Reviews by odysseusm

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    odysseusm
    Canada Canada

    Showing 391 to 420 of 1231.
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    Bois d'Arménie by Guerlain

    I've smelled Armenian paper and appreciate that smell. The notes of incense and spice in this scent looked promising. I found the scent to be very sweet, rich and heavy. The emphasis on benzoin may be appropriate but it is not something I would seek out.

    25 November, 2011

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    10 Corso Como by 10 Corso Como

    Here are the notes I saw listed: sandalwood, frankincense, musk, rose, geranium, vetiver, Malay oud.
    This is a very subtle, close to the skin scent. The incense is very smooth, and the sandalwood is creamy. There are mere hints of green-coniferous frankincense and rose; and even a fainter hint of tangy oud. Overall the scent is beautiful, perhaps just a bit too smooth and restrained to really attract my attention. However, I cannot fault it and I am sure that many will find it very nice.

    25 November, 2011

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    Alliage by Estée Lauder

    I've heard about this and was glad to sample it. It is a big scent. Marketed to women but it is so powerful and moderately dry that a man could wear it. The peachy fruit up top gives it a round, plump opening. It quickly settles into a 70's herbal-mossy-leathery brew. It is a sibling to Dior's Jules. Nice enough, some might find it a bit dated in today's market.

    25 November, 2011

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    Kolnisch Juchten by Parfums Regence

    Well, I need to admit that I am not a fan of leather scents. However, this is such a legendary, almost mythic scent that I had to try it. I just sniffed it on paper. It is a huge smokey-leather scent. I have heard it described as suggesting spicy and fatty sausages grilling and slightly burnt on an outdoor wood fire. Very high-calorie and animalic! Well, that is exactly what I encountered. I'm glad to have encountered it -- it definitely is one of the most unique scents I have smelled. By the way, Parfums Regence makes a whole slew of scents, not just this one. I sampled their Lavender and Vert scents at Jaquelines as well... nothing special in either of those. Lavender was a reasonable lavender, Vert was a soapy-green scent, a bit heavy.

    25 November, 2011

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    Jules by Christian Dior

    I used to wear this "in the day" (when it was launched). Recently I had the chance to sniff it. It is a big ol' powerhouse of the 80's, but is quite attractive and well made. I can still appreciate the intensely green opening (courtesy of the galbanum). It quickly settles into a leathery-spicy brown brew. If applied lightly it probably would be good. I've moved out of the leather-scent camp, so I can appreciate it but wouldn't buy it.

    25 November, 2011

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    Sartorial by Penhaligon's

    What an interesting scent! It is both extremely old-school and amazingly modern in style. It opens as a very historic fougere, with lavender, moss and hay-like vanilla notes. Then I find a very contemporary, even industrial, note of paper, steam and freshly-ironed shirts... perhaps the crackle of ozonic electricity. This adds a very clean and bracing quality to the fougere richness. Venerable wood and old leather notes work in counterpoint with an edgy metallic note to create a charming chord. This certainly suggests a location, the tailor shop but also an old library. My one reservation is a slightly more developed vanilla note than I like -- but this is a minor point. High approval for this. Very well conceived and executed.

    25 November, 2011

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    L'Eau by Diptyque

    This is a good scent, but I feel it could be better. It definitely is a spicy potpourri, with particular emphasis on cinnamon and cloves. There is a woody tone underneath the spices, and sometimes a deep rose note tentatively appears. Initially the spices overwhelm the floral notes, and unless you really love cloves you might find this problematic. Eventually the scent settles down and it finishes with a lovely light spice chord. If I could redesign this, I'd lessen the spices at the top and augment the rose note. A deep and sustained rose, framed by spices, would be marvelous.

    25 November, 2011

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    Olène by Diptyque

    This is a gentle, lovely floral scent. I think if I met a lovely woman wearing it I would fall head-over-heels in love!
    It is a fairly sweet, spring-like floral with some green notes. The jasmine is accurately conveyed, along with heady wisteria and a spring-bulb note of narcissus. The scent has a youthful vibe.
    The dry-down is so gorgeous that it really makes my heat skip a beat. I don't think I'd ever wear it but I'd happily encounter it!

    17 October, 2011

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    L'Essence de Déclaration by Cartier

    Here are the notes listed on the sample vial card: cedar and birchwood; amber, ciste and immortal [flower].
    It is dry and quite woody, with an airy character.
    Some spice like cumin certainly is here, and gives a tangy, old-sweat note.
    The labdanum gives a vanilla/amber note.
    I should like this but I don't. At times, the wood note (with the cumin) veers into a territory like wet cardboard or old, dry cheddar cheese.

    11th October, 2011

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    Forest Rain by Kiehl's

    I give a neutral rating but really, it is not bad. It is a soft, slightly dusky-sweet musk scent. As others have noted, this is not a crisp forest but rather the soft green undergrowth in a tropical forest after an early morning rain. The vetiver gives a grassy, stalk-like aspect. I find some mild green notes throughout. A little too soft and pretty for me to wear, but it is a nice sort or scent. I do see similarities in house style to Pour Homme Essence and Kiehl's Musk. I wouldn't call this a "masculine" scent at all.

    10th October, 2011

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    Balenciaga Paris L'Essence by Balenciaga

    I really have high expectations for scents which claim to be green.
    I found this to have nothing that I would call green. No "forest", no moss, no vetiver, no grass, no leaves. The violet leaves are of a particularly dense and metallic-sweet kind. The scent overall is very heavy, to my taste very sweet and closed-in.
    It lands like a clump on my skin and won't go away.
    I searched for some redeeming features... for my taste I couldn't find any.
    I really feel that this presented itself as a very loud and problematic scent. I didn't find it attractive at all. I did note a bit of leather-esque chord at the end. Ultimately, I had to wash it off after 15 minutes. Perhaps my skin just doesn't suit this. But green fans... don't expect too much from it.
    Where's my Ho Hang?...

    26 September, 2011

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    Baiser Volé by Cartier

    This scent is meant to convey an portrait of the various parts of a lily: pistils, petals, and green leaves. It succeeds in that goal, and quite well. This is a lovely floral. It is somewhat sweet, but it is not heavy and it retains a fresh quality. At times it has soapy or dewy notes, suggesting youth and Springtime. The phrase "pretty in pink" comes to mind. The lily theme is well done -- it really smells like that flower. It has the saffron-like pistils, the heady sweetness of the petals, and the perky crunch of green leaves. Not at all my style but I can appreciate it.

    24 September, 2011

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    Alien by Thierry Mugler

    This is strictly an impressionistic note. I haven't tried this on, but I smelled it during conversation with a very attractive woman. It suited her so well, and it was a lovely scent. It seemed warm, deep but not cloying or heavy, and worked well on a warm summer night. Excellent sillage, particularly since this was an outdoor event.

    25 August, 2011

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    Revelation by CB I Hate Perfume

    On the paper strip, it had moderately appealing green grass and fig notes. On my skin, it had an awful, unattractive note. It was sweet, totally un-fig-like, a somewhat rancid and sour soapy note. Bleh.

    24 August, 2011

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    Earthtones #1 - Dark Earth by Neil Morris Fragrances

    This scent is meant to suggest the transition from winter to spring, and the potential of fresh soil to yield life. I find that it does indeed exactly convey an impression of freshly-cut, rich, loamy soil. And I mean EXACTLY. Now, is that necessarily a good thing? Debatable. Demeter and CB I Hate Perfume do the same thing, presenting rather straightforward renditions of a single concept or moment in time. Do I like the smell of rich soil? Yes. Do I want to smell like that all day? No.
    Aside from the quirky and distinctive earth smell, I also get somewhat odd and fleeting notes of sweet dark chocolate. There is some sort of green note, as promised. The scent starts somewhat sweet and quickly gets quite sweet. It also gets heavy, powerful, musky, and tiresome for anyone who doesn’t dote on sweetie-pie scents. Eventually I had to wash it off.

    12 August, 2011

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    Cathedral by Neil Morris Fragrances

    “You are walking alone through a grand cathedral. It is dark and intimate with the residue of a thousand incense burnings. A single shaft of light penetrates the darkness.” So NM.

    Well, I think a better description would be, “You settle into your richly-oiled leather chair at the gentleman’s club. You catch the sweet and strong scent of women’s powder make-up. Must speak to Jeeves; deuced laxity in allowing women into the club…”

    Two questions: where is the incense? Where is the smoke?
    On me, this is a very sweet leather-oriented scent. I’d call it a floral leather. What this has to do with a cathedral I can’t imagine. At times, the flowers and leather give a honeyed note or something like clover. People who like sweet scents might appreciate this one. I found the sweetness became so irritating that I had to wash it off.

    11th August, 2011

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    Earthtones #3 - North Woods by Neil Morris Fragrances

    Sadly, I have to report my disappointment with this scent. I love coniferous, woody, and herbal scents. Looking at the notes list, I had every reason to hope that North Woods would be that sort of scent. I find that it is not very green, not at all coniferous, and really not woody. To me, it suggests a sunny meadow of sweet grass. That is not a bad image to convey, and the scent is not unpleasant. But in my opinion there is little of any woodland in it.

    The scent starts in a promising manner, with lovely green notes hinting at galbanum or clary sage. The scent is soft but fresh. Fig leaf and cut grass are accurately rendered and give a slight herbal chord. Alas, this is a very brief phase. Next to appear is the heather – an outdoorsy floral, a bit hay-like or somewhat like broom. Soapy myrrh appears, and the scent becomes somewhat sweet. The hay-like note increases, at times becoming powdery and at other times suggesting tobacco leaf. Sometimes I detect a cool, tinny-metallic note which reminds me of some patchoulis I’ve encountered. At times, there is an earthy note like soil, and I am reminded of Czech and Speake’s Cuba with the tobacco-earth combination.

    To reiterate: this is a pleasant scent, somewhat low-key but in many ways attractive. But I don’t find it substantially green and certainly (for me) there is nothing of the forest about it, either in terms of coniferous or wood notes.

    09 August, 2011

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    Royal Scottish Lavender by Creed

    It starts with a very good lavender note: airy, herbal, suggesting both flowers and leaves. The scent quickly becomes very much in the Creed style, namely round and smooth, even somewhat luxurious. The vanilla is restrained, thankfully. There are hints of spices (cloves, nutmeg) to give a masculine vibe. The scent is subtle and sits close to the skin.
    I like a lavender scent to be more lively and sharp than this -- however, many will like it and it is very well done.

    08 August, 2011

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    Number Six by Caswell-Massey

    This is a nice scent, I like it.
    It starts with very notes of orange zest and blossom, and lemon zest. These are very pleasant and lively. They are quickly joined by aromatic and herbal notes: slightly soapy anise, herbal-minty rosemary, warmly spicy clove and nutmeg. The scent is old-school and masculine in style, but it is restrained and classy (not a powerhouse). There is an interesting note which I can't quite identify. It is creamy, toasted-nutty, slightly sweet -- perhaps it is almond blossom. The dry-down is genteel and wears well.

    08 August, 2011

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    Vétiver by Carven

    I was fortunate to get the original Carven Vetiver.
    Briefly, it has been through several versions.
    * 1957 - pictured above. A rectangular bottle with rounded edges and a green plastic cap. Green box.
    * 1990's reissues. Early bottles had a wooden cap, later ones had a silver metal cap. Revamped green box with a white chevron on it. Allegedly weaker in style.
    * 2006 reformulation. White box, square bottle. Different list of notes
    * 2009 alternate version? Called "Le Vetiver".

    By all accounts the original is the best, and without trying the later versions I find it to be very good. The opening is full of lemony goodness. It quickly takes on an earthy, dry and slightly spice character that is old-school and full of charm. Wood notes work well with the vetiver. The vetiver is very green in style: it is invigorating and at times has a soapy-fresh, coniferous aspect. The dry-down develops lovely creamy sandalwood and green moss notes. The scent is never sweet or heavy, and it wears very well. I'd say that if you are a vetiver fan and can find the *original* it is worth checking out.

    05 August, 2011

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    Eau Duelle by Diptyque

    Notes according to the Diptyque site: cold spices, black frankincense, vanilla.
    I give this a "neutral" and that is a huge concession -- since I can't stand vanilla. Here, I say that this is a very woody vanilla, and for me the wood almost redeems the scent. The vanilla is somewhat on the dry side (as dry as vanilla can ever be, which is not entirely so). At times a coniferous note (the juniper) brightens the scent slightly, perhaps also the frankincense adds another green note. I will grudgingly concede that this is a sophisticated oriental -- it is not ponderous, thick, or treacly-sweet. It has verve and a translucent aspect. At times in the dry-down, I think I get the ghostly echo of smokey incense. Subtract the vanilla and I'd be interested. Keep the vanilla and I say -- vanilla fans will enjoy this.

    03 August, 2011

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    Aventus by Creed

    This isn't a bad scent. However, I give it a thumbs down for three reasons: poor value, generic style, and inferior dry-down.
    For a scent to be this expensive, I feel it should be distinctive, enthralling, and represent a high degree of the perfume art. This has none of those qualities. So the selling price accentuates the next two issues.
    The style is competent. I find it to be a somewhat bland but attractive smooth, evening-out scent. Nothing grabs my attention but nothing shrieks at me.
    However, the long-term dry-down presents a bright, somewhat synthetic note which suggests powdered laundry detergent. It is punchy and fresh, but not at all what expect from a noble sort of scent. More in the drugstore line, to be frank.
    The scent starts with good citrus and fruit notes. These are crisp, vibrant, and natural. They do not suggest fruit loops or hard candy. These deepen with dry florals and the merest hint of wood. Then follows an early light musk-moss phase -- the vanilla is restrained here. So far, the scent has my approval if not my admiration. Its restraint gives it a gentlemanly air, which works well with the clubby aspects. But overall, the scent lacks any compelling or distinctive features. It seems like many others of its kind. And then the bright detergent note emerges and, in my opinion, ruins any cred it had established. Really, an uninspired offering from Creed -- in my opinion.

    03 August, 2011

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    L'Ombre dans L'Eau by Diptyque

    I like this scent. It has a lovely opening in the style of Eau de Lierre -- namely, crunchy green leaves. I find that very appealing. Then, a delicate green rose note appears. It is translucent, not sweet, almost sappy in style. Very vital and appealing. The rose note deepens but never becomes heavy, and it has good longevity. Finally, the dry-down is slightly dusky and salty and wears very well. A completely unisex scent, in my opinion.

    01st August, 2011

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    Dune pour Homme by Christian Dior

    The hedione on my skin gives this a "fresh" (= unpleasantly synthetic and ozonic) quality which I don't appreciate. That note totally dominates, and I barely (if at all) get any fig leaf or wood notes. The hedione also gives a vaguely sweet aspect which I don't like. Where are the herbs or woods? This is not at all natural smelling and thus I can't find a single good thing to say about it.

    27 July, 2011

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    Jazz by Yves Saint Laurent

    This is an interesting old-school fougere, to be sure. It is a bit more brown and "dirty" than I care for, but I think it is a good scent and it has many fans. Mossy, a bit spicy and leathery. For a while the geranium-rose note was very pleasant, but it was brief. I like a greener fougere, but this is OK and worth checking out.

    27 July, 2011

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    Eau du Sud by Annick Goutal

    Notes: bergamot, tangerine, grapefruit, key lime, verbena, peppermint, basil, patchouli, oakmoss, with hints of jasmine and vetiver.
    I'm amazed at how much I dislike this scent! It has a very, very sour and unpleasant dry-down on my skin. I attribute that to the particular combination of patchouli and oakmoss. It is awful.
    The scent starts in a promising way, with good citrus notes. The herbs are lamentably brief. Then a brackish brown twang settles in and I just can't stand it.

    27 July, 2011

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    Bandit by Robert Piguet

    This is interesting in an old-school, classy aromatic way. The floral notes are attractive, rich and heady. There are sophisticated spices and hints of leather to add intriguing notes. The scent reminds me of Trussardi (White), with its cream florals, spices and leathers. Probably Trussardi copied this original. The scent is not too sweet, a man certainly could wear it. The spices are complex, mysterious and dark. Yet there is also a cool, clear aspect which I associate with clove and which gives a masculine, barbershop aspect. Carnation adds another dimension to the clove. I'll reiterate: this is not a sweet scent. The dry-down is dry, spicy, slightly dirty... and quite intriguing. The musk and patchouli are (thankfully) restrained.

    26 July, 2011

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    The One Gentleman by Dolce & Gabbana

    Don't get any lavender or fennel. This meteor hits the surface with a vanilla impact. So sweet it is candied. So simple it is boring. Sweetly spicy, gives me a headache. A very uninspired oriental.

    22 July, 2011

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    Givenchy Play Intense by Givenchy

    Yeah, a bit more "intense" than the regular Play. Is it any better? No.
    This is a bit more woody, and the wood (at times) gives a slightly vanilla note, like old oak casks for wine. A fuller, rounder version of Play. No less sweet, and I like it less due to the quasi vanilla aspect.
    Kind of reminds me of warm apple pie on a wooden plank.

    20th July, 2011

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    Givenchy Play by Givenchy

    Starts as aromatic, a bit sweet and somewhat synthetic/budget smelling.
    Some of the sweetness burns off quickly and we have a functional, mildly spicy-aromatic scent. Has a vague, sort of generic appeal but nothing particularly noteworthy here. A somewhat odd, (or out of context) freshly-baked bread note.
    Nothing wretched here so I give it a neutral.

    20th July, 2011

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