Sample of the Day - February 2013

I'm not very fond of this one. It is ok, but I don't think I would ever own it.

OK. frag but NBW IMO.

Hi teardrop
Sorry for not chiming in sooner!
Have loved reading your thoughts.
Back to January for a minute - yes the Sepia is extremely animalic isn't it! Very fecal initially - I'm amazed to be honest it got such a warm welcoming in the community and such high praise in the blogging world when it was released, it's certainly not an easy wear. I've grown so fond of it though and bought a bottle, I get great comfort out of it. It's a melancholy fragrance to me, alongside the cliche Iris Silver Mist amongst others...
As for Cepes and Tuberose, I found that one of the least interesting of her fragrances to be honest - I adore her work, this one was a bit of a let down for me though, I enjoy the perfume very much (although it's one of the few that is very shortlasting on me). I guess the main reason being I get virtually no tuberose, and no mushrooms :')

As for Dark Aoud - your visions were almost identical to mine, to me it smells like an old abandoned building. Atmospheric, dank and ancient - I would love a little bottle of it

Petroleum opens to me almost pure aldehydic civet/oud before it goes bilgey. A very fecal civet at that.
At times I love it and think it's brilliant, at others I find the drydown boring and generic (well - in comparison to the opening). Yet again, I'd quite like a bottle, but I wouldn't wear it much. Sometimes the civet turns my stomach a touch (not sure why I don't get this with anything else civet heavy) - I guess it's the aldehyde and driftwood pairing :') It's a wierd one thats for sure.

Look forward to reading more!

As for me, today I sampled Portrait Of A Lady. I have had a sample for a while now and finally reviewed it in full here

In short: I like the opening, but can instantly tell it's not "me". A great rose/geranium combo, the cool quality of the herbal geranium juxtaposed against some culinary spices (bay, clove, cinnamon, pepper, coriander?) adding heat.
The rose is bone dry and almost potpourri-like, the incense is intense and peppery, the patchouli lovely and over the top. Blah blah.. basically I don't like the drydown. A disappointing woody/amber/musk that smells like "bulk" - it doesn't stay true to the glamorous opening and for me, gets boring very quickly I don't hate the perfume, but it grinds on me.

It is very literal barnyard isn't it. Although I have a lot of oud oils at home, they make Sepia smell like something department store fresh :') haha. So I don't find Sepia that dirty anymore - well, I do, but instead of fecal, I find it more "soiled", it just smells like dirty skin. Not the whole fragrance of course, but just an accord. I think it's a very clever perfume though, the strawberry note that's completely rotten, the non animalic animal notes (indole, mushroom, oud) - it is extremely complicated when properly explored. I love it!
Yep you were right all along about the cepes, to me it's just a lactonic sandalwood heavy rose? Very subtle and at times reminded me of Jeux De Peau...
It is strangely appealing ey! Much more gothic than say, Avignon - the more I talk about it the more I need it :P

Yeh for me the drydown of PoaL was a huge letdown, felt bad saying so because it gets so much love but, there we go.

LOL! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Ladamo :P It's definitly a strange little thing. An even more masculine, herbal Sables.

Is Molecule 03 a synthetic? If so, Ladamo is a natural fragrance But I totally get the celery thing also - a bit like Yatagan.
Most of the O'Driu's are shockingly potent. Did I include a sample of Leva? Sorry if not That's the only O'Driu I have a full bottle of so far - it is just as strong! But some of the newer releases are much tamer.
You describe Ladamo perfectly - much better than I did when I first tried it
Sounds like it wasn't your type of perfume at all! Haha. It's definitely an interesting sniff though ey! I wouldn't want to wear it either though, the fenugreek/immortelle is far too intense for me - not as sweet as Sables which itself is a difficult wear.

No worries! All these are normal sniffings for me :P Haha - it's just - my taste. I can't guarentee all the samples are as interesting as what you've reviewed so far, I did throw in some randoms I think - but sounds like you've had fun picking out some good stuff so far! Loving your reviews

Tonight I sampled Guerlain's Bois D'Armenie.
A nice opening of peppery incense, myrrh, benzoin verges on an abstract gourmand - the vanilla quite typical for Guerlain. It subtly resembles other Guerlain vanilla heavy fragrances, Cuir Beluga, blah blah blah.
Anything interesting disappears quite quickly as the top notes vanish in seconds and what is left is a benzoin, vanilla, amber with a touch of smoke that gets even more simplistic as the hours go by.
Very subtle, but long lasting on the skin - nice enough, but far too simplistic. A good, straightforward, powdery vanilla/amber that I wouldn't want to wear.

A VERY good night of sampling my end.
Monica Miller (Perfume Pharmer) sent me a HUGE box FULL of samples, including the entire Primordial Scents 2012 project. She got numerous perfumers to create fragrances to fit in either of the five categories: Spirit Earth Air Fire Water... I know it sounds a little cheesy, and I had no idea what to expect. I cracked out the Spirt box today and was hugely impressed!

It consisted of 3 fragrances.

Chyrsalis by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

The least interesting of the three for me. A blue lotus fragrance (an aquatic, gardenia style note) - very light, maybe with a touch of green tea. A hint of lavender up top. Dries down jasmine dominant with just a hint of indole, very subtle, with a bit of incense/amber/patchouli base I think. I couldn't find any notes list so it's all a guess). Very calm and meditative, enjoyable to wear but too light for my tastes.

Sweet Naam by Flying Colours Natural Perfumes

A bright herbal lavender runs top to bottom, a large citrus hit of bergamot up top, and an ice cold mint/eucalyptus. It warms up as it dries with cinnamon, carnation and a pimento heat. An ylang ylang and jasmine join in, and it dries down to a creamy vanilla and gauicwood. Fascinating development, great fun to wear - reminded me of Agonist's Arctic Jade which I also love

Calling All Angels by April Aromatics

Probably the best incense fragrance I've ever tried. A charred wood oud accord - piercingly intense and hot, is paired with a loud, peppery, sharp incense, so pungent it burns your nose. A thick layer of labdanum at the bottom, and a rose that smells bitter and stewed (rose concrete?) lacquers the incense throughout the fragrance. Simplistic, but oustanding.

The most fun I've had sampling this year. I can't wait to get my nose through the other four categories!

Full reviews here: http://smellythoughts.wordpress.com/...irit-perfumes/

You're bang on with S-Ex... nothing sexy about it haha. I did get a slightly fecal leather after a couple wears, but, nothing worth shouting about. It's like a very very subtle animalic note, and a big plastic aquatic note, joined by plastic :')
The novelty wore off quickly!

You guys need some company

Last night I sampled L'Artisan Parfumeur Voleur de Roses .

This one is all about patchouli! And there is a dark red rose. But this takes patchouli through the whole spectrum, first damp and earthy, then herbal and almost minty, to finally an almost incensy, drier, mentholated version. All the while, the red rose sits there keeping it company, but always in the background. I really did not find this too dark or goth, just patchouli done well. And a companion rose.

Very nice fragrance, although I am not a hugh patchouli fan. Longevity was fairly short, maybe 5 hours on me.

Thanks for the contribution as always cello
Voleur is an unusual one - I really really like it, but wouldn't wear it - I bought it for my ma a couple Christmas' ago. I think that's the big downside to it, it is so short lived and quiet. I get a pretty potent metallic note running throughout it as well - it is a fragrance with some pretty harsh edges and I think that's why it's so often stamped gothic!
OoOOoo I have so much samplign to do I'm overwhelmed. I have the entire Primordial Scents collection to go through, and I just got the April Aromatics sample set <3 EEEEE

You describe it perfectly teardrop - it did little for me too. Little development, far too simplistic, just slightly decorated castoreum

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I sampled Tindrer by Magnetic Scent again last night (I've tried this numerous times but only just decided to blog about it) - to sum up this house which I really really love, I thought I'd post a little video I did on the three fragrances in the collection here as I've been sampling these extensively for some time.

Lovely vid, freddie. And I quickly spun through your blog to catch up - good stuff there.

Yesterday I sampled Ramon Monegal Impossible Iris. This is the first in the line that I have worn, but I have the two leathers yet to go. I adore iris, and was very much looking forward to this. But as luck would have it, I do not like this at all.

The opening blast is very violet iris to me, sweet and sharp. It is headache inducing, like a shrill scream. There is little of the earthy or rooty aspect to be found here. It does subside a bit when the sweetness of the raspberry creeps in, but there is very little powder or softness during much of the duration of this scent. This perfume runs high on the treble, and grates on my nerves. Finally towards the end I sense a dose of powder or even some cooling vetiver maybe, and it calms.

I have read comparisons to F. Malle Iris Poudre, which I adore and own. While they both capture the floral and slightly sweet aspects of iris, Iris Poudre integrates and balances all aspects of iris for a much more facinating ride. Impossible Iris seems to pick it's prettiness and stick with it. It is a somewhat linear perfume.

Not an iris for me

So first up, big thanks to Freddie for hooking me up with this sample. Sample of the day = Lonestar Memories.
I'll preface this, by saying I am a novice and only really started getting properly into fragrances about 5 months ago. My opinion here is completely blind and quite possibly completly wrong. All I know about this fragrance is the name and who it is by. I have tested it for 3 days now to geta good feel for it!

Having had a sample of LDDM, I would almost certainly have known that this was a Tauer fragrance. I wouldnt say its hugely similar, but it just has that Tauer vibe Not sure if these is a male fragrance, but I definitely see it as Unisex.

At the top I get Spices (maybe eastern spices if that makes sense?) lots of Leather, lots of smoke and some Woods. After 5 minutes I get a strong TCP antiseptic vibe from this not sure but TCP may only be an English antiseptic, so some of you may not know what I mean) This is the part of the fragrance I dont like. After 20 minutes this antiseptic smell fades to the background somewhat and the good stuff, like the smoky leather come back. Overall, I really like this one, but probably not enough to buy.

More observations on other samples, to follow soon.

Thanks again to Freddie - what a top guy!!

Thanks for the welcome :-)

Thank you cello <3

I totally agree with you about the RM Iris - I was very unimpressed by it too unfortunately. Iris Poudre is definitely the superior of the two, although ISM is still "my" iris right now


Hi Daley
Lovely to see you here.
Basically guys, I sent Daley some samples on ONE condition: He writes his thoughts here :P Oh and sniffs these blind (not to look them up)
Great impressions - kudos on taking your time with this one and not dismissing it so quickly. Nice to read you've had a sample of LDDM for a while - at least you kind of understand the Tauer-ade and could recognize it. The TCP kind of antiseptic accord is my favourite part! Haha, I just wish it lasted longer.
Your thoughts are pretty much bang on. What I love so much about Lonestar Memories is the transition from the heavy, birch tar (smoke), herbal-laden opening with cool notes of geranium (maybe what contributes to the TCP-vibe) and such, turns into a really warm, human, leathery amber/incense (Tauer-y). It's brilliant, and the base is almost unrecognizable from the opening. From a distance, or an another wearer, it smells like a rich, over the top 80's powerhouse of a perfume - almost classical, yet it's pretty much considered a challenging, modern composition. It's not my favourite Tauer, but it's one of the first ones I fell for. Just really great perfume It's also one of the few fragrances in my collection that I will wear out, knowing I'll get a comment on it! It's texture in the base is surprisingly light, but sweet, soiled and skin-like, never heard a bad word when wearing it.
Look forward to hearing your thoughts on the rest of the samples. I chose them super carefully for you :P There's some fantastic stuff there.


Aww thanks teardrop <3

Hi mate - glad you understood the 'TCP' reference, I thought that may just be my nose playing tricks on me. Looking forward to sampling and recording my views on the others!!

Dailey, keep it coming! This is a great thread to just let thoughts and impressions flow. I wish more peeps would join. These are all first impressions, and certainly low key. Stuff is whatever it is to your nose. Fun to be had, sniffing and comparing

Freddie, yea, Iris Poudre is the opposite extreme of what I love about iris. But it is so well done, and so darn beautiful, that I get my kicks from it. ISM is a whole nother ballgame, austere and lovely. Opposite extremes, but I love them both for what they are.

I have absolutely no knowledge of any import, but I'm enjoying reading all your thoughts.

I like Bois d'armenie though, that's about my speed hah!

I wanted to share samples with established UK basenoters but I don't know where to get decanting supplies and I'm not sure anyone would want anything from my wardrobe. If you want a bit of something from me, perhaps send me an atomiser that I'll post back to you? Is that allowed by Royal Mail? Well, my offer stands if anyone can help with the logistics.

Sample of the day is Un Bois Vanille by Serge Lutens

I'm not one for vanilla soliflores so excuse my slight negativity.
Boring. A coconut/orchid opening seems to vanish within a few minutes to leave behind a relatively straightforward cupcake vanilla, slightly woody aspects, and a subtle, bitter edge by the tamest liqourice note possible (on my skin at least).
The vanilla sticks through to the end, made slightly multifaceted by tonka and benzoin (as expected) - and a butter-soft sandalwood and slightly drier cedar wood, oh and a touch of smoke, finish Un Bois Vanille.
Too straightforward for me - I wish I had the materials to make fragrances, I'd love to make a vanilla like no other. This however, is a vanilla that has no interest to me.

I sampled Parfumerie Generale Private Collection - Un Crime Exotique last night. Relaxing tea scent - NOT!

Yet another PG that opens with a blast of spices that bowl you over, and sometimes I just don't recover from the initial shock. Big ginger and cinnamon bloom on the skin. It almost had a Christmas candle vibe, even including a waxy smell. But after this initial burst, it settled into a rich and, still, spicy tea fragrance. This is another composition that I find unbalanced, and even though the smell itself was pleasant, I would rather it be a room spray or candle I think. It is not necessarily a smell that I would want to wear as a perfume. Certainly worth a sniff if you are a fan of tea fragrances, or even spicy gourmandish fragrances, although this one is not sweet. I found it more of an experience rather than fragrance sampling, if that makes sense.

Sample of the day for me = Aftelier's Haute Claire (Thanks to Freddie for the sample)

Not a fan of this one. It has a note that reminds me of A* Men, which I don't like! I get old flowers and urine from this one - sorry :-)

Last night I tried to relax with spiced tea, and that did not work out. Tonight, I have resorted to hemp! And it has totally worked!

Tonight I sampled Perfumerie Generale Coze. Oh, goodness, I am all relaxed now!

This one opens with, and continues with, patchouli. It is, in fact, a patch bomb. But there is an undercurrent of sweetness that is adorable. This never gets cloyingly sweet, but just adds something to keep the herbal patch from going dust bowl dry. Yum. It is fairly linear after the opening salvo, but in my opinion, that is not a fault. Smelling good should be just fine. This is the Ambre 114 of patch - dry, herbal and dusty, but never veering too far in that direction. If you are patch phobic, as I sometimes am, this one should be on your sniffing list. Oh, nice. I said that over and over. The hemp - well, let's just say it was a pleasant and relaxing experience Good stuff, this.

I've been thinking about this vanilla fragrance and I can't decide :P When I have pieced my ideal example together I'll post it here haha.
I kindda agree with Sarrasins, it didn't do too much for me, but I did find it heavily indolic/fecal for a short while, I like the fruity notes up top - but it was very quiet and didn't evolve into anything worth while on my skin


Cello I felt exactly the same about this one. Be sure to sniff Magnetic Scent's Untitled #2 for a far better example on this chai-tea spicy theme


Aww no way! Haha. I do understand the urine thing - that's the honey. I love intense honey and the florals are outstanding in this one. Shame it's not to your taste but revisit it in a few months and your mind may be changed!


Mmmm nice one! Have you tried PG's Intrigant Patchouli? It's not gourmand, but it's gloriously rich! An intense civet/patchouli/amber combi to die for.

Fabulous take on this one teardrop!
I found it very very difficult to wear becuase the clove not goes huge on me. The battle between heated spices and herbal, vegetal greenery was a bit too challenging for me, but one of the most fascinating, avant-garde compositions in Mandy's lineup
Bit of Shiso trivia for you:
Shiso was made by Mandy based on an old Geisha recipe - apparantely this is a similar scent to a powder that geisha's would scatter on their robes but the scent would be too unappetizing to our noses so she dressed it up a bit - still, not what you'd expect!
And, when I went to Andy Tauer's, he has a bottle of this as it's his favourite in her line

Sample of the day for me is Stephen Jones by CDG. I actually really liked this one (thanks Freddie) Very Floral opening and quite ‘chemically’. After about 15 minutes it gets kind of powdery, but nice powdery. I’m also getting a kind of clove note from it. All in all very nice and now 2 out of 3 that Freddie gave me that I really like :-)

Fantastic Dailey
I gave you Stephen Jones becuase it's very simplistic, very modern and avant-garde, yet smells quite dated and classical in a way. It's also one way to identify aldehydes (that chemical smell you get up top that's quite soapy) - the florals are mainly violet with a bit of carnation (that clove note - with added clove hahah), and there's a strange mineralic note that weaves in and out of it. I really like it, and consider it an almost black-tie perfume, it's formal, cold, sharp and mysterious :P
I think the clove note is very old-school gentlemen's cologne-y and I love that.
Glad you enjoyed this one - two out of 3 is good going so far! I'm sure you'll warm up to Haute claire in the future

As for me?
Tonight I sampled Ambrarem by Histoires De Parfums
Not really for me: a hit of pepper up top followed by a smoky, sweet syrupy accord that reminds me of a less birch tar heavy version of CB's Burning Leaves. It then goes a little powdery, stays sweet, an oud underneath just kind of sits quietly at the bottom not doing much, along with a pinch of saffron. The drydown turns very castoreum heavy and reminded me of a sweeter version of Mona's Cuir. It's light, almost translucent... nice enough and worth a sniff but - I need better

Nice one Freddie. Next up for me (hopefully tomorrow) is Bosque (Humiecki & Graef)

FAB! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on Bosque. Take your time with it.

Thought I'd chime in with a few reviews of my own since I've been doing much sampling as of late:

Dior Oud Ispahan: I've eagerly been wanting to try this and finally received a sample of it. Have tried it a few times and this is what I have to say. It starts of with a beautiful rose note that is lush and almost jam like. Labdanum comes to join in almost immediately after and the two are just perfectly blended together, practically made for each other. A huge dose of smoke is added in a few minutes later and reveals this sort of dark element to the whole of the fragrance. Not to much oud so to say at the top, but lots of rose, labdanum and smoke which is fused to create an intoxicating smell. The dry-down is where some spice comes to help create a backbone and oud finally comes to fuse with the lush rose note that I love so much. The smoke dies down and I feel as though the rose note tones down to kind of blend in with the other notes, it's not so much at the for front any more, something that bothered me since that rose note was gorgeous. Mind you, this is about 6 hours into the fragrance. The oud and smoke combined with light spices is what is mostly detected at this point with the creamy element coming from the fused rose. This dry-down was very similar to that of Leather Oud's and that comparison of the two scents could not stop be. Overrall, love the top and mid, but the dry-down was to close to Leather oud's and I wish the rose was still more to the fore front; but it's still a gorgeous scent nonetheless. Lasts forever and is a sophisticated scent that I find would be hard to wear. Such a great fragrance would not fit in certain scenarios like in a classroom or anything like that, would shine in a formal event, at least I think so. This would work well primarily in the fall and winter, and maybe a spray in the spring would also be lovely. Its definitely not your typical rose/oud combo seen so often these days. A good addition to the La Collection Privee line for Dior.
Overall: 8.5/10

Tom Ford Cafe Rose: I had high expectations when I first heard about this one. But the disappointing reviews from many had me worried. Reading the notes had me thinking this would be a dark fragrance dominated by coffee specifically. First thing aI smelt was may rose that had hints of black pepper, quite linear and little going on, I had no detection of coffee or patchouli. It actually came off as quite feminine and this was kinda shocking. The mid consisted of a toned down rose with a coffee bean like note trying to support the rose. Slurpees on YouTube said it right when the supposed coffee note felt like a dry coffee bean extract. It tried to support the rose note but they did not seem to mix well. I love rose, one of my favourite smells and notes of all time but the rose in Cafe Rose felt uninspired and rather lacking. The entirety of the fragrance felt feminine just so everyone knows. This sandalwood comes in with the rose and creates a creamy element that is once again rather lacking. All in all, very disappointed. This one had so much potential and Tom Ford really screwed up. This could've been a big hit for them if they did this right and for that this fragrance will always aggravate me.

Overall: 6/10

Thanks for chiming in with your thoughts canuck! Oud Ispahan is really nice as I remember, really need to try it again - I think I want a bottle anyway :P That pink juice! Hahaha.

teardrop: Geste is fabulous isn't it, I don't get that dirty note really, but I get what you mean about underwear.... maybe that is the dirty note? :') I get it in Boudoir majorly - I wore Westwood's Boudoir for years and years as my signature. Do you get this in Putain Des Palaces?
I just found Geste a perfect powdery florals atop musk combo - a real beauty

Love it! :P

SOTD for me is Bosque - Humiecki & Graef

Another good choice Freddie – like this one too (3 out of 4) ;-)

Main things I get here are Grapefruit and Flowers/plants. I definitely get Vetiver from it too and I would say it’s very creamy (but that seems to float in and out). I happen to know (one of many normally useless facts I know) that Bosque means Woodland or Forest. Not sure if it’s Spanish? And this makes sense because there is a grassy/plant note in there.

All in all very nice :-) Have only tried it for a day, so will spend some more time with it.

Next one for me will be Ambra Nera

Dailey, bosque is indeed spanish, and refers to a wooded oasis generally found in the arid Southwestern part of the United States along the few waterways. I live in New Mexico, and we have an ecosystem (bosque) running along the Rio Grande river. From above, if you were to fly over the area, it looks like a green ribbon amongst the brown surrounding land. Migratory birds take advantage of this path, and we have areas that well known for bird watching during certain times of year.

Now, certainly, I must smell this perfume In my head, it would smell dry, yet with a hint of lush green - of woods and wetland. Hmmm.

Thanks for that - interesing stuff :-)

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Cool - looking forward to it