Perfume Reviews

Aquila Absolute by Electimuss

Sparkling woody clean skin leather oud. A leather oud for people who are afraid to commit or want a very office safe option. It's good, bit more masculine leaning if you care about that. I get very little fruityness, on my skin it's more clean woods and then faint hints of leather and oud.

Selene by TRNP (Teone Reinthal Natural Perfume)

When Selene first lands on my skin, I imagine I am a beetle, hypnotically drawn to the aroma of ancient, oversized magnolias. It's just my instinct and the smell, all else drops away. It's wild and without polish, lemon-scented petals and green succulent needles, the ripeness of peculiar fruits, and slow-oozing exudate from trees that if they could speak, could impart a wisdom no human could bestow. It renders language limited, speaking the tongue of a landscape that appears only in an old parable.

I remember when I was in the second grade, and at the Scholastic book fair, there was a jigsaw map of the United States with pieces divided into states. I still remember when that was my entire world for the longest time, learning where to put, say, Montana or Georgia on the map. I even recall that Maryland and Delaware were clustered together, so was New England. Smelling Selene, bright with frankincense and soothing with sandalwood, had me recalling this simple, childhood, mesmerized state.

Praise be, the power of scent.

Outer Spice by Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements

The Scent: A brilliant "molecular reconstruction" of the classic 1930s Shulton DNA. It’s a masterclass in spicy aromatics, featuring a sharp opening of star anise that transitions into a warm, sophisticated heart of cinnamon and carnation.

The Performance: Truly eternal. I was truly impressed at how long it lasts on me, even after showering you can still smell it the next day. This isn't your average splash; the longevity is "god mode," easily lasting 12+ hours. The sillage is strong and commanding, leaving a masculine, powdery trail that holds up perfectly the whole day.

My Final Verdict: If you love the classic spicy profile of the original Shulton's Old Spice, this is the gold standard. A little goes a long way!

Legend Eau de Parfum by Montblanc

Montblanc Legend Eau de Parfum is a woodsy, semi-fougere fragrance that was released in 2020. Legend EdP is a flanker of Legend EdT (2011). The EdP scales back the notes of the EdT. Edp opens with bergamot and violet leaf, which drops the EdT’s lavender, pineapple leaf and verbena. This results in a darker less fruity EdP. The heart notes in the EdP are jasmine, magnolia and woods compared to oakmoss, geranium, coumarin, apple, rose, and pomarosa molecule. Edp is less fruity and floral than the EdT. The EdP base is leather and oakmoss compared to the EdT’s base of sandalwood, tonka and evernyl. The EdT is a more typical fougere than the EdP which is more woody and lacking in lavender, coumarin and geranium, staples of fougere fragrances. Essentially, the EdP is a more mature and refined version of the more synthetic EdT or its cousin A&F Fierce. I prefer Percival by Parfums de Marly to both Montblanc EdP and EdT.

EdP is a versatile fragrance, good for all seasons and occasions. The fragrance has above average longevity and sillage.

Is Montblanc EdP worth owning if you have the EdT version, Fierce or Percival? Maybe, but not essential. Nevertheless, I recommend the EdP as unique enough to consider owning even if you already own the EdT or Fierce, but not Percival, which is a superior fragrance. Tepid thumbs up.

Signature pour Homme by Zaharoff

Others have described the fragrance better than I could. It's amazing. One of the finest I've sampled. When it comes to class and sophistication its on the same level as BDP, NYI and Heritage. I'd snap it up in a heartbeat if it wasn't for one issue! This stuff just does project. To the point where I can't smell it on myself after 30 minutes. Others have also said they can't smell it on me either. Such a shame because this is such a wonderful creation. I also have the same issue with Dia Man. While I don't need beast mode, perfumery is an experience and I need to be able to catch whiffs throughout the day to be fully satisfied.

Absolus Allegoria Florabloom by Guerlain

Too sweet, too strong, had to scrub it off when it started making me cough.

Replica Never-ending Summer by Maison Margiela

Smells like an Aperol spritz with the sweet orange notes mixed with bitter, unripe citrus. The tea note gives it a luxury spa feel. Feels slightly feminine to me, but I agree with unisex as the official gender assignment.

Gets very light very quickly, so more stays may be needed. Spray on clothes to improve the performance slightly.

Dandelion by Perfumer H

There are those who view the dandelion as a lowly weed, a nuisance, defiling manicured lawns. Then there are those who remember what dandelions meant in childhood: their sunny, bitter-green blooms a familiar sight on ever-warming May days, their funny jagged leaves, and once fruited, something playful and fluffy for which to make wishes. The dandelion is a staple of youth from all temperate regions of the world. There are 'dandelion children,' resilient like the flower, impervious to their environment. I was a 'dandelion child.' I wasn't afraid to get dirty, was always turning over rocks to find whatever creatures sought refuge underneath. Picking up pillbugs, earwigs, worms, and salamanders, I was always fascinating with other living things. And then the plants—the milkweeds that grew on the perimeter of our yard, the wood sorrels that I read in a book were edible and sneak in as a snack now and then (thankfully never so much as to be sickened by the oxalic acid!). And then there were the dandelions, which I also learned were edible, but I hadn't quite acquired a taste for the bitter.

The smell of the flowers and the curiously hollow stems have been imprinted, and Perfumer H Dandelion is as close to it as anything I've smelled from the fragrance universe. Lyn Harris incorporated basil, galbanum, and vetiver here, and while each are legible to me, the result of their congress here, among bright citruses and florals, animates the sensation of a dandelion pressed pressed to my nose. Also, the sticky sap from the snapped stems is here. There is also an underlying sweetness and tartness that adds to the overall sensation of sunny meadows and carefree rough-and-tumble joy. When its radiance wanes, like a holograph that fades, it feels just as much to me as an ode to childhood as an ode to our dear little plucky yellow flowers. Reminiscing about childhood as one pushes 50 is as bittersweet as the flower itself. The heart can ache over a long ago that felt more pure, less encumbered; but that spirit, whether summoned through keeping play in one's life well into old age, or through a transportive perfume, is what keeps us young at heart. Thanks, Lyn, for Dandelion.

La Rose Jacqueminot by Coty

This is definitely an old school rose fragrance and it is a beauty. It is full bodied and not a dainty thing.

My bottle is the 1 ounce perfume from the 80’s. Mostly I see edt’s, but I stumbled on a deal from Mercadi ( Not a place I shop usually, but was slumming)

It starts out a tad green with just budding roses. Much like being in a rose garden before they all burst forth. My step dad raised roses and it sort of smells like his garden late May through mid June.

The aldehydes are non-existent in my bottle, though the fragrance was in wonderful condition. From there it gets a bit of spice (clove mostly) and deep dried roses. I also get a feel for honey. Not the honey and tea type, but pulling a honeycomb out of a hive. ( Propolis and all.) The rose stays through the fragrance and then a big bite from animalics. It is not overpowering, but you do know it is there. There the rose, and musky notes blend together very well.

This is not a debutante rose fragrance. This is coy, sexy and not a subtle scent. Though I think it is incredible fragrance.

I do recommend this, but I would not pay big money. I was lucky and my bottle was very reasonable in cost.

Carnal Flower by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle

Carnal Flower must be more than merely “a tuberose perfume.” I claim it is something far stranger: a retrospective of the evolution of the flowering plants themselves. With only a dollop of fancy, spray Carnal Flower and witness the inevitable triumph of the angiosperms across geologic time—what Darwin called the "abominable mystery" that arrived near-miraculously on the scene roughly 130 million years ago when flowers learned to seduce the world into participating instrumentally in their reproduction.

Before flowers, the Earth was already green, but in an austerity that ferns, conifers, cycads, ginkgos and moss sustained with aplomb. Spores and pollen on wind ruled the day. Until suddenly, in evolutionary terms almost "abominably" suddenly, the flowering plants erupted and the entire reproductive grammar of the world changed. Color proliferated no longer simply to protect from the sun, but as a lure. Scent, we must assume, ceased to be primarily associated with decay and became instead a technology. The pollinating insects also developed at this time in tandem, entering a reciprocal delirium with the flower: an eden of complicated reproductive excess.

Carnal Flower understands this even if its creator, Dominique Ropion, did not. It doesn't begin with bubblegum or cosmetic tuberose, nor some lazy “white floral” thing. Instead, the opening is so lucidly green, it it forces us into the depths of phylogenetic memory. There is eucalyptus, raw cut stem, wet chlorophyll, and maybe even some sumpy fetid water and vegetal bitterness recalling the legacy of the ancestors: the bryophytes. This is all to say the opening of the perfume does not smell like a flower arrangement, it smells like something alien and new has simply appeared from outer space.

The tuberose is there from the start, however, and it is far more than just a concept. It is creamy, narcotic, solar, fungal, mint-cool (from the eucalyptus which is so, so perfect) and even animalic-musky. There's a frightening confidence to the first thirty minutes of this perfume, so be on your toes. Tuberose is weird for me, and dangerous in all the right ways: it is funeral flower and aphrodisiac, bridal and rotten, pure and foul. Carnal Flower amplifies all of these contradictions simultaneously but somehow stays away from caricature. This, I think, Ropion did intend, and that is actual genius. Personally, I usually prefer tuberose coupled with incense, to balance all the funk. But here, it is a pure expression of the core material. Like angiosperm evolution itself, complexity emerges through adaptive specialization that becomes universal.

And what is perfume, finally, if not the dizzying sophistication of pollination? Flowers first beguiled insects through volatile molecules and chromatic seduction. Now, in perfumery, they recruit memory, fantasy, luxury, sexuality, even identity itself. We haven't mastered flowers in perfumery, not even Mr. Ropion, but flowers have continued expanding their dominion over even the symbolic order. I think Carnal Flower is aware of this.

This is why Carnal Flower feels so immense. It compresses tens of millions of years of coevolutionary pressure into an 8-hour experience of impossible elegance. Menthol freshness as cool diffusion strategy of a nocturnal bloomer; melon and coconut creaminess and musks even hint at the heat and skin of mammalian proximity (admittedly anachronistic, but we don't complain when Spear and Fang come together in an epochal bond in Genndy Tartakovsky's "Primal"), all while remaining almost sinisterly clean.

Tuberose and eroticism is kind of a stale and uninspired pairing and I never really get that. At least, not for humans. However, Carnal Flower smells like plants bringing their own super-green sexy back in a big way. This perfume makes me think all of civilization itself may be just an epiphenomenon of floral reproductive wiles.

*They should have called this "Cretaceous Flower" instead of the film/relative homage thing, cuz that doesn't do anything for me.

XX Intense by John Varvatos

I’m not as cynical as Varanis Ridari, but I admit XX Intense isn’t for me.

Pros: It smells pleasant enough. Performance is not obnoxious, so it doesn’t assault one’s senses. It is generally as good as most fragrances of its ilk (which isn’t saying much, but at least it’s not bad). It’s cheap on grey market sites and the occasional brick and mortar discounter.

Cons: I’m almost 40 and this wears like a 20-something fragrance. It’s pretty generic, all things considered. Pick any random fragrance at the Macy’s counter and you’re bound to smell something that serves the same banal purpose.

Overall: not bad but not needed.

Dior Homme Sport (2022) by Christian Dior

Head
aldehydes, bergamot, lemon
Heart
elemi, pink pepper
Base
olibanum, woody notes, amber

There is incense here, but it's very mild. Nothing is smoky. It's a clean citrus, green, old spicy, amber scent with a light wood in the background. This is good for warm weather scent. The aldehydes are more soapy, but there's also a little bit of hairspray here.

Eros Flame by Versace

lemon, tangerine, orange, black pepper, wild rosemary, pepperwood, geranium, rose, cedar, patchouli, tonka bean, vanilla

There isn't that much citrus at the beginning and the top notes disappear into the main fragrance, which are the floral, patchouli, and vanilla notes. The floral takes it out for me but I can see many people still liking it a lot.

Deified Tony Iommi by Xerjoff

A powerfully musky and leathery fragrance with a strong spicy impact (with a hint of green apple that accompanies the initial intoxicating vibe of saffron) that gradually evolves to release an abstract and dark (rather hard-rock) rose over a decidedly pungent and charismatic mossy and woody base. Deified Tony Iommi Parfum by Xerjoff is a unisex woody-leather-musky fragrance with a strong impact and for strong personalities. Deified Tony Iommi Parfum was launched on the market in 2024. The price, as always, is disproportionate for the value and performance of the fragrance (still good, but there are better ones out there). Notes of saffron, leather, dark-woody rose, oudh and vegetal musk are the key elements to understanding this neo-classical-modern fragrance halfway between elegant creations like Acqua di Parma Colonia Oud (2012) or super musky and temperamental ones like Initio Oud for Greatness (2018) or Versace Safran Royal (2021) and slightly more hard rock/metal fragrances like John Varvados Dark Rebel Rider (2016) with references to old rubbery fragrances like Bvlgari Black (1998). Xerjoff Deified Tony Iommi Parfum has a rather dark smell (of black leather), initially edgy and intoxicating, then finishing warm and luxurious: it opens with hypnotic saffron, spicy red apple and cinnamon, creating an ambery and enveloping, almost liquor-like sensation. After a few minutes, a soft and elegant black leather emerges, refined rather than rough (which softens the initial sharpness of the spices and woods already present), accompanied by a dark, powdery rose that makes the whole thing sophisticated and sensual. The drydown features patchouli, dry papyrus and oakmoss, leaving a woody, slightly smoky and very persistent trail. The overall effect is that of a dark musician, tall, elegantly dressed in black and sporting a few metal details (a studded belt, a pointed country boot, etc): an intense, magnetic, nocturnal and decidedly characterful scent for dark wolves of the metropolitan night.

Night De Paris Motion by L'Orientale Fragrances

A fabulous fragrance from an unknown house I've never heard of but I sure know of them now. There are many other kinds of these types of fragrances this house has and I intend to try them all.

Eros Energy by Versace

Head
lemon, bergamot, blood orange, lime, grapefruit
Heart
pink pepper, blackcurrant, white amber
Base
patchouli, musk, oakmoss

Better than the newer Mr. Balmain, the patchouli, musk and oakmoss keep the clean scent going on with citrus lasting longer than usual. The pepper and citrus zest work in harmony with the amber to provide depth that doesn't make you long for more citrus. This can be used year-round and in any setting.

Sauvage Elixir by Christian Dior

Head
grapefruit, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom
Heart
lavender, coumarin
Base
woods, amber, licorice, haitian vetiver, patchouli

I really like this! It's different enough from the Sauvage EDT. It reminds me of Creed Baie de Genièvre, so much so that I thought there was Juniper in it. It's a sweet toasty smell that at times reminds me of Thyme, but the sweetness of the amber and licorice are balanced very well with lavender and a clean shower satisfaction that the vetiver and patchouli provide. In the end it's less sweet than Sauvage EDT. It can be used year round, but I know I'll buy this and use it in colder weather. Oh...and too expensive!

Weil pour Homme (new) by Weil

While this came out 2004, it very much has a masculine old-school scent from the 80s. WPH in the neighborhood of Bogart (Signature), Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, and Vermeil Pour Homme. Performance is good and prices are reasonable. Recommend.

Kölnisch Wasser by Farina Gegenüber

Not for me I’m afraid. I cannot believe this is the same as, or even near to the original 18th century fragrance, it just smells too strong, too chemical and too modern.

I am disappointed, I really wanted to like this EdC.

Jacq's pour homme by Saperpa

Jacqs by Coty was launched in 1980 and I've recently come across it and all I can say is that it's a very pleasant surprise in many ways. Very masculine scent that reminds me of a better time for mens fragrances. Yes there are some modern marvels out there and I own quite a few of them but overall the years 1940-1999 were the golden age of perfumerie. Maybe I'm biased but that's just my opinion. Moderately priced which is always a good thing too. Jacqs by Coty is another nice addition to my fragrance arsenal.

7/10

Cinquanta by Santa Maria Novella

Cinquanta is to me a little unusual for SMN. The note that takes centre stage and drowns out the other more subtle notes, is the gardenia. This on me is very strong, with a slight coco-nutty backdrop. I would describe this as a strong, heady scent, but definitely clean, and in my mind very Italian (if there is such a thing).

My skin is quite dry, and holds on to this EdC, so it lasts all day and projects well. Not one for office wear, or travelling in the heat of public transport, but a lovely fresh aura for around the home, and perhaps on a sunny day out and about having fun.

I like it. Not everyday, but when I need a little boost………clean, crisp and classy.

Dolce Vita by Christian Dior

Dolce Vita by Christian Dior (1995) was a very important perfume for its creator, Pierre Bourdon, if not necessarily for the parent house of Christian Dior itself. Historically, this falls right in line with the burgeoning interest in gourmand perfumes, thanks to the success of Angel by Thierry Mugler (1992), and some will also say Bourdon was highly inspired by his work on Feminité du Bois by Shiseido (1992), a fragrance co-perfumer Christopher Sheldrake would then take with him to remake as a perfume for Serge Lutens in 2009, mostly the same as what he an Bourdon created for Shiseido under Luten's direction. It was always Bourdon's dream to make a perfume for Dior, as his father had worked for the company himself, and given nearly complete artistic freedom with only creative director Maurice Roger overhead, Dolce Vita is what he came up with for them.

Dolce Vita is somewhat similar to Feminité du Bois in that is shares a vanillic sandalwood underpinning with fruity notes up top. Feminité du Bois is far darker, with more of a rich plum wine accord in the heart surrounded by Turkish roses. Dolce Vita in contrast is sunnier, warmer, and more joyous in nature, like a day at the beach sipping on an Italian soda, if you will. Lactonic peach notes feel more classic than many things from this era, but this is only one foot in classic chypre structure, and one foot out; Bourdon places dry citruses alongside a spiced rose and muguet accord around a touch of then-modern osmanthus, which gives an apricot feeling we see often now, but not so much back then, and that mixes with and lessens the severity of the spices, which include cinnamon, rose, and clove. Overall, this is fruity, floral, woody, spicy, and soft.

Bourdon would revisit some of this again in Iris Poudre by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle (2000), especially the way classic florals surround modern woody fruity accords and are topped with soft citruses. This whole style was worlds away from the sharp, almost thirst-quenching use of melon accords and salty oceanic aromas that defined much of his output for other houses, including the prestigious Creed. If we put all the history and mythos aside for a second, Dolce Vita is a good perfume, but it is also not exciting, challenging, or divisive in the way Dior perfumes had been up until that point, which may be why it didn't sell super well and has fallen out of then back into production periodically. Smelled alongside other 1990's soft orientals with fruity floral leanings, Dolce Vita gets somewhat lost in the mix, even if I like it. Thumbs up

Mariella Burani by Mariella Burani

Mariella Burani by Mariella Burani (1992) is the debut perfume from an unlikely source: a schoolteacher turned fashionista who married the owner of Burani Garment Group - one Walter Burani - and turned her humble academic style into the vision of her fashion house, which served school children at first in the 1960's, then branched out into full women's wear lines by the 1990's. The debut perfume therefore comes rather late into the life of the house itself, which stopped making clothes by 2010 after Mariella's husband Walter and their son Giovanni were arrested for fraud concerning the bankruptcy and liquidation of the house. These days the name lives on as a "zombie house" fragrance license held by Sifarma Spa. I certainly can't ding Mariella Burani for quality, even if the originality here leaves something to be desired.

Mariella Burani is a well-built floral aldehyde chypre, being somewhat staid and classical by the standards of 1992. It was clear that this was built for older women, much as White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor (1991) was; this is a commanding, serious grown-up women's perfume with no teasing or fooling around to be found. The opening is very fruity with aldehydes mashing against violet, rose, and jasmine, coupled with tarragon and soft lemon that folds into buttery ylang juxtaposed with powdery iris. The development through to the base gets far more oriental, with sandalwood, benzoin, patchouli, amber, and contrasting clean/dirty tones with the musk choices. The dry down reminds me most of Avon Millenia (1997), for my own personal point of reference.

Mariella Burani worked with Mark Buxton quite a few times, alongside Jean Jacques later on, although he is not technically signed to this perfume specifically. What is known about Mariella Burani is that it saw a recomposition and relaunch 30 years later as Burani Classic by Mariella Burani (2023), when Sifarma Spa started making more perfumes to capitalize on their license. I don't know how much that newer version is like this original, but there's that tidbit for those curious about the house. All told, Mariella Burani was huge in Italy but never made a big splash outside of her home country, which is the same song and dance for many Italian houses, especially regarding their perfumes. This is nice, but if you were shopping women's fragrance in the late 1980's and early 1990's, you've already smelled something like it. Thumbs up

Stronger With You Powerfully by Giorgio Armani

Stronger With You Powerfully by Emporio Armani (2026) is somehow bigger, sweeter, fruitier, and even more gourmand than the most recent entries into the line. In this nuclear arms race of who can produce the most annoyingly-extroverted and juvenile gag sauce, Emporio Armani has set its sights on overthrowing long-reigning champion Paco Rabanne, and with this they just might have. I just wish this whole thing would crash out already so we could do something different.

The trend-chasing cherry note is here, although thankfully brief as it is replaced by the usual ambery lavender core the line favors, sans the violet appearing in the original because that would harm the sweetness. In place of that violet, we have some sweet spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, mixed with ample vanilla and the bubblegum opening salvo, before settling into the usual woody amber materials in the base. The performance is too much, so go lightly.

Yeah this is insanely sweet, big and fruity nonsense, complete and total TikTok looksmaxxing teen bait, the kind of thing your spoiled iPad baby tween will cry for until you buy it, love for a month, then toss in the closet when something even "better" comes out and the cycle starts all over, relegating this to your own unwanted night out scent, unless you manage to slide it over to a co-worker or something; this is tolerable enough to avoid a thumbs down. Neutral