Mon Parfum Chéri par Camille Annick Goutal

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: pinterest

For patchouli lovers. 

"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." - Khalil Gibran

Source: pinterest

A plum and patchouli combination that is miles apart from another plum/patch that I have, the sweet and rather gourmand-esque Isvaraya. Mon Parfum Chéri par Camille is Nature bottled if Nature to you means the smell of earth...leaves and dirt literally. Appealing? For me on certain days yes. On this day of Equinox, I am feeling rather nostalgic for autumnal colours and smells. Instead of veering down the path of fall gourmands with cinnamon and spices, I have decided to regain balance with Mon Parfum Chéri while cooped up indoors. 

A powdery opening sweetened with tart plums and restrained vanilla. Patchouli is the heavyweight here, an almost gloomy, earthy and bitter patchouli that makes me feel like I'm digging in the dirt, bare hands and all. It does not ever lighten up and in this case the bottle truly matches the scent for Mon Parfum Chéri is both bold and dark throughout its lifetime. I can only pick out iris, plum and patchouli of course, but this scent feels way more complex than it reads. Lasts forever and with good projection,  Mon Parfum Chéri par Camille is a full-bodied olfactory masterpiece that is very different from the ethereal beauties I'm used to from this house. This is not a scent for parties and socializing but a private scent for spells of solitary introspection.

I believe that Mon Parfum Cheri is full bottle worthy but it is definitely a try before you buy scent. 

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. 

Rose Oud Monotheme Fine Fragrances Venezia

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: www.granducati.com

I enjoy the smell of oud and have never been too bothered about whether the oud in my perfume was real or synthetic as long as it smelled good. Monotheme's Rose Oud smells good.

The scent of sweet blushing roses and the unique spicy-citrus smell of elemi resin greet you upon applying Rose Oud. Slightly powdery, bright and beautiful with a just the right amount of something green and sour. It grows more earthy and woody (like what you would imagine a forest floor with its mat of dried leaves and mud would smell like) over time but never goes over to the dark side despite the patchouli and oud. There's a ?mineral smell amongst all the dirt, plants and flowers, like how a gravel courtyard smells under a burning sun. ? Stony haha. The drydown is a more subtle expression of all the notes that have already been introduced, nicely balanced and smooth. 

I took a break from my oud rampage for a while so I can't say for sure how Rose Oud compares with other similar combinations but based on memory, I would say fragrance-wise it's up there with Thirty-three which is a big love of mine. Projection and longevity are average.

Not the easiest to purchase online but I have found a store called Granducati that ships internationally and the prices for the perfumes are reasonable. I haven't bought from them yet but going by my first and very pleasant experience with Monotheme's fragrances, I am interested in sampling others.

Thundra Profumum Roma

Desirability: Sample

Source: www.profumum.com 

Thundra smells minty, fresh, green and waxy at the same time, like how aloe vera leaves look like outside and the refreshing, succulent inside. Exuding a meditative calm, Thundra feels more like an ambience than a perfume, like how I imagine sitting in the cool green woodlands in the Twilight movies (minus scary vampires and wolves) would fee like. Wood and the smell of earth enter the scent in the later stages, continuing with the Nature theme but warming up the scent a little as if the ice were melting in the tundra and allowing some life to break through the permafrost. 

Thundra is very soft on me, possibly the softest of all Profumum Roma scents that I've tried so far but the longevity is decent. Not my favourite from this house but I can see this being popular with those who enjoy quiet scents, nature and solitude. 

Tagete Profumum Roma

Desirability: Decant

Source: Luckyscent.com

A sunny white floral that never succumbs to decay.

There's nothing astounding or unique about Tagete but yet I feel a little like Olaf singing "In Summer". This is such a good-natured and lovely scent that one cannot fail to feel upbeat when wearing Tagete. It smells of sunny days with thick white puffs of clouds floating in a bright blue sky, fresh vivid flowers and long blades of grass bobbing their heads in the gentle breeze.

I have no idea what tagetes smell like, a visit to the nearest plant nursery did not answer my question either, the potted marigolds were available in riotous colours but I smelt pretty much zilch. What I do smell are the white flowers jasmine and tuberose with the latter calling the shots. Tuberose lush and lusty, reminiscent of the diva Tuberosa but here the creamy coconut-like sweetness instead of an animalic edge, has tints of something green and tangy like the rind of citrus fruit that lightens up the narcotic headiness of the white floral notes. Cosy in the drydown, it becomes earthier and ? inky as time passes as if the day is darkening into twilight but the basic storyline does not change. It is a happy and perfectly natural scent from beginning to end which I might add is a super duper long time away. Just like the other scents from this house, a little goes a long way. 

Rossy de Palma Eau de Protection Etat Libre d`Orange

Desirability: Sample

Source: iperfume.ru

Unless my sample was labelled wrongly, Rossy de Palma has to be the tamest scent that I've tried from Etat Libre d'Orange ever. I kept waiting for a twist in the tale but the lack of shock tactics was notable from the start to its drydown.

Rossy de Palma is a peppery spiced rose, whose place on the "Scoville" score of spiciness lies between Paestum Rose by Eau D'Italie on the milder side and Epic Woman by Amouage on the spicier side. Pasteum Rose is too mild tempered for my liking and Rossy de Palma is more affordable than Amouage, so it is a good in-between scent if you are having problems deciding between them. Rossy de Palma opens with a peppery spiciness tinged with the sharpness of fresh-cut ginger. There is a green rose that appears from behind the spices, a little sour, a little sweet and plenty realistic as if you were leaning in to smell the rose itself perched on its bush, the scent of wet dirt type of patchouli rising from below. Mingling with these smells is a gentle breeze carrying a light incense that completes the picture of Rossy de Palma. 

I've heard the scent termed so many things from sensual to cozy and I believe it encompasses both and everything else in between. It has a moderate projection but a decent longevity and I feel it can be comfortably worn by both males and females. A nicely done spiced patchouli rose that doesn't go screechy or powdery like some roses do but despite singing its praises, my heart and purse still belongs to the opulent, breathtakingly beautiful Epic Woman.

Trivia: The Scoville scale is a measurement of the spiciness of a particular food or chili pepper, measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU) which is related to the concentration of capsaicin in the food but is an imprecise method of of measurement in contrast to methods such as high-performance liquid chromatography. 

Rosae Mundi is my Valentine!

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: pinterest.com

A living rose.

A decant of Rosae Mundi and some others from the Profumum Roma line came just in time for me to celebrate Valentine's day my way- perfumed, with a good book and Serge purring at my feet. 

Rosae Mundi. Rose of the world. For a detailed and interesting write-up on the history of this phrase, read here. 

I don't know if Rosae Mundi is the Rose of the world but it definitely smells like the Rose of the earth or rather Rose and the Earth for that is what I smell in equal parts. Roses and earth-dirt, plants, animals, basically all that lives and breathes. The roses are the first to be noticed, huge blooms of perfumed roses that are a little powdery, a little tartly green and a little sweet. Don't write off the perfume as just another rose soliflore, that's just the beginning. 

Rosae Mundi moves out from behind the white picket fences into the real world and gets gritty. Dry, dusty and the smell of the earth after the rain has passed and under the tropical sun, steam practically rises from the cooled ground. That smell. Not just one smell but a smell that is complex and made up of the scent of many others, the watered soil, the plants-their roots, leaves and flowers, the soaring trees above, maybe even the worms and caterpillars. The roses are still blooming but the earth and its living things take the centre stage in this later part of Rosae Mundi. The scent stays this way for the rest of its long lifetime, it is there until you scrub it off with a good amount of soap and arm power. 

Source: pinterest.com

THE ROSE OF THE WORLD

by: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

Who dreamed that beauty passes like a dream?

For these red lips, with all their mournful pride,

Mournful that no new wonder may betide,

Troy passed away in one high funeral gleam,

And Usna's children died.

 

We and the labouring world are passing by:

Amid men's souls, that waver and give place

Like the pale waters in their wintry race,

Under the passing stars, foam of the sky,

Lives on this lonely face.

 

Bow down, archangels, in your dim abode:

Before you were, or any hearts to beat,

Weary and kind one lingered by His seat;

He made the world to be a grassy road

Before her wandering feet.

Source: mrt.com.mk

Paradise Lost Keiko Mecheri

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: Luckyscent.com

Yes I've thought some of the Keiko Mercheri fragrances that I've tried so far are worth buying full bottles of, but I've never really been compelled to go after a full bottle of any until now. Strangely enough, judging by the reactions of fragrant friends, I'm in the minority when it comes to liking Paradise Lost. 

I've heard negative comments ranging from too candy like to too floral like and both bewilder me as I don't smell sweets and yes obviously there are floral notes but Paradise Lost is far from just a floral perfume, on me at least. It starts off very sunny and bright with citruses loaded with greens and life, white floral blooms and sweet sandalwood conveying an image of the first part of its name "Paradise". However the rest is a slightly different tale and makes me think of the consequences after Adam and Eve were too greedy with the apple and got banished from Paradise. Paradise Lost develops into an pungent aroma with a strong smell of musky nether regions or the smell of decay or both mixed together. The white floral notes are still identifiable but the petals have lost their vigour and have begun to wilt quickly. The drydown is like a sweaty animalic musk and the residual perfume left by the faded flowers. Very interesting ride and not something I had anticipated when I first did a quick survey of the listed notes before ordering a sample to try. Perhaps the "Lost" part of the name is represented by the earthiness of the latter part of this fragrance's evolution, after the abrupt departure from its celestial beginnings. That's how I imagine it anyway.  

The projection and longevity are nothing to write home about but I've made peace with that by spraying heavily and frequently i.e. bring bottle around with you all day. I'm actually quite happy that I'm in the minority championing Paradise Lost, means more for me and less chance of smelling it on someone else! 

Ylang 49 Le Labo

Desirability: Decant

Source: Luckyscent

An acquired taste for intellectual days.

This isn't your regular ylang ylang perfume as in it's not about white/yellow floral notes, there's no candied vanilla and it has nothing to do with the beach or suntan lotion.

Chypre it is, there's tons of bitter green mossy woods on first applying. I feel like I'm hiking in a tropical jungle, the green foliage so dense and the humidity so thick you can almost cut it with a knife. I smell the ylang ylang which far from its potential to be cloying, here is ensnared by the heavy moss and earthy patchouli. The floral sweetness gives Ylang 49 some lightness in a complex and intense, almost broody character. 

It's not happy go lucky, it's definitely not stereotypically sexy (unless you dig the strait-laced librarian, not the adult entertainment librarian) but it has class and it commands attention like a lecturer inspiring you to put on your thinking cap instead of spoon-feeding you the answer. If Escada fruity florals are ditzes (I mean no offence, on occasion I smell ditzy too), then Ylang 49 is well not quite a valedictorian but at least an honours student. Comforting? Maybe. I would use this as a galvanization on pyjama-only days at home when I give up my chick literature for real books.  

West Side Bond No 9

Source: Amazon.com

I've smelt boozy scents but I've yet to identify wine as a note till West Side where I can confidently say I smell red wine, like a classic Burgundy red that's rich and earthy ( think forest floor and mushrooms). Next to your glass or bottle of red there is a vase with a few blooms of roses, their subtle sweetness coming forth in gentle wafts. Each time you lift the glass you get a whiff of your favourite ylang ylang lotion slathered on hours ago. There is a bit of vanilla, just the barest hint as if you wolfed down some vanilla sponge cake and mere crumbs are left as evidence of the treat and the smell left in your memory. 

West Side is a laid back perfume, not quite shorts and slippers at the beach but a Sunday afternoon or a holiday spent relaxing by a quiet side-walk cafe, sharing a bottle and light chat with a close friend while people watching. Nobody in this scene least of all you, is in a hurry, everyone moves at a leisurely pace not ruminating over the past or worrying about the future...just enjoying the "now". In the drydown the vanilla becomes stronger as if you gave in to temptation and ordered another vanilla slice, while the wine and roses stay with you throughout the day.

Iris Silver Mist Serge Lutens

Source: flickr.com

I have adored Serge Lutens' fragrances since my first bottle of Ambre Sultan which remains the watermark of amber perfumes, the purchase marking my first foray into the world of serious perfume loving and my eternal fixation with this house and its stirring creations. 

Iris Silver Mist is an oddity even in a house full of the weird and wonderful and I empathise with the multiple polarising reviews scattered across the internet. This wasn't instant love and I'm not sure it is love yet, but after spending a bit of time with it I would say it's a definite like, it's wearable art that's subtle yet long lasting.

Carrots, earthy, mineral, rooty, vegetal, yup I am smelling all that from the word "go". It's unmistakeable and I can never forget it, pardon the pun but it's rooted in my head, the raw carrots that is. After smelling like I've been digging with bare hands in the soil for the better part of an hour, it changes as if I've uncovered something cold and metallic in the soil and it's just this weird earthy yet rusty or the smell of blood would be a better if not more peculiar match. Uncomfortable to say the least and I will admit I felt a little queasy in the stomach and I do not have blood phobia.

Source:herbangardener.com

Thank heavens and everything else in between that the awkwardness passed and like a metamorphosis, Iris Silver Mist rises from its rocky beginnings and it's all smooth-sailing from now on. Roll the credits. Or rather roll out the red carpet for one of the most smooth, buttery suede irises I've smelt yet, delicately sweet like sugared flower petals, subtly spicy (I smell cinnamon) and living wood like a walk in a forest while the weather is cool enough for warm breath to come out as puffs.



I've read comments labelling this funereal, aloof, untouchable, melancholic and the like. I can't say I agree. Iris Silver Mist makes me think of Cabiria in Nights of Cabiria, a prostitute with a heart of gold, on a never ending search for love and redemption. Unfortunately she keeps getting her heart broken and slowly grows bitter and disillusioned about life and love, well until she falls for the next scoundrel. Right after the most recent of heartbreaks while she is still in tears, she comes across a group of young happy people and she begins to smile again.


Maria “Cabiria” Ceccarelli (Giulietta Masina): I guess there is some justice in the world. You suffer, you go through hell … but then happiness comes along for everyone.

Cuir Ottoman Parfum d'Empire

I like, I do not love. 

Cuir Ottoman. The name evokes images of sweat, musk, animals, leather, darkness...

The opening is promising, bitter harsh leather, but it didn't last for more than a few minutes before becoming a very civilized, polite suede. It's like the evolution of a cave man to a modern man not over hundreds of thousands of year but over mere minutes. 

Isabel Marant Dicker boot, courtesy of lagarconne.com

Cuir Iris might be a more suitable name, as the powdery and earthy iris is more dominant apart from the explosive tarry opening. The leather as I mentioned becomes a smooth, polished suede and instead of a pair of Frye cowboy boots, I'm thinking of Isabel Marant's suede Dicker boots, sand colored ones.The scent is made even more amiable with the addition of sweet creamy vanilla, warm resins and a much toned down incense that provides a spiced relief from all the congeniality. 

A well-crafted and elegant iris/suede perfume with no rough edges, that would appeal to both sexes and would wear well for all occasions, having a moderate sillage and good longevity. As much as I find its pleasing countenance attractive, I will throw my lot in with moodier leathers such as Serge Lutens' Cuir Mauresque, Les Exclusifs de Chanel's Cuir de Russie, Papillon Artisan Perfumes' Anubis, Mona di Orio's Cuir and...you get my drift.  

1969 Parfum de Revolte Histoires de Parfums

Source: www.ufgrangehall.com

1969 was the first perfume I owned from Histoires de Parfums and it entered my life around the beginning of my entry into the "niche" world of perfumes other than Serge Lutens. In contrast to some of my early buys, I've grown to enjoy and appreciate it more than my inexperienced nose ever did before. 

Where before my green self could only smell a fruity chocolate, I now think of it as alluring and spicy, the gourmand notes still present but intertwined with newly recognised notes, 1969 has grown in attraction, the good projection and longevity being plus points as well. Cloves, cardamom and licorice dominate the opening, spicy, herbal and thoroughly invigorating. A fuzzy soft peach and sweet, fresh roses appear after half an hour of wear, the spiciness abating with their appearance but the scent still retains its oriental nature, warm and sensual. 

After the fruit and floral notes are settled in, a dark semi-sweet chocolate emerges and 1969 becomes smoother and creamy, a spiced chocolate that smells different to Arquiste's Anima Dulcis, another spicy chocolate that I adore. The spice in Anima Dulcis smells like how chili tastes or smells, raw, sharp and fiery whereas the spiciness in 1969 are the unmistakeable cardamom and cloves, aromatic with a slightly peppery tickle to the nostrils, the combination of both spices makes me think of mulled wine and Turkish coffee! 

As 1969 dries further, the spices remain as a lingering pleasant aftertaste and leave a rosy sweet and musky dark chocolate behind. Anima Dulcis on the hand becomes a powdery chili chocolate in its drydown, the makings of a comforting mug of spiced cocoa. Both scents are utterly blissful in their own way but I find 1969 a tad seductive with her sweet bits and spicy muskiness, the earthy patchouli in the drydown adding some darkness to her already interesting nature. Anima Dulcis on the other hand is more like her name, a genuinely "sweet soul" that is relatively uncomplicated chili and chocolate, what you see (on the note list) is what you get. 

Anima Dulcis Arquiste

I love a good chocolate as much as the next gourmand lover but these days it takes a little more than just chocolate to rock my world. Anima Dulcis does just that. 

The opening of Anima Dulcis is a peppery, dry dark chocolate that smells like it's 90% dark with that raw cocoa taste and low on sugar. The vanilla and cinnamon slowly make their way in and the chocolate turns to a more creamy milk chocolate, the spices keeping it from being overly sweet and giving it a more grown-up feel, away from chocolate scents like The Body Shop's Chocomania and Guerlain's Elixir Charnel Gourmand Coquin that smells like a rosy Lolita bingeing on rum and Godiva chocolate hearts, a delicious scent but that price-tag, really? 

As it further evolves, Anima Dulcis loses some of the vanilla and gains back more dark cocoa with its bittersweet earthy flavour. The overall concoction smells realistic and organic, I can almost taste it. The edible version of Anima Dulcis would be Lindt's Chilli Dark Chocolate, as strange as it sounds it's pretty good stuff, semi sweet dark chocolate with a subtle spicy flavour to give it that extra kick in the taste buds. 

Lindt Chilli Dark Chocolate, image courtesy of Flickr.

Anima Dulcis dries to a dusty spiced chocolate, reminding me of making hot chocolate from chocolate powder, but this time with cinnamon and maybe some cardamom and chilli flakes? The scent has a moderate projection and very good longevity, my cardigan from last night still smells delicious after 24 hours. 

Spicy Hot Chocolate, recipe below, courtesy of www.shape.com

Since this is probably triggering cravings, I found an interesting recipe on shape.com for spicy hot chocolate and have included it here.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound butternut squash (about 2 cups cubed)

Cooking spray

7 cups nonfat milk

8 7/10 ounces Mexican or semisweet dark chocolate

30 1/2 ounce semisweet chocolate

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Peel squash and cut it into 1-inch cubes. Arrange squash on a baking sheet in a single layer and spray lightly with cooking spray. Bake for 30 minutes, or until tender.

2. In a blender, puree squash with three cups of milk until smooth. Stir remaining ingredients in a large saucepan over low heat, until chocolate is melted.

3. Add pureed squash mixture to pan and continue stirring until it's heated (do not boil). Strain mixture through a coarse sieve and serve.

Kiki Voile d'Extrait and Kiki Eau de Parfum

Firstly, let me just say it's embarrassing when one's colleague walks in to find one with nose stuck in crook of elbow. But it's Kiki! It's Vero Profumo! That's my defense except I would just get strange and/or blank stares if I try to explain it. I was not willing to spend my weekend in a strait jacket so I just kept quiet and red-faced. 

Anyway. So here I am with Kiki EDP on my left elbow and Kiki Voile d'Extrait on my right elbow.

They both start out similar with a blitz of citruses that you can smell a mile away. From there on, they split up and go in different directions. Like Alice Prin and Kiki?

Kiki de Montparnasse, Moise Kisling

The inspiration behind this creation was the Queen of Montparnasse, Kiki, who was born Alice Prin, illegitimate and in abject poverty, She was adored for her easy-going manner and boundless optimism which earned her the title of Queen of Montparnasse during les Années Folles (The Crazy Years). She was also known for her multiple talents including being a artist's model, nightclub singer, memoirist, actress and a painter. 

Montparnasse like Montmarte before it, was a hive of intellectual and artistic souls in Paris. The community embraced all oddities without reservation and people came from all over the world to partake in the bohemian lifestyle. Marc Chagall describe Montparnasse as such, " I aspired to see with my own eyes what I had heard of from so far away: this revolution of the eye, this rotation of colours, which spontaneously and astutely merge with one another in a flow of conceived lines. That could not be seen in my town. The sun of Art then shone only on Paris."

La Ruche et Montparnasse, Chagall 1978

Kiki EDP emphasizes the passion fruit. The sweet sourness of passion fruit pairs beautifully with the herbal bitterness of the lavender and the fresh minty smell I associate with geranium (think of Frederic Malle's Geranium pour Monsieur with its invigorating spicy freshness). I sense some powdery notes and musk in the base of the EDP, which help keep the passion fruit in check. I find the sillage of the EDP to be much stronger than the Vd'E but I think it's because my skin tends to project fruity notes well. 

Kiki Vd'E is a different bundle of herbs altogether. The bitter herbal lavender here is matched with caramel, unusual and stunning actually. I used to find lavender hard to like and a tad boring due to it's long association with sleep aids and colognes. However Serge Lutens' Forreau Noir which turns sweet creamy tonka and almonds with lavender into a sumptuous gourmand beauty, taught me to be more open-minded and less jaded. Kiki Vd'E is another fine example of how to be creative with lavender and make it a subliminal example too! The musk is more apparent in the Vd'E than the EDP and the passion fruit played down but still noticeable. I get an earthy patchouli in the drydown of the Vd'E but not in the EDP, that stays quite fresh and aromatic throughout its lifespan

Lavender in colognes tend to smell cold and unfriendly on me but not here. In Kiki EDP, it's all smiles and fruity sweetness. In the Vd'E it's not as bubbly as the EDP but it is still warm and personable. 

Both are seriously amazing creations and my mind is piqued as to what the extraits of Vero Profumo must smell like, but I will leave that musing to another day after I win the lottery (but in that case I won't muse over it, I'll buy the whole line in a heartbeat). I've added both Kiki EDP and the Voile d'Extrait to my want list. Bittersweet, special and a bit of a bohemian. 

Kiki de Montparnasse, Man Ray.

Isparta 26 Parfumerie Generale

Isparta opens up with piquant red berries and sweet jammy roses that remind me of PG's Brulure de Rose or Tauer's Une Rose Vermeille. The sweetness level is up there with Juliette Has A Gun's Miss Charming, fruity rosy sweetness...like Montale's Roses Elixir but edit out the citrus opening and swap the strawberries for tangy red berries. Ok the resemblances stop there.

The bright sweetness dissipates quite quickly on me and Isparta takes an abrupt turn down the earthy, herbaceous path where it's darker, patchouli and oud being responsible for the change of mood. It's not all gloom and doom with the warm, jammy rose still going strong. It reminds me a lot of Ex Idolo's Thirty-three with the rose/patch/oud combination but the rose in Thirty-three is very much darker than in Isparta where it smells...pinkish-red? In Thirty-three the rose makes me think of dark almost black red roses, goth roses. The oud does not have the synthetic vibe some other "ouds" have, but it lacks the thick, oiliness I enjoy (that being said, even authentic oud has many different odours just as wines have bouquets).

Daiquiri

I enjoy the quick turnabout that Isparta took, from the initial cutie Strawberry Shortcake character type before fast forwarding ten years when Strawberry Shortcake got some tattoos and attitude. The scent projects in a major fashion on me even from a dab sample and it lasted the whole night into the morning and still going strong.

The rose is less syrupy sweet than Brulure de Rose or Une Rose Vermeille were on me and definitely has more character than the sweet and simple Miss Charming. Like others from the PG line, Isparta obviously comes from good stock but if we talk about interesting...the abrupt mood swing is about the only major difference that sets Isparta apart from other rose/oud/patchoulis.

Tobacco Rose Papillon Artisan Perfumes

It starts out smelling like a dewy fresh greenish rose like Pasteum Rose by Eau D'Italie and sweet rolling tobacco which has this caramel whisky smell that contrasts beautifully against the strong rose scent. 

As it dries, the scent loses some of its initial sparkling freshness and becomes a duskier rose-tinted, herbal and earthy mixture. It settles as a sweet, waxy rose and earthy musk and remains like that for the rest of its lifetime. Despite evolving through the above phases, I find that Tobacco Rose stays a greenish scent and not the woody dark rose I was hoping for. 

It stays close to the skin and lasted for a good few hours, I got about four to six hours of this skin scent. It's nice but from the Papillon trio, I still like Anubis best. 

PG02 Cozé Parfumerie Generale

Marijuana plants give off a lot A LOT of scent especially when flowering thanks to the aromatic qualities of the plant's terpenoids. Depending on which strain is grown, the smell can vary from green notes like leaves or grass or pine, fruit notes like berries or citrus, musky, skunk-like, spicy like cloves and cinnamon or any combination of the above, creating a smell that is almost indescribable.



So is Cozé almost indescribable. The opening is sharp and astringent, peppery almost and medicinal cloves burning my nostrils. When my head stopped spinning, I could pick up the woody aspect of the scent. The shrillness dries down into a very boozy patchouli with the spices and wood notes still lingering. I get no coffee or chocolate so I assume someone had the munchies and stole mine. Leaning on the masculine side, it is still comfortably unisex but not for the faint-hearted. Spicy woody, unconventional. Not quite chatty or cosy but an interesting trip for sure. This would be as close as I get to weed in this country.

Sillage is good so you might get arrested for possession. Longevity is decent, I clocked half a day.

Verdict: Haight Ashbury minus the incense.



P.S: to whoever stole my Grateful Dead tee, I want it back!