Basenotes - Reviews by Elzéard

United Kingdom

Showing 1 to 22 of 22.

Santos by Cartier

It is certainly dry, and with its herbal woody notes it's sat somewhere in between Tuscany and Polo Green in terms of style, but lacking the heavy smoke or chest hair of the latter. Not bad, but not particularly inspiring.

3rd February, 2012.

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Un Jardin Après La Mousson by Hermès

It has been a long time since I tried this fragrance. Without having taken a recording of my thoughts at the time, I ashamedly cannot present to you the list of notes which I perceived. But what I can categorically remember, is that I have no intention of ever trying this fragrance again as a means of being able to do so.

27th January, 2012.

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Carnal Flower by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle

Thick, creamy, green, natural, vegetal, and completely enveloping. And it lasts forever!
Pricey though...

26th January, 2012.

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Cuir Pleine Fleur / Fine Leather by Heeley

Leather...? Really? Is this really a Leather scent? I think not.
A green, floral, vegetable mint (as per notes described by a previous reviewer), seem to suffice as a summation of this one. In fact, it reminds me a bit of my green house, which in all fairness is not an altogether unpleasant smell. Sillage and longevity are also more than decent.
However, if you are looking for a leather-centric fragrance (and that is what I was hoping for when I read the name), you could do a hell of a lot better!

3rd January, 2012.

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Castile by Penhaligon's

A fragrance similar in character to Blenheim Bouquet, but the citrus is not quite as bitter or distinct in this. There seems to be a soft orange blossom floral and herbal base, over which lemons and lavender glisten away. Undoubtedly pleasant, but a little too conservative for my tastes.

28th December, 2011.

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Dirty English by Juicy Couture

A dusty carpet onto which the day before I spilt a bowl of cornflakes and raisins. And the reason my nose is pressed against this priorly mentioned floor, is because I have just finished a bottle of rum. And of course, there are some woods floating around in there as well. An interesting fragrance, but I believe that the catchy name and clever advertising have done far more good for its sales than the fragrance itself.

27th December, 2011.

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Eloge du Traitre by Etat Libre d'Orange

Is there is such a thing as a souped-up dirty Yatagan, with twice the rough and ready and not a single ounce of civility?

Yes, there is. It is this.

27th December, 2011.

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Rien by Etat Libre d'Orange

One spray on my wrist was far too much. In fact, it gave me a headache. To me it seemed like a much less refined Knize Ten (which I must say is brilliant). Twice the volume, but no control or balance. Smelling this on my wrist gave a similar feeling to glancing at an incredibly bright light, after just waking up with tired and sensitve eyes.

27th December, 2011.

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Route du Vétiver by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier

This is an excellent vetiver. It smells organic, dry, and almost akin to a forest floor. However, to me at least, it still isn't in the same league as Lalique's Encre Noire, which almost seems "alive" with its ability to beckon one's interest throughout a day of wearing.

27th December, 2011.

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Parfum d'Habit by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier

I can't say that I was particularly impressed with this. It was mainly patchouli for me, softened slightly with leather. And I have smelled better leathers, and better masculine fragrances. Very "meh...".

27th December, 2011.

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Cardinal by Heeley

Long ago polished wooden benches. The sweet yet mildly decadent smell of the dusty aging pews. The smell of robes belonging to someone who has spent enough time in a church to acquire the status of cardinal. Very authentic and accurate in its rendition.

22nd November, 2011.

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Arpège pour Homme by Lanvin

Luxurious, heavy, delicious. I have not met anyone who has ever disliked this smell when it is applied appropriately. It is powerful stuff, so by an appropriate apllication, I mean erring on the side of caution.
This will make a man smell edible, and I have been bitten on more than one occasion whilst wearing this fragrance. My brother commented that it smelt like a more refined version of Joop Homme. I can see where he is coming from, but it is essentially still very different. Givenchy's Pi might be a closer similarity.
The only drawback is that there is something slightly unpleasantly sharp in the initial first few minutes, perhaps the nectarine, but this soon settles into a very pleasurable fragrance.
Longevity and sillage go far beyong expectations.

22nd November, 2011.

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Muscs Koublaï Khän by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

Muscs Koublai Khan is, above everything that I have smelt (and I have sampled well over 350 fragrances at this point in time), the closest that I have ever experienced in terms of olfactory perfection when applied correctly. It is like nothing I have ever smelt. It is thick, creamy, utterly sexy, and does everything exactly right. It took me a long time to come to this conclusion, but perseverance paid off. It is effortless to enjoy. Sillage is decent, and the longevity is remarkable.

However... my girlfriend and best friend tell me that whenever I wear this, I smell like a homeless guy. Clearly they do not know what they are talking about, and I remind them of this frequently.

Furthermore, it layers beautifully with Molinard - Vanille. Three sprays of the Khan, One spray of the vanilla.

22nd November, 2011.

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Boss Bottled Night by Hugo Boss

It has just been released, but somehow I've smelt this a million times before. It's not bad at all however, and I did find myself actually enjoying it every time I caught a breath of it, but it's nothing that hasn't been done countless times before. It's not as sweet as the original, and even became almost sour of my skin after about 3 hours. Plus it lasts and projects very well. Still saying that, I wouldn't buy it, but it is worth trying.

13rd September, 2010.

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Feminitè du Bois by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

A very clean plum/cedar fragrance. Rich and fruity to begin with, but remaining quite fresh. The plum is almost mouthwateringly good in the beginning. It doesn't really change much on me after the initial 5 minutes for at least another 3 hours, so I get a good dose of the plum note. I like it, but overall, it's not all that. I find it pleasant, and quite unlike many of the fragrances I have ever smelt. So for this reason, trying it for the first time is fascinating, but upon several wearings I ultimately found it uninteresting. When the cedar takes centre stage I tend to get a little bored... But it does last for at least 8 hours on me.

(After 6 hours of wearing this, and sitting comfortably within the drydown, I tried layering what was left of FdB with 2 sprays of Eau Sauvage to the chest in an attempt to bring a bit of zest back to the relatively smooth, and somewhat tame cedar base. I found this combination to be utterly delightful, perhaps even more tasty than the fruit-heavy beginning of Feminitè du Bois by itself. So if you have both, I'd say that this is definitely worth a try!)

Edit: I have worn it upon several more occasions, and have now changed my rating to a thumbs up.
It possesses an air of elegance which is utterly unique. It is certainly worth trying, perhaps a few times in fact, because I did not appreciate its depth with my first few experiences. It is tasty in the most civilised fashion.

1st November, 2009. (Last Edited: 22nd November, 2011.)

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Musc Ravageur by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle

Disgracefully Good... If I know that I am going to be up all night, and that in the morning I am going to be lying there; exhausted, sweaty, filthy, and with pillows and clothes thrown all over the room, then this is the fragrance I wear because it compliments that situation perfectly, and also because it will last until the next morning too, hehe. Divine.

30th October, 2009. (Last Edited: 28th January, 2010.)

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Marc Jacobs Splash Gardenia by Marc Jacobs

It starts quite floral and a little bit fruity, and is sweet and fresh at the same time. Wonderful top notes in the initial blast... but then it smells very average. For example, if someone were to choose one fragrance that embodied the word "perfume" to most peoples' perspective, then this could quite possibly be it. On me it dried down to something very soapy (thankfully, not overly harsh), and quite clean. It's nothing extraordinary, it's just nice. Good longevity and sillage however.

When thinking about a fragrance which might be similar to this, Chanel No.5 Eau Premiere came to mind. They aren't identical by any means, Eau Premiere is sweeter and more tangy for a start, and a better scent overall. But I would imagine that on a day where I would feel like wearing gardenia, Eau Premiere would satisfy my craving for "whatever it is that gardenia offers" just that little bit better.

29th October, 2009.

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Euphoria by Calvin Klein

Sweet, slightly cloying, slightly synthetic, but stays on the good side of tolerable. It dries down to something similar to a mildly spiced-strawberry yougurt, with something creamy and buttery, and burned sugar. It's smooth, and quite tasty. It reminds me a bit of Armani Diamonds EDP for some reason. It's worth trying, but definitely not bottle worthy (for me anyway). Would do as a gift for a friend... however not for your best friend, hehe.

29th October, 2009.

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Déclaration by Cartier

This will never touch my body again. The first spray smells of mandarins and unwashed armpits, then after 30 minutes settles down to just unwashed armpits with the slightest hint of something fresh lingering on, and then long into the dry down smells like B.O. and barbecued beef flavoured crisps. I wore this to work, and thanked the heavens that this one particular girl was not working on that day. This made me smell dirty, and not in the good way like kouros or certain musc scents can make you smell. This was just unpleasant, like i'd tried to cover up an already existing bad smell with a really cheap smell. It lasted the full 8 hours of my shift, and the First thing I did on arriving home was shower.

14th June, 2009.

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Yatagan by Caron

Original Review June 2009
Quite unusual, and very original. It dries down nicely to something which smells like hay, wood shavings, and celery. It is incredibly masculine. It's not sweet in the slightest, but becomes progressively softer as time goes by. Sillage is reasonable, longevity is good; 6 hours on a bad day. It's reasonably pleasant, and nice, and very safe as an office / day time scent. In fact several people who's opinion i asked said exactly that, its "nice". And that to me, is not far off from people saying it smells bad. To me, that means boring, and it is. There is nothing to this scent which would make me want to move closer to someone who i detected wearing this for a better smell. There's no spark. Safari, by ralph lauren, is another fragrance which makes me feel this way... Yawn.... Perhaps i'll try it again somewhere down the line, but right now Yatagan does nothing for me.

Edit on November 2011
Ok, so it's two years down the line. I've tried a lot of fragrances since the moment I first smelled Yatagan, and my tastes and understanding of fragrances in general has evolved drastically. So I decided to try this again and give it another go... and WOW. This is incredible. It smells like filthy rotting wood and forest floor, with a hint of coin money, a polished antique wooden chest, and a man who can lift a grizzly bear over his shoulder. Tough stuff.

5th June, 2009. (Last Edited: 22nd November, 2011.)

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Sa Majesté la Rose by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

Rose! Pure cut flowers and petals, fresh, floral, wet. As lifelike to rose as i believe a fragrance can get, including the rose stems as well. As another basenoter accurately mentioned, its almost dewey and watery. It's one the most natural and fresh scents that I have come across. That is how it smells on myself anyway. On my girlfriend it smells sweeter, and slightly synthetic, and she doesn't like it all, and i'm not that fond of it on her either. But on myself it works completely differently; it's maginificent and utterly refined. Excellent longevity as well, standard to most Lutens fragrances. The only problem is do i personally want to smell like roses....

5th June, 2009.

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Dior Addict by Christian Dior

Dior Addict starts pungent. The vanilla is harsh, sickly, and sharp, forcing itself up your nostrils, and it stays like this on my skin for some time. After 1:30 hours, it softens, and at 2 - 3 hours in, becomes the deepest, softest, pure vanilla fragrance i have smelt. This is the sweet spot, the bit which makes you say "yummy!" each time you move and it wafts a hot tasty cloud of vanilla your way.
I don't think i'll be getting it for myself, it's just a bit too obviously feminine, but i would love to smell this on a girl. The drydown anyway, and only lightly applied. 2-3 sprays is probably plenty. I think it's best to keep a smell like this apllied lightly, so that when someone does get close they get a nice suprise, rather than them smelling it from 6 feet away. It's heavy stuff. Great sillage and longevity.

5th June, 2009.

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