I didn't have too much time to sniff around during my one-week vacation, but I passed through London Sunday and Monday on a business trip and managed to spend a little time at B Never 2 Beautiful and Liberty's.
I was impressed by the general quality of the B Never perfumes, which truly represent haute perfumery. In fact some of the compositions are very much in the mold of classics.
Breath of God would have been interesting, but for an obnoxious melon note, which smelled more like cucumber to me and trivialized the composition in my eyes. BoG was actually one of the least favorite of mine, but this comes from a hater of MI, so be warned of my prejudice. Its male half, Exhale, was a lot better, if perhaps more conventional - really "just" a very good vetiver fragrance with a fine woody-musky base. The natural cedar and sandalwood really made a difference here. It's not as brash as Villoresi's and smokier than Givenvchy and, way more enjoyable than the overpriced Vétiver Extraordinaire. When my vintage bottle of L'Occitane is done, I may just get this.
Ladyboy is marketed as a 'gay perfume also bought by straights.' It did not work for me with it's synthy banana top note, which smells exactly like the awful Nesquick instant banana drink from my childhood. I guess it may click with Brazilian drag queens wearing Carmen Miranda outfits...
Dear John is a conventional citrus in which I failed to get the strong coffe base which is supposed to make this interesting. I preferred another one, 1000 Kisses deep, which smelled like an homage to Concentrée d'Orange Verte and may be interesting for anyone seeking this style with a bit more longevity.
Cocktail reminded me of Hammam Bouquet, a creamy sensuous floral, jasmine and other white blossoms and a nice rose over a classic wood base.
Superworldunknown is almost the name of my favorite grunge record from the 90s and a great fragrance - to me it's the best blend of creativity and earnestness in the line up. Personally I was a bit bothered by the emerging "white musk" note, which I'm not fond of, but this one is worth a try for sure.
Keep it Fluffy is their Britney Spears fragrance. Probably the bestseller and just a terrible sticky-synthy mess, toxic for anyone above age 18 (at least intellectually).
Tuesday afternoon I dipped into Liberty's on my way from Charing Cross to Heathrow. Too bad they didn't have the new Malle to smell yet. I quickly spritzed through some Le Labos - not my cup of tea. In fact the two best things I smelled in the store were Bois 1920 Real Patchouly, which is a conventional, but wonderfully rich patchouli and Idole de Lubin, truly one of OG's masterpieces. I tried Miller Harris Fleurs de Bois, currently a Liberty exclusive and found it as boring as its name. If this is post-oakmoss perfumery, we're in for hard times. I smelled a lot of Iso E Super rather than mossy green. The other MH exclusive Noir Rose or Rose Noir (they need to be a bit more imaginative) was a decent rose that did not hold any interest. The Ineke line from SF was a total dud for me. Just not my style, no flesh on the bones, all light wispy clean and with a kind of modernist sterility to them.
Anvers 2 is a lot better than Anvers. The style reminded me a bit of Miller & Bertaux. Not bottle-worthy to me, but a decent modern scent. There were a few others I tried, but they have already faded from memory. If they'd carried Givenchy I might have finally gotten a bottle of Vetyver, but after first confusing it with Guerlain (that has happended to me twice now) the SA discovered they didn't. I bought nothing - think I'm quite saturated currently.
Favorite sniffs:
BN2B2BB, Exhale
Lubin, Idole
Bois 1920, Real Patchouly
I was impressed by the general quality of the B Never perfumes, which truly represent haute perfumery. In fact some of the compositions are very much in the mold of classics.
Breath of God would have been interesting, but for an obnoxious melon note, which smelled more like cucumber to me and trivialized the composition in my eyes. BoG was actually one of the least favorite of mine, but this comes from a hater of MI, so be warned of my prejudice. Its male half, Exhale, was a lot better, if perhaps more conventional - really "just" a very good vetiver fragrance with a fine woody-musky base. The natural cedar and sandalwood really made a difference here. It's not as brash as Villoresi's and smokier than Givenvchy and, way more enjoyable than the overpriced Vétiver Extraordinaire. When my vintage bottle of L'Occitane is done, I may just get this.
Ladyboy is marketed as a 'gay perfume also bought by straights.' It did not work for me with it's synthy banana top note, which smells exactly like the awful Nesquick instant banana drink from my childhood. I guess it may click with Brazilian drag queens wearing Carmen Miranda outfits...
Dear John is a conventional citrus in which I failed to get the strong coffe base which is supposed to make this interesting. I preferred another one, 1000 Kisses deep, which smelled like an homage to Concentrée d'Orange Verte and may be interesting for anyone seeking this style with a bit more longevity.
Cocktail reminded me of Hammam Bouquet, a creamy sensuous floral, jasmine and other white blossoms and a nice rose over a classic wood base.
Superworldunknown is almost the name of my favorite grunge record from the 90s and a great fragrance - to me it's the best blend of creativity and earnestness in the line up. Personally I was a bit bothered by the emerging "white musk" note, which I'm not fond of, but this one is worth a try for sure.
Keep it Fluffy is their Britney Spears fragrance. Probably the bestseller and just a terrible sticky-synthy mess, toxic for anyone above age 18 (at least intellectually).
Tuesday afternoon I dipped into Liberty's on my way from Charing Cross to Heathrow. Too bad they didn't have the new Malle to smell yet. I quickly spritzed through some Le Labos - not my cup of tea. In fact the two best things I smelled in the store were Bois 1920 Real Patchouly, which is a conventional, but wonderfully rich patchouli and Idole de Lubin, truly one of OG's masterpieces. I tried Miller Harris Fleurs de Bois, currently a Liberty exclusive and found it as boring as its name. If this is post-oakmoss perfumery, we're in for hard times. I smelled a lot of Iso E Super rather than mossy green. The other MH exclusive Noir Rose or Rose Noir (they need to be a bit more imaginative) was a decent rose that did not hold any interest. The Ineke line from SF was a total dud for me. Just not my style, no flesh on the bones, all light wispy clean and with a kind of modernist sterility to them.
Anvers 2 is a lot better than Anvers. The style reminded me a bit of Miller & Bertaux. Not bottle-worthy to me, but a decent modern scent. There were a few others I tried, but they have already faded from memory. If they'd carried Givenchy I might have finally gotten a bottle of Vetyver, but after first confusing it with Guerlain (that has happended to me twice now) the SA discovered they didn't. I bought nothing - think I'm quite saturated currently.
Favorite sniffs:
BN2B2BB, Exhale
Lubin, Idole
Bois 1920, Real Patchouly
