Maybe it’s just me. I’ve been sitting here looking at the By Kilian samples that I received by signing up on Facebook for them. They’re from his In the Garden of Good and Evil collection and called Forbidden Games, Good Girl Gone Bad and In the City of Sin. From LuckyScent:
Forbidden Games Notes
Apple, peach, plum, cinnamon, Bulgarian rose, geranium bourbon, jasmine, vanilla, honey, opoponax.
Good Girl Gone Bad Notes
Jasmin Sambac, osmanthus, rose, tuberose, narcissus, violet accord, plum accord, cedar wood, amber, patchouli, vetiver, musk
In the City of Sin Notes
Bergamote, pink peppercorn, cardamom, apricot, plum, rose absolute, incense, cedar wood, patchouli, white musk accord
I do like some of By Kilian scents.
Not these. They frankly leave me completely cold. Perhaps it’s my weird skin chemistry. Or perhaps that the flowery ad copy promises so much sin-in-a-bottle and these are rather thin and wan. Like all By Kilian scents they are beautifully packaged, this time in white. I just have no interest in whats inside.
Have you tried them? Loved them? Hated them? Or was your reaction “meh” as well? Let us know in the comments..
$245 for 50ML at the usual suspects.
Image: cafepress.com
Received a while ago and have been very ‘meh’. Pleasant enough, FG is kinda shampoo-y, I liked the GGGB florals because I usually can’t wear flowers well at all and these were nice. But have not sprayed much at all, will pass them on to a friend or maybe mail them as a RAOK….
These were the first samples I got after signing up. Not impressed. The point of samples is to get hooked, use up the sample, and then be sad you don’t have anymore so you go buy the thing. Not be all, whatever, I wouldn’t care if squirrels broke into my stash and made off with these.
I LOVED GGGB and got a bottle. I also wear Love and Tears and Straight to Heaven, so yeah, I’m hooked. I’m actually looking forward to meeting him in a few months to get my white bottle signed, so just chalk it up to Newbie Don’t Know Any Better (yet!)…
Triple meh. though I must admit that Forbiden Games is too lame to be meh.
I respect the black collection, but this one I simply do not get. All three (pretty each in its way) seem like watered down
versions of something else, Kilian other scents? Were they created to appeal to a younger market, or an attempt to go mainstream? (With those prices?). Anyway, I am confused and not impressed.
My only experience with By Kilian prior to these three scents was Sweet Redemption which is currently one of my favorite perfumes. Needless to say, I was very excited to try these three scents; however, I have to agree with every “meh” posted. I couldn’t stand Good Girl Gone Bad. I don’t know which note it is but one of them makes me slightly sick to my stomach. The other two scents I’ve tried once, and they are still sitting in my sample drawer. What a disappointment! Glad to know I’m not alone. Thanks, Tom!
One of the three smelled just like D&G Light Blue. It took awhile for me to appreciate some of the BK Black Masterpiece perfumes (although not enough to buy a FB) but these 3 new ones…. well, “Meh” definitely describes how I feel about them.
I liked Good Girl Gone Bad for the osmanthus note, but I didn’t like the other two. Still don’t think I’d spend $250 or whatever for GGGB. Forbidden Games was just ok. It smelled like shampoo to me. In the City of Sin, though.. I don’t know exactly what combination of notes did it, but I got something that made me think of pickles. I was not a fan.
Tried them thanks to a friend, they didn’t send me samples even though I was signed in for their FB profile, it’s 3 x meh for me.
Tom. I am with you on the ‘meh’. I got the samples from the BK facebook page. I tried one of them, I don’t even remember which one and never mustered enough interest to test the others. It is too bad that a company charging so much money per bottle is so unmemorable.
Everything after Sweet Redemption has left me cold, sadly. But the line has produced fragrances I have found amazing & will undoubtedly do so again.
ByKillian is a little rich for my blood…if I was going to spend $240.00 I’d buy a bottle of Profumum acqua di sale! Has anyone tried TokyoMilk Marine Sel? I’ve been craving salty/beachy lately to fight the cold and that one sounds nice and..very cheap!
I love By Kilian and think alot of them are worth the price (the Arabian Nights series is pretty spectacular, imho) but this last set I have to agree is very mediocre. I’m sure they used better quality materials and packaging (though the snake on the box is not my taste), but overall they don’t smell significantly better or different than any $70 mainstream department store fragrance.
Nonetheless, after so many awesome perfumes from BK in the past, I remain hopeful and eagerly look forward to any new releases from Kilian
I have yet to try any on skin…they were very meh sniffing from the samples vials I received. Nancysg has me wanting to try Forbidden Games, though; I love Back to Black.
I actually did buy Forbidden Games. It has the honey note that I love in Back to Black, but not as overwhelming. And I may not have been blown away by the scent, but the packaging is so incredibly beautiful I couldn’t pass it up. Didn’t hurt that I was able to buy it in Dubai when Killian was there and he signed the bottle for me. (I know – how shallow can I be. But it was a really great experience talking to him).
That was exactly my reaction. Ever-so-meh. Exceptionally meh. The epitome of meh.
Having read about By Kilian, but having never smelled anything by By Kilian, I was really excited when I received a sample of Forbidden Games. Once I sprayed it on, my excitement quickly abated into “meh”. What’s the deal? There’s nothing remotely sinful about this fragrance.
Shrugged rather than “mehhed” cos I couldn’t raise the energy to make noise for any of these. Passed them on to none perfumista friends who universally adored them. Seems I have olfactory ennui.
Looooove Forbidden Games! I bought a bottle!!!
The packaging is great. The perfumes are totally forgettable. I wanted to like them so badly but there was nothing but indifference for me. For that price I need to be blown away. I will have to find my samples because I can’t even recall what they smell like. They were not horrible but I can smell much better for a lot less money.
Hi, Poodle! I’m right there with you — got to dig out my samples and re-try because I got nuthin’ in my memory bank on these, ha!
I agree, Good Girl Gone Bad (despite the fantastic name) was just okay. Forbidden Games smells like those peach sour candies. I can remember nothing about the third one. Meh.
Good Girl Gone Bad was tolerable but I could do without it. The other two I absolutely did not like. I gave away my samples.
Not to be a betch but these 3 perfumes are boring! Nothing special at all. At the asking price, I want to be blown away, not yawning away LOL. The packaging is amazing and makes me think kilian should bottle/presentation design for other perfume houses.
$245 for 50 ml?!! (gulp) I would love to comment on the fragrances, but I never received the samples, even after sending a private message to the Facebook page.
Thanks for the review, Tom.
I didn’t either. Got the first batch, and then the Arabian Nights batch, but not these. Doesn’t sound like I’m missing all that much, though.
I didn’t get them, either. And Kilian Henessy is no indie perfumer with little cash, to be unable to send the samples abroad. So provincian!