Reviews by NillaGoon

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    NillaGoon
    United States United States

    Showing 1 to 30 of 89.
    rating

    Memoir Man by Amouage

    I'll say up front that I'm considering price in this review. Memoir Man is nice, but for $260 a fragrance should really be something special.

    Memoir Man smells very similar to what I'd imagine CdG Ouarzazate layered over CdG 2Man might smell like: a gaseous peppery note floated over smoky, bone-dry incense. I love both of those components, but Memoir Man is admittedly an improvement over either of them. Ouarzazate gets its shrieky, insecticide-like corners rounded off, while 2Man gets more of a distinctive top note.

    Unfortunately, sillage and longevity are both poor on me. I get the impression that the juice just isn't very concentrated; next time I'll whip myself into a squirt-storm and see if that helps.

    24th January, 2012.

    rating

    Navegar by L'Artisan Parfumeur

    Wait... what?!

    In the end, I'm left with a vague peppery feeling, not so much a smell as the prickly feeling that warns you that the grass you're lying on has recently been sprayed with insecticide.

    19th January, 2012.

    rating

    Baghari by Robert Piguet

    I get orange, vanilla, amber, musk, and loads and loads of powder. It doesn't smell particularly chypre-like to me, although there is a clear mossy undertone when sniffed close on skin. Overall, pleasant.

    My thumb is at half-mast primarily because the overall impression that Bhagari creates is that of a prescented disposable diaper. NOT a dirty diaper, mind you - just a scent engineered to communicate "dry, comfortable baby" and to be strong enough to mask any unpleasant odors that might later be deposited into the diaper. I'm afraid I don't sense the sophistication in this fragrance that others do. It seems a bit like scent-pornography targeted at baby-obsessed women.

    It's hard to imagine a man wearing this scent, but if he did, I bet women would find it pretty attractive!

    9th January, 2012.

    rating

    Vetiver 46 by Le Labo

    Great! But very, very similar to Comme des Garcons 2Man. A little churchier, a little less bonfire. Same perfumer. Odd.

    30th December, 2011.

    rating

    Dzongkha by L'Artisan Parfumeur

    This is a gorgeous and distinctive composition. I get lychee, cardamom, and incense; I wonder if lychee is the same note that many have described as "celery". I don't find the combination at all dissonant.

    I'm not a huge fan of lychee and probably wouldn't buy a bottle of this, but I'll definitely use the rest of my sample.

    This is slightly sweet without being cloying, which is unusual for an incense scent. Sillage is low to moderate and longevity is nearly 24 hours. Seems to benefit from a relatively liberal application.

    29th December, 2011.

    rating

    Duel by Annick Goutal

    Pleasant. Citrus -> rubber. Lasts about half an hour.

    6th May, 2010.

    rating

    Red Aoud by Montale

    Yet another winner from the big box of Montale oud fragrances. It's true that many of them smell basically similar (with a few exceptions), but I kind of like that. I wouldn't/won't actually BUY more than one or two, but I'm enjoying the process of making fine distinctions through sampling.

    Red Aoud is distinct enough from the rest of the pack that it's worth putting on your sample list if you're exploring the Montale space. It's distinctly gourmand, which is not true of any of the others in the oud line that I've tried so far.

    This one is based on the standard Montale oud accord. It's got some rose. I also get lots of chocolate and vanilla and a general powderiness that's unusual in this line. I'm afraid I can't perceive the saffron and pepper that others have mentioned.

    I'm not a fan of the gourmands in general, but that's largely because they're all so frickin' sweet. This one is not, and the chocolate is really quite delicious. The only thing that keeps me from endorsing this wholeheartedly is the powderiness, which isn't to my personal taste. Nevertheless, this is a winner.

    1st May, 2010.

    rating

    Givenchy Gentleman by Givenchy

    There's only one other mention of tobacco here, but that's the main impression I get from the opening and body notes - tobacco leaf. Patchouli is also pretty strong, as well as a nondescript powderiness. The overall effect is soapy, mature, 1970s, country club.

    That set of adjectives wouldn't normally constitute a ringing endorsement from me, but I actually kind of like this. It's not really my thing, but it's distinctive, different, and quite pleasant.

    26th April, 2010.

    rating

    Grenades by Keiko Mecheri

    This review is for the Keiko Mecheri scent called "Grenats"; I think Grenades may be a Perfumed Court error that has propagated here, but I'm not entirely sure.

    After Peau de Peche I was really looking forward to this one, but I'm afraid it's a generic fruity/aquatic/annoying scent of no particular interest. I confess an aversion to the entire genre, so please take my thumbs down with a grain of salt. To me, this scent is actively unpleasant - it's the olfactory equivalent of chewing on tin foil. But I get this same sensation from many fragrances in this category.

    I'm not smelling much that could be interpreted as pomegranate. Despite the pomegranate craze, I'm skeptical that pomegranates have a flavor in real life - to me they just seem like a pleasant vehicle for delivering citric acid.

    25th April, 2010.

    rating

    Bois Rouge by Tom Ford

    I'm afraid I couldn't last until the promised two-hour nirvana -- the powder and amber and vanilla were making me a bit nauseated.

    The comparison to various other fragrances (BdP, Habit Rouge, etc.) seems apt. Bois Rouge is vaguely classical but nondescript, like the perfume mirror in which you see whatever you want to see. I can imagine it generating a lot of tangential associations, none of which are really exact fits.

    15th April, 2010.

    rating

    Poivre 23 by Le Labo

    This one is actually very distinctive. As with many Le Labos. the Poivre (pepper) label is kind of misleading. The pepper only stays around for the launch party.

    For me, the unifying thread here is vanilla. It's strong at the start and stays for the duration. Beneath that, the fragrance tells a story about how pepper, vanilla, olives, and cedar all lie on a single olfactory continuum. Although the vanilla is strongest, the olive accord is the most notable and gives the scent its character.

    I find this to be a much more pleasant olive accord than the one found in Eau d'Italie's Sienne L'Hiver. That one seems more like a stunt; this one is an olive you might enjoy smelling like.

    I'm afraid I'm not very partial to vanilla, so that dampens my interest in Poivre 23. But for vanilla-heads, I'd give this a strong thumbs up.

    14th April, 2010.

    rating

    Eau Sauvage by Christian Dior

    I don't care how sauvage the eau is; I just want to know, how sauvage will this eau make me? :-)

    Not very sauvage, as it turns out. This reminds me quite a bit of Chanel Pour Monsieur; it's that same not-very-convincing citrus opening followed by, well, not that much to write home about. Whereas PM boils down to a powdery pastry scent, Eau Sauvage has even less followup. Vetiver is listed as the base, but I can't detect any.

    Sorry, I'm just not getting this one. How could this be considered a classic?

    8th April, 2010.

    rating

    L'Air de Rien by Miller Harris

    My initial impression was: am I missing something? This is just Jicky without lavender.

    About two hours in, though, this one really transforms into something amazing. The drydown is just delicious. I wish I liked vanilla more; it seems very predominant in this fragrance to me.

    5th April, 2010. (Last Edited: 6th April, 2010.)

    rating

    Polo Double Black by Ralph Lauren

    This fragrance does have some interesting inflections -- mango in the top, a tasty coffee and spice mix in the heart -- but it's fundamentally just another mass-market fresh/aquatic fragrance dominated by the same aromachemicals found in hundreds of other products. If you love this style of perfumery, you'll probably have the patience and inclination to make fine distinctions, but for me it seems like just one tiny drop in a very big bucket.

    PDB lacks the grating, metallic edge found in many fragrances of this genre, so the opening is not actively unpleasant. I'd give it a neutral thumb but for the cloyingly sweet gourmand base. The top notes giveth and the base notes taketh away.

    Nothing to see here, boys, move along.

    2nd April, 2010.

    rating

    Dior Homme Sport by Christian Dior

    Entirely generic fresh/aquatic fragrance, more or less indistinguishable from hundreds of others. As Roger Ebert says, "If you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing that you like."

    I generally detest this genre, but this one is mercifully missing that edgy, metallic note that many scents in this category seem to have, one that reminds me of chewing on tin foil. As a result, I find that it's actually quite for an extended period, though I wouldn't wear it by choice.

    30th March, 2010.

    rating

    Cristalle Eau de Parfum by Chanel

    Cut grass is an excellent description. This also reminds me of Chanel No. 19 in its general approach. Kind of sweet, but not in the Angel ethyl maltol kind of way. Seems quite unisex.

    For me, this fragrance is exceptionally unusual in being both pleasant and a bit nauseating. I'll have to work on this one a bit more.

    30th March, 2010.

    rating

    Halston 1-12 by Halston

    How very interesting! This is a light, 1990s antiperfume that was 20 years ahead of its time.

    It does start with a green blast, but the top notes blow over pretty quickly. At heart, this is a very light fougere (lavender and vanilla) scent with a "laundry fresh" inflection. It reminds me of a 70s interpretation of cK Be.

    I like this quite a bit, certainly much more than 95% of current "fresh" scents. On the other hand, it's not very exciting. Hard to imagine someone really loving this one.

    An excellent office scent, I would imagine.

    26th March, 2010.

    rating

    Orient Extreme by Montale

    I once saw a T-shirt during Martha Stewart's heyday that said, "I want to be Martha. The bitch can do anything!"

    Well, here's the familiar Montale house oud accord in the context of a fruity, classical, chypre-like fragrance, and I'll be darned if doesn't work just fine. The bitch can do anything! Unfortunately, the oud here is only a top note, so the opportunity to enjoy the unusual mix is limited.

    The heart is reminiscent of perfumey fragrances of the classical era, but I find it quite a bit more masculine than those archetypes and quite wearable by a man. I am not generally a fan of this type of fragrance, but I like Orient Extreme. It's thinner, less assertive, and lighter than its models; fruity, spicy, and labdanous all at once without being sweet or cloying. An homage and not an emulation.

    At the same time, it's lacking a certain velvety dimensionality. Fans of full-bodied Guerlain-type fragrances will find this something of a pale shadow. I also got only a few hours of longevity out of my sample, although the strong initial blast of oud may have caused me to underapply. I will certainly try this one again.

    22nd March, 2010.

    rating

    Aoud Damascus by Montale

    This is a kissing cousin to Black Aoud, but the oud is more muted and the rose more prominent. This is a more luscious, velvety kind of rose, too - it's "redder".

    Aoud Roses Petals is similar in its balance of rose and oud, but the rose is more like Black Aoud's. Of the two, I prefer Aoud Damascus, but both are very nice.

    17th March, 2010.

    rating

    Aoud Lime by Montale

    Oh yeah, hit me baby! This is what the Montale house oud accord WANTS to be. Most of the Montales seem to be directed toward tempering or taming the oud in some way (though it always shines through). In this one, the other components all work to amp up the oud to 11.

    There is no lime or citrus in this, but Aoud Lime is the perfect name for it. It's piercing, bright, fluorescent green, a bit sour. It clears the palate and the mind. Wonderful.

    My first impression was "smells like Black Aoud". But a side-by-side comparison reveals how different these scents really are. Black Aoud seems downright muted!

    17th March, 2010.

    rating

    Bois de Aoud / Original Aoud by Montale

    I LOVE the Montale house oud accord. This one is different, although it's clearly related in the top notes. The heart and drydown are pretty far afield.

    Soft, woody, and nutty are good descriptions. What it really smells like to me is an old boiler-type humidifier. Even if you patiently clean off the scale that forms on these devices, there's still a humid, mildewy kind of odor that eventually comes to dominate the steam. I've replaced several humidifiers because of this issue, and I don't think I'd pay money to reproduce the effect by wearing Montale Original Aoud.

    13rd March, 2010.

    rating

    XS pour Homme by Paco Rabanne

    Awful; however, I suspect that I'm either hypersensitive or anosmic to something.

    To me, this features the same unpleasant orange creamsicle/tea/disinfectant accord found in many Creeds (SMW, MI, GIT...). If you like splashing around in the Cool Water pool, you'll probably enjoy this one.

    To me it seems indistinguishable from a hundred others, and not very pleasant.

    13rd March, 2010.

    rating

    Royal Delight by Creed

    Car air freshener. Actively unpleasant. Nauseating. Scrub.

    11th March, 2010.

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    Bergamote 22 by Le Labo

    I had high hopes for this one after some of the other great Le Labos, but I'm sorry to say that it's a disappointment. The opening is great - a juicy, tart citrus reminiscent of Frederick Malle Bigarade Concentree and Odin 03. Unfortunately, after half an hour I start to get a distinct off-note of mothballs with a whiff of compost, and the overall effect becomes a bit unpleasant. Longevity is citrus-like, i.e. not so great, though perhaps that's a plus in this case!

    I don't think I'd pick Bergamote 22 over either of these others.

    10th March, 2010.

    rating

    Wood - Spices by Montale

    Worse than air freshener - this has the nauseating, syntheticky sweetness of a product sold to mask unpleasant hospital odors (NILodor, specifically). I get cardamom and orange blossom, mostly. Vile. Can't comment on the drydown, only stuck it out for 10 minutes.

    10th March, 2010.

    rating

    Aoud Leather by Montale

    +1 on the comparison to Tom Ford Tuscan Leather. I'm not sure if they really smell similar, but they both give the same legible, linear impression of suede or leather jacket leather. (As opposed to Knize Ten or Cuir de Russie, which don't really connect with my idea of "leather" at all.)

    I don't like Aoud Leather as much as Oud Cuir d'Arabie, but I would give it a slight edge over the Tom Ford, which I found just a tad flat an uninflected despite its wonderful leather accord. The oud in Aoud Leather is obscured, but it does make its presence felt in guiding the leather note.

    Sillage is low-moderate (ideal, to my way of thinking), but longevity isn't great. I get a couple of hours. (Unfortunately, Oud Cuir d'Arabie isn't much better in this regard.)

    4th March, 2010.

    rating

    Gendarme 20 by Gendarme

    I like this a lot, but for me it's the least impressive of the Gendarme line, all of which feature the same "laundry fresh" central accord.

    The lavender is pretty strong in this, and unfortunately I think it detracts from the uniqueness and power of the underlying idea. Ultimately, it makes the fragrance smell somewhat more generic.

    2nd March, 2010.

    rating

    Fumidus by Profumum

    I get mildew; chestnut; the wet, black rot of forest-floor compost; rooty vetiver. I'm afraid I find the overall effect to be decidedly disgusting.

    On the other hand, it's not the disgusting of incompetence or indifference, and I can certainly envision some sick bastard enjoying this. It's just an extreme scent. If the description appeals to you, don't be too put off by the predominance of thumbs down.

    I would imagine that to enjoy this, you would have to really like Frederick Malle's Vetiver Extraordinare, but find VE too tame and sanitized.

    24th February, 2010.

    rating

    Cruel Intentions by By Kilian

    This scent takes a sophisticated nose to disassemble, and mine isn't. With the coaching here, I'm convincing myself that I smell about half the notes listed in other reviews -- notably patchouli, oud, a little floral, a little cedar, a little powder -- but Cruel Intentions doesn't really smell like any of these to me.

    The overall impression is slighly makeup-y, in a very pleasant and wearable way, even for men. Actually, what it reminds me of most is an antibacterial skin cleanser sold as Phisohex in the U.S. The active ingredient of Phisohex is hexachlorophene, but I'm not sure whether that's responsible for the product's odor. Either way, it's a delicious, medicinal scent that appears during the heart of Cruel Intention's development but doesn't stay indefinitely.

    Another association for me is iris root, as found in fragrances such as Iris 39 and Iris Silver Mist. But I'm not sure there's any actual iris in CI.

    22nd February, 2010.

    rating

    02 Owari by Odin New York

    This reminds me a lot of Frederick Malle Bigarade Concentree, but without the slightly-more-than-ripe note that BC eventually develops. Delicious citrus fragrance, neither sour nor astringent nor sweet, resolving into a more powdery/mandarin drydown. Some have described it as synthetic-smelling in the forums, but I don't get this impression at all.

    As with all citrus-dominant fragrances, the show's pretty much over after 30 minutes.

    12nd February, 2010.

    Showing 1 to 30 of 89.

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