Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
03/08/2015
ColinM
516 Reviews
ColinM
1
Barely nice
Promethée opens with a zesty and really aromatic head accord of citrus, pepper, a sweet-vanillic note with a bold earthy base, something fruity-rooty (I’d define it “Mediterranean”: it must be myrtle, which makes sense). Then something halfway hay and aniseed which I guess may be fenugreek, ambrette (well, some grayish ambroxan), herbal "culinary" herbs, and an artificial floral note which smells much soapy and kind of reminds me of shampoos’ secret ingredient that makes them smell all the same – galaxolide. Shortly, a half-creative, half-cheesy yet pleasant blend, which juxtaposes sour-fresh notes (both herbal and citrus) on a “bed” of silky, almost creamy notes, really clean and soapy, all wrapped in a earthy-woody-mossy Mediterranean accord of aromas and notes (woods, myrtle, hay...). And overall, it works. Or well... it would better if it was not for the bold, and kind of annoying synthetic mood: the citrus notes smell actually more like citral and ammonia stuff, and the soapy-floral stuff looks all about ketones and other aromachemicals, so it literally smells like detergent. The evolution is interesting, though: the scent slowly gets darker, drier and turns towards a sort of woody-smoky-musky blend with a whiff of soap, slightly salty (vetiver, I guess) and a bit medicinal-spicy too, always with a remarkable aromatic feel - I keep getting something like aniseed, just more smoky, more fruity, with a feel of soil and earth. It also gets warmer and mossier, with “organic” wood-rooty notes and a hint of something halfway coffee and licorice (perhaps that’s the fenugreek). Shortly, a sort of post-atomic Mediterranean landscape, halfway natural and lunar, with a synthetic feel all over, mixing mainstream/designer echoes (some notes will smell quite familiar to anyone) with a “niche” approach – or attempt to, at least. Overall in my opinion it’s not bad, I think there are some really nice ideas, and “analysis” aside, it smells undoubtedly (but barely) nice and elegant; just with a disappointing sense of cheapness which kind of makes the good ideas a bit wasted. Worth a try though, and considering the rest of nowadays’ niche, this is still better than dozens of other scents for sure.
6,5-7/10
6,5-7/10
