Fragrance Reviews by maccus

Discretion or delirium resides in one's own hands and is dependent entirely upon one's approach to this superb fragrance. It has the power to overwhelm. Used discretely, it is a warm enveloping fragrance of ethereal proportion, but, though dangerously tempting for those smitten by M7's elegant Oriental charms, over use will cause swooning. M7 is appropriately romantic and sensual. I have to curb my desire to keep re-applying it because it has remarkable longevity; the real issue is a kind of intoxication or addiction. I adore it.

The initial burst of chocolate is almost startling reminding me of a 'Jaffa' a chocolate coated mandarin confectionary eaten at cinemas in Australia. For this outrageous opening, alone, 'Extraordinary' is worth trying. The dry down is quite delightful. The chocolate gourmand tones are subdued by the warm vanilla and musk amply assisted by the patchouli and sandalwood as the sillage remains fresh and warm but never cloying. Although intended for females, I wear it for fun. It is a surprisingly effective counterpoint fragrance for Salvatore Ferragamo pour Homme.

A fragrance I like no closer to my nose than my feet. After showering, apply to well dried feet before putting on socks. Drakkar Noir is a footwear fragrance offering wonderful longevity that suits an active life style involving hiking, strenuous exercise or landscaping but I wouldn't use it otherwise because I find it prosaic.

After the dischordant, violent entrance - the astringent bluster and bravado of the clove - we find Harry Highpants in sensible shoes.
Begins with a bang but ends with a whimper. Perhaps the clove serves to anaesthetize the nose to the pedestrian nature of this composition.

A pleasant beginning and a surprisingly demure and elegant development which is mellow, velvet like, warm and comforting like a leather chair in an exclusive club that improves with age.

A beautifully well rounded and elegant fragrance which begins with a sensual flourish, burns brightly and then mellows. It is a glimpse of something wonderful but all too short lived.

As romantic as the last twist of tissue paper round a bunch of violets. A wonderful fragrance both demure and assured exuding the confidence that never expresses itself boisterously or boorishly. This is a fragrance for a stylish and sophisticated romantic.

Jean Patou 1000 approaches perfection. It alludes to something utterly sublime. I find it captivating, alluring, hypnotic and, above all, humbling. In its siren song there is the self-forgetfulness that comes from the realization that somethng truly transcendent can be achieved through mastery or inspiration or sheer genius. It embues one with the aura of elan.

Think of a blind date with someone who is pleasant but not sexy, funny, intriguing or beguiling... and the date passes ever so slowly. Eventually, you try to leave but she asks for a lift. Being a gentleman, you offer to assist and, on the way, she reveals that she is needy and unstable... and you just can't leave anyone in that state of turmoil. What began as a disappointment begins to cloy, degenerating into something very uncomfortable indeed. You know that someone, somewhere will love her, adore her and find her fascinating but you do not. Habit Rouge is a habit I will not form. It's as sexy as my grandmother's best friend and smells just like her. It was a blind date kind of purchase which made me realize again just how wonderfully individual each one's perception of a fragrance can be.

The references to 'old ladies' are quite insulting to old ladies - no one needs to smell like this. Apply sparingly by getting someone to hold the bottle and mist it for you in Bermuda while you hide somewhere in Alaska. I cannot think of a worse fragrance although Joop comes close.

An intriguing beginning in which one imagines lemon drops meeting urinal blocks and then, suddenly, deftly, the fears recede as something quite sophisticated presents itself. It's all too fleeting but something lingers like a half remembered summer moment in the shade of the citrus trees.

Magnificent - a bulldozer of a fragrance unless applied sparingly even then it remains sexy and brazen but never cheap or commonplace. An intoxicating '80's delight for those who appreciate the olefactorial equivalent of huge shoulder padding...

Women adore the smell of babies. Forget that top note of lavender which seems more like a shriek. That's just the olefactorial steamed towel over the face. Just as one begins thinking of 1930's barbers, the dry down begins with a haze of vanilla and a glow of musk. It is a brilliant creation intended to please women without unsettling men.

Lavender is a nervine with a slightly soporific effect perhaps it is this which creates the initially excited, then gladdened, then becalmed effect of this superb fragrance. The consequent mellowing of its dry down is the great success of this creation: it embues one with the calm sense of nothing to prove. Greatness is more than an appealing waft it is an attitude.

This is a freshly pressed white shirt of a scent with last season's collar offering nothing memorable. Try it on your feet before putting on your socks - this is a solid little sneaker treater of a scent.

What bravado at the beginning - brazen - but rather short lived settling into its early retirement with elegant powdery memories, a waft of tea with ginger on its breath and, no doubt, its regrets at being one third part of a creative effort in which the sum is greater than the parts.