Fragrance Reviews by Merlino

Route du Vetiver starts very rooty on me, not very pleasant though. After that it smells woody and smokey but like a Dutch sausage called 'rookworst' at the same time.

I'm not a fan of vetiver therefore I'm definitely not a fan of this creation by MPG. Having said that, I can understand that this is original (it's unlike anything I've ever smelled). Thumbs down for wearability, thumbs up for quality and originality. Add the two and you get a neutral rating.

While I generally love the SL exclusifs (export line not so much), this one reeks of Fahrenheit and is altogether very unpleasant. Thumbs way down.

MKK by Serge Lutens is the most interesting fragrance I own. It may have some people running for the nearest exit but it pushes all of my buttons in exactly the right way. Believe it or not, for me this is a comfort scent that, while animalic and dirty, doesn't really make me think of sex all that much. Actually, it reminds me more of being around wild animals in Africa than of doing the wild thing.

On my skin MKK is basically as animalic as it gets. I've had friends try it and on them it was much calmer and more floral. I don't get much of the rose that's supposed to be in it. The only thing that makes me believe it's in there is the dry character of the heart notes. I would have liked a more prominent rose note but alas, my skin won't allow it. What I do get is cumin and musk all the way, and being a BIG fan of both I love this one.

I've just done a side-by-side MKK versus MR so I felt like it was about time to write a review. It's striking how tame MR is compared to MKK. I have them on the back of my hands right now and I have to do my best to smell MR because MKK is so strong by comparison. I do think these two fragrances somewhat belong to the same category but MR is much more overtly sexy while MKK just is. I could see myself owning both at some point in time. However, if I had to choose I'd take MKK over MR any day.

I like this aoud scent by Montale but I'd describe it as Black Aoud minus its top notes. Pretty but much less challenging and interesting than its black counterpart. The upside of this is that you can wear on those days that you feel like wearing dark vanillic rose with a twist but black aoud is just too much.

To my nose AdP CI is a very musty, leather dominated scent. I literally detect no citrus and the cedar is very dark and unpleasant, not like the gorgeous cedar in for example Bois du Portugal. I cannot fathom why they would call this a cologne.

Like eric, I feel I need to defend "my fragrance" a little. While not being a true Sandalwood like Santal de Mysore it think it is a very nice fragrance with a good development and a good, youthful direction for Creed. It starts out sweet but fresh at the same time due to the juniper berry. After a while the woody elements kick in but they're never dominant. The tonka bean and vanilla form a very powerful yet seductive base.

I consider this fragrance very casual, for clubbing or for hanging around with friends. Would probably not appreciate my dinner partner wearing this.

Had a first full day wearing today. I really like woody oriental scents and I liked Envy. Contrary to what others have stated this fragrance had excellent sillage on me and I can still easily smell it on my arm 10 hours after application. But: I can't help being reminded of Bois du Portugal which I think is a better fragrance.

I give Envy a thumbs up for what it is, a good fragrance at a very affordable price. I won't be buying a bottle, though.