Basenotes - Reviews by Ronberge

Canada

Showing 1 to 6 of 6.

Vetyver / Vétiver by Givenchy

Sweetly sophisticated and refined vetiver fragrance that has a definite daintiness to it, very upperclass.
It does without the rubber/tobacco of the Guerlain Vetiver and the soapiness of the Creed OV.
Can be easily worn by both sexes IMO.
To paraphrase something I read; if Guerlain is the gardener then the lord of the estate is definitely Givenchy.
Reasonably priced but not easy to find - well worth a try.
4.5/5 stars

26th April, 2009. (Last Edited: 15th August, 2009.)

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Guess by Marciano for Men by Guess

I'm not a big fan of the Guess fragrances for men (Suede and MAN) but I do like the smell of the original Guess by Marciano, especially on my wife, so when they did their thing for men I decided to give it a try. I wasn't disappointed.
To my nose this smells like orange liqueur (think Cointreau or Grand Marnier) mixed with the peels of an orange or grapefruit. Do I detect a dash of vanilla? The 'colour' that this brings to my mind is dark orange, definitely.
An interesting smell that lingers on for a few hours. IF you like oranges try it!
4/5 stars.

1st April, 2009.

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Encre Noire by Lalique

A most unique smell. This is easily one of the most intriguing smells I've come across in a long, long time.
The Vétiver is strong in this one (It’s the main theme- two vétivers bourbon and Haiti - no secret here) but unlike the 'soapy' ones or the 'green' ones on the market this one is ‘dark and smoky.’ I sense a medicinal aroma that I'm hard pressed to identify...Also I detect a trace of fruitiness at times. The adjective that comes to my mind is 'Mysterious'. I like to think of this one as the Darth Vader of fragrances - at least the ones I've tried.
I would give this one a higher rating , I really would, since I really like the frag and its concept HOWEVER after only wearing this a few times I found that it gave me pretty BAD HEADACHES! Not for everyone - not me that's for sure.
3/5 stars

1st April, 2009. (Last Edited: 1st October, 2009.)

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Vetyver Uomo by Malizia

The good: A simple straightforward vetiver, clean smell with an slight oily note in there at a very low price (got me a 50ml @ 7.99$ and around x-mas a 100ml @ 11.99$).
The bad: Longevity is about the same as this review.
3.75/5 stars

1st April, 2009. (Last Edited: 26th December, 2009.)

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Loewe para Hombre by Loewe

As I searched for a replacement for defunct Dunhill Edition I came across a review somewhere that stated this fragrance had 'the same idea but executed far better'. Naturally I had to try this!
Fortunately my local Perfume shop at the Rockland centre had it.
What can I say : Lemon (lots and lots of it!), spice, anis and musk.
Could be vulgar, but it isn't.
If D.E. is the self-assured urban British gentleman of the power-hungry corporate eighties, Loewe pour homme is the Spanish aristocrat that becomes the matador whenever the need arises.
This one I consider a sexy smell on account of the 'animal factor' in the juice. I'll admit I find it off putting at times (call me prudish) but I always get over it quickly.
A unique fragrance to say the least, very hard to find here in Canada. Best for day wear IMO.
BTW the juice is light green, not yellow, unlike in the picture shown here.
4.5/5 stars

1st April, 2009.

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Dunhill Edition by Alfred Dunhill

It was 1988, I went into a Dunhill of London store (we had one back then in Montreal) after learning in a Fleming novel that James Bond wore Dunhill.
I tried the original Dunhill for men (1934) and found it way too overpowering - not bad, just too much for little moi. I remember thinking 'no so self-respecting spy could ever have the drop on anyone wearing this!' But then discretion was never really part of Bond’s many attributes, was it?
Then the salesman - the image of British elegance for a price- offered me a more recent Dunhill Edition (1984) to try.
There was a lemon opening to be replaced by spicy sweet cinnamon and clove that lingers on a back drop of luxurious woody aroma. As a youth I had cedar shelves in my room and it is one of those smells that stay with you. Needless to say I fell in love with the scent!
Now this is more what I had in mind for a gentleman's scent; understated elegance, discretion being the better part of valour! No knock-over-the-furniture-here-I-come-aura; no intrusive or offensive claim-this-space-for-queen-and-country-sillage but when people get close they don't back away, not in my twenty years experience with it! More than once I was asked what I was wearing.
I bought the 100 ml bottle right there and then for the princely sum of 150$. Quite an investment for my student budget back then, but then I thought I was buying class in a bottle!
A few years later, mercifully, the price was about halfway down for the same-sized bottle.
It's a very pleasant smell that still mixes well with my skin's chemistry. My wife couldn’t get enough of it, sometimes I muse we never would have made it to the altar otherwise!
My signature scent for the last 20 years – Sadly now discontinued - Wished P&G ‘d reconsider.
C'est la vie!
5/5 stars

1st April, 2009.

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