Manakara Indult

Desirability: Adoption by a more appreciative nose

Source: Fragrantica

I have long worshiped at the altar of Francis Kurkdjian's creations. So confident am I of my love for his work that I've blind bought many of those I have. I thank heaven that I did not blind buy Mankara as tempting as lychee and roses sound.

For I don't smell lychee or roses and I've been around both long enough to know what they smell like from green to overripe. What I do smell is...over ripe melon that is syrupy sweet and cloying to the point of being nauseating. In the background I get a whiff of something that has been burnt and it's not pleasant either. It's almost like a fragrant plastic doll that's been singed. In the drydown the melon is joined by resins. Manakara is described as a tropical fruity floral with 2 notes of lychee and roses. It smells way more complex than 2 notes (except that I don't even smell the listed 2 notes LOL).

I checked and double-checked both my sample label as well as my sample order. It is Manakara that I'm wearing. Looking at the reviews online, there are others that get melon and the burnt note too except they are polite and call it caramelized. Ditto the resins. 

The projection and longevity are amazing and for those on who this works its magic, lucky you :)

Hypnotic Poison Christian Dior

Desirability: Adoption by a more appreciative nose

Source: Fragrantica

Note: Mine is from the 2009 batch with the black cap + gold ring and "Dior" on it as opposed to the earliest version that had "Christian Dior" and the in between versions which had variations of the above. 

It starts off very strong, smelling of harsh bitter almonds that gradually loses its edges, becomes creamier and generally more pleasing but loses its volume far too fast for my liking, becoming a barely there scent by the 3rd hour of wearing. I've heard other disgruntled perfume lovers having the same problem with the later reformulations and I would have to say I share their sentiments. 

I like I don't love but it's not heartache for I've already established my favourite bitter almonds on their respective podiums. First place goes to Hilde Soliani Conaffetto and a close second to my heart is Serge Lutens' Louve. I have an almost full bottle with box if anyone is interested in Hypnotic Poison. 

Bois Satin Keiko Mecheri

Desirability: Adoption by a more appreciative nose

Source: www.basenotes.net

Syrupy leather.

I get boozed up syrupy sweet fruit followed by the smell of wood which is quickly followed by a smooth sweet leathery smell. Leather in fruit syrup may sound weird but that's what I think of in the drydown of Bois Satin. The wood notes that were present at the opening are nowhere to be found, probably fell victim to deforestation. I enjoy leather scents like Les Exclusifs de Chanel Cuir de Russie, Cuir Mauresque by Serge Lutens and I don't mind gourmand leathers like Dzing! by L`Artisan but Bois Satin doesn't rest easy on my stomach, I find the proportions of leather and fruit syrup too jarring here and frankly it makes me queasy. 

Average projection but longevity isn't the greatest, I clocked a maximum of four hours with two wearings. 

Myrrh Casati Mona di Orio

Desirability: Adoption by a more appreciative nose

Opens with a strong waxy note, literally like sniffing a candle-stick up close. There is the sweet and herbal almost medicinal smell of licorice which thankfully is moderated here as I like licorice only in smaller doses. Faint spices and a soft green mossy base.   

Myrrh Casati was an OK experience but not something I'm enthusiastic to repeat. The candle wax didn't sit well with me and I found the scent overall to be a bit too lifeless despite its promising roll call of notes.  Myrrh or resins in general invoke images of warmth and feelings of passion, both of heart and hearth but Myrrh Casati feels impersonal and dispassionate or in a word, bland. 

It has little projection and the longevity could be improved on, I got about a couple of hours tops on two different trials.  I've liked pretty much all that I've tried from Mona di Orio thus far and I love the reformulated Nuit Noire as well as a few from the Les Nombres D'Or range. However I hit a rut with Myrrh Casati which is probably a good thing for my finances. 

To Twirl All Girly Pilar & Lucy

Desirability: Adoption by a more appreciative nose

Source: Fragrantica

Fruity indeed. 

I feel like I've just stuck my nose into a row of fruit soaps or walked into The Body Shop or Bath and Body Works. Both smell like a mishmash of everything they stock which is fine for a shop but not as a fragrance. The melon note is really strong in To Twirl All Girly and I have to be honest that it smells artificial. More like melon gummies instead of the fruit. With a heavy dose of sweet vanilla. I don't smell flowers but they could be hidden behind the vanilla and melon which is really distracting me. Good sillage and longevity for the EDP, I smelt like a gummy bear all day. 

Source: flickr.com

At heart I'll always be a girly girl who secretly loves pinks and frills, in my teens to early twenties To Twirl All Girly would not have been too much of a frivolous fruity gourmand but now...well I stopped wearing tulle puffball skirts a decade ago. 

Source: pinterest.com

Tiptoeing Through Chambers of the Moon Pilar & Lucy

Desirability: Adoption by a more appreciative nose

Source: www.luckyscent.com

If Madame Tussauds ever did a giant tuberose model, Tiptoeing Through Chambers of the Moon would be a good one to perfume it. 

Looking at the gorgeous listed notes with the mixed spices, incense, tuberose and patchouli, I was hoping to smell like hippie chic. Instead, Tiptoeing Through Chambers of the Moon has got to be the waxiest tuberose I've ever smelt, to be brutally honest it smells like a vanilla tuberose candle. The spices are mild and fleeting, I managed to get a whiff of them when I applied the scent on but they were gone faster than sixty seconds. The rest of its lengthy lifetime, the candied tuberose drowned out any other notes. So you must like syrup and you MUST like tuberose laden with indoles or Tiptoeing Through Chambers of the Moon is a no-go zone. 

It's a youthful and cheerful, I enjoyed it while it lasted but it's not for me as it is way too sweet and waxy for my liking. At least not the EDP no matter how cute the bottle is.

Bois Blond Parfumerie Generale

Desirability: Adoption by a more appreciative nose

Straight up I smell alcohol swabs...a bitter and stinging combination of grass or leaves and galbanum. Very green and mineral, almost unbearably so, thankfully relief comes in the form of a sweet herbal accord reminiscent of The Body Shop's Tea Tree oil concentrate. Tobacco isn't listed but I smell that, not the listed white tobacco note which coincidentally, does not smell like tobacco, but supposedly more like jasmine. However I smell nothing floral here.

With time it progresses into smoother, smoky wood and sweet tobacco scent and loses its discomfiting opening.  It's as if someone twiddled the knob on the light dimmer and lowered it from blinding white to a soft yellow glow.


Tilda Swinton

After a week of wearing and testing mostly Orientals and gourmands, this opens up a whole different realm of scent. It's nicely queer and unique but I feel unsettled wearing this. I think it's more masculine although I can imagine a female boss wearing this. Or an androgynous female like Tilda Swinton would carry this well.

It stays rather soft on me but lasts quite a while, about 5 hours as of now.