Ambre Premier opens initially, bizarrely “perfume-y”… yes yes, what a shit description – it was unexpected lets just say that. A bizarre sweet/sour/bitterness of chocolate, orange and patchouli muddle around each other for a while trying to get comfortable on the skin, as a sharper metallic note bites through the middle.
The amber has a “breathy” vanilla quality to it, which paired with the chocolate-patchouli/gourmand thing going on, and the very synthetic smelling orange – turns my stomach just a little.
There’s a little clean rose in the middle, a white musk, and a cloying vanilla – but the dominating accord is surprisingly a metallic meets gourmand patchouli… with a disjointed amber underneath. Drying down to a sweet, hideous white musk.

La Liturgie des Heures opens not too dissimilar to April Aromatics’ Calling All Angels, with its dry woods and incense, only this is a touch more peppery, and more “sticky”. Along with the overload of bitter resins and incense – bits of harsh greenery cut through it: pine and cypress mainly… a mix of sticky, sweet forest floor, and more herbal coniferous greens.
It pretty much stays this way throughout it’s life. It’s totally not my kind of perfume and not how I like to smell (also very bored of the overload of foresty/incense fragrances)… but still, this is a solid enough example for people who like that kind of thing Not bad!

L’Arbre de la Connaissance  starts with a loud, fig overload. It’s tangy, almost sherbert-y, neither predictably lactonic, or green? Maybe a bit of both – it’s both sharp, sweet, fizzy and bright – I get touches of grapefruit and bitter lemon peel too.
The fig gives off hints of coconut, green sappy milk (suntan lotion and salty green) - and gradually gets greener as more herbaceous notes and camphor joins in.
It’s a little too much on my skin – but I’d definitely recommend it for someone after a loud, hyper-fresh fragrance. I surprisingly like it, despite it smelling mega-synthetic, it reminds me of a fig that Comme Des Garcons would come out with – even with a touch of high-pitched metallic oil thrown in for good measure! It dries down to a woody/patch, but stays true to the start for longer than expected.

L’Enfant Terrible opens near enough a straight rip-off of Parfum D’Empire’s Aziyade. I love Aziyade so I can’t help but quite like this too as much as I hate to admit it (ok read the name I want to love it!!!). It starts with fizzy spiced fruit, not too dissimilar to Dr.Pepper soda! Dates, cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon, a pinch of pimento berry, plum… all blended into this hot, fruit-pie-like scent.
There’s syrupy oranges, culinary herbal notes… ok it sounds ridiculously complicated but it’s totally not (if you’ve smelt things like Aziyade, Arabie etc. you’ll totally get this). The soda-vibe stays true for a while – the fruit settling a little bit as the heated spices dominate (this is where things get a little different), drying down to a dry cedar/sandalwood combo and musk. Nice enough, but it has been done, and better.

Private Label opens with a harsh, nail-varnish leather. A raw, earthy, smoky vetiver comes in quickly and together – the combination is pretty foul. It smells black and rubbery (yes, dildo was the first word that came into my head then too), with squeaky vinyl (stop!!!), and underneath, a resinous amber (lots of labdanum), a bit of incense and other bitter greens that just make it worse and worse.
Ok, so Private Label is not for me. It’s an upfront, foul-smelling masculine fragrance that smells simplistic yet sloppy, and on my skin at least – it has no personality whatsoever. It feels like I’m wearing a “first draft”. But anyway – it finishes how it starts but quieter, and thankfully becomes relatively translucent quickly into wear. Ew!

Psychedelique has a sharp, high-pitched citrus opening that within seconds falls into a patchouli soliflore. The patchouli is similar to the patchouli in the rest of the line’s base… quite a weird one. It’s not quite gourmand, a touch metallic, fresher than expected with an unusual green-quality – camphorous and a little “sweaty”.
It’s given a cooler, more herbal feel by a dose of geranium – but gradually is warmed by the stinky amber of Amber Premier When this comes in my heart sinks a touch because all hope is lost and I know I can no longer attempt to enjoy this hybrid patchouli. I’m not a big fan from the beginning, but it’s interesting. But as that breathy (sulphur-like), sticky vanilla/amber creeps its way into the mix, pushing the geranium out the way, it becomes thicker, sweeter and turns a little bit “off”. I’ll stick with Borneo 1834!

I hope this post was helpful as a brief summary… some interesting stuff, but don’t consider me a fan :’) there are better example of each perfume out there already.

All fragrances 100ml $180 Jovoy Paris – Luckyscent

1 opens with a translucent, tangy black currant, subtle rose and jasmine – just a pinch of powdery mimosa and a pale greenery. It’s blended to a point where not a single thing stands out, super smooth – light as a feather, with a kind of ozonic accord running through it that whilst doesn’t smell marine-like or aldehydic, surprisingly makes the opening of 1 smell desperately synthetic despite its infamous “quality”.

Magnolia seems to dominate after just a minute or two – not the heavy green, waxy magnolia of Mito, not the boozy, fleshy, glamorous magnolia of Zelda, but something almost a touch soapy/lactonic – and I can’t help but both like it (yes just like) and find it to be no greater than the smell of a decent quality hand cream.

Once the body cream image is in my head, it sticks. It smells chemical, floral, ozonic and lactonic… with a total lack of texture – it becomes almost mundane, despite the obvious hidden complexity. As a result, it almost feels like a wasted bunch of great ingredients (after just ten minutes) – the jasmine isn’t indolic of full – it’s not what I want jasmine to smell like. The magnolia has little personality and the tartness of blackcurrant is nowhere to be seen. Instead this slightly green, fruit-floral gets a little bitter as the salted, ozonic accord gets a little stronger and more irritating and the powder of the mimosa de-sweetens, and similarly to M, amber takes over all too quickly.

The amber underneath isn’t vanilla heavy, nor is it particularly resinous – it’s a little washed out, more of a colour than anything else. A white musk comes in – not a hint of animal, human, or sexual suggestion, no – it’s a “fuzz”. A fuzz of laundry, clean, sterile to give throw and little more. Gosh I sound so negative! I’m trying hard not to be At first I like it, then I think about it – and all “like” vanishes…

What’s left on my skin after just 20 minutes is what takes 1 throughout the rest of its life. It’s a relatively flat, slightly lactonic/ozonic floral hand cream fragrance that doesn’t even have the advantage of moisturizing my skin. A touch of rose and magnolia, the subtlest green imaginable and a neither here-nor-there musky amber (with a touch of castoreum)… Such a shame, such a headache-inducing shame.

1 17.5ml parfum extrait Puredistance - $198 Luckyscent

Holy. Shit. Instant “Oh my God”.
Bringing to mind something from the O’Driu lineup – this herbal, citrus, smoky opening knocked my nose clean off my face with a smile. What have we got here! Lemongrass and herbal lavender, bergamot and bitter orange… a soiled, damp smell of rotten rind with just a hint of freshness remaining. All this piled atop a heavy animalic smoke of castoreum and tobacco.

A herbal hit of something like eucalyptus… or artemisia, slightly mentholates the heart, and an abstract nuttiness that brings to mind pistachio leads into a bundle of bitter resins and a touch of old-school powder. There’s rough black leather, birch tar and animalics - taking over any remains of citrus (the opening short-lived like any classical cologne). Whilst the merest hint of vanilla gives the tar-laden base a touch of sweetness (without becoming a cloying mess a la Patchouli 24).

P’Eau D’Espagne comes to mind when sniffing this, as does the opening of Lonestar Memories – only in reverse order… the powerful opening of both being the late drydown of this. Whether there are florals in here, I’m not sure… if anything there’s a bizarre ylang vibe – but at least at this stage, totally drowned in a thick, black base. The herbal notes still persist – although now much darker. Slightly culinary, it reminds me of rosemary, along with something like “Vicks vapour rub” – a herbal, soothing, mentholated scent. It’s totally comforting to me. The herbal notes add a natural astringent quality to Cologne Reloaded – perfectly tying the breathtaking opening into the ridiculously long-lasting base.

The base is where more magic happens – at first I get hints of animalic smoke atop an aged-smelling amber and a touch of something earthy… patchouli? – all smothered in a transclucent tar. However… a huge 180 occurs at some point in the late drydown at the blink of an eye – too fast for me to catch. It turns Cologne Reloaded into something clean, powdery, classical and masculine – no soap, but a touch of coal and a huge scattering of powder - baby soft on the skin, a touch of feminine florals, bringing to mind the classic powder-filled bases of the old-school Guerlain’s. This is how it stays for the remainder of it’s life on your skin – a familiar, slightly melancholy powder – clean, subtly smoked, tinged with vanilla – feeling dandified, classical, and to me almost heart-wrenching. Mesmerizing. An outstanding perfume.

Cologne Reloaded – Bogue Profumo – not yet available? Not sure… this brand is a mystery.

http://bogue-profumo.com/cologne-reloaded/

I’d like to say also that Freddie, just today, figured out what “Power” was – and is so close to figuring out “Stone” I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for him to say it!
He’s also figured out “Spirit” much better than I could of but I’m worried that the uber-niche-ness of it may make it difficult to guess – he’s got all the accords right though!

But yeh, I can’t name what “Power” is on here yet just incase Raj has a snoop around and finds out

But enjoy guys! New reviews to come soon – I’m up to my neck in things to write about!

Freddie xxx

MMMMMMM! Unexpected love for this opening! I expected a standard Arabian incense, dry and peppered – I got something not too dissimilar to Putain Des Palaces by Etat Libre D’Orange.

I get a tangy, violet-laden aldehyde with a hint of leather underneath – candied sweet and again, not too far from Cuir Amethyste by Armani Prive. There’s just a hint of bright citrus’ up top, like a sugar-coated lemon peel, but quickly the sweet violet and high-pitched orange blossom take over. It has a sherbert-y texture to it, literally fizzy and almost “pink”.

There is incense under there – a light, ever so slightly metallic smoke – blended harmoniously with the now turning resinous violet.
As the violet effect begins to settle a touch, a rose seems to take over. Clean, with just a hint of exotic spice, and a slightly paper-y texture like the roses of Ormonde Jayne’s Ta’if… they are completely different fragrances but the texture of the rose feels the same. Some jasmine – just a hint of rot but as good as clean, ripens the roses and bulks out the floral accord. The florals don’t dominate at all though… what does, is this hint of smoke, a sweet, candied amber-y base, and the leather!

Leather? Well, it’s a super soft suede in the style of Bottega Veneta, or Cuir Ottoman at a push… it’s supple, skin-like and a little salty. This is given a hell of a lot of lift and life by a musky ambergris and civet. The civet adds a plush richness and the ambergris makes the whole fragrance become this translucent-ish, multi-coloured hologram of a composition. Sweet shit, I sound like I love it don’t I? I kind of do.

It’s very nice – sharing similarities with a few fragrances I really love – but for me once the aldehydes burn off and that violet-thing going on at the beginning, it loses it’s buzz just a touch. I love the salty, musky, leathery base (although it’s much lighter and more gentle than I’d have loved to smell it)… still – it’s pretty gorgeous. The rose drying out into the leather, the hint of salt, a little sandalwood, the high pitch incense without a trace of pepper… well done Guerlain – you’ve impressed me.

As the florals finally begin to come out underneath the aldehydes – a lily of the valley shows up first – crisply green and intense, a jasmine and rose follow. Again, it’s finely balanced, quite sheer on the skin – and reminds me (although not necessarily in scent) of Nombre Noir by Shiseido (a feat in itself!!). The nutty castoreum underneath that adds that hint of leather, still goes strong on my skin (although don’t think Cuir by Mona Di Orio – this is just a backdrop).

The jasmine/rose dominate, with the lily of the valley retreating a bit – a touch of powdery iris merges with a cleaner musk to slightly sweeten and texturize the leather – it’s supple like a suede, the hint of galbanum still there slowly gives in to a mossy, chypre base. The chypre finale is upfront and traditional, just like the classics it manages to be rich, green and dark, made a little more modern by the heavy musk and leather (castoreum and isobutyl quinoline). At this point – Tarentella seems to take inspiration from Bandit by Piguet.

A pungent sandalwood, a hint of vanilla and the moss underneath anchors the florals on the skin, making Tarentella a long-lasting, super soft modern chypre that I’d love to wear A very, very nice perfume!

Beautiful! Passerelle opens as a super smooth green floral – a rarity. There is no soap here like in Antonia by Puredistance, or heavy citrus like the gorgeous Mito by Vero Profumo… instead, there’s a fluorescent, fresh-cut grass + green leaves accord, atop summery (but not tropical) garden florals.

At first there’s a hint of lily of the valley, closely followed by a dusty mimosa (one of my favourite spring florals) – that smells honeyed, pollen-heavy, with just a touch of that almond dust that mimosa always reminds me of. There’s fresh cut, pink roses – totally dewy and delicate, the merest hint of jasmine – devoid of any indole or decay.

I get just a touch of floral spice that smells a little like carnation – it’s that crisp, green spice you get when you walk into a flower shop, completely unidentifiable – but this is more of a calculated floral mish-mash. That’s exactly what Passerelle smells like – a flower shop, it reminds me of the entrance to Liberty London where the first thing you smell when opening the doors is the traditional flower shop surrounding you. It’s nowhere near as overwhelming as it could sound though – it’s super soft on the skin, but humid and damp with a great radiance.

The reason I really wanted to try Passerelle was because of the “tea tree” note, something I’ve always wanted to try in a perfume but thought it would be too overwhelming. I can’t really detect it here and I’m VERY familiar with the oil (we use it a lot in the piercing industry – and great for skin!). Passerelle seems to have the concept of tea tree (cool, green, slightly mentholated and herbal) – but using a combination of floral and other “green” ingredients to create the effect… that, or it is used so subtly (as it probably should be), to best effect. One thing I do get is a fennel note – a hint of cool, green anise with a slightly vegetal aspect to it (almost like celery). It’s beautiful smelling this note mixed with florals as opposed to marine notes like in Tirrenico by Profumi Del Forte. It’s perfect!

The drydown is equally as soft – a subtle, smooth sandalwood, a touch of musk – the reminder of greenery and spice, with a translucent stain of honeyed pollen (mainly mimosa and jasmine). MMMMMMM!

I wish I could afford full bottles of both I totally would! <3

Tarantella 50ml EDP $180 Tommi Sooni
Passerelle 50ml EDP $180 Tommi Sooni

http://www.tommisooni.com/

Holy crap. What an awesome opening!
A bizarre, instantly vintage-inspired citrus/green/spice opening of galbanum, lemon, orange, bergamot – with a touch of warm clove and cinnamon, has a creamy/lactonic quality to it giving way to a sweet, boozy vanilla. It’s not at all “fresh” as it sounds (green/citrus) – neither is it remotely “cologne-y” with the inclusion of typically masculine/culinary spice - the almost gourmand like quality underneath and the hidden florals (gradually getting louder and louder) make this tooth-achingly rich, full-bodied and feminine. An oriental to die for.

Rich is a word I could use over and over in this review, from the start until the end – it has a white-chocolate-like quality to it – overlaid with waxy, white florals and a ganache-like civet texturixing Zelda… it’s ridiculously smooth and harmonious but extremely powerful.
The florals as they come in are dominated by magnolia and a brilliant rose. The magnolia, totally unlike the green treatment of the magnolia in the gorgeous Mito by Vero Profumo, concentrates more on the creamy, slightly candle-wax-y, lemon-y (y – y -y I know, excuse the poor adjectives) aspects. It’s beautiful – and slightly old-school-glam.

The galbanum in the openings adds that touch of greenery but Zelda from here on is definitely not “green”. It’s a spiced vanilla underneath, the memory of the culinary spices of the opening staying there throughout. The rose I mentioned earlier is a bright, pink rose… smelling dry, innocent with just a touch of pink-pepper spice and a honeyed sweetness. A butter-soft tuberose underneath bulks up the florals more so, totally clean with a fur-like texture that certain natural tuberose oils seem to have.

This gorgeous, smoky, spicy vanilla/benzoin/tonka thing that came out first is here until the end, still a touch boozy – like a great liquor (with a touch of syrup). There’s a tobacco note that I surprisingly love (not usually being a fan) – the sweet, dry smoke is there (enhanced with a bit of castoreum?), without the overload of dried-fruit notes that usually go along with it. There are hints of resins (labdanum), a heavy dose of sandalwood (super smooth and not too dry) - and a clean musk that throws Zelda off the skin for hours and hours. The civet is about as rich as it can get – working with the gourmand notes and florals to amp everything up into an almost unbearably rich, musky floral drydown.

In the late hours of wear, it dries out more-so, getting darker and even a touch leathery. The smoky resins burn, and turn just a little bitter (not a bad thing!), whilst managing to not taint the whole fragrance. It stays sweet, smoky, woody, lactonic, waxy and classical throughout – perfect <3

Zelda 15ml EDP $55 EnVoyage Perfumes www.envoyageperfumes.com

Walk Of Shame opens with a subtle pink pepper, an almost aquatic carnation (translucent clove-y floral), a chlorine-like, muted mint… and a similar vinyl accord to Skai by Comme Des Garcons. OK, so it sounds crazy – but it’s not. It’s a subtle, almost ozonic spice – cool, slightly mentholated – a touch of smoke… but thankfully has underneath it a sweet, cream of something that bulks it out just a touch – it’s minimal from the get-go, and a little mysterious (the kind of thing you’d ask someone for an opinion on and they’d have no idea what to say…).

It’s one of those fragrances with such muted topnotes it smells from the start like it’s been on your skin for hours. I don’t normally like that – but having read reviews on this one, I expected it to be a subtle musky thing not too dissimilar to what I expected from Commando (but instead got a powerfully sweet, animalic musk that I love!).

Walk Of Shame gets sweeter as it goes on, the pepper and carnation tame down considerably, the mint is “just there”. If anything it reminds me a little of The Smell Of Weather Turning by Lush (although that was unbearably loud on my skin – something rare!) – it has the same damp, slightly smoky, other-worldly feel that is hard to pull apart.
The concrete accord? Only in the same way that people claim Narciso Rodriguez For Him has (a touch of violet leaf?) – but yet again, that one was horrifically strong (and all-round gross). I don’t really get it – unless I try to…

I think I get touches of saffron, a little suede, and a heavy tonka-laden musk in the base. The suede as I read somewhere else online (and agree with), has a Tom Of Finland by ELdO feel to it. Very soft, very safe – it’s more of a sensation than a smell – something I’ve wanted for far too long in my wardrobe. It begins to smell like last-night’s cologne (or someone elses) over warm skin, slightly diluted by a cucumber note… I know it doesn’t sound like me… it isn’t… but the subtly unique combination is something that I’ll wear a ton <3 Nice one!

Mocktail opens kind of hideous… I get a similar, plasticky, very-loud fruit bundle to the peach in Saddle Warmer. Quickly undercut by a ton of sour, bitter citrus fruits (blood orange, apple, maybe a touch of pineapple?). Hugely synthetic and intense – it throws itself off the skin with an almost aldehydic-intensity. I have no idea what I’m smelling underneath but something is soiling Mocktail – it smells like rot.

There’s a cleaning-product-style lemon piercing the top of Mocktail that drags right through to the heart. If you’re enjoying the citrus accord then you’re lucky because it’s sticking around for a hell of a long time (a feat in itself!).
Underneath is an unidentifiable bitter resin and woody accord that smells like a mixture of harsh, heated plastic, and fuel. The painful thing about this review is that I sound like one of those people on Fragrantica who use the most immature, idiotic descriptions about a perfectly fine fragrance… this is hard to describe though.

At times, I think I kindda get on with it! I get glimpses of it from afar when it smells like being on holiday, arriving at the airport in some sunny country. At these points I get bitter orange, plastic and strong dry woods – then up-close I get the chemical experiment that I struggle to keep on my skin.
As it begins to settle it gets a little musky, a little sweeter (tonka again?), with this bizarre dried wood that doesn’t quite smell like cedar – and a very, very bitter amber – all wrapped in an unmistakable burnt-plastic smell. Interesting, but not for me

Oh and just to brighten the post a bit more – I’ve been super busy tattooing this week booking in a lot of my own designs, so, hope you like ‘em!

Unfinished

Up top, Vis et Honor opens with a bitterly green, camphorous blast of lavender, an astringent narcotic accord riddled with a briney olive-like scent (more black than green: more Sienne L’Hiver than Leva). The lavender vanishes in no time, where a smoky herb bundle begins to dominate. It smells like a burning stick of dried out herbs, along with the most pungent chamomile – overbrewed and nose-clearing, it hits the back of your throat with a sting.

This herb basket settles into a mint… well, it doesn’t settle at all – but a mint comes into focus in full force, heated by the smoke and warmed by the chamomile – it is a mineralic and hot mint, earthy almost. Paired with an absinthe/liqourice (sweetening Vis Et Honor just a tiny bit), what seemed like a complicated overload at the beginning manages to fall into place. I find that a lot with the O’Driu’s – they are literally impossible up top, to know what you’re smelling, and also to predict the direction it will take. A mint/anise was not expected…

The expected cool quality of these two is replaced with a burning, almost boozy sensation, like the feeling in your stomach as a spirit hits it. You’d expect a super-clean thing with the overload of mint and anise, but the smokiness that begins to evolve into a castoreum/leathery scent keeps it human and a touch soiled. It quickly interlocks with your skin smell as it begins to tame at this point, smelling smoother and warmer – a touch of salt, a gorgeous incense followed by O’Driu’s fantastic vanilla and a hefty dose of oakmoss (and pine?). MMMM!

A pinch of fenugreek adds a subtle curried spice, but nowhere near as pungent as in Ladamo. It keeps the fragrance warm, with a bit of spark on the skin. Labdanum shows up and stays up, a thick, sticky black layer of resin that anchors the remaining touch of liquorice and mint to the skin. The incense/castoreum/vanilla creating a smooth, smokiness underneath (I hope this is coming across as clear as it can! – complicated I know).
The spiciness of fenugreek has touches of clove and saffron too – I love a good saffron note and it’s as smooth as can be here!
Drying down, it’s extremely soft on the skin with a furry texture – with enough bite to keep it fascinating start to finish. I’d have bought this one when I was in CampoMarzio70 were it not for the exceedingly high price tag. Still – if I had the money, I’d snap this up in no time. Gorgeous.

To sum up that complicated thing I just wrote there, the development to my nose:
Top: Lavender, olive, chamomile, smoke, salt
Middle: Mint, liquorice, clove, saffron, fenugreek
Base: Labdanum, castoreum, vanilla, moss, pine

Vis Et Honor 50ml EDP O’Driu – 270 Euros www.odriu.com