Dulcemio

I'm sure all the notes listed are present in this fragrance, but they're all so uniformly weak and watered down, I hardly see the point of wearing it. Royal Bain is simply too soft and then fades within an hour or less.

I imagine if you enjoy this combination of notes and just want a faint whisper of something to sooth you to sleep at night, this might do the trick.

EDIT: After several hours of wearing this fragrance it seems to be projecting *more* than it was a few hours ago. Unusual, but not an unheard of thing for a fragrance to do. This morning I sprayed some on my tummy, and just now I stuck my nose down my blouse (no one was watching, I swear) and I got a nice, rich whiff of this lovely fragrance. So, safe to say, a skin scent.

Despite having fantastic sillage and staying power on me, this one doesn't command my attention the way some of my others do, I'm guessing because it's not loaded with vanilla and/or sugar. This is nice for a change.

What a lovely combination of sharp and smooth spices. I feel like the perfumers really took their time on this one, getting it just right.

And I think fragrance-loving men should all give this one a sniff too. I would enjoy this on a man and not find it feminine in the least, though on me it doesn't smell at all masculine. In my opinion, a true gender-neutral fragrance. And like nothing else I've ever tried.

I purchased a mini online from a seemingly reputable Micallef distributor, which arrived in a little white vinyl bag with Micallef printed on it in black. I assume it's authentic.

I was going to write another treatise on an expensive niche that doesn't deserve that distinction, but it's really very simple: my impression of Gaiac is that it is L de Lolita mixed with Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum (which I learned from the interweb, is a brand name recognizable to 99% of Americans). And I'm very surprised that other reviewers haven't pointed this out, the Juicy Fruit likeness is THAT strong.

I can't do a side-by-side sniff test because I swapped my bottle of L de Lolita ages ago, but I remember it very well. It had become annoyingly sugary sweet to me, and reminded me of Juicy Fruit gum, which now reminds me of Micallef Gaiac. Based on the listed notes, the brand and the price, I was expecting SO much more from Gaiac. What a pity.

Based on the notes in common and the timing of its release, I'll go out on a limb and assume this was Jacomo's attempt to capture some of the market of the exquisite Chanel No. 19 with this approximation attempt. (Please see Sherapop's review of No. 19. It's a little piece of poetry.)

For me, Silences showcases the difference between artistry and chemistry: where No. 19 evokes a walk through the proverbial primordial forest with damp moss and crushed rose petals underfoot, and manages to be both dewy and dry, both earthy and sweet, Silences just reminds me of soap. And shrill soap at that. The orange blossom and lemon might have something to do with that. Unfortunately, Silences just reminds me of the masterpiece it isn't.

Take Obsession, remove the vanilla and ADD DIRT. Yes, yes, I know, Tabu came first, but doesn't it seem like Calvin Klein was at least inspired by Tabu? (I haven't done my research, so maybe he was, I don't know.) Inhaling Tabu only reminds me there is something similar, but richer, sweeter and much more enjoyable on my dresser: Obsession.

Yes, perhaps there's a little streetwalker in this one, or perhaps someone's middle-aged auntie with a smokin' hot bod, false eyelashes, a bad gambling habit and a cigarette darkened voice, wheelin' around in a 1960 Cadillac convertible circa 1970.

Thankfully the civet used these days is not natural civet (for anyone who doesn't already know, civet glandular secretions were obtained extremely cruelly, and the cruelty was not just for the brief moment of extraction, but for the lifetime of the poor caged animals subject to awful, awful, hell-on-earth type cruelty, really! Okay, rant over.)

Tabu turns my personal space into a bit of a hostile environment, I'm afraid. Not a scrubber, but definitely a looking-forward-to-taking-a-shower-later.