Fragrances -Guerlain - L'Instant Magic
AntFarm 1/4/2012 5:39:00 PM
I am really impressed with this one. I just dabbed a little sample on my wrist and let it settle. I was pleased to notice a very classy, comforting, powdery fragrance that had a subtle edge of sensuality. This reminds me a lot of a more subdued modern version of Santa Maria Novella's Melograno. Hmm, I will have to continue testing this and apply it over my neck and wrists in order to decide if it is full-bottle worthy.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Gendarme - Gendarme
AntFarm 1/4/2012 5:33:00 PM
Clean, professional, and natural. One of the only clean-smelling fragrances that doesn't smell synthetic or acidic. Gendarme is a good way to prolong the showered-fresh feeling throughout the day. The only thing is that as soon as I put it on, I can't smell anything at all. Perhaps it's a little too light for my chemistry. Or maybe it is the cold weather-- I will have to retest this again in the summer.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Annick Goutal - Eau de Ciel
AntFarm 1/4/2012 5:27:00 PM
Incredibly lovely; floral and clean. Reminds me of one of those slow-motion videos of a flower opening. This is actually a little too floral for me though. Lasting power and sillage were much better than most Annick Goutals. If it were more "me", I would buy it.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Serge Lutens - Jeux de Peau
AntFarm 1/4/2012 5:20:00 PM
Like all Serge Lutens' creations it is of course well composed with high-quality ingredients, however, this just didn't work for me. I was hoping it would be more unusual, warm, and bready-spicy. On my skin it kind of smelled like a spicy, potent Christmas holiday liquor mixed with some synthetic woods. Rum balls anyone? The woods and spices and booze never really melded together, and it just kind of smelled like too many things going on at once, even though the notes were a lot of my favorites.
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Fragrances -Frederic Malle - Lipstick Rose
AntFarm 1/4/2012 5:13:00 PM
Extremely well composed, sweet jammy rose. On my skin it is nearly all rose and no "lipstick" though. I was hoping for more powdery notes and less rosy-sweet ones. I can definitely see why it is much-loved, but it's just not for me. Sillage and longevity are marvelous.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Etro - Heliotrope
AntFarm 1/4/2012 5:09:00 PM
Lovely, soft fragrance that smells of sweet dough and making cookies, and also a little bit like a Cabbage Patch Kid. I like this, but it fades so fast it is not a contestant for full-bottle worthy status.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Caron - Narcisse Noir
AntFarm 1/4/2012 12:54:00 AM
This smelled fantastic in the tester--like a sweet melange of orange blossoms and delicious ripe fruit trees in an orchard. The moment it hit my skin it turned dusty, musty, and like medicated foot powder floating in a vat of cherry coke. Skin chemistry fail!
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Fragrances -L'Artisan Fragrances - Premier Figuier
AntFarm 1/1/2012 12:44:00 AM
This starts out smelling just like an actual milky, spicy fig that has been split open. Mmm, I adore the scent of fresh, ripe figs. Then after about a half hour it becomes very greenish, synthetic, and acidic, and calls to mind something unripe and bitter. It also becomes very thin and stops evolving--it just sits on my skin and says "meh".
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Fragrances -Miller Harris - Fleur Oriental
AntFarm 1/1/2012 12:31:00 AM
This is a very distinctive oriental fragrance that is highly sophisticated, expertly crafted, and doesn't smell common in the least. I am smelling a little bit of animalic musk lurking beneath some faint spices and buttery iris? It's very vintage-smelling. This reminds me of Jackie O in a pillbox hat. Very nice but not something I would buy, as it is way too elegant for my low-maintenance lifestyle. A perfume like this demands an impeccable wardrobe to match.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Fifi Chachnil
AntFarm 12/31/2011 11:58:00 PM
Fifi Chacnil is like a very pretty pin-up girl who only has one facial expression in every one of her photos. It smells lovely--like tobacco, vanilla, and something nutty. I like it, and it reminds my nose of something smooth and sexy, like velvet or satin. Yet all the notes seem to sing in rounds instead of being one main chorus. It doesn't really have much oomph or lasting power either. Overall it's a one-act show that doesn't really touch the audience, even though the act was entertaining.
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Fragrances -Kenzo - Winter Flowers
AntFarm 12/31/2011 11:52:00 PM
Oh, Winter Flowers, where did we go wrong? For about the first fifteen minutes I smelled a lovely, absolutely heavenly little white rose buried in softly falling vanilla snow. I was wowed. Then Winter Flowers took a turn for the worst and turned a cold shoulder, morphing into something that resembled nose-singeing Yagermeister. When I sniff my wrist up close it burns the inside of my nostrils. Why? I thought we could be pals, Winter Flowers.
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Fragrances -Montale - Powder Flowers
AntFarm 12/31/2011 11:45:00 PM
When I first put this on my wrist I was a bit intimidated by the flowers because I'm not a huge fan of most floral scents. I was hoping for more powder, as I do like powdery perfumes. After the opening credits brought to you by flowers and more flowers, I started to smell a burning electrical scent. Now about an hour later, I smell a warm skin-like powdery poof, but there is still the lingering smell of electrical fire. I suppose this is just another classic case of skin chemistry failure, as I'm sure this could be lovely.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Jo Malone - Sweet Milk
AntFarm 12/31/2011 11:32:00 PM
I was really excited to try this, but it literally smelled like breast milk. I would be afraid to wear it in public, as it would probably draw people's eyes to my breasts to see if I was lactating. If I had to name this, I'd have called it "Wet Nurse". I was really hoping to experience some of the other notes, like star anise, but this was milky, milky, milky for a half hour and then faded away into nothing.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Balenciaga - Balenciaga Paris
AntFarm 12/31/2011 11:27:00 PM
This fragrance is such a tease. I wanted to love it because I heart Charlotte Gainsbourg. I also wanted to love it because I'm a fan of violet. However, all I got was lovely candied yet-powdery violets drowned in a vat of rubbing alcohol. The poor little violets were looking up at me all sadly from the bottom of the figurative vat of alcohol like "saaaave ussss". All goofy metaphors aside, this is probably just my chemistry though, as a lot of rose perfumes go all rubbing alcoholy on me as well. I would say, as always, try before you buy.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Annick Goutal - eau d'Hadrien
AntFarm 12/31/2011 11:21:00 PM
This is for the EDT: I'm here to jump on the Eau d'Hadrien-loving bandwagon. In the bottle and for the first ten minutes it smells like you have literally rubbed a lemon on your wrists. However, after those topnotes fade, it becomes a thing of beauty. It smells like an edible shampoo, or like something delicious and creamy emanating naturally from the skin. It's not a very strong scent but it does have a quiet, persistent presence. The only thing that keeps this from being a 5 is that it just needs to take it's awesomeness and double it so the people I get close to can smell it as well. I do find this full-bottle worthy and perhaps I will try the EDP and/or lotion to amp it up a little.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No