Fragrance Reviews by nycflaneur

i think dr. stevie below has hit on what makes little italy more than just overpriced oranges: it's, to me, the perfect layering fragrance. there are bond 9 fragrances that i *rock* in the winter (like nuits de noho) that die and rot, unfortunately, in the heat of summer--and little italy breathes new life back into them, revives them with the citrusy tang of living oranges. and it does so without rendering the other fragrances too complex--because by laying little italy, you're simply amplifying another scent's top layer, rendering the overall composition more transparent, refreshing.

last thing.... this orange is priced the way it is IMO because it's not just must *any* orange, mind you. it's an orange walking up mulberry street in a silk balenciaga summer dress and prada sunglasses, on her way to her photo shoot up in nolita....

i'd been searching far and wide for a cold-weather chocolate that would work with me. borneo 134's camphor and angel men's tar notes gave these a pizzazz and personality too robust to fit in the same room with me. cannabis santal's chocolate-patchouli was nice, but its cannabis too earthy for the dead cold, too terrestrial for my personality.

i simply had no idea what i was getting myself into in ordering ayala's "film noir." it opens with a--oh wait, it doesn't "open," for it has no top or heart notes. but its all-base composition nevertheless develops. it begins with the bitter-sweet holy mystery of myrhh (i was once an altar boy in a cathedral fragranced with myrhh, so there's something here, to me, as mysterious as the sacraments, witholding a perfect secret). glowing from behind this myrhh is a sensual beautiful chocolate, a cacao just dry enough so as not to cloy with the myrhh. patchouli inconspicuously grounds these two notes into the earth. on my skin, the chococolate welds somewhat into the myrhh, which predominates without losing its chocolatey sensual energy. to me, this fragrance doesn't come across as simply "dark": it's mysterious, sensual, something unexpectedly and perfectly sexy....my little secret.

ayala moriel's labors of love seem to be composed of materials among the most precieux. "film noir," specifically, emanates from my skin softly, suggestively. as for longevity--it remained on my skin well after a full shower.

this fragrance is seduction in a bottle. there's something about the frankincense that seems to hail from a far-away land of forbidden pleasures, but that somehow also remains pure, the offering to the Christ at the manger..... the pomegranate fruitiness remains warm, edible, hypnotizing. this is a warm sensuality perfect for a cold winter night in which you want your beloved (male or female) to melt into you.....

this fragrance is a perfect example of how seasonality (weather and mood) affect olfactory perception. i bought this scent last spring, when it was getting warm (60's-70's), yet remained jackety, here in nyc. back then, from beneath the earthy acridity of the cannabis accord came through the warmth of the gourmand basenotes: arresting the two in a dizzyingly pleasurable tension. what made this so wonderful was that it allowed me to smell chocolatey, but not overly so: the gourmand sweetness was pierced through with an earthiness that itself seemed to correspond with the renewing springtime vegetation...... that was last spring. now, however, in the dead of an urban winter, i'm not getting the warmth, the bottom of chocolate, anymore. i'm only getting an acridity that doesn't make much sense to me right now. i absolutely LOVE this scent, but only in the spring and fall: it's not warm enough for the winter or fresh enough for the dead of summer. at least for me. lastly, many a late-night model has melted at the combination of this scent on my neck and Fresh's "Fleurs de Chocolat" on my wrist pulse points. what a combination! but, uh, i *think* this is my little secret. in case it is, please, feel free to use it....only FAR AWAY from nyc.....

i live in the area code which this fragrance's name commemorates (that of manhattan, nyc), but the irony is that i'm finding this one perfume everywhere in the world *but* in nyc. i actually first came across it in barcelona & haven't seen it in nyc yet.

the scent opens with a seductive oriental (indian) spice--the cardamom and pepper pierce through your nose, alerting you that A MAN is on his way: a seducer. this intrusion is altogether pleasureable (as the gentleman's will be), yet softened and sweetened by the bergamot top notes. in some ways this scent is a gourmand, but not in the new haarlem / rochas kinda way: more in the sense that it harmonizes the spice notes that mesmerize you in a indian spice market (without at all leaving you smelling like a walking curry dish). the dry-down is a sweet woody musk. the spicy middle and warmer basenotes work wonderfully together. two sprays suffice, as there's much sillage; longevity is wonderful. great winter scent for occassions in which you want to be really sexy, captivating, but in which you aren't being too formal.