Fragrance Reviews by Jae

Rescinding my earlier "thumbs down" review. Gorgeous dry cedary aloes-wood fragrance. It must have been a no good very bad week for my body chemistry that spurred the earlier review. Ths stuff is wonderful.

A forest primeval, ancient untouched first-growth. Chene is not so much a fragrance as a place, to wear and close ones eyes and be transported to the woodland and the wild. This is the place that once was before a church was built and it became CDGs Zagorsk which is no less lovely but is more controlled, forgiving, and perhaps understandable. Chene is not for rational thought but for pure escape.

Just get through the initial blast of a rather too sweet spicy and candied bergamot/lemon. Give it five minutes and sink into some of the most luxurious new clean kid leather with a twist of orange. Subtle, refined, impeccable with a smirk.

Fake cherry scented highway rest-stop lavatory cleaner. In a cost-benefit equation this is below in Angel territory on my skin.

Bathroom cleaner/deodorant...cloying, faux flowery/tutti-frutti. it just disappears from there. Which is not a bad thing.

Dry and crisp, an Indian spice bazaar. I fell head over heels for this wonderful scent. The cardamom and cinnamon chase one all the way through the incense bazaar in the center and the fragrant woods on the base. Fragrant and exotic without being cloying or syrupy. This is a perfectly pressed Kurta with very subtle tone on tone embroidery. Jaisalmer feels clean and actually a bit business focused. I really like this one for office wear.

On me? Absolutely unwearable with a suffocating sillage that was pure Eau De Candle-shoppe. A frightening and cloying melange of churn inducing molecules all competing to see who could be the first to make me lose lunch. All I could do was scrub vigorously with lemon soap and then apply a heavy layer of Bandit over the remaining goo-residue in hope it would be whipped silent.

A happy, clean, and tidy scent. This one "Talks least, Says most" in the scent yearbook. The vibe is reminiscent of slipping on a perfectly starched and pressed white shirt. Subtle and so discreet you almost don't know its there...but it definitely is.

Like wearing a bar of deodorant soap. Sharp soapy and rather harsh note bothered my nose. Not a "good clean" feeling. May be that L'Artisan and I were just not meant for one another with all the raves they are getting. I wanted to like this. Just didn't work on me.

It smells like Liturgy. If you've never been fortunate enough to experience the Orthodox Liturgy, Zagorsk is a pitch-perfect replica of the smells. Smoke floating over the frankincense which in turn floats over the myrrh and pine resin. It is soul soothing in the deepest sense of the word.

My only gripe is that CDG named it Zagorsk rather than Sergiyev Posad.

Gorgeous Floral with a whisper of Oriental. It plays like a symphony.

Bal a Versaille's more discreet and chaste sister. The one you marry. While....

Our concerted opinion of what a man should smell like. Masculine, understated, straightforward, impeccable.

Fracas....tuberose with a deckled citrus gilt edge trimming to begin..tuberose with a tiny floral border in the middle..tuberose with thin resin wood trim to end. It's all about the tuberose and on me it's all about the indoles...very long lasting..

I cannot help but think that Fracas would be a wonderful under-layer for something lighter on top, something orangey and sparkling. Alone the indoles pull it down to a very deep hum almost from the get-go. Fantastic for a very lush winter evening swathed in dark blue velvet. But it's limited by the heavy indole to just that time and place. I felt wanted more. A little more of the mandarine at the start, carnation in the center, dry sandalwood at the end... just to spark it a little.

Love it! Great start with the slightly sharp snap of bergamot and carnation's spiciness. Moves into a drier middle with jasmine and new leather and a twist of tannin to keep it sparking around the edges...just like what keeps a good rich red wine from being too overwhelmingly lush. The center has a dry leathery spareness that is all about confidence and refusal to compromise. Threatening? It may well be. Spray-on Spine? perhaps that too. But see the drill through to the end and it is a comfortable slightly tobacco-ey and smokey old leather club chair in front of a warm fireplace. All one needs then is a good Cognac and the company of a similarly self assured being.....

We weep that this was discontinued. Multifloral top that peeled back to reveal leather and woods but kept the flroal dancing along the edges forever. There was nothing sweet about this one. Assertive and reminiscent of good saddlery. Business like with a very warm feeling drydown.

TGSC lists the constituent notes as: jasmin, rose, ylang, muguet, tuberose, vetiver, oakmoss, amber, musk and leather.

But it was in some ways a product of the time, nascent 1970's feminism - independence and MTM and the man tailored suit - taken over by the full-blown oriental siren song of the 1980's and the attendant soutache, and Dynasty-esque shoulder pads.

Exquisite, complex, and meticulously crafted. It sings out natural and is my answer to aromatherapists who believe that commercial perfumery is all about evil chemicals. Bal sings out in a bouquet of natural florals with a wonderful resing incense smoke wafting through and above. Utterly and uncompromisingly romantic and classic.

A perfect neroli with a citrus top and a nice cedary dry down that keeps it from being even the least hint of cloying. A wonderful bedtime scent. Mind clearing and relaxing. My only reservation is that for the price, it completely disappears within twenty minutes of application.

Staying power aside, this is a wonderful scent that I truly love.