Fragrances -Molinard - Fleur de Figuier
elaborate 10/10/2010 2:58:00 PM
It definitely smells like fig, not as green as Premier Figuier Extreme, which I own. Apart from the fig all I can catch is a hint of vanilla combined with a tobaccoish smell. Is this how the flowers of fig smell? Until I smell a real living fig flower my mental picture of this fragrance would remain that of a fig, still with a bit of its stem on, sitting on a few sheets of vanilla flavoured tobacco leaves. IMHO a rather interesting combo. And the three main notes that I spotted works seamlessly together, but somehow I don't feel that they belong together.
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Fragrances -Molinard - Pêche de Vigne
elaborate 10/10/2010 2:42:00 PM
Name translates as peach on the vine. It's a sparkling peach soda (peach) highlighted with fresh green notes (the vine). It's pleasant and fun. It's nothing serious or strange or weird or mind blowing. Just good old fashion peach, rather potpourrish, that's all. Something that you would expect to find in The Body Shop back in the 90s. Definitely a million miles from the awful descriptions given to this by a certain blog reviewer. Of course it's made with chemicals, and so do many things we consume daily. It's less than 50 euros a 100ml for goodness sake (and I paid less than a tenner at tkmaxx), cheap fun that would certainly be enjoyed by a certain market section.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Comme des Garcons - Wonderwood
elaborate 9/26/2010 10:39:00 PM
CdG says "Wood gone mad", “Someone who loved wood more than words can say…”. “structure is very fluid with most of the WOOD IDEAS concentrated in the heart, rather than the base"; "the notes include Madagascan pepper, bergamot, incense, nutmeg, cristalon (a floral fruity note with rosy, plum and apple nuances), cashmeran, gaiacwood, cedar, caraway, javanol (sandalwood), sandalwood, vetiver and oud." The pepper swirled just for a moment and then it is the topnotes. On me they are vetiver, incense and pine. This trio is extremely strong, so strong that the usually powerful notes like cedar, bergomot and nutmeg have all been pushed to become mere ornaments of the trio - e.g. the nutmeg is like a little post-it note leading you to the pine. Towards the end the oud sings out loudly and it is very persistent, so much so that as I pick up my dirty clothing from a few days ago for wash the oud still wafts out and caught me rather unexpected. I thought for a moment - where does this middle eastern style smell comes from? - and then I remember, yes it is Wonderwood. It comes across as rather masculine. Reminds me of the big vetivers in the world (Encre Noire, Vetiver Extraordinaire) and the pine reminds me of SL's Fille en Aiguilles and Chene. I love wood and I love putting it on. Which is why I'd decided that I would buy it after only I'd smelt the nozzle at a CdG store - so when I see it on sale online it's a no brainer straight into basket and checkout! At the same time though, it doesn't fill a hole in me that I have always felt and it doesn't show me (then plug) a new hole that I have never knew. I think this will be a winter stable for me despite my mildly negative statements above. The packaging is great - I love the wood pattern printing on the box and the gunmetal coloured coating on the bottle is beautiful, but it scratches off easily. I have been carrying my bottle around in my work bag - I should have carried it in the small bag that came with it but I didn't - and it already has a few small scratches after a few days.
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Fragrances -Comme des Garcons - Incense Series 'Zagorsk'
elaborate 8/18/2010 6:46:00 AM
Love at first sniff. Started out with a musk / iris accord, which reminds me heavily of Hiris by Hermes, then quiets down to a wood / incense / clove accord... Like it so much that it was bought before I have experience the basenotes. Mum bought it for me so it's even better!!! :-)))
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Fragrances -Christian Dior - Lily eau de toilette
elaborate 8/3/2010 3:36:00 PM
Straight LOTV. Sharper with pungent almost grasslike greeness combined with lemon peel like notes, a bit like the sharp end of geranium. There is very little floral notes. OK on its own but pales in comparison with Diorissimo. Drydown to muffled green stem note. Wish I had spent my money on more Diorissimo instead.
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Fragrances -Caron - Nocturnes
elaborate 7/24/2010 10:36:00 AM
Caron's answer to Guerlain's Chant d'Aromes. A tad lighter and initially has a rosier feeling to it. Simply beautiful!
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Cherryblossomdiva - Moroccan Chergui
elaborate 7/15/2010 9:03:00 PM
It is as TrailerQueenPDX said below - pretty powerful stuff. It captures the spirit of Chergui rather accurately. Without a side by side comparison the smell is of a lot of hay (tonka), sugar, and cream, highlighted with a bit of tobacco and vanilla. It has great sillage, and as the tobacco gets deepened I'd say it's a pretty good imitation of Chergui's downwind and pretty beautiful! The first time I wore it I put a tiny dab on my wrist before I walked home from work and I can smell it strongly throughout the 40 mins walk. Now meet SL Chergui. It has more spice and wood. The hay and sweet notes that give me a vision of glorious golden sand dunes are common to both SL's and CBD's concoctions. But only SL's version brings in the Moroccan wind in the form of sandalwood and anise, which then transform to jammy rose. It isn't hard to tell which one has " a bit more of something". But then the two are drastically different in prices, so it is only fair that they are different. I wouldn't buy this again because unless I absolutely bathe in Chergui every day I can't foresee myself finishing up my bottle of Chergui AND this CBD's dupe oil for a very very long time. I have tested a few other of CBD's oil (Diva!, Fleurs Oranger, Wood Vanilla, and Spiritual Vanilla) and out of the five this is the only one that impresses me. If you are interested in CBD products by all means try this - but don't expect the others to live up to the same level of promises!!
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Cherryblossomdiva - Wood Vanilla
elaborate 7/15/2010 8:33:00 PM
Bought some out of curiosity. The CBD formula is mainly vanilla, I can't smell any wood in there. SL has wood, not plenty, as the formula is overwhelmingly vanilla anyway but the wood definitely plays a part and makes the whole thing slightly boozy. The CBD also has a nondescript plasticky sweet note - I would probably describe it as a miniature patchouli caricature - which is found in many ultra sweet candyfloss like concoction released in the last few years. To me it is a scrubber.
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Fragrances -Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Perfumes - Or des Indes
elaborate 5/23/2010 6:41:00 PM
Testing this from a sampler spray. A tiny little drop squirted on back of hand. I wasn't paying attention but then it caught my attention because it smells rather familiar - have I accidentally spilled over some vintage parfum again? No, I haven't, it's the Or des Indes I am testing! First impression - L'heure Bleue with a sharper bergamot. 20 minutes on - second impression - Shalimar!! 45 minutes later - this is Vol de Nuit!!! Am I impressed? Not really. This is territory explored by Guerlain more than 70 years ago. Should I be impressed? Monetary wise it has to be good - pay for one MPG and you get three Guerlains. Technical wise it is perhaps also impressive as the perfumer has managed to squeeze three Guerlains into three stages of this perfume. I would have liked a bottle of this if I didn't already have all three Guerlains mentioned above. Not quite a 4, but definitely higher than a 3. I also love that they are great ingredients as the perfume reminds me of vintage rather than current Guerlain.
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Fragrances -Frederic Malle - Geranium pour Monsieur
elaborate 4/4/2010 10:50:00 AM
I confirm what the first reviewer says - it smells like colgate! I like it, however, it's basically geranium plus mint. If you already have colgate in your bathroom or if you have Guerlain's AA Mentafollia / Herba Fresca you can recreate the effect of wearing this expensive liquid (100 € for 50ml or 150 € for 100ml) by heading to your nearest head shop (or if you're in UK just go to Boots) and get a geranium extract oil. Go get that Boot's Botanics Aromatherapy Pure Essential Geranium Oil 10ml for £4.55. Dab yourself with a bit of colgate or have a spritz of Guerlain's AA juices and add a drop of the geranium oil and Voilà! you have just saved yourself £85 or US$130 by today's exchange rate (50ml of GpM is currently selling for £90). With the "greenshoots" still looking young and unsteady this is one economy that can be easily achieved. (Not affiliated with Colgate or Boots.)
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Fragrances -Frederic Malle - Vetiver Extraordinaire
elaborate 4/4/2010 10:25:00 AM
I have a sample of Vetiver Extraordinaire sent to me by Les Senteurs. Trying it for the first time today as some rubbed off into my hands as I tipped the sample vial's content into a sprayer... As I did that I thought - yes, I like this, but it is because this is very similar to something I love - this is like Cartier's Declaration! Yes - this hard to get concoction currently selling for 105 € for 50ml and 155 € has topnotes that are very similar to Declaration and the drydown is just like Lalique's Encre Noire. I am v disappointed as I was v intrigued by the reviews I read on the various blogs and I love that name! Almost all say good words about it. Not that they say "Run out and buy it all up!" but they do politely express how nice it is. I find it strange that F Malle is pushing it by saying how much vetiver there is in the perfume - 25% of the formula is vetiver - but I don't think it has any more vetiver than Encre Noire, Vetiver Tonka or Creed's Tabaróme. There may a lot of vetiver in the formula, but what is the proportion of formula to alcohol? I wonder.
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Fragrances -Annick Goutal - Ninfeo Mio
elaborate 3/17/2010 10:22:00 AM
I bought this unsniffed. I was tempted by blogs for a fair few days and then a freebie offer prompted me to handover my card details. I am pleasantly surprised by it's loveliness. I don't perceive anything groundbreaking here but it's a new (and the latest) shade of green and I want to wear it. I LOVE green scents - green as in Bel Respiro, Hermes's Mediterranean and Mousson, Les Belles de Ricci Liberté Acidulée - and I am glad that have an extra shade to play with. It starts with this high octane sour greenness and if you sniff harder, you get the citrus peel that flutters back and forth. Lateron it's the lactonic fig likes everybody says but the sour greeness remains in the background. Four spritz down my collar (so that some gets on fabric and some on me) lasts all day.
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Fragrances -Lancome - Mille et Une Roses
elaborate 12/1/2009 7:41:00 PM
It came in a 15ml dab bottle, part of the La Collection box set. First dab - smells familiar, but v weak. Second dab, still weak, third dab, makes no difference... It's so weak that I could dab myself 20+ times and I still won't be able to smell it unless my nose is within a centimeter radius of the dabbed spot. I poured it into a atomizer and hope the larger dispensed dosage would make it work. It helps a little, but still far from enough. The smell is that of a v diluted lemon tea scent. Much like the second round lemon tea one makes with a spent teabag and a much trampled slice of lemon. My advice is: don't waste your pretty pennies on this. If you like this but is just as disappointed as I am with the strength, get Malabah by Penhaligon's. Even Malabah's body lotion has a stronger scent. This EDP is a great disappointment.
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Fragrances -Ormonde Jayne - Osmanthus
elaborate 11/16/2009 1:32:00 AM
I know how osmanthus smells like and this isn't it. The TDC Osmanthus, despite being much weaker than OJ's Osmanthus, actually smells like Osmanthus. Where as OJ's Osmanthus smell of bergamot and citruses (Pomelo is cited as a topnote), but that's about it. Osmanthus the flower gives a very mild scent, put anything sharp and strong next to it and it will be overwhelmed. In OJ's case the Pomelo totally overrides the osmanthus, rendering it hardly detectable. People pair lighter, brighter wine with seafood and heavier wine with red meat and games. Perfumers could do well to keep this in mind, or may be give their perfumes more appropriate names. ;-)
7 out of 12 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - The Different Company - Rose Poivree
elaborate 10/23/2009 6:04:00 PM
I came late to the party. By the time I bought my first bottle it was 2009 and I bet my bottle, which I bought direct from TDC, is a reformulated one if a reformulation was ever done. I don't get what people say about dirty panties - many folks says that when cumin is present, and it has cumin, although not in quantities that become distracting. I love this rose because it is a complete rose. Many rose scents you only get the rose flower, the rose bud, anything and everything is about the petals. But Rose Poivre is different. The dirty, cumin, peppery spices of this perfume smell to me like a glossy dark green vegetal stem of a rose. The little bits of pepper and spice sparkle and shine, like the tip tops of thorns on a rose stem, ever so modestly so that while you're aware of it your focus stay on the rose. The civet comes in miniature quantities - only after wearing it many many times that I started to notice it, it's a soft musk that lingers very close to skin, and you really have to look through all those velvety petals and dark green shiny thorns to find it. I don't recall smelling any rose scent that is quite like it. When rose is paired with something green - it's usually the light green, juicy, bright green first flush leaves. The rose in RP is paired with a dark spiky green and I think its a thoroughly pleasant surprise.
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