Amoureuse Parfums DelRae

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: pinterest.com

The perfume community keeps raving about Amoureuse and siblings over the years that I've been part of it. Unfortunately due to several reasons including that samples are not easy to find and full bottles even harder to blind buy, Amoureuse and I never got together until I received a decant from a fellow fragrance lover in a recent swap.

It reminds me of Mona di Orio's Nuit Noire, both share animalic, white floral and spicy accords but Amoureuse is much more tame than Nuit Noire. Where Nuit Noire is a sweat-encrusted, well-loved  and worn leather jacket, intoxicating tuberose and sumptuous orange blossom, Amoureuse is lush, honeyed lilies and narcotic jasmine enhanced by the beauty of the tuberose. Cardomom is present in both, imparting its sweet and special spiciness, made even more fiery by fresh ginger in Nuit Noire. Amoureuse stays sweeter throughout its lifetime whereas in Nuit Noire, the sweetness waxes and wanes throughout the story, yet never quite reaching the honeyed tones of Amoureuse. Both scents mellow over time, Amoureuse turning into a soft and powdery affair of sandalwood and flowers whereas Nuit Noire is the glowing coals of a warm amber base. Classic and traditional, both Amoureuese and Nuit Noire are full bottle worthy in my opinion. Sillage and longevity are both very good in the case of Amoureuse, my SOTD clinging on into the night.

Coincidentally while wearing Amoureuse today and surfing the net for potential buys, I came across a very affordable deal for a bottle of Nuit Noire instead. Plus the website had the travel sizes for Profumum Roma so I got one of Battito d'Ali. The icing on the cake was free international shipping. Guess who's an even happier chick than usual today? :) 

Myrrh Casati Mona di Orio

Desirability: Adoption by a more appreciative nose

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

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

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

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. 

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.