Category: Fragrance

Wrapping up the L’Artisan reviews today with Méchant Loup, French for Bad Wolf (think like the Big Bad Wolf). Reviews for this one have always been promising, hazelnut and honey on smoky incense. The nose is Bertrand Duchafour, who I’m starting to respect more and more as a gifted artist. The nut and honey are again reminiscent of another creation of his, Jubilation XXV. However, that’s the extent of the similarities. One thing that doesn’t seem to get touched on with this fragrance is the fact that it has a clean side too, the smell of camphorous leaves is faint but detectable and provides a good contrast to the dark, “dirty” tones of smoke, honey and leather.

In many respects it’s quite excellent, it’s a quality composition, it doesn’t take a very refined nose to appreciate it, and sillage is quite good. The only issue with it is longevity, which is to say it was just average. In niche perfumery I would call that a major transgression as everything else I’ve tried thus far has lasted and lasted. I got about 6 hours with it which is my personal dividing line; I’m not very likely at all to purchase a fragrance that doesn’t at least last that long (the Hermessence comes to mind immediately).

Out of the niche fragrances I’ve tried thus far this would be one of the best ones. L’Artisan has plenty of offerings though, and they cover the whole spectrum, so it’s looking promising for future experiments with this house.… (More) “Méchant Loup – Unafraid”

I was amazed it took so long for the random number generator to land on one of the By Kilian fragrances; after all a full quarter of them were Kilian Hennessey creations (Straight to Heaven and Cruel Intentions reviews forthcoming), so A Taste of Heaven gets it’s turn in the barrel today.

The opening blast is sweet, and I say that in the “sugary loaded wtf” sense moreso than the “super amazing awesome” sense. It’s probably the sweetest fragrance I’ve ever encountered, knocking off such contenders as A*Men, The One for Men, Ambré Narguile, Rochas Man, Blue Sugar, anything I can think of this thing has beat. The main player is cinnamon, to the point that I was instantly reminded of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch I used to eat as a kid. While I’m wearing this in 95 degree weather it should be absolutely godawful stifling, but it managed to toe the line and be bearable even when exercising.

There is a redeeming quality to it, one that I can’t readily identify but there is a masculine tinge to it that saves it from being too effeminate. It’s actually rather pleasant in a sweet tooth sort of way.

I could see this as being useful for a party situation, where you want to project that sort of thing on unsuspecting girls but that’s about it. It’s really sweet and I don’t know it I can recommend it as anything other than an excellent example of a sugary-sweet gourmand. It’s loud, it’s sweet to the point of being over the top, and it’s a bona fide sillage monster. I personally won’t be buying a bottle, it’s pleasant but not outstanding enough to justify the price tag. $245 for a 50mL bottle? No thanks, I’d take the outstanding Herméssence Ambré Narguile far … (More) “A Taste of Heaven – How Much Is Too Much?”

I think it’s safe to say that no new release this year has been more hyped on Basenotes than the collaborative effort between Comme des Garçons and Monocle, known as Scent One: Hinoki. The project has been lauded as a huge success, and the next project with Stephen Jones is on the way, the nose being Antoine Maisondieu, who created Hinoki along with several Burberry fragrances like the excellent Burberry London.

Hinoki is a japanese cypress, and that is of course a major part of the composition, though other woods such as pine and cedar make appearances as well. The opening blast is similar to what you’d find in a woods-heavy fragrance such as Gucci Pour Homme, but only for a moment. It takes on a personality all it’s own, unique from any other woody scent I’ve tried. It gives a mental image of a misty Japanese morning as you walk through the forest, the smell of pine greeting you with it’s distant, therapeutic smell that clings to your skin as the mist collects on you. It does have a “cold” element to it, and I think in the winter this could be a truly phenomenal scent and I absolutely plan on trying it then to see if it balances my mood as well as I think it will.

The scent is fairly linear but when it’s this good that’s hardly a problem. Sillage appears to be good, longevity was great at a bit over 12 hours. My love affair with woody fragrances continues and gets a little pricier with Hinoki, but rest assured that the hype is well worth it.… (More) “Hinoki – The Forest And The Trees”

My main experience with that mysterious wood known as oud, aoud, agarwood, agar, whatever you want to call it, is the unique Yves Saint Laurent offering, M7. M7 was one of the first fragrances I sampled and suffice it to say that it’s an acquired taste. One of the most common analogies is the smell of cherry cough syrup. Pretty damn good analogy really. Robitussin aside M7 really is a pretty good representative of oud, and Montale takes the concept to what can only be described as another plane of existence. Pierre Montale may not make universally loved stuff but it is nearly universally respected and Black Aoud is on top of the heap there.

If you are a fan of the smell of oud, the opening blast may be the best you’ll ever find in a fragrance. If you’re not as big a fan, you may come very close, as I did, to washing the stuff off. It is a mindblowingly realistic recreation, and stays as such for a full hour. No progression, no pretenses, just black oud. The closest thing I can compare it to would be citronella bug spray. Appetizing right?

Now, despite that, my designated smeller said that she really, really liked it. Needless to say I was a little surprised as I was still pretty displeased with my choice of a work fragrance. But we discovered something; it’s great from a distance, but when I invited her to get in close and smell it on my wrist, she agreed that it wasn’t nearly as good. So that’s the rub; it’s a great fragrance with monster sillage, but you may personally not like it.

At least, not at first. After a couple of hours either I began to get acclimated to the smell or, more likely, … (More) “Montale Black Aoud – Revolution”

First off I apologize to the readers for having to endure the terrible Andy Tauer pun. I couldn’t help it, and as reparation I will be wearing Acqua di Gio today. Okay, that’s actually a lie, I’m wearing Mechant Loup which will be reviewed tomorrow.

ANYway, L’air du Désert Marocain was one of the fragrances I was most excited about sampling in this experiment, it’s consistently been a favorite among Basenoters and the composition has always sounded top-notch. It is with a smiley face that I can say it didn’t disappoint at all.

The opening blast is dark and mysterious with an incense note dominating along with a somewhat bitter note that might just be tar. As it progresses the incense backs off a little bit and you’re greeted with a sweet frankincense note and the rest of the composition starts coming out of the woodwork. This is one of a very few scents that have conjured up a vision of what the perfumer was going for. The opening is the dark right before dawn, cold and bleak, and as the sun lazily rises and warms the desert sand, the desert starts taking on a life of it’s own. There are exotic spices reminiscent of spice merchants selling their wares, and a warm accord that truly reminded me of hot sand.

Needless to say I’m rather impressed with the creation. It actually reminded me of Jubilation XXV by Amouage when it was at it’s sweetest, they’re apples and oranges though. Given that it’s about a third of the price of the Amouage creation, though, I may find myself enjoying LdDM enough in its own right to spring for a bottle. I will eventually be doing a side-by-side test of these two and will report my findings then.

The bottom line … (More) “L’air du Désert Marocain – A Tauering Accomplishment”

L’Artisan Parfumeur has a reputation for being daring, innovative, and completely unique. I’d heard enough good about Tea For Two and Mechant Loup (review forthcoming) that I selected both of them for sampling from Luckyscent.

In short, the scent lives up to the name. The opening is smoky and mildly sweet, like tea steeping. In this phase it’s rather interesting, and a somewhat rustic scent in an unusual use of the description. The scent is fairly linear, the base is pleasant and warm, in fact you get that warm vibe all the way through it.

But it still needs to be asked. Do I really want to smell like a hot cup of tea? I don’t drink all that much tea (lazy etc.) but it certainly conjures up those images. That’s not me at all. In fact, when do I wear this? Can’t wear it in a social setting or I’m Buzz Killington.

See?

Jokes aside, it’s unique, it’s warm and inviting, and it’s almost exactly like you made a mess and spilled hot tea on yourself. I respect it for what it is but it’s just not for me.… (More) “Tea For Two – I Made A Mess”

The experiment had to start somewhere really. The package from Luckyscent arrived and all 14 samples were nice and intact. Not knowing where to start, and not wanting to contaminate the thought process by favoring one right off the bat, I’ve been using a random number generator to decide my fragrances for me out of the samples. The very first one? Santal Noble by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier. This one was initially picked completely on a whim. I remembered hearing something about it, but I couldn’t tell you what it was.

To work, then. Initially applying it I could definitely get the sandalwood, but there was a definite…funk to it. Not in the good sense either. It took two days before I realized what it was I was smelling: Coffee beans. It’s a semi-sweet, pungent yet extremely dry opening that left me terribly uncertain about what to expect with it.

It’s something I may have to chalk up to one of two things. One, I’m not quite far enough progressed in this hobby to appreciate Santal Noble. Two, my skin chemistry doesn’t do it justice. Okay, three things. Three, I’m wearing during the wrong time of year (it was just under 100 degrees on the day of wearing). It’s very disconcerting that I really actively disliked it, because it’s one of the most highly rated fragrances on Basenotes that I’ve ever seen, some members going as far as to call it…

“Arguably the best Niche fragrance ever made.”
“This is probably the best woody fragrance ever created.”
“The richest, deepest wood there is.”
“The nectar of the gods, this is sandalwood par excellence.”
“It took me a very long time to appreciate this fragrance, but now that I’ve come to terms with it, I consider it one of perfumery’s towering … (More) “Santal Noble – doubleplusungood”

It’s a bit scary to realize that at this point I’ve only been a fragrance enthusiast for about six months, and my collection has amassed to 34 bottles.  And probably that many samples.  How it started was simple, I ran out of my usual cologne (Polo Blue) and was looking for something new to try.  Being the good boy I am, I got on Amazon and looked at best-sellers and took down a list of the top 20 or so bestsellers and took off to Paducah with list in hand.  Unfortunately, Paducah offers precious little in the way of couture, so a lot of it was stuff I was pretty much not going to find.  One that I did find, however, was Unforgivable by Sean John.  This was pretty late in my testing and I was surprised and a little irritated to find that I actually quite liked it; after all, I don’t really see Sean John as a good representation of my typical life (i.e., being a nerd).

I don’t know what exactly I liked about it.  It’s classy without being pretentious, clean without being soapy, and masculine enough to wear pretty much any time.  Even now it’s still one of my favorite all-around fragrances.  It wasn’t exactly random either in retrospect, as it has three of my favorite notes in the base (sandalwood, tonka bean, and amber) and it really is a very well put-together fragrance.

There is, however, that connection.  Basenoters know what I’m talking about, the connection between Unforgivable and Millesime Imperial by Creed.  “Dead ringer” is a good term to use.  They’re as similar as any two fragrances I’ve ever tried.  The issue is further compounded when you realize that Diddy’s signature scent prior to making Unforgivable was…yup.  Millesime Imperial.

Creed purists will maintain that … (More) “Unforgivable – My Gateway Drug”

The first result of Aramis Havana in Google is my review, hosted on Basenotes.net.  And that’s pretty sweet considering how long it’s been up (not very).… (More) “Small Victories”