Vintage: First EDP by Van Cleef & Arpels

I say vintage… all I know is my bottle is oldish. I don’t even know if the fragrance has been reformulated much… I don’t think so… anyway
I noticed I reference this fragrance quite a lot (both here and on my YouTube channel). I’m not too sure why, it’s not exactly a favourite of mine, but I do get drawn to it every now and again.
I also have a massive jasmine plant growing in my bedroom which is literally stinking out my whole apartment (beautifully of course!). My narcissus is practically a brown crisp with dead leaves that I can’t quite bring myself to throw away yet – and considering the two main florals I get in this are jasmine and narcissus, this is probably a good time to write about it

First opens aldehydic and soapy – very old-school, with a fruity astringency up top that smells intense and dated. A touch of peach, a bit of honey, and a faint indolic accord that pretty accurately conjurs a narcissus accord – only with a big bar of soap rubbed over it.

The development is very slow – which is very nice. The aldehydic opening hanging around for a lot longer than expected, the “soap” practically producing suds in my nose until they let the florals underneath become a little more dominating. The leading jasmine is nice – a hint of indole adds to the old-fashioned feel of First rather than add something challenging. The narcissus and jasmine pretty much merge together at this point and round out into a very smooth, honeyed floral accord.

I get a touch of carnation and clean rose – a bit of warmth and spice but minimal underneath the pastel florals. There’s a hint of dewy greenery, the slightly de-sweetened honey note still going strong – a dry woodiness underneath smells physically hot on my skin with a bitter edge that smells a little like glue. Yes PVA glue.

A civet/jasmine combination could easily turn my stomach, but its balance just about helps me to continue enjoying First – it’s not too strong, not too “thick” – just a hint of piss pants to soil First in (what is now) a typical, old-fashioned, urine-musk as I call it It smells like decay.
Ok doom and gloom blah blah, I sound so unsure about this fragrance don’t I? I totally am that’s the thing… but let me continue…

So the piss pants, soap, dated florals and bitter honey manages to be both thoroughly enjoyable to me, and pretty gross too. In the later drydown (much later) – there’s a touch of sweet vanilla, a dry woodiness (sandalwood) – that’s smooth, classical and expected.
What I don’t like about it – is the flattening of the florals into a persistent, non-dimensional floral accord that truly grates on me in time. WOAH where did that come from?! Harsh. Ok… I did some Googling on this before I started my review… turns out Jean-Claude Ellena used a ton of hedione in this. He brags he uses “Ten times more hedione than in Dior’s Eau Sauvage”… fantastic. Ok so this may have been a big deal at the time as it was a new material and what-not… now though (at the time of this review) – for me, I can totally smell that. I didn’t recognize it as hedione (even though I have a sample of it lying around somewhere – gah!) – but this literally engulfs the jasmine in a watery, green, grandiflorum-y layer – tainted with honey, and that’s what we get until the end. Doesn’t sound too bad no? It is for me anyway – I just see it as an unnecessary mass in the fragrance, like if it sat down, a roll would bulge out… what the hell am I on about.
For me, the hedione note gets boring – but the PVA glue accord keeps me amused I suppose.
So I will continue to wear First to bed and not out the house where I can’t experience the irritation I get when smelling most of JCE’s work.
So there you have it, probably the most unglamorously worded review of First Thanks <3

Verdict: I like it I promise!

Scandal – Roja Dove

Well here’s an interesting thing I didn’t think I’d be reviewing…
Roja Dove’s work doesn’t appeal to me. Don’t ask me why. Maybe I’m not into the super-exclusive, overpriced scene of luxury marketing and an upper-class target audience… we’ll say – or is that just me being totally judgemental? But then… I like JAR, and the Serge Lutens exclusives… so that’s all a load of shit I suppose :) Let’s just say -

I believe this review is for the EDP not the Parfum like pictures above.

Up top, at the start of Scandal, is a gorgeous old-school citrus (bergamot) + lily of the valley accord, a big slathering of Dove soap (ignore the pun) – and a rich floral heart underneath that smells like it’ll develop into a bit of a vintage chypre. Instead, the soapy, bergamot, muguet opening stays too bright for too long (a good thing!) – and I realise my guess on the direction is wrong.

Mmm Scandal I hate to admit I’m enjoying you… Some squeaky clean jasmine almost begins to dominate with a white floral underneath that, yet again, is so clean it smells like the flowers have been drenched in bleach prior to extraction… no Roja doesn’t want any meaty, fleshy, mentholated, mushroomy accords in here! The almost synthetic smelling tuberose underneath adds a sweetness and slightly lactonic texture (my own word for this in regards to white florals is lactofloral)… :’)

I get an air of raspberry in here, which leads into a small rose – the jasmine/muguet dominates until an orange blossom creeps its way in. I almost didn’t recognize it until I caught a whiff and smelt a Rubj comparison… but it’s not at all a comparison just a similar note (Rubj is far superior haha). The orange blossom wipes out the muguet, the rose gets a little louder, and the jasmine… is jasmine.

The cleanliness of this grinds on me after a short while of wear, whilst I desperately crave a little personality from the florals… it’s just not there. It’s clinical – and I feel that this would have been the right choice for the Princess in the Royal Wedding 2012 instead of the train wreck that was White Gardenia Petals - that’s if she wanted to stick with a squeaky clean white floral. The soap doesn’t stick around long don’t get me wrong, but you don’t have a hint of rot, indole or even narcotics, for a fragrance whose heart is composed of orange blossom, jasmine and tuberose! It’s not me… but it’s “pleasant”.

The drydown has a touch of powder (orris), and a very Chanel-like sandalwood base (if I was being very generous). A blinding musk carries the old-school feel from the opening all the way through the fragrance (aging it unfortunately rather than smelling vintage) – and whilst it’s nice and soft, completely harmless and long-lasting - it’s totally not what I’d go for in a white floral. It’s a white floral for people who don’t like white florals - I love them, so this isn’t for me. BUT I can appreciate it and I totally see why someone would love this. The drydown on me is especially a let down though, smelling like a million vintage cheapies that have that dated powdery, almost violet-like smell atop a ton of clean musk. ANYWAY – I think I’ve been fair. At times I think I like it, and then I realise “What the hell, this is nothing compared to the many outstanding choices out there”.

Scandal 100ml EDP Roja Dove – £195.00 Fortnum and Mason

Many thanks to Vanessa of Bonkers About Perfume for giving me the opportunity to try this!

Update from Freddie :)

Hey guys hope everyone is keeping well.
Been working on some new YouTube vids – which got kindda wasted because my video editing software has just all failed on me for no reason – majorly sucks.
Anyway – got tons of reviews coming up I just need to manage my blog, the YouTube channel, and the masses of work I’ve got to draw up for people at work! Thought I’d brighten the post with a new picture for my About Me section (lemme know what you think!) - and a really cute tattoo I did on my friend Laura yesterday at work (off topic I know sorry but gotta give you something to look at here).
BYEEEE <3

April Aromatics – Nectar of Love & Liquid Dreams

Nectar Of Love has a gorgeous, narcotic, fruit-laden opening. All out tropical, indolic florals – jasmine and rose throw forward heaviest. Rich in citrus fruits of orange, bergamot and grapefruit – it’s brightness and acidity covers any fleshy or lactonic qualities of the florals instantly – the natural ingredients staining the skin with that bitter resinous quality that I love so much.

The citrus dominates, with a hint of mentholated narcotics (tuberose topnotes), making Nectar of Love straight up juicy and fresh, rather than pollen-heavy and stuffy as expected. The tuberose does begin to show up more though – it’s a weird tuberose, one I really like but have little familiarity with – it’s almost identical to the use in Aftelier’s Cepes & Tuberose. Subtle in comparison to most sweet tuberose’s we’re familiar with. Instead, it’s quite bitter, it’s lactonic edge minimal, it has more of a vegetal greenery to it and a meatiness that is more earthy than floral. In fact, it hardly resembles a tuberose at all – maybe distorted here by the jasmine and rose it’s even more disguised. Still – very good!

What the tuberose does do though is add this narcotic edge – paired with the toned down indole of the jasmine, it makes this floral sultry, but classical (the clean rose helping that). The citrus notes which almost smell like neroli now, persist throughout most of the fragrance which I find really impressive, and a brilliant change to most short-lived openings. The woods come in underneath, an almost peppered sandalwood that smells tainted with incense – it’s an abstract “nectar” that is romantic but not forward – it’s also soaked in vanilla, which seems to be the perfumer’s signature. A heavy dosage of geranium and a touch of clove adds a cool, herbal edge throughout the whole of Nectar of Love keeping it uptight, restrained and dead classy!

To compare it to another tuberose, the only one I could think of would be YOSH’s Omniscent – an almost masculine white floral, also geranium and clove heavy (I nearly bought this one in Rome) – but I do prefer this. It’s a great take on the floral notes and really beautiful start to finish.

Liquid Dreams opens with clean bergamot, lemon and grapefruit – bright, bitter and very juicy – with a honeyed floral of narcissus underneath. I actually chose to review these last two fragrances of the April Aromatics line mainly to give this one another shot. Not that I didn’t like it before, but I’ve got a gorgeous narcissus plant blooming on my dressing table at the minute and I’ve been looking for good fragrances with that note in it since they’ve opened and remembered this one was based around it Anyway!

The narcissus note here almost reminds me of champaca, it has a bitter “stewed tea” like aroma, and a peachy, fruity quality coming from an osmanthus underneath. This taints the narcissus quite substantially – but it’s still there, and beautiful. The flowers I have at the minute smell heady, fleshy and honeyed – a touch like jasmine with that hint of indole, but with a lovely citrus quality to them. Liquid Dreams seems to emphasize all those qualities really well. I also get here a touch of linden and the fragrance doesn’t seem too distant from Unter Den Linden which I really loved – but this is undoubtably “brighter” and more “lemony”. It’s waxy, without quite smelling like a magnolia… it’s just a great honeyed, citrus floral with a touch of tea.

There’s a fresh greenery to Liquid Dreams – but again, it’s floral, like a raw aspect of the floral absolutes rather than an individual inclusion – or maybe just a touch of galbanum. It’s fresh, very natural smelling – totally spring-like and as described in the press material “calming to the senses”. There’s nothing jolting or uncomfortable in it (unless the lemon may be a bit astringent up top for some). I think the problem with a lemon and floral combo  – especially when it comes to linden and narcissus, is that it can smell very “detergent-y”. I will admit, it totally does this here, smelling a bit like a domestic cleaning product… but I only get that when I think about it, and to be honest, I love it then! Otherwise it’s all citrus florals and a slight creamy quality – but much nicer than that sounds. A touch dated, completely harmless, but at least to me – very enjoyable. Not my perfect narcissus, but a very, very nice perfume that I love to wear One of my favourites from the line.

Nectar Of Love 30ml EDP April Aromatics – 189 Euros
Liquid Dreams 30ml EDP April Aromatics – 169 Euros http://aprilaromatics.com

Anu Essentials – Meadow Lark, Sita & Sea Scape

Meadow Lark opens as a herbal citrus concoction that brings to mind a more toned down O’Driu creation. There’s an almost lemongrass-like astringency to the opening orange note that has a deep, resinous quality to it – topped with a potent lavender-like clary sage. I say lavender-like because it’s the easiest way to describe it. The clary sage note is one I love – herbaceous, with a touch of anise, it has the freshness of mint without having any kind of foody or “cleaning product”-like qualities… very nice! Similar to the smell of rosemary – it brings to mind the rosemary/lime opening of Muse by Aftelier, only more “cologne-like”.

Paired with a very clean rose – it is fresh, easy to wear, with a natural sweetness on the skin. It smells like a very “dandy”, slightly old-school masculine (that would be considered too feminine to be mainstream)… is this making any sense?!

Basically, nice clean rose, bright citrus that stays for much longer than expected, a herbaceous rosemary with a very “natural perfumery” feel to it. It has a touch of resins underneath, like a hint of labdanum with sandalwood. It reminds me a little of Dirty by Lush without the heavy spearmint – and also of Leva by O’Driu with a similar-ish vanilla thing going on underneath. Drying down to a warm, clove-heavy dry wood (not my favourite part but very classical! All in all, totally my thing for an easy cologne-y wear.

Sea Scape (which I believe is also in the Primordial Scents Water kit) is pretty gorgeous! It’s a harsh, astringent, herbal (again) beginning of bitter violet leaves, and listed seaweed (which is used much more effectively than in the stomach churning Black Amber by Agonist) – it smells marine without the salt and water – enhancing a more fragrant, idyllic olfactory vision of the sea. It smells floral – with an indolic jasmine coming in pretty upfront and that’s where Sea Scape develops – into an aquatic jasmine we’ll say. It’s got a honeyed quality to it, and the bitter herbal notes begin to retreat. The honeyed quality becomes a touch resinous – a bitter orange-blossom like scent stung with more citrus.

It gets much softer as it begins to settle, the jasmine retreating a touch as the sea-like greenery pushes forward – but still clean, no driftwood or rot in here. The scent of woods, light indolic florals (now paired with a subtle rose) and the citrus-florals create something easy to wear, spring-like and completely innocent… still, the bitter undertone keeps it interesting and a light, musky ambergris finishes it perfectly.

Sita has a really nice patchouly dominant opening. Stuffy and heady but with a light-incense-y, pepper-y quality to it. Yes it’s got the whole predictable headshop-vibe going on, but yet again – there’s indole from a good dose of jasmine giving it a lot of translucency. Infact, within no time at all Sita retreats close to the skin where next to a dried out pot-pourri style rose, the patchouli gets cleaner – warmed by a touch of clove.  The jasmine floats around in the background – but the rose/patchouli combo leads to a quick drydown.

The rose surprisingly manages to dominate for a while, but all in all – it’s not quite my thing. Still, a good alternative to someone who likes the idea of a rose patchouli but maybe not the powerhouse quality that goes along with it. It is much more Voleur Des Roses than say, Portrait Of A Lady. An abstract freshness, a touch of metal – flowers that start dewy-ish and end dried. A nice transition but a little too subdued on my skin.

Still, a nice little independent trio from what started as a beauty line – look forward to sniffing their fourth fragrance

Meadow Lark, Sita & Sea Scape – $85 each http://anuessentials.com/collections/perfume

Perfume Pharmer: Primordial Scents 2012 – Fire Perfumes

Back to tackling this fantastic, gigantic project! Continuing with the Fire sample set:
Yet again, can find hardly any note pyramids of these ones so hopefully I’ll get this as spot on as I can!

Incendere by Mermade Magikal Arts
A bone dry cinnamon atop dried woods and incense

Incendere opens with a nose-singeing cinnamon and high-pitched lemon. The lemon gets quickly overtaken by the spice, that immediately brings to mind the small, bright-red fireball hard candies I used to have when I was a kid! It’s a sweet cinnamon for sure, but extremely potent – tainted with what seems like cumin and some other culinary things! The cinnamon sticks around for a good while – very slowly transcending into an incense.

The incense is bone dry, de-sweetened, and paired with a similarly dry/charred sandalwood. Mmm! Well, I say mmm because it’s very good at what it’s doing. For me it’s not quite to my taste, mainly I guess because I’m not a huge fan of cinnamon straight-up, and I’m also a little tired of incense/sandalwood drydowns (especially when there are so many fantastic ones already out there!). Having said that, I know there’s a lot of you out there that can’t get enough of them so – I’ll continue from “Mmm!”…

The culinary spice stays strong - sizzling on the skin with a high pitch – and the very natural smelling wood/incense finishes Incendere – bitter and slightly medicinal. As I said, it’s not at all something I would wear, but for any cinnamon lovers, and for sandalwood fans - it’s fantastic!

Kiss Of Agnayi by Maria Mcelroy/ Alexis Karl of Cherry Bomb Killer Perfumes
A short lived but fun medicinal, woody, bubblegum thing

Oooh now this is something yummy and unexpected. Up top I get a blast of synthetic, sweet oud (black agar?) atop an almost bubblegum-like vanilla. It smells immediately like a slightly quieter version of something in the Montale line up. All out sweet glue-y oud (everyone says band-aid, I think it’s more like glue). There is a fruitiness to it too that reminds me of – cherry I guess? The oud isn’t at all challenging – instead it gives Kiss Of Agnayi a kind of cosmetic-like scent, making it smell like an obscure lip balm or something :’)

It smells a little honeyed, sweet top to bottom but not high-pitched or cloying. It dries down to something that gets a little less interesting as the oud-y vibe vanishes and a musky/woody thing pushes Kiss Of Agnayi into a territory that would make a good mainstream, feminine designer release. The sweet candy smell of the opening (ethyl maltol?) stays through to the end along with a mysterious touch of heated spice. Not for me, but fun while it lasts.

Caliente by Jane Cate of A Wing & A Prayer Perfumes
A pollen-heavy honeysuckle/jasmine/ylang, a lovely summer floral.

Gorgeous! A strong, pollen-heavy opening, laden with natural honey reminds me of a much more enjoyable opening/version of Hedonist by Viktoria Minya. It’s freshened with a touch of citrus up top, and smells like digging your nose deep into a bush of honeysuckle.

Immediately underneath is a warm, thoroughly enjoyable vanilla – sweet, creamy, adding a lactonic-ish edge to the florals on top. There’s no cinnamon, or any real heat – just warm flowers. An ever-so-slightly indolic jasmine comes in, the honey still sweetening Caliente, the accord smelling much more modern than say, the jasmine/honey of Van Cleef & Arpels First.

Infact, even the drydown begins to smell like Hedonist – but again, without piercing metallic notes that I didn’t get on with in that. The florals stay full and fresh – the jasmine/honeysuckle giving off a slight ylang-ylang vibe (bringing to mind Haute Claire by Aftelier only a little less green and raw). The drydown is warm, floral, sweet and honeyed – with an ambery/vanilla/tonka and a touch of powder – surprisingly soft and really nice to wear! A bit too similar to Haute Claire for me to need it, but a very, very nice summer floral.

Flor Azteca by Juan Perez of The Ezotic Island Perfumer
OMG IT’S AMAZING!!!!!!

Arhghghg I love this already! Heavy tuberose, heavy methyl benzoate (strong, medicinal feijoa-like aroma – natural quality of the tuberose a la Tubereuse Criminelle… but stronger!) – a bucket load of creamy white floral petals a top a hair-colourant-like astringency: almost nose burning! Holy shit am I getting chocolate now?! Oh sweet Jesus kill me now – you are fucking delicious.

Ok, calm down… Chocolate white florals! ARGHGHGHGHG. This is amaze-balls no joke. Ok, calm down. So… Tuberose - all out tuberose. But there’s more florals under there, and spice! But not chilli thank God – it smells warm, like a nutmeg, or a ginger – it reminds me of the mace of Vero Profumo’s Onda. The hair-dye smell begins to disappear and the lactonic vibe of the florals and cocoa comes out more so – narcotic, fleshy – absolutely perfect.

Underneath is more creamy goodness, vanilla, benzoin, tonka - everything vanilla, but there are woods and earth and a salty, vetiver-like smell. There’s a fungal quality to it like mushroom – but it smells more floral, like the decayed indolic side to the tuberose – or an absolutely spot-on gardenia accord. It’s absolutely dizzying and without a doubt the best… I think I was about to type “The Best White Floral I’ve ever smelt”… I may have to leave it in quotations as a thought… make of it what you will – I don’t want to get ahead of myself here…

Anything challenging and high-pitched (the raw tuberose, similar to Bolt Of Lightning by Jar, in the opening) vanishes as it begins to settle – the gourmand notes rounding out the tuberose into something so awesome I’m pretty lost for words on what to write any more. Cannot tell you how much I need this in my life.

Afternoon Slant by Dabney Rose of Dabney Rose
A minimal and slightly mysterious, warm rose/jasmine floral.

A lovely and very unusual stewed-rose-tea-like opening and a touch of candied lemon starts Afternoon Slant. The tea-like quality reminds me of champaca, and the rose quickly dries out into a slight potpourri-kind of smell. A hint of dried fruits that smells a touch boozy brings to mind plums and raisins atop dried woods – a Lutens-esque creation.

There seems to be a hint of indolic jasmine and something a touch resinous underneath – it’s totally bitter/sweet and very mysterious on my skin – I can’t tell what to make of it. What it is, is a dried-out, sun-bathed floral, a top a resinous/woody accord and just a hint of berry sweetness. It’s hard to pin down – smelling slightly minimal, quiet and almost meditative. It almost feels like I’m doing something wrong by trying to pick it apart! It’s a little honeyed, a touch warm and ambery - with a subtle gourmand accord of almost buttery white jasmine? Not sure where that came from. It’s not for me, and just a touch too quiet for my taste – but very pretty in its subtlty and the warm/human smell it gives my skin as it dries down… interesting.

Chang Chang by Shelley Waddington of EnVoyage Perfumes
An extremely creative fragrance that breaks any expectations you have of “fruity-floral”.

Oh man I love this too. This opening is absolutely beautiful. A blinding intensity of I Have No Idea, atop an abstract, bitter citrus accord, on top of a mystery white floral bouquet – all out-blinded by this herbal, ozonic, marine, soiled smell. It reminds me a touch of M/Mink by Byredo, with a similar lemon-y marine, almost avant-garde opening. The soiled smell throws off from afar and isn’t present at all up-close, the first thing that sprung to mind was an old shoe… Yehhhh.

Underneath are these florals which are so difficult to pull apart. I think I get magnolia, rose, tuberose, a touch of jasmine – a fresh greenery and the smell of hot skin underneath a cool, marine-like dressing. It’s very bizarre – but gradually gets sweeter as a vanilla shows up from underneath, along with some holographic fruit notes that have literally no density to them at all. Composition wise, it smells like something that Humiecki & Graef would come up with – and infact I get a similar fruity-vibe as in Multiple Rouge (with that wet-dog accord). As the aldehydic-thing dies down, this alien fruitiness becomes more apparant, the florals retreating slightly behind the fruit-salad.

A muskiness that smells like potent ambergris keeps throwing this off the skin and yep, I absolutely love it. The complicated and impeccably blended drydown shows hints of berries, vanilla cream, white florals, marine-notes, sappy greenery, salted musk, beeswax, and far too much other stuff to name – all I can say is, it is an exceptionally creative piece of work. Absolutely brilliant <3

Primordial Scents 2012 Fire Sample Set – http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/102071327/fire-perfume-samples-primordial-scents

http://perfumepharmer.com/organic-perfume-skincare-remedies/index.php/primordial-scents-2012/

Vanille – Ajne

Well, here’s the newest bottle in my collection thanks to the lovely Vanessa of Bonkers About Perfume. Yes yes yes, a vanilla soliflore I actually love! I didn’t think it would happen either…

Vanille opens with a pungent, sticky vanilla that smells so close to treacle (as worded by Vanessa) that is makes my mouth almost water – but it doesn’t quite smell edible. It’s so dark and almost resinous it reminds me of the texture of labdanum, infact, I’m sure there’s a big dose in here paired with a load of benzoin (yes an amber accord whatever)… It’s not at all “cupcake-y” and is instead more of a sticky toffee/date pudding-y thing if anything.

The pungency of the vanilla is almost herbal up top – with the thickness and depth of it giving the vanilla an almost fur-like quality. The first fragrance that sprung to mind and still does when I sniff this is Ambra Nera (sorry I can’t stop mentioning this thing!) – but no joke, if it’s close to anything, this is it. Instead the animal ingredients are sweetened here – almost so sweet it’s not sweet, you know? It hugs my skin in a sticky layer, almost “hot” like melted fudge. It’s multifaceted though, showing hints of anise syrup, cinnamon, dried fruits, chocolate… arghghhg, omg

It’s straightforward with little development, but I don’t care even a little bit, I love it start to finish. I guess you have to compare a vanilla soliflore to others, so I’ll give it a shot:
It doesn’t have the light-gourmand-icing sugar-esque vanilla of the lovely Vanilla Marble by Agonist.
It doesn’t have the rich vanilla-extract smell of Spirituese Double Vanille, it’s much more… gothic than that? If there is such thing as a gothic vanilla.
It doesn’t have the culinary spice of Musc Ravageur, or the oriental quality of an old-school Guerlain.
It doesn’t have the deep woodiness and cake-y sweetness of Un Bois Vanille (Uncle Serge).
It doesn’t, thank Sweet Jesus, have the eau-de-boiled-egg accord of Mona Di Orio’s Vanille (jus’ sayin’).
Neither is it all-out gourmand like Rahat Loukoum or Musc Maori (two other vanilla-heavy fragrances I love in my collection).
Yet this is vanilla start to finish which to me doesn’t even get a little bit tiresome. Maybe it’s because it just subtly grips my skin without throwing itself off in a cloud of cavity-inducing synthetic vanillin overload… Yes this is a natural parfum so I guess that’s why.
All these “It doesn’t…”‘s makes it sound pretty dull I suppose reading that back… not at all. What it has is so much more!

Anyway – what more can I say. One hell of a delicious vanilla – mature, dark and totally captivating.

Vanille 5ml Parfum Ajne – $55 www.ajne.com

“You’re too young to like it”…

Hey guys – I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on this debate I had with a fellow fragrance “lover” on Facebook the other night.
It came about from me briefly sharing my thoughts on Puredistance M – to which this guy said I was basically too young to like it… I got pissed

M by Puredistance

Unfortunately the opening of M feels slightly familiar to me. Whilst very nice and rounded, the ambery warmth tainted with cinnamon spices and a leathery floral undertone is something that I can’t quite put my finger on (in reference to another fragrance) – but it doesn’t bowl me over as expected.
My mood changes a little after the initial opening as it settles into something sweet and beautifully composed – undeniably. A marmalade-textured lemon sweetened with a labdanum/vanilla resinous combo slowly unfolds a sweet floral accord of mainly rose to my nose, and a touch of clove-laden carnation. It’s warm, with an almost furry texture (an animalic castoreum underneath?) – heated by the spices which whilst aggressive in nature, go down smooth like a liqueur.

This slightly boozy accord persists, pinned down with resins and spice (clove/cinnamon/nutmeg) – all combined to make a masculine that smells traditional, but charming. For me though? A little boring (I’m Judas I know…). The citrus burns off quickly and a furry leather (more of a suede) envelops M and takes lead, still sweetened by the almost unidentifiable florals and sweet spice. A trail of birch tar smoke ties everything together but again, not at all aggressive or “bonfire-y” – it’s a charred woody accord that with all the partnering ingredients smells like something that would squeeze into the Serge Lutens line-up pretty nicely.

A cumin note warms up the fragrance (which I love) and manages to persist throughout, it has that slightly sweaty vibe to it (which I don’t usually pick up), paired with the amber/birch/castoreum? combo, gives off a warm human vibe that nestles into the skin seamlessly.
I get wafts of fruity tobacco in the mix (maybe adding to the birch smoke which seems to settle as this takes over), bitter oakmoss (which leads right into the drydown), and a dry cedar. It sounds like a ton of things going on – but I can’t admit it smells like it. Whether that’s clever blending, who knows, but it’s texture is level with nothing jolting out – all enveloped in a smooth, liqueur like texture, slightly sticky on the skin with a ton of warmth behind it.

At times I think I love this and would happily wear it – but that’s only when I truly pick it apart. As a whole, I’m not too sure what I think. I think it’s nice, it’s beautifully constructed without a doubt. But as for a spicy, smoky, slightly leathery, animalic amber? Ambra Nera fills that spot for me – it may be a little more crude and abrupt without the luxurious hidden florals, but I prefer it. This gets boring on my skin as it goes on, with a development that quickly becomes linear and not quite to my taste. The amber/woody combo dominates, the leather receding, and at this point it pretty much sends me to sleep which is a shame. I know this gets rave reviews and high praise everywhere – for me, it’s “nice”, bordering on “ok”.

I’ll be sure to pass this sample on, it’s a gem of a thing (in price at least) that someone will love, but I’ll do that once the other Puredistance reviews are out the way

Puredistance M 17.5ml Parfum Extrait – $198 Luckyscent

SMELLYTHOUGHTS and BONKERS ABOUT PERFUME’s blind date…

Hi guys

Well, the other day myself and fellow fragrance lover, blogger and fountain-of-knowledge Vanessa, from Bonkers about Perfume, decided to hook up for a drink and a quick sniff of various things. I’d love to write an in-depth diary entry about this, but Vanessa has beat me to it (or I’m just lazy) and has written a charming little account of our drinks and sniffs, in words much more elegant than I could have put together.
We had a great chat about pretty much everything, shared some perfume loves and had a right good slag-off about everything perfume and blog related. Perfect company! <3

Enjoy!

A Bacchanalian Sniff-In with Freddie of Smellythoughts