring bottle than the original He Wood.
Opens like a classic Oud rose fragrance with the balance tipped toward rose, my thinking was this might be a little too sweet and rosy for me. Do not be fooled by the opening though I don't feel this fragrance is similar to Montale or other Oud/roses when you take it in the context of a whole fragrance from application to deep drydown. Neverless it oozes quality from the get go, the first couple of minutes and I started to detect something else sweet and powdery like a violet. The frankincense then starts to kick and although subtle changes the nature slightly. This progression continues and the scent becomes utterly unpredictable something I wouldn't have guessed from such a clichéd opening, the complexity of dark Saphir becomes more apparent. Don't get me wrong Oud, rose and incense are the main vibes but other subtleties rear their heads and it starts to seem like more of a heady journey scent. This journey doesn't stray too far from a well trodden path but most importantly for me goes from something I think is okay to something I'm fond of at the end. The drydown is subtle hints of patchouli, vanilla and labdanum dark Saphir was a surprising gem. If you love your rose scents (and let's face it you've plenty to choose from) this is really worth sniffing out.
Clean, fresh, feminine and ultimately uninspiring! There's something inherently cheap about this fragrance it's not bad just the same kind of floral, fruity fair you smell a lot in female focused perfumes. Opens with an apple and slightly exotic fruit vibe before a hint of sweet floral and neroli but it thin and non of these elements really take effect in creating a lasting impression. I've already spoken far too much about this perfume...it's a damp squib! But hey I'm a man what do I know? If you like knock yourselves out because I've smelled far worse.
