Fragrance Reviews by millascent

I'm firmly in the LOVE camp with this vetiver from Annick Goutal; it was purchased unsniffed and some of the reviews here lead me to fear it would be too weird or marine but it isn't. This scent is exactly what I wanted Olivier Durbano's Jade to be: a smooth clean green scent for day/work somewhere between grassy and watery. This one has enough spice and salt to keep it from being boring, but it doesn't go so far as to smell of medicine (like Jade does on me)!

Actually I find this Vetiver quite elegant and refined. It is toward warm yet it hovers between warm and cool, a not too sweet salt-water taffy of a vetiver. The dry down reminds me somewhat of Andy Tauer's L'air du désert marocain. I'm a woman and wear this with ease. My husband and dogs seem to love it too so it's an all around winner!

I agree with elfkincatcher- there is a perfume missing from this list- the just plain "Quelques Fleurs". It was made through the early 1970s as was pointed out and it is only found in vintage forms, but not too hard to find still, if you know where to look. Anyway, it is a beautiful scent, not green sharp but very balmy, polleny, exactly like a lush bouquet of assorted flowers, lilac, honeysuckle, narcissus, lily, rose, iris, turerose, carnation, violet and more, heavy at the point of still bursting fullness, and the base is sweet and precious with beeswax and softest resins. It is light enough to be worn anywhere, and if you recall the scent of Faberge Wheat Germ Oil and Honey Shampoo, you have an idea of the smell of this perfume.

Beautiful cologne, perfectly unisex by today's standards. It has the elegance of Iris, the sunny cheer of honeysuckle and bergamot all atop a soft mildly spicy balsamic base. I smell relationship to Tabu but it has none of the heavy aspects, as if perhaps the same notes were used but much different construction leading to a lighter more transparent and fresh smell. Dante is the type of scent one smells on another and immediately 'falls in love with', the sillage is exquisit, mid-range but distinctive. On skin it is more elusive not presenting as a deliberate scenting product but maybe a balm, a powder... or a soap.

Tova has recently expanded her line and has brought out a number of Tova scent flankers. I have the Jasmine and Sandalwood 'single notes' and her pink striped "For Her" by Tova. I like both of the single notes, although they remind me of Tova nights (musky chashmere woods) with either an added indolic jasmine or a raspy sandalwood note. But the For Her by Tova, I just don't get. It is a very soapy fragrance with lavendar and grapefruit over creamy facets. It strikes me as an attempt to appeal to the youth market with a Clean type perfume into her line. I wish she wouldn't have bothered. The soap scent trend has been so done (and to me its the most unimaginative trend). Tova does sheer, natural beautiful musky woody fragrances as well as anyone. Her other scents remind me a bit of Donna Karan's Chashmere Mist but of course Tova's are more indivdiualistic, I do think the quality is higher, and you'll not smell them on every other woman at the mall.

Fizzy fern smelling on top, this is a green floral semi-chypre. I thought it must contain carnation or clove but none is listed however the florals are peppery and heavily spiced. It is a little woody dry and herbal, as well- The base continues the green feeling with "moss" and animal hints of musk and civet. Golden aldehydes soften the edges but not much. Chic and elegant.

Thanks to Moondeva for the notes list of Replique. I have a vintage version as well- by Raphael. My bottle has round shoulders and a cute pressed glass stopper w/ an R carved in it. The dark silky remnants in my bottle are stunning. The scent is spicy and creamy, nutty resiny, almost pine-ish and very smooth. The clary sage and coriander are perfectly blended here and give the perfume a mild herbal aspect, like a finely milled French soap... the orris and moss cushion the ylang... the amber and civet and musk... the vanilla...leather... yes, it's all there. I think this must have been a very popular perfume when it came out. Every nose is different though, and there is so much to smell here... My husband proclaimed it smells just like church incense to him (the good kind, he said). I think the newer versions probalby smell pretty grreat, too. Check around online and at little second hand or antique shops in your area, and you might find a bottle, too.

It must be special, to have been in production for almost 100 years without going extinct! According to the online e-tailers, it is a shimmering floral perfume with notes of bergamot, neroli, peach, jasmine, rose and vanilla. I am lucky to have a very fine perfume strength vintage version of this, which I find to be very smooth and buttery aldehyde rich. Yet the citrus open of bergamot and almost shrap neroli gives this a hint of brightness, an attitude... very classy retro and it makes me think blonde all the way. The peach, I do not smell overtly, but it gives a fullness, a freshness... it is a glimmer of peach skin only, there is no fruit. Of the jasmine and rose, the former is the more prominant. The whole golden cloud rests on a bed of vanilla and (in the vintage version I have, I am certain), civet. It is a tame kitty though, and the dry down leaves you with a warm-glowy-soft-powdery-something-better-than-skin scent that really does make you feel like how Marilyn Monroe looked, wrapped in nothing more than a mussed bedsheet.

I knew of Coriandre before but dismissed it- spice, kind of green/sharp. But recently I came across a mini of the parfum and tried it again. Wow! Light and spicy coriander is clean and transparent, with touches of delicate airy floral nuances, on top of mossy greens. It gets prettier as it dries down, the spice sweetens, and a vegetal musky base emerges. Lasting, too, traces cling to your bed sheets and scarves.

Notes: Ambroxan, vetiver, muscone, orris, elderflower

I first tried Escentric 1 and really liked its limey kick and overall tartness; I thought about buying it but didn't, because it seemed too one dimensional, being a synthetic. Then with E2, there were some additional notes added, the orris and vetiver especially made me go for it. E2 is very fresh with a light incensey vetiver, subtle woody spice of orris, and the salty clean
almost mineral / medicinal ambroxan. I'm not sure I smell the muscone at all. It has strong presence, but it comes across as very clean, not perfumey at all. It does a funny disappearing act.... at one time I'm aware of it, then it is gone; later it comes back. It seems to last forever on clothing. Maybe it could turn sour on some? I would think this is a must try before you buy. But I'm
liking it well enough and I'm wearing it quite often. Great in the heat, quite refreshing.