1 – Puredistance

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

Cologne Reloaded – Bogue Profumo

Bogue Profumo is a new line – brilliant marketing, a fascinating and confusing website with a bit of a mishmash of ideas that leaves me baffled – but totally keen to find out more!
I have got a big sample kit, consisting of something from a “Tailor Collection” which are all lettered instead of named… and two named fragrances. The named ones are obviously a little less intimidating so here’s where I begin.
I quickly looked up Cologne Reloaded on the Bogue website – the perfumer goes on about all these vintage raw materials etc – interesting stuff that I’m not going to bulk up my blog with but head over to the link below for a read…
SO! How does it smell…

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/

The First Response to Smellythoughts’ Blind Sniff 2013!

Well! Fumerie Hilaire (Freddie) was the first to tackle my blind sniff challenge (Oh and apologies for the lack of posting I’ve been so into this YouTube blind sniff that I had abandoned my blog for a few days!).
Here’s his video – a little long, but very fun to watch

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

YouTube Video: Smellythoughts’ Blind Sniff!

Hey guys – quick update!
I’m doing a little blind sniff thing with two other local reviewers (London and Dublin) – sending them a little sample set to get their nose on.
Here’s the introductory video (excuse my tipsy-ness), and be sure to keep a track on their channels for updates! Should be fun
Hope everyone is keeping well
xxx

Encens Mythique D’Orient – Guerlain

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.

Tommi Sooni – Tarantella & Passerelle

Tarentella has a truly beautiful aldehydic opening. Sparkling aldehydes, tart, sweet orange, a hint of medicinal clove and a sweet honey (which sounds like a Christmas dessert but no!), is joined by a green galbanum. It’s very classical, super smooth – with a nutty almost castoreum-like old-school animalic feel underneath.

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/

Zelda – EnVoyage Perfumes

I had been very, very excited to try this… a new release from Shelley Waddington of EnVoyage Perfumes. I have only little experience with her line (a few inclusions in the Primordial Scents project) – but loved everything I tried. However, I didn’t have my hopes set too high as I hadn’t tried any of her other fragrances - so I didn’t read too much preliminary info about this one.
The backstory behind this fragrance can all be read over on CaFleureBon, the inspiration behind this scent being the life of Zelda Fitzgerald – a great read!
Anyway – I’ve lived in my sample for a few days now…

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

Smell Bent – Walk Of Shame & Mocktail

Hey guys Have been pretty busy recently so sorry for the lack of updates.
Anyway! I ordered two bottles from the Smell Bent sale and they arrived the other day
One was Dead of Winter which I reviewed before (a great anise with vanilla, musks, heliotrope and a white-chocolate-vibe) and Walk Of Shame (a blind buy). Walk of Shame is described on the Smell Bent website as:
“overcast skies, the chill of cold concrete, a waft of bodega blossoms and a bit of morning-after musk”. The few reviews I’d read had described it as safe – slightly minty, with a hint of floral-soap – generally clean. So I wasn’t expected an avant-garde beast of a thing like it sounds don’t worry But I do really like it!…
Mocktail is a sample I got with the order…

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

Vis Et Honor – O’Driu

It’s been so long since I’ve wrote about an O’Driu fragrance. I got drawn to them again recently – wearing my bottle of Leva regularly <3
This one is one hell of an odd-ball (well… they are all!). So here it is.

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

Antonia – Puredistance

I love the opening to Antonia. It is a beautifully intense, green, floral, soap. Undoubtably soap – no easy way to go around that one. I like soap notes these days – not sure why… Maybe I was too young to like it before

Anyway! It’s hard to describe this beginning… I get hints of violet, hyacinth, jasmine, rose and carnation atop green – smelling almost aldehydic and abstract. The violet-tinged jasmine (clean!) seems to dominate – along with the slightly pepper-y hyacinth, the rose bulking it all out underneath (very clean and translucent), and the carnation adding a subtle clove-y spice that pairs exceptionally with the snap of bitter greens. The greenery of galbanum and listed ivy, brings to mind Bandit by Robert Piguet - only much more feminine without the isobutyl quinoline underneath – but I definitely smell a similar accord.

The squeaky bar of soap underneath is something that isn’t going anywhere so if you don’t like it, that’s it for you unfortunately. However the shapeshifting florals should be enough to keep in interesting. I get hints of lily of the valley popping up, the carnation disappearing and reappearing, the rose getting more potent than vanishing. Then after all that I kind of stop over thinking and realise it smells exactly the same as five minutes ago. Stop tearing this one apart Freddie!!!

Ok. I don’t love it. Bummer. But it’s nice – I can’t help but think if it came from the house of Comme Des Garcons and was called “Soap” – it would be judged differently. Maybe that’s unfair – it’d still be a beautifully balanced perfume – but after the initial complicated arrangement of the classical opening (read: dated), it settles into this relatively linear fragrance with a drydown that is much less interesting after the one hour mark.

The floral soap leads all the way through until the end, the florals blended impeccably so that nothing dominates. The greenery settling into something smooth – what started cool and crisp ends warm and mellow when a vetiver joins in. It sweetens a touch with some vanilla – which brings in a kind of ylang-ylang style tropical floral accord but extremely minimal underneath the leading florals. Still – the warmth from the drydown is undoubtably gorgeous and the fragrance reminds me of Bandit, with the leather underneath replaced by a few sprays of Guerlain’s Lys Soleia (vanilla/ylang ylang/lily). In the drydown I realise that sprayed from a drugstore bottle, I wouldn’t give it a second sniff (at this point of the development). I don’t consider it a masterpiece, but it is a nice perfume that I’d enjoy wearing (although tire of quickly as the day goes on).

Antonia 17.5ml Parfum Puredistance - $198 Luckyscent

What you do get, Puredistance, is my number 1 spot for horrific advertising.