Favourite reviewers

Agreed. Often times, when I read the reviews of a fragrance, I would show all reviews, press Ctrl+F, and type "foe". Of course, there are many other great contributors to the reviews.

BTW, don't forget that the forum also has a lot of info, even sometimes more than the review page, especially for not so popular scents. The forum also enable people to discuss and there are those 180-turn times.

Also, if you find you share tastes with a particular member, look at their wardrobe and see what else they liked and more than likely you should try the fragrances they own or rate highly.

decillisjl - for his vividness and humor
strollyourlobster - for the poetry
SirSlarty - for his experience, lack of solipsism and low hype

Too many to mention , Mikeperez and Bbbd before he was banned * eyesroll*

Yes, lots of great reviews here. I read them constantly. There are a few authors I pay more attention to. After you catch on to their style you see where they come from. I have read enough now that if a particular person does not like something, may mean I will like it.

I don't write reviews because my entire vocabulary was used up in the paragraph above. I am not a writer.

But thanks to everyone who does writes the reviews!

I don't know what he said that was so terrible, but his graciousness in welcoming me here as a newbie I will always appreciate and remember.

Sir Slarty for me. Tells it like it is.

Scentemental comes immediately to my mind.
By the way,does anybody remember Milamber,and his love about Laguna?

perfume4life has to be my favorite contributor

Aside from the usual suspects (and there are many good reviewers here), I sometimes look for Trebor's comments. Trebor is very hard to please (please don't take offense). I often use Trebor as a reality check.

Sir Slarty- Gets right to the point.

I didn't know he was banned?

I've often fancied sirslarty's, but mrclmind has to be my fave

Naed Nitram (sp.?) echoing the observations of the great Baron de Charlus is always a joy to read.

foetidus
mikeperez23
Sirslarty
JaimeB
ZZTop
tvlampboy
TwoRoads
SMM
pluran
abuandibeme
Vibert
teflondog
the_good_life
ComDiva
odysseusm
Wordbird

SirSlarty is one of the few reviewers who judges fragrances on their own merits, and is not afraid to give something fresh or aquatic a good review. It also doesn't hurt that he's smelled just about everything.

Vibert, ZZtopp and Foetidus are my personal favourites. All of them inspire me to write better reviews.

I really like Vibert's reviews.
the_good_life really hits the mark on issues with perfumes.

I think anyone who makes a concious effort into writing a few words reviewing a perfume should get a pat on the back.


I've learned a new word today!


This is an issue I'm still wondering about myself.

There is only a handful of reviewrs who`s every single review I have read :


Caltha
MonkeyManMatt
Vadim
Tigrushka
Robyogi
Pluran
Madridbatabidd
IPaidForThisName

Here's to you Mr. Murderer Your often contrary reviews are a great balance to all the others. Keep reviewing!

Some of my faves are by:

Pluran
Vibert
Foetidus
ZZtopp
the_good_life
tvlampboy
Naed Nitram
mrclmind

Overall though, I would say that I enjoy reading Mario Justiniani's the most...

scentemental
mrclmind
JaimeB
Foetidus

And for entertainment, I absolutely love Naed_Nitram

There are many - some that just come to mind:

Burr and Luca Turin (when he wants) for discussion of proprietary molecules
the_good_life and hirch_d for their dissection of citrus notes.
Scentemental for detailed expositions.
SirSlarty and ubuandibeme for to-the-point summaries.
Mikeperez23 for his 'adventure' reviews and impressions.
Trebor for (usually) first impressions/reviews of the newest stuff.
Foetidus just because of his awe-inspiring mountain of reviews.
Vibert for concise and professional writing.
bbBd for his Guerlain reviews.

Edit: bbBd is banned? I wonder what happened here.

I enjoy reading every review written - they all have merit and instructional value. My favorites are foetidus, zztop, tvlampboy, JaimeB, Vibert, mrclmnd, purplebird7, odysseum, robyogi, nthny, Ayala, Sir Slarty and Pluran (before he deleted them) reviews the best.

Our reviewers usually fall into three categories of excellence for me as I read them, which are (1) entertaining writers, (2) wizards at deconstructing and analyzing notes, and (3) excellent intuitive opinions or taste. Some reviwers are good at all three aspects (foetidus, JaimeB, mrclmnd) A few of those above are great at deconstructing and analyzing the notes, but end up with conclusions that I almost always disagree with - but I still enjoy reading them.

Couldn''t agree more. Amongst others . . .

Off-Scenter
scentemental (the original)
pluran
jtd
Mikeperez
JaimeB
RedneckPerfumisto
Foetidius
the_good_life
hirtch-d
AromiErotici

Thank you - especially for the laughs!

And Asha - thank you for demonstrating that is possible to make time stand still using only words - how do you do that?

My non-exhaustive list:

foetidus - usually dispassionate analysis of scents, even those he doesn't love. my main reference

mikeperez23 - down to Earth, man-on-the-street reviews

Sirslarty - Hmmm, sometimes cant figure his tastes out, but i always refer to his reviews

JaimeB - he is an ardent lover of fragrance, analyses well and matches his reviews with purchases

SMM - procsaic analysis of scents backed with an obvious world of wisdom

Vibert - knows his ingredients and how they should be blended for a particular scent concept

the_good_life - his joie de vie comes through so clearly as he interprets scents from that view

odysseusm - green scent connosieur par exellence

RedneckPerfumisto - interestingly worded reviews.

AromiErotici - my BN power-house soulmate. what he likes, i like.

Andrew the Cologne Guy - Straight up, unplugged, as-it-is reviews

Asha - well thought side-by-side reviews. you dont want not to be on the other side of an arguments with her in post though.

Jenson - reviews from similar climate to mine.

Dimitri - dedicated to fragrances. i "listen" to him.

Vibert and Foetidus

Naed Nitram - Makes reading interesting. I love the reviews, as they make me happy and interested. Gread stuff with The Baron.

The Gabba Goul - great reviews consisting of where the fragrance takes you. I have always felt this was important, more so than listing notes. Helpful, but most of all interesing as well. Makes you want to try the fragrance.

Sir Slarty - He covers a lot of fragrances, not just the obvious, but the not-so-obvious. Many fragrances have just him as the single reviewer. This is dedication that does not go unnoticed.

jdnba

I have to admit, I rely a lot on foetidus and Sir Slarty for their mountains of reviews. They're both good at telling not just whether or not they like a fragrance, but why.

scentemental I really like for his somewhat Alton-Brown-ish attention to nuts-and-bolts details.

And for someone who seems to share many of my own preferences, I look at pluran's reviews. It's very unusual for me to find a fragrance that I disagree with pluran regarding likes vs. dislikes. Looking through his reviews has actually been great resource for my own samplings.

And I'd like to thank SirSlanty for getting rid of that creepy stretched-out-guy avatar. That thing haunted me in my sleep...

I tend to avoid things like this because it perpetuates the cliqueish element that seems to characterize a select group of members on here. But that is always the way it is with special interest boards.

I will say, though, that there are some reviewers on here for whom I know that if they really love a fragrance, then chances are I'm not going to like it. Not always but often. Chalk it up to personal preferences. I have found that helpful.

Who ?! The NBA what ??

I'm joking of course, your reviews are very good and I can tell you have certain preferences so that helps when trying to get a good character read. You're reviews on the boozy scents ( Spark) and musk-like scents ( By Men) were very interesting to me when I was searching for those types of frags.

And you are very generous with your time when asked upon advice, a big thank you.

This is an interesting subject, not so much because one reviewer is "better" than another, but in terms of how people can perceive frags in such different ways. It's also interesting in terms of the sociology, meaning I find it interesting to read about how people think a review should be constructed. Also, some reviewers are too "easy" while others are too "hard" (IMO). Though I understand so much more about frags now, I'm more wary of trying to convey the experience in words. Here's an example: I wore Dunhill Desire for men the other day, probably the 7th or 8th wearing, and it smelled a lot like the first time I wore it, which reminded me of some sort of grape drink with teak wood in the background. This frag has smelled so different to me that it really makes me wonder what's going on with our sense of smell (or at least mine). I wouldn't be surprised if it seriously "devolved" over the millenia, and has been shaped by things we no longer (or rarely) experience. The reviews help in considering this issue, at least when there are more than a few on a particular frag.

Naed Nitram? A friend of Knarf Artanis? Weren't they both part of the tar kcap?

Hold it to a mirror...

(My fave is madridbatabidd. )

I really appreciate all the reviewers, but one that I pay special attention to is the_good_life because I almost always agree with him. So, when he's really excited about a fragrance I've never tested, it almost always goes immediately on my list of "must tries."

Naed Nitram, The Good Life and Sir Slarty all the way!

soo many of them !

Monkey Man Matt
Naed Nitram
Russlan
Ipaidforthisname
Vibert
Dimitri
Scentemental
Pluran
JaimeB
tvlampboy
The good life
Trebor
Foetidus
SMM
Aromi Eroticci
MrclMind
Caltha
ZZtop
Asha
Ubuandieme
Castorpollux
Odysseusm
SirSlarty
Pigeon Murdrer

if any 3 of the above members agree on a scent, then it' s a go. all of them are worth in gold for me. im really sorry if i have left anyone out.

Along with those already mentioned, I pay attention to shifts' reviews.

What if 3 like it and 3 don't?

Foetidus

Though "note pyramids" don't get much respect, they have helped me a lot. Basically, if I have the pyramid and if there are reviews which speak to how blended it is and which notes are strongest, I can usually make the right call (if I am considering a blind buy). So for me, at this point, the "technical" information is most important (which I guess is an opinion that is opposite to that of LT's).

I like them all, but i kinda follow Trebor because he is so hard to please. So when he find a frag that he likes i know it must be GOOD!!! : @ )

foetidus, Vibert and zztop's analyses are spot-on. Asha's writing style of comparing scents as a framing device is really helpful. ubuandibeme and JaimeB's tastes are like my own. Plus I'm always impressed by those who separate the quality of the scent from their personal tastes. Just because you don't like a scent doesn't mean it's bad, and I like to see that acknowledged.

Trebor is my favorite, too, and I greedily await his every review. It's not because he is hard to please - that is only secondary. It's because of his dedication to THE SEARCH. His search is epic. In his ever-diligent pursuit of THE Holy Grail, he is never derailed by insignificance or by the deceit, the misrepresentations, or the evil temptations of the dark forces of the olfactory universe. He IS Sir Galahad: so pure in his heart so true to the quest so demanding of designer and niche righteousness so sincere in his deliberations so honest in his assessments His quest itself is THE perfect beauty. He is my hero.

SirSlarty

Vibert and SirSlarty

thn it's a game i play, i'll look for the next three from list and so on...in the end will look at my scorecard and declare the winner....jeez KMF you take me too seriously. im just a noob trying to survive

Wow so many good reviewers. Sort of intimidating. I have only written one review and it was more of an emotional outlet at the time than a proper review.

I enjoy people who include reviews in the Scent of the Day thread. I always look forward to that.

Besides so many distinguished reviewers already mentioned, I also want to acknowledge Jenson and Amit. I consider them as part of the "reality check" contingent.

I also like to read Ruggles reviews because we have similar taste and he is "spunky".

The advantage we have over professional perfume critics: we don't need to cover the whole area, and I am only talking about reviews of fragrances worn by men. It's obvious to me that I cannot come up with a list from the top of my head. Grateful as I am for being able to consult the review section of our directory (to which I contribute next to nothing), I prefer the whole variety of reviews in their harmonies and dissonances over outstanding achievements of one or the other individual. Astoundingly few of my favorite critics are found at the top of review statistics. Some are overly enthusiastic about ordinary perfumes and others seem to be compelled to write a lot. Some simply write for a majority. In these cases I often miss the point or may have wasted time.

But I could say that the majority of my favorite reviewers have been mentioned by at least one poster before me. One or two of those amateurs generally write good reviews technically, but their verdicts and mine would seldom be the the same. But still I always look at their verdict and how they arrived at it. Then there are guys I seem to share preferences with in one area or the other. I have one or two I trust regarding oudhs and others for classical colognes, and yet others for favorite brands. There is none who really covers all of these together. Provided they are solid, and together with Ruggles I appreciate contrary reviews for a good balance (objective reviews will never be possible).

At long last:

1. There is one I would want to urge taking his reviews to an editor. It would be a small book only, but contain gems from all periods. I consider his reviews poetic and the good thing is: his surprising verdicts coincide with mine often, and where they don't I can see why that is. He seems to have been here from the start. Others tried to copy him but only proved how difficult it is to imitate geniality.

2. To those individualists who have written fewer reviews than others and not been mentioned in this thread: you may have at least one secret but ardent admirer.

.

Please ignore !
I hate when this happens:
re-posting the same draft unintendedly .
Off to scanning Trebor's reviews now...


.

or heroine

So far I've only written "reviews" in dedicated threads such as "L'Anarchiste: Initial Impressions." There are few scents, this long into the journey, that I'd feel I could review truly properly, and hence I lay out my initial impressions and sometimes updates, and leave it at that.

That being said, some of my faves are SirSlarty for his prolific and to the point reviewing style, Foetidus, Vibert, tvlampboy, and many many others that I am forgetting right now.

Scentemental
SirSlarty
decillisjl

tvlampboy
Jamie B
Sir Slarly

Naed_Nitram and his tales of Baron de Charlus!

http://www.basenotes.net/fragrancereviews/3408
This link contains all his reviews.

I like your list and narrative. may I add a couple of my favorites.

ZZtop - Very knowledgeable, professional prose and writing skills - good nose, and tells it how he sees it.

Trebor - a great nose - I personally agree with 90% of his choices - when we disagree we still have fun

Cairomerta - Always enjoy his input - another great nose as far as I'm concerned

I admire Trebor for his quest but often times I do not parallel his fragrant interests. I would have to say Foetidus is my fav because his descriptive writings are always spot on for me but also because I find that our tastes are perhaps most similar if truth be told.