What’s New Review Round-up

Samples are taking over my house and are about to bury the dog. Poor Buddy! I’d take a picture to prove it, but Buddy seriously hates to have his picture taken, almost as much as he hates the wind and me opening boxes — this poor pup has some serious kinks – so an old pic will have to do.

Let’s see what’s new that keeps showing up on my doorstep that needs a review, and I’ll tackle a handful that came from Luckyscent, which is where you can get all of these fragrances. 

First, Profumum Volo AZ 686, with notes of gardenia, coconut and vanilla.  This starts off with some notes that aren’t gardenia, coconut and vanilla, but I can’t put my finger on what it is, maybe it’s just the blend, but it’s a little like the open of Tubereuse Criminelle, slightly camphorous. The gardenia, instead of being overly sweet, is slightly sharp, and there’s no bleu cheese, thank goodness!  Now, I usually hate gardenia and coconut and vanilla, this one was a scent I expected to despise, but it sort of fascinates me. The gardenia takes on more of a classical gardenia smell in the drydown, but never gets too sweet or bloomy.  It smells pretty much unlike anything else I can think of — the drydown has me sniffing it furiously during the day, but it takes a couple of hours to get it to the magical point, but I certainly have enjoyed the trip. At the price point it has, $205 per 100 mls, I don’t know that I’d get a full bottle for my personal use, but I can see where gardenia lovers would find it interesting and likely necessary.

Next up is Bois 1920 Sushi Imperiale. So far, out of all the Bois 1920s, this is the only one that I’ve felt strongly enough about to write on.  Notes of citrus, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, Madagascan vanilla.  The citrus/pepper/spice blend on the open is pretty enchanting, and they’ve got it exactly right, the citrus pulls back the spice enough so it’s not overpowering, and the spice pulls down the effervessence of the citrus.  I never really smell the vanilla distinctively, but it’s just a vague notion running through the scent, keeping it warm and really lovely.  I’ve only got a sample to dab, and I feel the need to spritz this, I just have a hunch that’s where the real magic happens. It has a grea sillage just in dabbing — almost too strong for a while, but once you get past the two-hour mark, it’s nearly perfect on sillage.  Now, why they named it Sushi Imperiale?  No clue, but it doesn’t matter, this is the one in that line that’s worthy of the whole line’s existence.  It is truly special.

Alba is another new one from Profumum, with notes of sandalwood, hazel wood, almond wood, and amber.  This is all soft, creamy woods, with just a touch of a resinous note in there that keeps it from being too smooth. This would be great for a man or woman, and it also begs to be spritzed and not dabbed. I have a hunch that this is one that snuggles up in your clothes to leave you a wonderful nose hug the next day.

Play is new from Comme des Garcons.    Its notes are bitter orange, black pepper, lime, saffron, thyme, sage, sea notes, oak moss, patchouli and musk.  I keep waiting for the weird, but it seems to be pretty much a straight-up citrus, along the lines of Santa Maria Novella’s Eva, in the opening phase. There are some other notes in there that give it some of the dark weirdness that pokes its head out as it dries down, and it’s perfectly nice, and I’d be happy to wear it, but… well, it’s not moving me in any significant way.  This might have more to do with my expectations of CdG than the actual scent, so I leave it open to trying again.

Last, I got the new Narciso Rodriguez For Him and Musc for Him.  I did have the right bottle before.  The spray is just…. I don’t know, it doesn’t do it for me, not dislike, just meh. However, the Musc…. perfection!!!  More on that next week.

And! let’s do a drawing!  Drop a comment, and the winner will get at least these four samples and a sample of the NR For Him and Musc for Him, and probably more samples just so I can empty out my sample file!