Reviews by supermarky

Tiffany for Men by Tiffany

I think this is the model perhaps for Amouage Silver Crystal which tarts it up with fruits. Both are wondefful fragrances, Tiffany defnitely more versatile. I look forward to trying the others Naed mentions. Those jostling elbows are divine!

13rd April, 2008.

Patchouli 24 by Le Labo

this is a very exciting perfume that somehow seems to pull off what a lot of the fragrances its compared to don't really: mixing a bunch of kinky funky elements to result in a fragrance that is really seductive.

although when I wore it in class the other day and put too much on the teacher just said she smelled something very chemical and the way she krinkled her nose it appeared she clearly wasn't loving it.

this is a perfume for your modern wearer, musically it's the like the fragrance equivalent of a Bartok piano concerto or something.

2nd December, 2007.

Amouage Gold Men by Amouage

My name is Supermarky and...and... I am a gold crystalaholic!

6th June, 2007.

Reflection Man by Amouage

woody start floral heart ends with many mothballs

19th May, 2007.

Black Orchid by Tom Ford

I think it's true that the dramatic and fantastic opening of Black Orchid trumps the drydown, and while that's a questionable strategy, I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it an insult, and yet. . .

This is such an experience: a fruity floral not in the usual sense, but rather... it's as though the flesh of fruit were cloned somehow from a richly fragrant blossom, resulting in an edible fruit which is allowed to overripen, then is sliced open. A succulent, seductive perfume of decay, although there's none of the mustiness of the patchouli evident. Perhaps, I couldn't help imagining, there might be a resemblance here to the scents of the emanative wounds of the blessed St Lydwinne, whose body was at one point separated into three discreet sections representing the holy trinity, and from whose stigmata was said to waft uncannily alluring floral frangrances.

When I sampled it, the drydown seemed like the heavy syrup of a "fruit cocktail" made from this weird relgio-sci-fi fruit-flower. But when I actually wore it in a full application, the fragrance settled into something spicier, not unlike l'artisan's safran troublant.

I have to admit it's not one I will "reach for" often, but I love it anyhow.

9th April, 2007.

Armani Privé Cuir Améthyste by Giorgio Armani

candied violet and leather. very seductive indeed.

9th April, 2007.

Amouage Silver Cologne by Amouage

Florals? Patchouli? I don't really get them in any identifiable form. Modern, sharp, masculine, oh yes, I get all that! With a fantastic, harshness to it, it's a somewhat searing fragrance: exotic, heady, powerful, attractive, fascinating, addictive. I hope they never discontinue it but if the unthinkable should happen, the Silver Crystal will do in a pinch.

9th April, 2007.

Armani Privé Bois d'Encens by Giorgio Armani

really great, after this it's hard to want to wear avignon (unless you layer it with something) or norma kamali incense... the comme des garcons is a more hardcore representation of frankincense (and fresh water), as is the kamali (but an oily rather than a watery interpretation, fascinating in its own right) but this one is a...seductive accord of other materials of substance along with the frankincense...a bit woodsy... very succulent.

9th April, 2007.

Armani Privé Pierre de Lune by Giorgio Armani

of course it's natural that armani should produce a high end niche perfume product for less than mass consumption and not strange at all! Giorgio is a man of many moods, I'm sure!

what I get from this one with my rough descriptive powers to date is: ivory soap, incense, a tiny bit of spice. I love it and am glad I was able to buy a dinged bottle of it cheap on ebay!

wish the reference to Arnold Schönberg's seminal "Pierrot Lunaire" had been made even more explicit in the naming of this fragrance, but any reference to the great 1912 opus is gratifying!

8th April, 2007.

Cumming by Alan Cumming

A beautiful tour de force of a fragrance. First of all Cumming is cunning because in the opening there is a kind of tension analogous to something in the odor of semen! The same contrasts of sweet, salty, antisceptic and dirty found in our precious "essence" as Sterling Hayden called it in Dr. Strangelove.

Discovering this and marvelling at it, I nevertheless thought at first, could I possibly wear this stuff? And the answer is, "yes you can!" Ironically, it evolves from something so avant garde into something quite nostalgic, very very masculine. A locker room smell of powders to combat athlete's foot. In fact I verified this by happening upon almost the exact same scent on the foot of a man who told me he used an "old school foot powder called Dr. somethingorother's". In this way, it reminds me a bit of Obsession, which always had a locker room accord in it, but a different one than what we find here.

Alarming, uncanny, then beautiful, sweet, clean, sexy and jocular. And though it's water based, the longevity is quite good.

Bravo Alan Cumming and CB!!

8th April, 2007.

La Myrrhe by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

To me, this is remarkable. It could be that my experience is so limited that this is the reason, but La Myrrhe smells like nothing elseI have samples. It does remind me somehow of a cake with a layer of unleavened bread over the frosting, which I think is some kind of eastern european thing, something I once or twice encountered in a Polish neighborhood in my supercatholic home town. Anyway it is soapy, sweet, ethereal, soft, downy, angelic, spiritual (?), not earthy, heavy or sexy, unless you are drawn to cherubs. And yet, I feel very much a big ol cherub sometimes, one made of granite maybe, and I do love to wear this also with other things such as Vetyver Oriental to which it gives a strange edge or Amouage Gold, to which it imparts character. There is a sort of lemony/citrusy zing that floats througout the entire course or wearing this, feint and refreshing and one of the elements that "makes" it.

8th April, 2007.

Cuir Venenum 03 by Parfumerie Generale

this smells like a new car with spilt beer dried on the seats and carpet. awful!

4th February, 2007.

Frankincense & Myrrh by Czech & Speake

this is ok but nowhere near the showstopper no 88 is and for what it's up to I think there are more enticing versions, like some amouages... as far as "frankincense and myrrh" goes, you really can do far better elsewhere. . .

2nd February, 2007.

Blu Mediterraneo Sicilian Almond / Mandorlo di Sicilia by Acqua di Parma

smells like an ice cream cone

23rd January, 2007.

Ten by Intense by 10 Percent Consumer Products

I hvaen't tried it but, puhleez. Anything marketed at gayz called "10 percent"...

28th December, 2006.

Malmaison by Floris

Yes clove overwhelms carnation in Malmaison and it's frustrating.

Today I tested it alongside Villoresi garafao and Santa Maria Novella carnations and noticed that it (Malmaison) definitely also has unmistakeable notes of black tea. It's very very sweet.

SMN is wonderfully pure going on but is gone within an hour of application. If it could have kept the opening up I would have, well, swapped for it by now actually!

Of these three the Villoresi is surely the victor for me. Supposedly clove is not one of the notes but definitely it seems to be a take on the classic clove 'n' carnation combo. And it's the longest lasting of the 3 as well.

16th December, 2006.

Spezie by Lorenzo Villoresi

I wonder if the baron de charlus was speaking of the spezie room spray as well as the fragrance. the spezie room frag is so different from the cologne. It does smell very much of a medieval apocothary (sic). Very sweet. The cologne, going on, is almost sour by comparison. The dry down is similar to the sweet aura of the room spray with a big extra infusion of incense absent in the room spray. This is a beautiful room spray and quite a wonderful cologne as well, although I'm not really enamored of the opening and first hour of it, what's left behind is truly a source of subtle intoxication to wear as it wafts up from time to time, the sillage is quite strong and quite irresistable and the incense notes remind me of the incense notes of mark birley but here they are more forcefull and that's all to the good!

5th December, 2006.

Opoponax by Santa Maria Novella

can't believe I am the first to review this amazing stuff

first off, it's definitely unisex. and I was first drawn to opoponax in general cause djuna barnes wrote that james joyce preferred opoponax based perfumes, whether on nora joyce or on himself, it really doens't say, but I think she meant on him. this is not at all feminine a scent! am surprised it's not considered unisex coming from the opposite direction.

I prefer this opoponax to other fragrances I've tried "starring" this note: eau lente and les neriades. the SMW version seems to be much purer and not at all sweet. (the sweetness of les neriades is not an appealing sweetness to me either.) it is however, quite rich, much more so than these others.

Richness and sillage are a hallmark of SMW. When I compared Tabac Original to SMW Gold Musk it was like one of those portable hand held electronic fans vs a jet engine.

I describe this scent as an abstract spice. No identifiable herbal/spicy note comes out, just this "noise"/ sensation of "spiciness" something like the static on a television set to where there's no signal: something set to tingle. And so I think of this for starters as making it the supreme choice to obtain the effect of scents such as lutens arabie, amber sultan without the necessity of smelling "tandoori ready". And it's amazing for layering, as are many of the SMW. Naturally, as one finds opopnax as a supporting player in many classic fragrances.

SMW really has its own vision and its no surprise it's not a huge brand. You can google to get to an old NY times article about the house from 86 that is most fascinating. In some respects SMW is the high end fragrance cousin of a santaria shop, well, the spiritual element is not... really part of the product, aside from the fact that all of this started out as a nunnery. Anyway, a part of the company is still devoted to ancient remedies for baldness, hysteria, etc. Note to self: hysteria juice probably worth a try.

I think of many of the scents as being a form of "drag". Some of them actually call to mind a concrete history: nostalgia "I've just been working on my bike", gold musk "I've just come from the gym shower after basketball practice".

Anyway this is a house with a touch of madness and I luuuuuv it.

As for this scent: a must!

14th November, 2006.

Coriolan by Guerlain

it stinks

and for all the people saying how tragic it is that it's no longer available, it languishes in the for sale board for months on end. . . at dirt cheap prices!

10th November, 2006.

Feuille Verte by Creed

memories that will just about completely fade within 2 hours

it smells mostly like the name: a green leaf

I don't see anything to get all rapturous about

at least it doesn't stink of ambergris!

6th November, 2006.

Ginestre by Santa Maria Novella

flowery with ambergris. creed like.

not really an ambergris fan so not for me

6th November, 2006.

Givenchy pour Homme by Givenchy

this reminds me of the creed feiulle vert

6th November, 2006.

Melograno by Santa Maria Novella

comme des garcons has nothing on santa maria novella for weirdness...

the dry down of this is nice, and incenselike, I think.

but the whole thing is "out there" for sure...!

1st November, 2006.

parfums*PARFUMS Series 2 Red: Harissa by Comme des Garçons

gosh awful. the drydown is sort of harmless, sort of cedary, but what you have to get through to get to it. ..

much better course to go direct with sequoia or the amazing palisander

29th October, 2006.

Gendarme by Gendarme

if you don't the 5 minutes to clean your fine washables with woolite, just spritz this stuff on, nobody will know the difference.

26th October, 2006.

Cuba by Santa Maria Novella

the woman at the store told me this is not a big seller but the people who love it are really crazy about it.

it's sweet I don't even really get tobacco or leather, its more like nectar than honey. I think it is quite nice.

29th September, 2006.

Safran Troublant by L'Artisan Parfumeur

in brentwood there is an 'upscale' Indian restaurant that has saffron infused rice pudding and robyogi is onto something, the flavor is completely congruent to wearing safran troublant.

is this parfum too delicous to wear? I wonder about that in a way, but still am definitely into wearing safran troublant even if I wonder if I should be!!

24th September, 2006.

Jean Paul Gaultier Summer by Jean Paul Gaultier

it opens like D&G pour homme then becomes le male

24th September, 2006.

Gaultier² by Jean Paul Gaultier

this is like a vanilla version of Angel

pas pour moi (translation: yuck)

20th September, 2006.

Platinum Égoïste by Chanel

I had a friend who smelled like this. He must have been wearing egoiste platinum! I thought he just had bad body odor. Seriously. I'm glad for him this isn't a permanent condition.

20th September, 2006.