PG21 Felanilla Parfumerie Generale

Desirability: Decant

Source: bloomperfume.co.uk

This smells good. This smells like the badass biker sibling to Guerlain's Shalimar (which is what heaven might smell like in my opinion) whose leather note escaped me time and time again. If not a Hell's Angel in leather well then this sibling keeps a zoo of exotic animals. 

Sweet vanilla, powdery iris and leathery spicy saffron greet my nose upon application but the saffron eases up with time and the leathery and spicy effects slip away. Dusting off the powdery notes by the drydown, Felanilla gives the sensation of cottony soft vanilla clouds all puffed up against a blue sky on a warm dry day, with a background of honeyed wood notes. A lovely woody vanilla as a finale with a far more exciting introduction, I only wish that the sillage could be beefed up so that it is more than a skin scent from the word "go". Felanilla reminds me a little of PG 14 Iris Taizo which is an interesting spiced honeyed wood instead of woody vanilla and in the introduction you have cardamom in place of saffron. 

PG14 Iris Taizo Parfumerie Generale

Source: Fragrantica

Iris Taizo is another almost but not quite gourmand fragrance from Parfumerie Generale. You need to like cardamom to get through the opening as it starts with a blast of spicy green...incense? That's what I smell anyway. With time the potency of the scent decreases and so does the intensity of it, leaving room for a sweet powdery and woody base to be noticed under the spiciness. On paper the powdery aspect of the iris is played up and I much prefer it on my skin where it's more waxy than powdery, an enveloping warmth of spiced honeyed wood.

My only guff is that despite its promising bellow at the start, the scent wanes quite fast and all that's left is a skin scent that sticks around for the better part of  three hours tops. Solution: buy the 100 ml and lug it around for frequent touch-ups.

Bois Naufrage Parfumerie Generale

Source: Fragrantica.com

Bois Naufrage was inspired by a photograph entitled 'Nu au Bois Flotte' (naked on driftwood) by the legendary Lucien Clergue in 1971. In French, bois flotté is translated to driftwood; naufragé means shipwrecked.

This is a warmer and more polished ode to driftwood and the sea in general, as compared to the cool and bracing air of Arran Aromatics' Driftwood. I smell and envision a warm, salty sea air on a sunny afternoon by a beach dotted with washed up bodies of driftwood, polished smooth by the sea.

 There is a subtle sweetness in Bois Naufrage that reminds me of figs, more green like in Profumum Roma's Ichnusa as compared to the milky fig Dambrosia from the same house. The wind carries the smell of wildflowers and grass that cling tenaciously to what soil there is by the seashore. Where Arran Aromatics' Driftwood takes me back to the cold shores of the Atlantic in fall, Bois Naufrage takes me to the warm blue-green waters of the Mediterranean, accompanied by the light-hearted freedom of summer holidays.

It has a raw and piercing opening but quickly settles into a snugly, wind-swept, brine-encrusted woody scent that would lounge comfortably on both smart attire or casual wear. Bois Naufrage has an average projection and longevity on me after settling down from its brash start. I think its easily unisex but personally I would prefer to smell this on the right guy. 

PG12 Hyperessence Matale Parfumerie Generale

Source:madisonperfumery.com

Based on notes alone this shouldn't be my cup of tea as I'm not particularly crazy over fresh scents, but I was introduced to it during a Parfumerie Generale smell-fest and although I don't love it, I do like it and think it's quite special.

Well the drydown is special that is. The opening is rather like living in a bottle of lemon detergent with sharp and shrill citruses in an aerial bombardment. Adding to the (imagined) luminous yellow discord are eye-watering peppery notes such that the start of Hyperessence Matale is not just hyper, it's migraine-inducing. 

In the aftermath there is peace. The limes and lemons have careened off chart taking most of the pepper with them, leaving an enjoyable level of spiciness...and enter the Zen garden, where a soothing cup of hot pu-erh (or insert other favorite black tea here) awaits on a low table in front of a pile of cushions scattered on the floor, facing a manicured green garden bordered by a thick wall of trees to protect its tranquility. Bottle all this and you have the drydown.

After the loud entrance, Hyperessence Matale quietens to a more pleasing and moderate level of projection and has an average longevity. 

PG 25 Indochine Parfumerie Generale

Source: Saccani.com

Another scent from Parfumerie Generale that I could fall in lust with. Honeyed spices (cardamom predominant) on a resinous woody base. It starts off with a blast of cardamom (if you don't know what cardamom smells like, smell this and you won't forget it!) which blends beautifully with the honey, both sweet and spicy. The smoke and woods come next, bringing me back to holidays spent in the relative quiet and isolation among the paddy fields of Ubud, Bali, reclining on a veranda and watching the sun languorously descend, its last rays serenely giving way to the impending darkness, a wistful glow caressing every surface goodbye. 

The honey is reigned in by the wood and spices and although sweet, Indochine is more of dry, spiced woods than gourmand on my skin. It has a good sillage on me and average longevity. Lovers of Lutens' Ambre Sultan, Chergui, Five O'Clock Au Gingembre and the like, would enjoy this. I definitely do, Indochine being as idyllic an experience as my remote getaways. 

PG 15 Ilang Ivohibé Parfumerie Generale

Source: Fragrantica.

I haven't been the biggest fan of Parfumerie Generale, not for the want of trying or any fault of the scents I've tried, but we don't seem to mesh well. As Fate would have it, I had a better run of luck with this house of late and Ilang Ivohibé is the landmark first bottle I own, quickly followed by a volley of its siblings lol.

The Parfumerie Generale website lists the ingredients as such: 

"Born of a fairy-tale union of Madagascan ylang-ylang, Californian orange and Egyptian jasmine,

 the poetic fragrance of an imaginary flower releases its perfume against the exquisite sweetness of a forest of vanilla plants. 

Lavander, Vanilla, Ylang-ylang, Orris, Patchouli."

Strangely enough none of the online stores that carry the scent have the same list of ingredients, with most listing a variable combination of: ylang-ylang, citrus, jasmine, vanilla, woods and musk.

Ilang Ivohibé is not just another ylang ylang scent. Trust Pierre Guillaume to always jazz things up, wearable on me or not. In this case, it's a delightful floral woody vanilla that simultaneously hints at dense gourmand roots and yet channels a sprightly green vibe. A real shape-shifter, one moment I think of vanilla cake and the next it's all woods and nature. Add a dash of citrus and generous sprinkle of powder on top. 

Ylang ylang usually goes narcotic and smouldering on me but Ilang Ivohibé remains a young and joyful spirit throughout. It has good longevity but from the start it remains close to the skin without a trail so I keep thinking it's disappeared but no it's still there, just really subtle. That's about my only grumble about the scent and with a 100 ml bottle, the solution is spray and spray again ad infinitum. 

P.S: Am I the only one who isn't certain how to pronounce the name? I've been cautiously muttering " ee-lang ee-vo-hibe" and well the sales assistant handed me the right bottle.

Trivia: A quick Google search tells me that Ivohibe is a hilly rural town in central Madagascar. In the municipality is a nature reserve called Pic d'Ivohibe, you can read more here.

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.

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.

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!

PG 22 Djhenné Parfumerie Generale

So according to the Luckyscent website and backed up by blog reading, it's Djhenné not DjHenné ( so it's not named after a DJ that you can find on soundcloud). Djhenné is dervied from both the French word for henna and Djenné in Mali.

Djenné is the oldest known city in sub-Saharan Africa. It is situated on the floodplains between the rivers Niger and Bani, meaning that during the wet season, Djenné becomes pretty much an island. Historically the town was an important trading and commercial centre but its importance has since diminished and the economy depends on agriculture. In 1988, the Old Town of Djenné and its Great Mosque were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Great Mosque was built in 1906 and is the largest building in the world that is made out of mud bricks called Banco(a recipe of mud and grain husks). 

 Market in front of the Great Mosque.

I did the research on Djenné in order to understand the connection with the perfume, but I'm still missing the link. 

Djhenné started off like a guy's cologne on me, I am getting cool and refreshing herbal wafts of lavender, mint and woods with minimal sweetness and a leathery vibe.I don't smell any cereal but I assume that the wheat is there to smoothen out the composition and prevent it from falling into the aftershave catergory. Ditto the myrrh which gives this a little balminess. Even then, I would still file this as a woody aromatic scent. The listed cacao note is missing on me even though I've given my sample plenty of time to develop.

The scent does not project much on me but the longevity is acceptable, it clocked over four hours and still counting.

Djhenné gets a pretty mixed bunch of reviews online so I guess it really boils down to chemistry. Kudos to those that got the cereal and cocoa combination! I'll trade you my woody lavender!

L'Oiseau de Nuit Parfumerie Generale

L'Oiseau de Nuit. The Night Bird has landed in my hands from a Luckyscent sample. 

Now this is good stuff. 

It opens with a smell similar to lemongrass-herbal, bittersweet and green. The medicinal part abates a bit and I smell the leather that makes me think of really buttery soft leather gloves that you never want to take off but you have to because the SA is staring at you suspiciously and the price-tag is astronomical. 

There's an animal in this scent and I don't mean the name. It smells like an unwashed beast...but I like it...in the scent that is. Not the actual beast up close, I've dated enough of those thank you.


The Odalisque, Aldophe Weisz 1884

I smell sweet smoky resins, which one exactly I can never tell, I get mixed up with the different types of balsams and resins. The official notes list labdanum and benzoin.

The scent twists and turns on me like smoke does in the air, now I get the herbal bitterness, now I get then thick resinous sweetness, then I get the leather and the unwashed beast. 

Sillage is very very good, considering I applied a little bit from a dab sample to my right elbow and I can smell this as clear as if I had my wrist stuck to my nose...that's good in my books. 

My first full bottle worthy PG scent, I may even spring for the 100 ml bottle. Definitely reinvigorated to try more! 

PG04 Musc Maori Parfumerie Generale

Scent of the night: Musc Maori, from a Luckyscent dab sample. My previous forays over a year ago into the PG line left me unmoved and I have been repeatedly urged to try more before dismissing this very popular niche house.

So here I am with the scent applied to both wrist and sleeve. My first thought, sour milk! Oh no what have I done, I just showered! I don't want to sleep with sour milk! Thankfully, the sourness disappeared and left the creamy milk behind (Fragrantica lists green notes in the pyramid for Musc Maori so perhaps that was the culprit, but whatever it is I'm glad it exited quickly).  I smell chocolate, bittersweet and powdery.  A brief image of Muller Corner with cocoa balls flashed through my mind and got my sweet tooth going. 

Just as Musc Maori and I started getting along just fine, something that smells like bergamot shows up? What?! I recheck the label on the sample and it says Musc Maori...where is this citrus zest coming from?-- I'm looking at you "green notes"! So now I have full cream milk+ bittersweet chocolate powder+ citrus rind. Interesting but it's neither a gourmand nor is it a cologne. Nor is it musky on me, no soap nor wild animal present here. It's more Chocolate Powder Maori than Musc Maori on me. Add a dash of citrus too.

Thankfully this has a lowish sillage on me and I can cover it with some powerhouse perfume instead of another shower before I go hunt down my bar of orange dark chocolate which I now smell like. Still not a fan of PG, but not discouraged. There has to be one that I'll fall in love with. Or at least like.