Myhorses

In spite of the fact that this scent was the"result of a quest for the overwhelming addictive intensity of female sexual power" do not expect to be perceived as "femme fatale" when you wear it. Beside the first impression ,which is very strong(almost like a bomb) , a beautiful flower symphonie tuberose centered will delight you. You can almost recognise few notes from Michael(Michael Korrs) and even from Fracas but please do not expect to find the same sexual power like in Fracas. It is a classical floral ,not in the sensual way, but in the way of expressing feminity and sweetness. Later on it is developing nicely into a skinscent, a very feminine one. I can say, without making a mistake, that Narcotic Venus did not succed to be as Narcotic as it was imagined but it is very Venus.

Talking about amber perfumes wintertime is the best time of the year for taking them out into the cold world. At the end of November when winter starts to show its teeth I’m bringing out of hibernation my big dark ambers: Tom Ford’s discontinued Amber Absolute, Opus VI from Amouage and Ambra Mediterranea of Profumi del Forte. I love them all but, in my opinion, they are all still missing some sweetness that can bring softness to these beasts so I’m in a permanent quest for that big dark and sweet amber, my cashmere amber.

Laudano Nero seems to be close to my ideal amber perfume. More than that, I think it’s the most complex amber scent I ever tried until now and it’s dark, really dark. It really deserves the word Nero

The first notes burst very strong on my skin bringing out a boozy amber, cognac being easily recognized, with tobacco and some herbal touch of rosemary giving just a bit of stringency very well balanced by the sweetness of wormwood. There is also a hint of coffee in the top notes beside the cognac and tobacco and some licorice creating an almost gourmand sweetness.

As the perfume further evolves the stringency from the top notes completely disappear and Laudano Nero becomes sweeter with a delicious chocolate note. In the same time a dark powdery vibe like cocoa dust appear on my skin making this perfume an ambery gourmand one surrounded by darkness.There is something vintage in this scent , it reminds me somehow of vintage Shalimar extrait not in the sense of having similarities in the way they both smell but in the sense of giving to the wearer the same feeling – sensuality and mystery.

After the boozy amber and the dark chocolate accords another key note of Laudano Nero – the oud enters the stage. Far from having that medicinal sour smell the oud plays different in a soft manner. It contributes to the woody character of the base together with sandalwood still keeping the sweetness from the first notes and the softness with the help of vanilla and laudanum. During the first 2-3 hours it is a strong scent but in time it looses the strong character, after 6-7 hour changing into a skin scent that still lives for other 6 hours on my skin.

Laudano Nero can be defined as a dark amber scent with gourmand and vintage vibe having oud facets. Compared with Tom Ford’s Amber Absolute which acts on the skin like a monothematic amber scent, Laudano Nero it is complex amber, evolving on the skin, in a constant change from the first masculine notes to the final soft and feminine notes. The feeling wearing this scent is like wrapping into a soft black cashmere blanket sitting in front of the fire place.

In spite of the fact that is marketed as a masculine scent Laudano Nero is much more than a unisex amber, women who love amber will like it, its darkness lending to the person wearing this perfume a mystery aura.

Amber lovers looking for a gourmand amber to keep warm during winter please do give a try to Laudano Nero and you will not regret.

After reading the Tsarina description from OJ site I clearly had in my mind that this is a big oriental perfume:
Giving it a try I was expecting to land somewhere in St. Petersburg during wintertime, to perceive the “grandeur” of the Tsarina materialized in a heavy oriental fragrance that could melt the Siberian ice but, instead, I landed in Paris very close to Rue du Cambon no.31 during springtime

Tsarina is not opulent, nor powerhouse perfume but a soft and very elegant classy fragrance centered on iris-leather, actually suede duo having rather an intellectual appearance than a passionate nature. It is a cold fragrance, typical for many iris perfumes but this coldness starts to develop right from the first sparkling citric and green top notes giving an aldehyde like vibe to Tsarina and enhancing the iris coldness. During the first 30 minutes Tsarina can be easily tagged as a green springtime fragrance with a freesia accord.
I can easily imagine Kate Middleton or Grace Kelly wearing Tsarina rather than Catherine the Great or Alexandra Romanov. When wearing it you have to put on your pearl necklace , suede gloves and powder your nose .
After the first 30 minutes of springtime the soft velvety iris suede fully appears and maintains its softness during entire perfume life of 10-12 hours on my skin. There is also a light musk shadow in the background that gives the impression of a clean suede perfume.
It is a scent that can be easily worn during business meetings or official meetings, everywhere when cold elegance but also some distance is needed.

Tsarina left me the feeling that is a relative of Chanel’s Cuir de Russie having some similarities like the slight aldehydic burst in the top notes and the powdery iris suede accord reminding me of Cuir de Russie drydown but Tsarina is much more feminine, I can easily say that this fragrance is one of the most feminine leather/suede fragrances I tried. The evolution on skin does not surprise much, after the first hour it has a linear evolution having a long life but slowly evolving into a skin scent.

I have to confess that I enjoy musky animalic perfumes and among my favorites in this stable are Musc Khoublai Khan and Musc Tonkin.
Among other animals horses haunted the olfactive imagination of many perfumers and, as a consequence, there are several perfumes claiming the smell of horse mane or the smell of an Arabian horse and the list can go on. In my perception, none of these really captured that sweet floral musky smell of horse sweat combined with the salty leathery smell of the saddle, reins and bridles. Searching and testing a lot of musky animalic leathery scents I finally succeed these days to find my real horse ride perfume – Army of Lovers .
The beginning of Army of Lovers, fragrance named after a Swedish band popular in early 90’s, took me back in time , it s like a vintage rose leathery perfume.

During the first hour it smells like riding a horse having in one hand a big bunch of dark roses and in the other hand the reins, everything being so real: roses, horse sweat and the saddle.
At this stage the ghosts of Gucci’s L’Arte and Theo Fennell’s Scent appeared on my skin but, mostly, this fragrance has the dark vibe of Serge Lutens’s Rose de Nuit. The rose leather accord is velvety and decadent and during the first hour I’m very much tempted to believe that Army of Lovers is dark rose perfume but let’s see what is happening until the end of the ride.

There is also a strong chypre vibe which appeared and started to grow , the illusion of oakmoss probably being created with the help of the green notes of coriander lending more sophistication, cleaning up the stable and grooming the horses. There is a certain degree of dirtiness but do not expect more dirtiness than in other old school perfumes. Army of Lovers has the perfect dose of dirtiness, on the right skin , can be wearable in public without blushing. After the dark rose perfume moment now is the chypre perfume time.

As the time passes the huge velvety dark roses bunch fades and the equine sweet musky smell becomes much more insidious evolving into a leathery animalic scent but in the same time starts to be soft. It it is obvious that Army of Lovers is a genuine seduction scent .
This long ride ends after many hours (8-10) during which Army of Lovers left big trails behind. At this stage the final notes – honey and amber make Army of Lovers sweeter, the leather scent becomes soft and ambery with the memory of roses.

My first encounter with Rausch was almost one year ago and honestly, after several trials I’m still much intrigued. If somebody will ask me right in this moment to define Rausch it will be a difficult exercise but what I can easily say that it’s an intoxicating fragrance.

So, what are the consequences of direct exposure to Rausch? This smoky dark ambery creature with some vanilla/oud traces in its veins which trigger a long term addiction and, as far as I know, no antidote to Rausch exposure was created up to this moment.
Among all amber centered perfumes Rausch it is different, a weird creature but its weirdness makes it so attractive. The amber/ vanilla/oud accord stays almost the same, like the words of a spell which have to be repeated loudly not whispering, on and on. Rausch will not take you by surprise changing on your skin, it’s safe from this perspective but it has a strong voluptuous side making you and everybody around fall so easy under this perfume spell.

Rausch lives on the skin as long as the night lasts(8-10 hours). I forgot to mention something really important : when going out Rausch is the best companion for night life, you can go together from a club to another club or bar melting into the night until sunrise.
Rausch can be easily worn by men and also by bold women but if you wear it please be prepared to face the consequences of your new power because you’ll create addiction around you.