Drseid

Meraviglia goes on with a red berry accord with underlying rose immediately detectable before quickly transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the rose takes the fore, now showcasing its lush, red jammy nature with aromatic patchouli, modestly synthetic smelling woody incense and peppery coriander spice support. During the late dry-down the rose and coriander vacate, unveiling slightly sweet amber melding with remnants of the now soft patchouli and softened woods through the lengthy finish. Projection is good to very good, and longevity outstanding at over 15 hours on skin.

As soon as I applied Meraviglia on skin I knew I liked it but thought it smelled vaguely familiar. It didn't take more than a minute or so before I made the obvious connection to the perfume it was emulating -- my favorite, Portrait of a Lady by Frederic Malle. Many perfumes have tried to "go there," and have failed miserably in the process. The difference here is Meraviglia for the most part comes darn close. While I normally would just focus on the positive and negative subjective aspects of Meraviglia, it smells similar enough to PoaL that I find myself forced to compare the two throughout. To that end, Meraviglia has got the high quality jammy rose and patchouli combo found in PoaL down quite well, even adding in some peppery coriander spice to emulate the same kind of subtle peppery zing found in the original (albeit the peppery aspect is more prominent here). Where things fall apart just a hair, however, is in Meraviglia's use of synthetics for the woody-incense component in the heart. Using synthetics is nothing new in perfumery, and Portrait of a Lady uses them too. Here, they are just a bit out of control, with the woody incense *smelling* synthetic, although only just. The late dry-downs of the two perfumes are a bit different, with Meraviglia focusing much more on its amber aspect than Portrait of a Lady. It is a fine overall effort that comes up just a bit short in comparison with "the best of the best," but smells spectacular when considered on its own. The bottom line is the approximately $300 per 100ml bottle Meraviglia is one of only a couple perfumes that come close to successfully emulating my favorite perfume's winning formula, earning an "excellent" 4 stars out of 5 rating and a recommendation with some reservation. The only reservation is you can buy Portrait of a Lady for not much more money. That said, those who have a decent budget but not quite enough to afford the superior smelling Malle, and/or prefer less projection should be quite happy with Meraviglia.

Ven goes on with bitter cherry before quickly transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart a natural smelling, pungent cumin spice emerges and dominates , faintly supported by dry rum and leathery animalic castoreum rising from the base. During the late dry-down the perfume softens and smooths out, as a relatively dry vanilla and sandalwood tandem joins the remnants of the now diminished cumin and castoreum through the lengthy finish. Projection is below average and longevity excellent at well over 12 hours on skin.

I have been sampling the VenDetTa trio of scents in random order recently, and this is the last of the three. My reviews of the other two have been anything but positive, and sadly "Ven" is by far the worst of the lot. It is no secret that I am no fan of cumin, and Ven is heavily cumin dominant in the key heart phase particularly. To the perfumer's credit, this cumin is not the typical "BO" presentation of the spice, but rather an extremely realistic culinary presentation (and it would not surprise me in the least if the perfume is loaded with the real stuff). When you add in the leathery, almost smoky castoreum to the mix, this combination is a pretty hardcore tough one to endure. Only in the late dry-down is the wearer released from the perfume's torture by culinary herb, as its woody-vanilla softened late dry-down takes a lot of the earlier "bite" away. There really isn't much positive I can say about Ven, except that luckily it is not a good projector. My guess is if someone *could* smell the perfume on you, they would give you a dirty look and steer well-clear. In truth, I believe the VenDetTa trio are each only partial perfume journeys, meant to be worn in various degrees together. Personally I would advise against investing in three partial perfumes that are independently horrible, only to yield one wearable one by their combination, in favor of purchasing any number of the *far* superior smelling O'driu perfumes that can be proudly worn independently. The bottom line is the apparently discontinued $150 Euros per 50ml bottle Ven appears to only be a partially finished perfume, requiring its other disappointing siblings to be remotely wearable, earning it a "horrific" to "very poor" 1 to 1.5 stars out of 5 rating and a "run away as fast as you can" avoid recommendation to all. The only VenDetTa must be on the prospective purchaser with this terrible trio from O'driu!

Satyricon opens with a tinge of plum-laced cocoa, with an underlying "trademark" melange of O'driu's cumin led culinary herbs immediately detectable before transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart it turns bonfire-like woody-smoky, as cedar logs are first thrown into the campfire, with slightly slightly sweet, minty birch and moderately pungent balsamic myrrh joining the remaining culinary herbs in support. During the late dry-down the bonfire-like smoky and pungent balsamic facets vacate, leaving the natural smelling cedar sans smoke to join with non-powdery, relatively dry vanilla and trace remnants of the O'driu culinary herbs through the lengthy finish. Projection is very good, and longevity outstanding at over 20 hours on skin.

Satyricon gives the wearer quite the ride from start to finish. It starts off just a bit sweet, using the plum and cocoa to give a hint that Pregoni might be angling for a gourmand focus. This assumption is quickly dispelled, as the perfume turns almost cade wood-like, as cedar logs get thrown on an open fire, turning the perfume campfire smoky. This smoke gets tempered a bit by a slightly unsettling supporting sweet minty presence that feels maybe a bit out of place, but is interesting at the same time. The whole thing finishes in rather mundane but quite pleasant smelling fashion as it turns into a relatively straight forward natural woody vanilla finish. I should mention that lest anyone think this is any perfume other than one by O'driu, the culinary herbs Pregoni is so well known for are present throughout, though unlike most other O'driu offerings they are always used in support. The bottom line is the apparently discontinued Satyricon shows a playful Pregoni successfully toying with the wearer's comfort zone for most of the development before allowing for some normality late, earning it a "very good" to "excellent" 3.5 to 4 stars out of 5 rating and a recommendation to the more experimental perfume wearers among us.

Parvatha opens with very brief, slightly sharp bergamot citrus before quickly transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart, a somewhat sweet, faint green mint joins coniferous bracing pine before adding in supporting tart green apple, synthetic pineapple and piercingly sharp woody vetiver with hints of vague synthetic woods rising from the base. During the late dry-down the synthetic dry, vague woods take the fore in a dominant way, with only the tart apple and pineapple fruit from the heart hanging on in subtle support through the finish. Projection is very good and longevity very good to excellent at 11-12 hours on skin.

Parvatha is a perfume that shows some creativity early, only falling prey to a key ill that plagues so many other perfumes, the dreaded "vague synthetic woods" syndrome. At first, the perfumer combines a rather odd, but relatively interesting and effective mixture of tart fruit like green apple with synthetic smelling pineapple (while in no way going for anywhere near an Aventus dynamic) and sharp vetiver with green pine and natural mint of all things. The overall complex mixture is bizarre and not really pleasant smelling, but it does generally work for those that like that kind of oddball thing. If time stopped here, this review would probably be a neutral, as while I am not really a fan of the mix, I can't deny there is skill in putting so many unexpected ingredients and accords together. Alas, about halfway through the heart the wearer begins to notice vague synthetic dry woods (can we all say "norlimbanol?") that immediately become a negative distraction with a concrete-like aspect permeating the overall mixture, and by the late dry-down become the dominant and highly annoying player though the finish. I hate panning small up and coming indie brands, but alas a dud is a dud. The bottom line is the $130 per 50ml bottle extrait concentration Parvatha displays innovation early, only to whip out horrific norlimbanol in full-force late, yielding a "below average" 2 to 2.5 stars out of 5 rating and an avoid recommendation to all.

Knize Two goes on skin with a slightly creamy, grassy green accord with hints of nose tingling aldehydes and banana-like floral ylang-ylang in support before gradually transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart a slightly powdery doughy bread-like iris and violet tandem takes the fore in a big way, supported by dull rose and carnation florals with an underlying dark musky-woody accord. During the late dry-down the perfume eschews its floral bouquet, leaving slightly sweet sandalwood to pair with amber in the base and faint musky remnants from the heart through the relatively brief finish. Projection is average, and longevity below average at 4-6 hours on skin.

I have had a sample of Knize Two lying around for ages, but never really gave it a go until recently when I randomly selected it from my large sample bag to wear as my "fragrance of the day." Its brother, perfume Knize Ten, is well-regarded and indeed loved by most including this writer. Is Knize Two another winner from the same storied house? In a word, "No." Before anyone completely chucks their Knize Two bottles based on that brief summary, in truth the perfume is not really a bad release, but it will certainly be an acquired taste to be sure. For one, the wearer must love florals, and I mean iris in particular. The heart of the perfume is heavily iris and violet dominant (which complement each other well), with the rose and carnation really playing second fiddle to my chagrin as I find the latter two more appealing. I rarely have a hard time wearing floral compositions and indeed love many, but I found myself feeling a bit self-conscious wearing *this* one, in truth, despite the perfume being marketed to men. The musky-woody undertone used to bolster the florals only adds a dated vibe to an already difficult mix. By the time you get to the late dry-down, things improve considerably as the florals vacate, but the finish is all too short-lived, and then the whole journey becomes a distant, rather forgettable memory. The bottom line is the apparently discontinued Knize Two is a rather middling "average" 2.5 stars out of 5 rated short-lived effort that is a tough wear for the iris averse, even smelling somewhat dated to this vintage perfume lover, earning it an avoid recommendation to all.