Io Carthusia

Desirability: Full Bottle

Source: Fragrantica

Philosykos EDT was the first fig perfume I owned and while I still enjoy it, I've since discovered other figs to love. There is Dambrosia which morphs from fresh fig fruit to delicious fig desserts as the hours pass to Ichnusa from the same brand Profumum Roma, an intricate green fig so very different from the gourmand Dambrosia. Another love has to be Ninfeo Mio that manages to be fresh, sweet and green at the same time, exuding a natural air that Annick Goutal excels at. 

Having had a very good first experience with Ligea La Sirena from the house of Carthusia, I was eager to try more from the line which has led me to Io. I'm not the biggest fan of aromatic scents or colognes but the thought of fig, mint and tea together sounded too good to pass up. Io is marvellous, like a bottled Spring that revives the spirits instantly or a holiday in the Mediterranean (which would definitely revive my spirits). Dry, green, fresh, sweet, woody, aromatic...Io is all of that at once and lies on the same side of the scale as Ichnusa and Ninfeo Mio.

Fresh mint, sweet fig and tart green notes are the major players in Io. I don't detect a tea note but it does smell like herbs were thrown into the concoction and in any case Io is as good a healer of the soul as a cuppa tea. It's a fig scent without being fig-centered, clearly there is more to it than just fruit and leaves. Io is not just a scent but an experience, it takes you under the cool shade of fig trees over which is a blistering sun of a hot summer's day, sipping mojitos on a hammock and watching distant waves lazily kissing the shore, not near enough to hear them but the wind sweeps in the cool salty air which rustles through the leaves above you, the music of Nature putting finishing touches on this idyllic moment.

Projection is ok and longevity about average but it's such a joy to reapply this! 

Voile d'Ambre Yves Rocher

Desirability: Decant

Source: www.punmiris.com

A soft oriental that reminds me of other similarly mild tempered characters like Oppoponax by Les Néréides and Opium Eau D'ete Summer Fragrance 2003 from Yves Saint Laurent. 

Starts off bitter green and tangy like the rinds of dozens of limes being peeled off simultaneously, with a dash of the aromatic sweetness that is unique to cardamom seeds. It turns a bit dry and dusty with a sweet woody smell before evolving into a sheer golden amber, citrus-tinged vanilla and smoky sweet resins. Many ambers get too powdery or too sweet but Voile d'Ambre is nicely balanced in both these categories, with the balsamic elements featuring more prominently.

Voile d'Ambre hovers close to me so much so that I really have to stick my nose to my skin in order to smell it after the first two hours. The longevity fares a bit better, I can detect it up to around six hours. Overall, a nice scent for those just starting to venture into the oriental section of fragrances and those who prefer gossamer-like fragrances in general. 

Trance J.F. Schwarzlose Berlin

Desirability: Sample

Source: Fragrantica

Trance has a boozy opening, thick and sweet like maple syrup laced with a fruity liquor. Fruity booze and maple syrup- a seriously powerful introduction! At the same time there is something that is strong and pungent as if herbs and leather were burnt together. All these potent and different smells create a dark (really dark) and deep fragrance, sweet yet medicinal, woody and fruity, heavy yet dry and definitely complicated. 

A faint rose appears midway but the most persistent and resonant is the unusual herbal leather note. As the scent evolves it feels dry and dusty like sawdust, the vegetal, leather and syrup notes enduring till the end. The drydown is dark and earthy similar to how patchouli can give that "earthiness" vibe. The rose is less timid now as if having bloomed over time but although it is easier to detect, I don't feel it ever becomes a dominant player in this scent. 

Trance was a weird experience with some nice bits along the way, the drydown being the most enjoyable part when things settled down a bit instead of out-shouting the other notes. Unfortunately the death knell for me was the herbal leather combination that was a bit too harsh for my stomach to handle ( I literally got waves of nausea smelling this each time). Good projection and longevity though and I am positive that on the right person this would be a commanding fragrance. 

Tango Masque

Desirability: Decant

Source: luckyscent

Phwoar...talk about heady and intoxicating, Tango just blazed its way onto my want list and I want this in a seriously bad way. Fragrantica lists this as an oriental floral but it wears like a spicy oriental on me, where have all the flowers gone? 

Cumin. Cumin. Cumin. Cloves. Cinnamon. Cardamom. Cumin. CUMIN. Cumin in all its wanton sweaty glory, attractive or repulsive depending on whether you like it. Boozy, bold, exotic and rich, Tango has me in a cinch, make that a steaming hot passionate cinch. It continues to smoulder all the way to its drydown, a warm, dense and sweet amber base with resins and dry wood heaped on the molten fire. Monstrous projection and longevity. Sexy beast. 

Vetiver Lorenzo Villoresi

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: Fragrantica

I'm in trouble. This is the 4th fragrance I've tried from the Vintage Collection of Lorenzo Villoresi and I like/love them all. I would like to add at this point that if you are adverse to large doses of cumin, please bear in mind that Vetiver from the Vintage Collection has copious amounts of cumin. Not quite a cumin bomb like Rubj but there's no hiding the cumin in Vetiver. 

For the first time I would say that a scent really does smell partly like an Indian curry and partly like a sweatshop. That's how Vetiver started on me. Lots of aromatic spices and the glacial galbanum making up a mixture that is a combination of- bitter, green, invigorating, metallic (celery is one of my most hated vegetables for its metallic aftertaste and smell!) and the....cumin with its sweaty/BO effect that has always been so appealing to me. A whole lot of notes that are potent and competitive beings and Vetiver could have been a jarring disaster but it's not. Far from it. Everything blends beautifully and all the notes fall into place like a choreographed dance, smooth and seamless. It gets rather dry and dusty in the later stage and befits its name Vetiver better than the spices and galbanum did at the beginning but the green bitterness and the spices remain and contribute to the arid climate that makes Vetiver smell like it were part of an Old Western movie. 

Vetiver is softer than I like my scents to be, I have to sniff myself closely to detect the scent trail but it does have a decent longevity. A definite like which would have been a love if the projection had been stronger. 

Body Made Luminous Scent by Alexis

Desirability: Full bottle and back up

Source: Fragrantica

Smoke and chocolate.

I waited a year for Body Made Luminous to be available again and I must say it is definitely worth the wait. I like this more and more with each wearing. There's plenty of chocolate in Body Made Luminous but I won't label it a gourmand, maybe an oriental gourmand with the oriental genes predominant.

The sweetest it ever gets is on the initial spray and even then it isn't very sweet at all, nothing candy coated here. At first it made me think of dark chocolate truffles covered with a generous dusting of rich unsweetened cocoa powder. Body Made Luminous has no vanilla in it, just straight up good quality chocolate that has no need of additives. There's something dry and woody as well, as if the truffles are some fancy artisan creation presented in hand crafted wooden boxes. Biting into one truffle and relishing the bittersweet warmth of the chocolate, you encounter the rich amber filling, balmy, resinous and smoky with a certain je ne sais quoi.

This may sound strange but well using eye make up as a metaphor, I think of Body Made Luminous like a "smokey eye". Dark, mysterious and sensual. In comparison Gourmand Coquin would be a "kitten flick", Café Cacao would be a "natural eye" and Chocomania/Choco Musk would be like a pop of something bright and happy on the eyelid. Other examples of "smokey eyes" would be Anima Dulcis or 1969. Anyway back to Body Made Luminous. It gets a very enthusiastic thumbs up from me for projection and longevity and is a great investment for olfactory pleasure.

Clara Bow. Source: pincurlmag.com/clara-bow

Rose 31 Le Labo

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: flairflair.com

X Factor Rose.

The rose in Rose 31 smells like a rose and not a pronounced perfumed rose nor am I distracted by the presence of other flowers. It smells freshly sweet and lightly spiced, the spices gently tickling the nose but never harsh or peppery. The dewy rose seems to be the only source of hydration in this fragrance, Rose 31 for the most part feels dry, like crisp, fallen leaves crackling under your shoes. There is a hint of something sour but not the stale sweat some other fragrance lovers have reported, instead the piquancy gives Rose 31 a bit of bolshiness. 

Rose like a steadfast friend, stays with you throughout the lifetime of Rose 31 which is above average and just when its quieter nature misleads you to think it has left without a trace, Rose 31 sends up almost translucent smoky trails in reassurance. Musty in its drydown it feels like the world is tinted in sepia, the rose joined by musk and wood over time creating a grisaille palette. 

A beguiling blend of a spices, wood, musk and rose, I find Rose 31 easier to wear than its much more challenging friend Rose Poivree by The Different Company, as interesting as Rose Poivree undoubtedly is. 

Guernica, 1937 by Pablo Picasso. Source: http://www.pablopicasso.org/

Rose Poivree The Different Company

Desirability: Decant

Source: kremchik.com.ua

I recoiled the first time I tried Rose Poivree, smelling nothing but spices radiating en masse from the paper I held and blocking out any other notes. It's been three years since that unfortunate introduction and I've learnt to sample on skin and to wait out the opening. 

Opening: a bombardment of eye-watering pepper with coriander chiming in, it's unique multiple personality of zesty yet nutty yet spicy traits adding to the onslaught. It mellows down a little maybe after the first half hour but pepper is a major player all the way to the end. After the spicy blitz there comes a dry, earthy woodiness and rose. The rose is quite exquisite, it truly smells like a real rose blooming out of your skin or clothes. Minimalistic, light and very life-like. 

If you can get past the initial challenging stage, the drydown is a rose musk with an animalic edge albeit on the subtle side. Sophisticated with the slightest hint of naughty. Lightweight in terms of projection after the potency of the opening notes and  has an average longevity.  

Tubéreuse 3 Animale Histoires de Parfums

Source: Luckyscent

If by "animale" they mean dangerous, I think not. The closest animal this would resemble would be a purring lap cat and this is as comforting as a cuddle with said cat after a long day's toil. Unless you have asthma of course. In that case maybe cuddle a hairless cat instead but I digress.

So there's no danger lurking here but lots of fruits, syrupy and boozy plums mostly and of course tuberose, the dense creamy floral lacking its narcotic/animalic facet here and mingling well with the tobacco ( who knew?). Fresh tobacco as if you stuck your nose in a humidor and are inhaling the sweet crisp smell of unlit cigars. Those who are adverse to too cloying tuberose in dramatic white floral perfumes or overload of tobacco can rest easy as neither the tuberose nor the tobacco dominate and overall the scent smells well-blended and full-bodied if a little on the sweeter side of life thanks to the syrupy effect of immortelle in addition to the rich boozy plums minus vanilla that seems to pervade many if not most gourmand fragrances. 

Attractive in an edible way, I am left thinking of plum pancakes smothered with maple syrup the whole day while wearing this incredibly tenacious scent that packs a lot of oomph in the projection department. In the drydown there's a dusty and dry hay/woody effect and together with the maple syrup character of the immortelle, casts a golden shade over the fruity tuberose and tobacco. Unique and bold without being overpowering. Simply a must try! 

CiocoRosissimo Hilde Soliani

Source: Luckyscent

Quirky rose.

The chocolate is most obvious when the scent is first applied, more of a bitter dark chocolate. Sadly the chocolate note waxes and wanes before disappearing completely. Along with the chocolate at the introduction there are  sweet spicy notes that make me think of pepper and cloves. There is also a strong and dry incense gamboling with the chocolate and spices, overall it doesn't smell bad or good but challenging? So the chocolate wanders off and the spice and incense take it down a few notches, it's the debut of the rose, or rather delicately sweet rosewater. By the drydown most of the spiciness is gone leaving the incense, rosewater and vanilla, subtly sweet and balmy.

I can't decide if I like or dislike CiocoRosissimo. It's a wonky and fun scent with tasty point, average projection and longevity. Something that should be sampled though and not blindly bought. 

Le Voluttuose La Vaniglia Bois 1920

Source: www.basenotes.net

I will fully admit that my girly girl side fell for the blush pink and gold bottle BUT what tipped me into blind buying a bottle of La Vaniglia was that it has quite a number of detractors despite being a vanilla scent. Oriental vanilla that is. Very oriental indeed. 

Vanilla usually out shouts its accompanying notes and vanilla scents can get a bit boring and repetitive after a while. Standout vanillas like Mona di Orio's Vanille and La Vaniglia break out of the gourmand category and present challenging compositions that will have their equal share of fans and critics. Mona di Orio's Vanille is an acrid woody vanilla that I enjoy sniffing but cannot wear as I find it too dry to be comfortable and I do like some sugar with my vanilla. L`Erbolario Dolcelisir is a boozy gourmand vanilla that's loaded with cinnamon and other spices which makes it feel drier than other gourmand vanilla perfumes that I've tried. 

Where Dolcelisir is laden with cinnamon, La Vaniglia my third encounter with a dry vanilla, is liberally peppered especially in the opening where the smell of freshly grated ginger and pepper is almost overwhelming and there's no sign of vanilla at this time. The initial spiciness dissipates over time but spice remains a prominent note even to the drydown and this dry spiciness gives a feeling of antiquity to La Vaniglia. Under the spice, living beneath a thick fog of darkest patchouli and smoky incense that is so intense it is as if someone sucked up the incense of several cathedrals and stuck it in this creation, there is a creamy vanilla but La Vaniglia is not just vanilla as she claims to be nor is she the innocent cotton candy pink of the bottle. Yes there is sugar but just enough to be noticed so in comparison I will say much less sweet than Dolcelisir but sweeter than Vanille. She is very much a sophisticated, audacious take on vanilla that is both wildly weird and wonderful. Potent and promiscuous this is definitely not for little girls. AMAZING longevity and good projection. Blind buy success! 

Dolcelisir L`Erbolario

Source: www.lushome.com

A dry, spicy and boozy vanilla that would fit in well with Christmas just around the corner, Dolcelisir would sit between the spiced eggnog and dark rum-soaked fruit cake. Those who adore cinnamon would love Dolcelisir for this gourmand oriental scent is laden with cinnamon and other spices from the start till the end. 

Some fragrance lovers have found the dry spices to be too harsh for their liking but I find that this makes Dolcelisir unique amongst the many gourmand vanilla scents on the market. The only other drier vanilla I can think of is Mona di Orio's Vanille, a very intriguing dark and dry vanilla but with almost zero percent added sugar whilst Dolcelisir is unquestionably a gourmand vanilla. Other notes that make up this festive treat include smoky resins and woody notes, caramelized bitter citrus peel, maple syrup and a sugary rum. All the notes are well-blended and the result is a balmy and soothing gourmand lover's heaven. 

Dolcelisir is of comparable quality with more expensive niche perfumes, money for value and has decent sillage and longevity, what more could one ask for? If you have been searching for a liberally spiced and boozy vanilla to ring in the upcoming holidays, that is sweet without being cloying and enjoyable through all kinds of weather, I would recommend sampling Dolcelisir.

02 L`Air du Desert Marocain Tauer

Source: www.tauerperfumes.com

This smells like a sibling to one of Lutens' oriental scents like Ambre Sultan. A potent dry and spicy wind. POTENT, you have been warned, I've heard humorous stories on how people have cleared gym locker rooms and crèche facilities from overapplication.

For me, L`Air du Desert Marocain is more of a desert wind than Serge Lutens' Chergui, Chergui being a rich honeyed tobacco on me whereas L`Air du Desert Marocain conveys the dry and dusty vibe of a desert. Instead of being desiccatingly hot like the Sharqi, L`Air du Desert Marocain's warmth comes from its rich spices( the cumin stands out for me), the incense smoke, the sweet amber and resins, woody notes and a bit of animal. The different parts of the scent swirl lazily around each other, initially the dry spices are more obvious and later on the smoky resins and woody notes are more apparent, but throughout its lifetime the scent keeps whirling to show you a different face each time you inhale.

Well-crafted, deep and mysterious, L`Air du Desert Marocain takes you on a journey like Aladdin's magic carpet through familiar notes but in a unique formula. Fantastic sillage and longevity, if you love oriental scents, you must try this. 

Les Jeux sont Faits Jovoy

Les Jeux sont Fait. The bets have been placed.

Damn, this is a boozy opening and a loud one too. Rum, lots of it, reminding me of my mother dousing the Christmas fruit cake with rum, starting in September, so that when it is taken out of its container come December, the smell of rum soaked fruit fills the room. The cumin battles with the rum in the opening, but the tussle doesn't last long and they agree to a truce, living in relative accord with a dry, semi sweet, woody base (patchouli, dried fruit and tobacco present and accounted for).

Dark, luscious amber all tanked up. I smell incense in the base but it's not listed in the notes. Les Jeux sont Faits reminds me of a mix between Serge Lutens' Arabie, Chergui and Ambre Sultan, but not as honeyed, darker...more brooding. Feels more masculine initially but becomes sweeter and warmer with time, a woman could carry this off, a woman like Marlene Dietrich with her smoky, hypnotic voice.



Trivia: I stumbled upon a book by the same name, Les Jeux sont Faits, It was originally a screenplay, written by Jean-Paul Satre(part of the philosophical movement interested in existentialism) in 1943, in which two people, Ève and Pierre who have never met before, are destined soulmates, both dying in premature and violent deaths before meeting in the afterlife. They are given a second shot at life for 24 hours to prove their love, in order to keep that second chance. However both are distracted by unfinished business in their previous lives and that keeps them from concentrating on their love and they fail in their quest, dying once more. The story backs Satre's belief in determinism, i.e the philosophical position that for every event and action, there exists conditions that could result in no other eventuality, whether good or bad intentions abound, that destiny will always win over the power of life. In this play, Satre also shows that it is near impossible to know if a choice is the right one even if backed by the best intentions and that there really isn't an absolute truth or morality.

*An English translation is available to read on openlibrary.org (not affiliated, just read it there!)

“Say not, ‘I have found the truth,’ but rather, ‘I have found a truth.’- Khalil Gibran.