Top Rated Reviews of the last 7 Days

At dawn and dusk russian forests whisper with mournful voices. An old wise druid displaced in time walks bravely through the silence. He is serving the ancient slavic Gods. His heart rumbles like thunder and is filled with tragic and terrible melancholy. He is moving toward the deeper woods where the trees lift their bony arms with stiff fingers into the evening twilight.

The druid Nikolay Eremin created intense, enormously rich, emerald-green, woody and resinous start. La Foret Russe opens with swampy and mossy smell of greeny russian forest.

Siberian pine is a sacred and majestic tree. The purifying pine-scent works perfectly together with addition of smoky, pungent and balsamic cypress-notes.

The dramatic opening frame is equally important as the upcoming twist to the next level on the move into the wild forest vegetation.

At some point in development La Foret Russe takes an elegant step towards more smokier and balsamic structure dappled with forest honey. This strong but short sweet moment vanishes in the silence of a darkened world, proud like giant shaped stone sitting alone in the moonlight.

La Foret Russe possesses extraordinary strangeness and beauty to a remarkable degree. Nikolay did everything right. This creation is not trying to please. The strong heart screams, groans and shows us the greatness and mysteries of enchanted russian forests.

Nikolay sent me on a lonely journey through the forests of his forefathers...I felt happy there!

I was alone in a world of green!

Aura opens on my skin with an intensely sweet-tart fruity accord, along with a tropical green note. The vanilla also starts to manifest from the very beginning, providing an opaque, creamy texture to the fruity accord.

Because of this creamy texture and intense sweetness, I don't recognise it as rhubarb like in Hermès Rhubarbe Ecarlate, which is much more juicy, more sparkling and natural-smelling. In fact, the creamy fruitiness combined with the tropical, ripe greenness briefly evokes green banana in my head.

The volume of vanilla soon escalates to the max, and pushes the interesting tropical greenery aside. Combined to the potent fruity sweetness, Aura actually smells very much like typical commercial fruity tonka-vanilla gourmand fragrances on today's market. There's also an artificial, peppery smoky note mixed within, screechy like nails on the chalkboard. Meanwhile, the orange blossom seems to only bring its grape-y sweetness to the table, further enhancing the fruity vanilla gourmand impression. I can hardly notice any floral aspect.

If I concentrate my attention, there is indeed an almond-like nuttiness embedded within, maybe stemming from the Tiger Liana which is described by Daphne Bugey as having vanilla, almond and smoky facets. Occasionally, a fatty, slightly sour animalic nuance can also be perceived. But they are not daring enough to provide a meaningful contrast like patchouli in Angel or aquatic spiciness in Womanity.

After about 8 hours, the vanilla finally stops screaming, and surprisingly, the tropical green note survives it. Now, Aura is mainly a soft, ripe tropical fruitiness mixed with a delicate green camphor nuance and merest earthy, dust-like astringency, like a humid tropical jungle in a fairy tale, without any deadly, hostile creatures. This far dry down reminds me of Zoologist Bat, but Aura at this stage feels much gentler and easier to appreciate, whimsical yet adorable as well.

Aura has a heavy to modest sillage, and the longevity is almost 12 hours.

I adore Aura's mild, tropical-jungle-esque far dry down, which matches the campaign perfectly. How I wish Aura would smell like this part all along! Unfortunately, the first two thirds of Aura's development on my skin is dominated by the commercial fruity vanilla, and fails to leave a strong impression like how Angel, Alien and Womanity did to me.

Moreover, I usually find Mugler's fragrances rather artificial-smelling, which is oddly appealing in the case of the first three pillar fragrances, providing an unexpected futuristic spin to the shocking contrasts. But with the rather generic treatment of fruity vanilla in Aura, this artificial quality sadly becomes a shortcoming to my taste.

When compared to other currently available gourmand new releases, Aura is indeed decent enough. Without the purple, plum-molasses-like fruitchouli jam accord, the tropical green facet of Aura does retain a certain refreshing quality. However, I still can't help feeling disappointed. Maybe I just set the bar too high for this beloved perfume house, and it's unrealistic to expect them to deliver wildly innovative olfactory experience every single time.

Below is the draft review I first wrote about Apogée. I saved it for a few days, asking myself whether I was being overly enthusiastic or if this perfume was really that good? Conclusion? All the 2016 Louis Vuittons are that good. It's just a matter of taste re the starring notes. All sit on a fabulous leathery base, designed no doubt to imply luggage, of the high quslity kind. This morning I put a bit of this perfume on the back of my hand. All over again I'm swooning, so here's the review.
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Apogée is evidence of a perfumer in command of his craft. I imagine Cavallier-Belletrud thinking,"I know, I'll make a Lily-of-the-valley solifore so good that women who hate LOV will swoon over it."

It's the kind of thing only those working at their peak can do, because they've studied endlessly and practiced until they can perform the rudiments blindfolded, or in their sleep, or while falling off a log. Just for fun, just for the joy of flexing his perfumery muscles, for the thrill of creating something new and glorious, he set out to accomplish it. To me this is a masterpiece among masterpieces, so stunning in its achievement that I had to take my LOV perfumery notes kit vial out to smell the raw product again. Yes, LOV is a chimera -- a flower in rotting garbage. No garbage here in Apogée. Perhaps only if you're always initially skeptical of LOV like I am, will you detect the skill he brought to this perfume.

I think Apogée is an attempt at a masterwork, blindfolded, one hand tied behind his back. He succeeded, too. No doubt in his sleep.

If you test the Louis Vuittons, you may want do it in private in case you end up being embarrassed by involuntary moaning. If you're not easily embarrassed, test them anywhere you can get your hands on them.

I say this because I moaned both the first and second time I sniffed Matière Noire (Black Matter). Think House of Matriarch's Blackbird or Ellen Covey's Blackbird. No, don't because this isn't an incense perfume. It's what I'd wear when wrapped in leather and fur, ideally like this: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/Ac2lbCRrZ21t_E_miUigqsxhMTfWwDp1QXkr87QdYGT6hFdq8NmvNFA/.

The beautiful woods ratchet down a notch in the dry down so the Black Currant can star, enhanced by whiffs of a sultry but non-indolic jasmine and white narcissus. These perfumes don't project forever, but they hang in there a quite decent long time for natural scents, evolving in the wonderful way that only real perfumes do.

My wife and I both really enjoyed this fresh floral, synthetic, mess of a fragrance. I mean that in a good way. I smelled Love in White when it first came out and was not impressed. I thought it was synthetic and plain. I had a sample that was in the closet and my wife wore it and I was blown away. Two things I didn't notice before: the bitterness, or freshness. The fragrance is a sneaky projection bomb and reminds me of classic unisex scents of the early 90's. And then there's that. The scent is unisex to my nose and could easily be worn by me. I ordered my wife a bottle but I think I'm definitely going to give it a whirl as this fragrance almost reminds me of Comme De Garcons 2 which is another synthetic bomb that I enjoy thoroughly. Creed may need to reconsider their marketing techniques as I am not sure how many women are going to appreciate the bitterness of the fragrance and the lack of florals to push this further on the side of femininity. Good job for the scent but bad job on the marketing Creed. I give this fragrance a 8.5 overall.

Cabaret Homme is quite underrated, although it is hardly groundbreaking. It is somewhere between a textbook lavender/juniper/leather fougere a la Drakkar Noir and a coriander/sandalwood aromatic such as RL Safari or Cartier Pasha. Think of it as a much better Caesar’s Man, or a not-as-good Givenchy Xeryus, and you will get the picture.

Cabaret Homme possesses the baseline quality level you would expect from a Gres fragrance; so, I cannot see it disappoint anybody, even the seasoned aficionado, from a quality perspective. Disappointment, if it happens, would follow from a perceived lack of originality and “wow factor”. Obviously, the more you are familiar with the above listed fragrances, the more likely such a disappointment. For me the one thing that sets it apart from any of the others listed above is a “just right” amount of spiciness, which neither overwhelms, nor gets lost among other aspects/notes.

This would be a great buy at a reasonable price, but at the current (Summer 2017) prices, it is not a competitive buy; especially if you are buying blind.

L'Attimo Eau Florale was described by many reviewers as a fresh and light springtime fragrance and a fairly safe choice for a blind purchase.

For me, this had an interesting and summery mix of frangipani and only slightly watery fruits, with a remote similarity to Cabotine Rose. However, the flowers with musk and patchouli are rather sharp, lacking either in lightness or softness to provide a smooth feeling. If 'freshness' could also be of a more aggressive nature, this would be it, even without any outstanding citric notes. Accordingly, it projects well with an arm's length and lasts for half a day, without much change.
In conclusion, I would not recommend this as a safe blind purchase candidate for those who are looking for a more 'rounded' fragrance without any edges.

L'Eau Florale reminded me of Burberry Body, not much in the scent but the type; I imagine both more as ambience or amenity fragrances of hotel bathrooms with modern and feminine interiors. Since I found out later on that the matching shower gel and body lotion is offered as an ideal enhancement for your luxurious bath time, I think my association wasn't completely amiss. I am sure that, while I couldn't wear the EDT, I'd love to use the bath products.

Hmm... what an interesting fragrance! I love how it develops throughout it's life. It's like a mossy chypre mixed with incense and dry woods!

I do get nutmeg and a mossy-"dusty" vibe. The vetiver and oakmoss work together beautifully. This feels less like a modern perfume and more like a classic one.

The incense here is fantastically done (as I hear is the same in all Comme des Garçons perfumes). It's also a great addition to the fragrance and gives character.

Ultimately, I have smelled quite a few in this "vibe" but it is nonetheless quality. You get what you pay for with Comme des Garçons. I will say that their style is not for everybody, but that if you like niche at a good price, or like vetiver or chypres, this is one to try fro sure.

This is a very pleasing and uplifting scent. Stands somewhere between Plum Japonais and Single Malt, but it is so easy to wear. Not groundbreaking by any means, but beautiful in its simplicity.

The milky, viscous sweetness of rice wine
its fragrant steam floating over the cup
beckons to take a seat and listen

Sweet orange slices, placed with care
gently mirroring the sun from the plate

Damp flowers picked after the summer rain
Mrs Dalloway planning a party
her thoughts flow back to the orchards of her youth

Still life painted
timeless
blending Western colours with the East

I was introduced to Still not long ago, and for my love of both Earl Grey and the rice wine in taste and smell, I let Still into my life as my first 'celebrity' scent ever (not that it mattered much to me); and there it stayed since then, and I would miss this very much if it ever disappeared. I tried a little 'haiku' above (which didn't succeed...) instead of a review, because this fragrance to me is rather like a snapshot of a moment, triggers the mental cinema, the instant I smell it.

It is a clean, composed, calming and, above all, quiet scent, the opposite of "dramatic" - the name and colour is very fitting. It has an introspective air, like listening to the silence. In its focusing and relaxing effects (at least on me), it could be seen as a milder equivalent to lavender. Still does not project much, but lingers on me for at least 8 hours; it just seems to love playing hide and seek.
The soapiness is certainly there, but not in the style of Glow, and the bergamot in the opening adds a certain piquancy which makes this a fine unisex fragrance and, together with the exotic rice wine-accord, it could appear less attractive for some people.
Regarding the sake (rice wine), it might be perceived stronger if either its smell is familiar to the wearer, or exactly the opposite as something 'strange'. No idea about the aromachemical formula, but rice wine definitely smells different from rice, the same as wine and grapes. I used to perceive mostly bergamot in the opening during colder seasons, which served as a gentle morning kick for me; now in summer, the boozy, sweet rice wine accompanied by subtlely tangy orange is like a treat for my nose and I'm really enjoying it. Still, and supposedly for the next long while.