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. 

Ambra Aurea Profumum Roma

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: www.profumum.com

Smooth criminal.

This is like a sensual and languorous trip that winds and loops, doubles back and proceeds once more through creamy vanilla, smoky incense, sweet myrrh, dusky warm labdanum, freshly shaven wood and a hint of camphor. Despite being a gourmand lover of sweet things, I prefer my ambers not too sweet and thankfully the sugar level is controlled in this smooth, rich and dense fragrance. I have to mention its ridiculously persistent longevity (ditto sillage) which seems to be a common trait amongst Profumum Roma scents. Mind the oily residue when sprayed though it does give one the fantasy factor of applying liquid amber on. 

Source: kultflick.wordpress.com

Of course I have to compare it with my Holy Grail of ambers...Ambre Sultan, Ambra Aurea is glossy and lustrous where Ambre Sultan is dry and spicy. Ambre Sultan takes me on a magic carpet ride to desert lands of Peter O'Toole's Lawrence of Arabia whereas Ambra Aurea is like the Sex and the City version of the Middle East i.e. a bit OTT but still loveable in the end. 

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Both are glorious amber perfumes in their own right and for those who can't decide whether they need a bottle of Ambra Aurea if they already own the Lutens I would say go for it. Many thanks (or not) to the fragrant friend/fiend who sent me vials of Fiori d'Ambra and Ambra Aurea, both labelled "smell me immediately". I obeyed your instructions and am now hooked.

Mamluk Xerjoff

Desirability: Decant

Source: Fragrantica

Honey overload. You definitely need to like honey, lots of it, to enjoy the ride with Mamluk. The main player in Mamluk from start to finish is honey and you will literally drown in the stuff as good as it smells so don't go trigger happy with your Mamluk. It has massive projection and sticks around forever and a day. 

Mamluk reminds me very much of Ginestat Botrytis but with that little pungent extra that turns it from a grown up gourmand to a boudoir scent. I will call that little extra...salty dirty musk. Don't get me wrong, Mamluk has nothing on Mona di Orio Nuit Noire when it comes to dirty, maybe one level of condensed skank below Maison Francis Kurkdjian Absolue Pour le Soir? 

A thick amber coloured honey laced with a bit of naughty ( I assume that this is what represents the oud in Mamluk), a sprinkling of spices and on a base of resins and wood notes. 

Xerjoff Mamluk= Honey + a little animal funk + Wood + Spices

Ginestat Botrytis= Honey + Ripe Fruits dripping in syrup + Spices

In my opinion Mamluk is worthy of a full bottle purchase and I am eyeing up the Xerjoff Oud Stars Discovery Set (6 x 15 ml: Al-Khat, Fars, Gao, Mamluk, Zafar and Zanzibar/Najaf) which is financially more viable for me than to purchase the individual scents that might require the sale of a kidney on the black market.  

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/

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! 

Le Voluttuose Rosa di Filare (Kimono Rose) Bois 1920

Source: tienda.jeperfumes.com

Previously known as Kimono Rose, Rosa di Filare is one of the three pink blushing bottles of Bois 1920 Le Voluttuose (The Voluptuous) collection.I actually intended to get Notturno Fiorentino but this kind of mistake I am happy to make. 

Rosa di Filare is a sparkling, tender and sweet rose, still perched upon its stem with the morning mist lingering on its petals. The bamboo imparts a watery green freshness whilst currants and lychee add tartness and fruity sweetness respectively. In the later part there is the addition of soft woody notes and patchouli adds a hint of moist earthiness but in general the scent remains forever youthful and radiant. Perfect scent to stave off Monday blues. After wearing Rosa di Filare, I do see the correlation with a rose-hued silk kimono, airy and delicate with a slightly cool caress on bare skin. Where La vaniglia was potent and promiscuous, Rosa di Filare is like Beth in Little Women, the angel of the house.

Quercus Penhaligon`s

Source: www.penhaligons.com

I will confess that I blind bought Quercus after having a bout of infatuation with Jilly Cooper's books where Tabitha Campbell Black was purportedly using the cologne and driving all the men crazy. I was curious as to what was so alluring about it. Answer. Nothing. It's not sexy and I assume the men were probably lusting after Tabitha so much that anything associated with her was taken as arousing. 

I don't tend to gravitate towards clean/fresh/aquatic/aromatic/cologne types. However Quercus has been a staple in my closet since the first bottle along with its accompanying liquid soap and body lotion. Not very original, it reminds me of so many other cologne types ranging from department store CK One to niche brands but there's something about it that makes me choose to replenish instead of replacing it. Talking about CK One I disagree with the pooh-pooh reviews that Quercus is a dead ringer for CK One, in a side by side comparison the former is softer and elegant and the latter loud and brash. 

I am ambivalent about citrus as it can get screechy on me but in Quercus it smells like a basket with various citrus fruit, not just one type, fresh, green and sunny. A bouquet of delicate white flowers. There's a tiniest bit of spice and the usually gregarious galbanum is muted here. In the drydown there is a sheer musk and mossy wood notes. It's as if all the ingredients were thrown into water and diluted to soft impressions of their usual selves. Average sillage and longevity. Natural smelling and well constructed. Lovely. 

Lux Mona di Orio (re-release 2014)

Source: Fragrantica

Lux. Light (latin).

If Nuit Noire was an olfactory sex session in a dungeon, Lux would probably be the foreplay, well a lite version. To put it simply if crudely it smells like not very well washed (better than completely unwashed) nether regions and citrus. Sounds unappealing but smells very good.

First you get green floral notes and lots and lots of bright and happy citrus.Amongst the sour there is also the sweet, in the form of fruity notes and a lovely warm vanilla. As time passes the sharpness of the citrus disappears and the scent turns darker with the inclusion of dirty musk, leather and woody notes. The "unclean" aspect slowly fades away and in the drydown you are left with a cushy mix of wood, vanilla and some remnant citrus notes. Lux has an average projection and longevity on me and can easily be worn by either sex as long as animalic notes are your thing as there is no escaping from it in Lux despite the sunny citrus. 

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.

Mon Nom Est Rouge Majda Bekkali Sculptures Olfactives

Source: Fragrantica

Spiced rose contenders that I've had the good fortune to sample: Mon Nom Est Rouge, Epic Woman by Amouage, Noir Epices by Frederic Malle/ Michel Roudnitska, Paestum Rose by Eau D'Italie and Rose Poivree by The Different Company. 

The Different Company's Rose Poivree was too peppery for my liking with the barest hint of rose, I didn't get any delicious sweaty animal that some other perfume lovers did but there has been some muttering about batches smelling different so maybe I should revisit Rose Poivree. Eau D'Italie's Paestum Rose is a smoothly blended rose with a touch of incense and spices, feminine and beautiful but I'm looking for more than that. Noir Epices from Frederic Malle/Michel Roudnitska is big and dramatic, spiced roses and citruses as if it's always Christmas time and a finalist that made it to my want list when funds allow. Ditto Amouage's Epic Woman, a luxurious spiced rose and heavy incense affair. 

Mon Nom Est Rouge is regularly compared to Epic Woman and while I agree that there are similarities, I mean they are both spiced roses with the same nose behind them but I find Mon Nom Est Rouge to be lighter and highlighting the rose more than in Epic Woman where the rose shares the limelight and sometimes gets pushed back by the incense and spices. Mon Nom Est Rouge starts out very richly spiced( I smell cardamom and ginger very distinctly) and peppery but not as blindingly so as in Rose Poivree, it stays like this for about an hour or so before gradually fading into a smooth sweet rose and woods, the spices a shadow of their former selves ( I smell cinnamon towards the drydown) and the scent bears more resemblance in its drydown to Paestum Rose than Epic Woman. Mon Nom Est Rouge starts with a resounding opening and shows promise but loses its interesting nature to become a lovely but a been-there-done-that ending. I will stick with Epic Woman instead. 

Champaca Absolute Tom Ford

Source: irecommend.ru

Although I agree with the general consensus that the perfumes are well-made and smell expensive, I like but do not feel the need to have most of the fragrances I've tried from Tom Ford except for a few that include Champaca Absolute from the Private Blend range. It's probably down to chemistry but where many get all sorts of dirty business with Black Orchid all I get is floral talcum powder and perhaps Noir de Noir would have been more attractive in 2007 than when I first smelt it in 2012 along with other versions of the same song Rose-Patchouli. 

Champaca Absolute has a short spurt of dark booziness when first applied before turning sweet and sheer with floral notes of magnolia (with its usual creamy thickness stripped away), violet and the smell of a newly ripened banana with no black spots marring its pristine yellow colour as yet. The freshness gradually slips away and leaves a dusty layer over the flowers and fruit (well just the banana that is) with a scattering of new wood shavings on top. It doesn't get any darker than this and remains like a gauzy veil wrapped around you for about six hours or so. Overall I find it original, bright and leaning on the feminine side of the scale. 

Nuit Noire Mona di Orio (re-release 2014)

Source: Fragrantica

I started my day with Frederic Malle's ultra feminine Lipstick Rose and am ending it with heated hormones to put it delicately, thanks to Mona di Orio's Nuit Noire, the re-released edition of 2014 that I've been waiting impatiently for since rumours first started in 2013, having heard such polarising opinions on the original version and looking at those notes, how could I not fall in lust?

In order not to waste your time I would advise that if you hate strong spices/musks/animal smells/have used the words 'urinal' or 'faecal' as derogatory terms to describe a perfume before, then don't bother with Nuit Noire unless you are into olfactory BDSM. For it is all the above and it's stunning. Yes skanky animalic perfumes have been done before and over and over again. Yes Nuit Noire is nothing ground-breaking but it's damn good and it does the job. Seduction in a bottle. You or your prey. 

Source: gifrific.com

The opening is jaw-dropping, intense and virile, a clash of the titans between an acerbic orange blossom, weirdly sweet burning tyres type leather and the sweaty-armpits variety of musk. After getting your full attention, Nuit Noire tones down on the leather ditching the tyre note but leaving the bad boy biker in full leather gear behind. The sharpness of the orange blossom relaxes and more of a heady white floral comes through after the sharp citrus note exits. 

The leather and animalic musk combination could be described as someone (male or female) wearing a dry spicy oriental scent, having an energetic session in the gym or other physical activity and then donning a leather jacket over it all. The creamy lush flowers and wood notes embellish Nuit Noire but the leather, musk and dry spices are what makes it Nuit Noire. In the drydown the leather seems spent and what is left is a dreamy and balmy woody amber base. 

Everyone in a 2 metre radius will be able to smell it on you and will likely follow you entranced all day and night since the longevity is excellent. This goes on my want list stat.

Tilda Swinton Like This Etat Libre d`Orange

Desirability: Decant

Source: Luckyscent.com

After citrus and ginger pay a fleeting visit, I smell a strange but yummy pie cooking. It smells like a spiced pumpkin pie ( I smell cinnamon but can't identify the others), something that I can't find in Singapore, that is to say I haven't found one that I like. I think the best bet would to make one using Libby's pumpkin pie mix. There's maple syrup in this too and weirdly enough, I smell something crisp and green like parsley? I do mean parsley and not cilantro which has a zesty citrus flavour, parsley is the green sprig they use to garnish dishes which tastes a bit peppery and bitter green. 

The various smells blend well so that after about twenty minutes I can't single them out anymore, however the peppery notes stick out on the paper strip while the maple syrup/pumpkin pie effect is more prominent on my skin. The smooth blend smells both spiced and sweet, a warm and inviting scent that reminds me of the festive season just around the corner and its associations, like twinkly lights, carols, gargantuan feasts and oddly enough reindeer jumpers ( I must be thinking of Mark Darcy in his reindeer jumper at the Jones' turkey curry buffet). On skin it evolves further into a smoky maple syrup with wood notes, remaining like this till the end. I think Like This should be tested on skin to reveal its beauty as the paper strip seems to emphasize the spices which drums out the other notes.  

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.

Le Parfum de Therese Frederic Malle

The opening is wet, living and green, incredibly zesty, like being headfirst in a barrel of bitter orange peel. I'm not sure if it's the citrus playing tricks with my nose but it smells peppery too. By the way the opening lasts a long time, enjoyable while it lasts though, the combination of zesty green and peppery made me feel the same as how aldehydes do, all tingly as if electrified.

It stayed this way on me for a good hour and more, bitter and green. I started picking out the rose note and the melon, with a base of dry musty woods, the wetness having slowly evaporated. I find it overall more bitter and tart than fruity floral and I'm not getting the plum note. The leather joins the woods finally and the scent stops evolving further, staying a mixture of mossy green, tangy and woody. 

It's an effervescent semisweet green scent that surprised me as I expected something more fruity leather from the notes. Instead it could be a sparkling, happier relation to Chanel's Cristalle.   

Rozy Voile d'Extrait Vero Profumo

My first scent from Vero Profumo and the initial spray from my sample sent me into such raptures I bought a bottle from First in Fragrance stat. 

Rozy d'Extrait is pretty indescribable for me and I apologize beforehand if I don't do it enough justice. The last time I felt so giddy about a scent was hmm...a year ago with Francis Kurkdjian's Absolue Pour le Soir. 

Rozy is like a mammoth vase of flowers, artfully arranged to look elegantly disarrayed, it smells more of white florals, tuberose especially and not so much of roses. The honey is clear and sweet not thick and syrupy, the green and nutty coriander that ruined Onda for me, is kept in check here. Rozy smells lightly spiced, not spicy but similar to how cinnamon tastes/smells and has a smoky woody background. Rozy feels simultaneously exuberant and wistful, I feel like the notes are orbiting around each other like planets in the solar system, such that her facets are displayed all the time, the heady florals, the spiced honey and the smoky wood notes, altogether creating something passionate and soulful.

The Voile d'Extrait is a powerful scent with a massive projection. From one spray. Seriously. Don't overdo it. 

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!

Luctor Et Emergo The People Of The Labyrinths

I had to check this out since it's been collecting more accolades than Katharine Hepburn had Oscars (on that topic did you know Meryl Streep had more Oscar nominations but one less award than Hepburn?).

It arrived just in time to coincide with my bitter almond streak, when I was nursing the remnants in my sample of Mazzolari's Alessandro.

Luctor Et Emergo opens with slightly spicy incense and made me wonder if I got a wrongly decanted split. The splitter assured me her eyesight is still 6/6 bilaterally. So it starts with spiced smoke and it stays that way for a few minutes. Then I smell bitter almonds AND...Coca-Cola's Black Cherry Vanilla. Thankfully none of the plastic doll/play dough notes some other fragrant sniffers have gotten. I enjoyed cherry coke back in the day when I had a super metabolism and I relish it here without the calories going to my butt. The wood and smoky notes keep the cherry vanilla in check, I enjoy the contrasting bitterness of the almonds against the sweetness of the cherry vanilla and the interplay of the notes make this a very interesting as well as wearable scent for both sexes.



Luctor Et Emergo isn't a sillage bomb on me but it is perceptible by others around when they get past my personal bubble shield. Longevity is modest, I get about 4-6 hours wear before it becomes a skin scent. Please note that I am testing the EDP version and there is an EDT version available too. 

The cherry wood-smoke broke through the layer of Marks & Spencer's coconut hand cream that I accidentally slathered over my snifting spot...pretty impressive performance.

All this talk of cherries, vanilla and coconut made me think of this:



Raw Cherry Rose bars (with coconut rose cream and fresh cherries)