Ischgelroi

Nha Trang is something of a first for me. I have never tested such an expensive spray fragrance before. Actually, it's not a fragrance I would buy. But curiosity has managed to put all my reservations to one side. Once again, heart won out over mind or nose over wallet. Even my small bottle is already at the price of some designer fragrances.

First of all, the fragrance is great. There is a very high concentration of Nha Trang Oud here. This gives the fragrance its green oud character. I perceive Nha Trang as a green, rather fresh oud. This oud is accompanied by a floral bouquet consisting of lotus, tuberose, jasmine, rose, carnation and narcissus. The most dominant notes for me are rose, lotus, carnation and davana. Very light notes of honey and vanilla can be detected in the heart and base notes. I would describe the fragrance as oudy, green and very floral.

Nha Trang is a very good Ensar Oud, but unfortunately nothing more. For me, Nha Trang is simply no better than the "normal" Heritage collection or cheaper fragrances from the Privee collection. Unfortunately, there is simply nothing that can justify the really crazy price. There is simply nothing here that convinces me to pay the price. On the one hand, I am thrilled but disappointed at the same time. Nha Trang leaves me with unfulfilled expectations.

The longevity is solid at 8-9 hours but could be a little better. The silage is also rather restrained and remains at about an arm's length.

I finally got the chance to test the new Aventus this morning. I've actually been turning my back on the designer and niche sector for a while, but with a new Aventus it was immediately clear that I had to test it.

Maybe I'm not the perfect target group for this Aventus, but I've known Aventus since the first batch of 2012 that I was allowed to call my own.

My description of Aventus Absolu: The fragrance opens with clearly perceptible Aventus notes, although I have already established that this is the more effeminate Aventus from 2018. The dominant use of smoke and oakmoss is almost non-existent. After around 30 minutes, the fragrance becomes much sweeter and cardamom, cinnamon and cashmere wood emerge, along with a note of ambroxan that instantly ruined the scent for me. Ambroxan covers the entire creation like an impenetrable fog and undermines the other notes. Unfortunately, Aventus Absolu remains like this the rest of the time. For me, it is far too one-dimensional and rather amateurishly composed.

I could definitely recognize the similarity to Sauvage or, more precisely, "Sauvage Elixir | Dior". Here, too, cinnamon, cardamom. Citrus fruits, pepper and a lot of ambroxan. I would really recommend everyone to buy the "Sauvage Elixir | Dior" here.

For me, Aventus Absolu is a disappointment across the board. It lacks any sophistication of the original Aventus. The Aventus Cologne also has potential and was able to convince me. I only see Aventus Absolu as a money machine to create an exorbitant amount of money with hype and to make fans of the brand believe that the old Aventus is back and with it the performance. The price is far too high. I see the fragrance at a maximum of 100€.

Of course, some will disagree with me here, but for an Aventus fan like me who still knows the very old Aventus, it's like a slap in the face.

The only positive thing for me is the performance. At 8-9 hours, it's really good and leaves nothing to be desired.

I am really extremely disappointed with Aventus Absolu.

LEN is a brand which I have already tested several times and looked at more closely. The idea with the stories behind the creations I find very interesting and likeable. Unfortunately, the previous creations of LEN could not really convince me the reasons for this were the following: Generic fresh scent, no good durability, not multi-faceted as other brands demonstrate. Also Crystal Bomb could not convince me completely. But now I would like to come to the real reason for this review: Last Call To Ibiza

I really like Last Call To Ibiza, this green mixed with fruity notes is really a great combination. Here I can already tell you that this fragrance will be liked by all lovers of fruity scents. The fruity notes clearly go in the direction of Kirkè, but also partly in the direction of Erba Pura.

I can detect the following notes: Marijuana, raspberry, peach, coffee, passion fruit, lemon, a bit of rose and after 3-4 hours a strong musk note comes through, accompanied by patchouli, sandalwood and some caramel . I can't smell the other notes in the pyramid. As a warning though, I have to say here that perfumos who don't like marijuana notes should steer clear of this scent. There is this green, slightly fruity and sweaty note here that makes marijuana come out in fragrances.

Unfortunately though, LEN destroys this really great scent after 3-4 hours. The great and unique top note and heart note find then namely their abrupt end and sink into a very dominant musk base. I think this is really a pity, because Last Call To Ibiza would have really had the potential for a fragrance of my 10s rating, but the very strong musk note coming through too early simply prevents this.

The next point I want to make is this: I just don't understand the pricing. The "normal" LEN creations are at an RRP of 185€ and the new creations for example Last Call To Ibiza are suddenly at 240€. The fragrances are all Extrait de Parfum, even the creations for 185€. Was this simply to generate a little extra money again? The price annoys me to be honest. For 185€ I would have accepted the after 3-4 hours strong musk note still rather and also the 6-7 hours performance. I would have expected more from the performance here too. The silage is also only perceptible for 2 hours over an arm's length and after 5-6 hours already completely skin.

Last Call To Ibiza I really like, but here some potential was given away, which has pushed the fragrance for me on rating of 7. If the fragrance had an RRP of just over 100€ I would have given here even 9 points. I see by the poor implementation of the base note here simply no 240€ fragrance that has earned a 10 point rating.

Xerjoff Sixth Floor is probably one of the rarest and most expensive Xerjoff's there is to buy. Of course, I had a certain expectation with such exclusive, but I'm sure that has every Parfumo when testing Sixth Floor.

Sixth Floor is for me a fresh, floral and slightly sweet fragrance with a patchouli base. The top notes for me are clearly orange and bergamot and ginger dominates, although for me the spiciness of the ginger easily takes over. After about 20-30 minutes, another green note comes in. It's the same eucalyptus note as there is in Accento Overdose. I can't really identify the floral notes, just some tuberose comes out. After 3-4 hours the base slowly comes through with patchouli, tobacco and amber, where chocolate is supposed to be here I don't know for the life of me. The base gives Sixth Floor depth and character again and extends the longevity significantly. This tobacco and tuberose note I could also recognize in Xerjoff Decas, probably this was adopted in Decas of Sixth Floor. Xerjoff builds as you have surely noticed the creations often on a known base.

Sixth Floor pleases with really well, but unfortunately it was not enough after 3 tests to achieve the status pleases with very good.

The shelf life is very good at a good 10 hours. The silage is, however, after about 3 hours already under an arm's length and after about over 6 hours already close to the skin. This is rather atypical and weak for a Xerjoff fragrance, but the silage is of course still in a solid range.

Now it's time to address the headline: The fragrance is really great, there needs no discussion about that for me and clearly the bottle is eye-catching, but all that is just not enough for me to make a huge effort to purchase this fragrance. Harrods unfortunately does not ship this to Germany. I am honestly also not ready with customs etc. over 700€ for 50 Ml for a fragrance to pay. Here a border is exceeded with me. If Sixth Floor would have been priced in the region of 17/17 or Shooting Stars, I would certainly have bought a bottle. Up to 350€ I would have spent even for Sixth Floor, which is of course also already extremely much.

The headline of the description on the Harrods homepage I find a bit inappropriate, arrogant and giving a strange impression: " A wonderfully exclusive gift, perfect for the person who already has everything".

Is that supposed to tell me or convey that I only need this fragrance when I have set the boundless prosperity, or my friends think the guy already has everything, or exaggeratedly said, that you buy something like that only to stand out by the price, because you already own the "cheap stuff" Roja, Tiziana Terenzi, Creed etc.?

Or Noir aroused my interest because it has mentioned a certain Influenzerin and the notes have also appealed to me. That with the hype in Russia mentioned there I can not check, because I am unfortunately not powerful of the language, but I believe the statement of the previously mentioned Influenzerin at this point simply times.

Or Noir could not meet my expectations, unfortunately. The reason for this is simply you similarity to other well-known fragrances, which are also significantly cheaper. Here would be "Rehab | Initio", "Spicebomb | Viktor & Rolf" Reflection Man, Amouage. I just can't ignore this similarity. The only difference is the leather note, which is recognizable in the base. But this is just too little independence for me and I don't like this leather note either. It just doesn't work well. I've had this problem with some Memo creations as well. Or Noir is a sweet spicy fragrance, as it already seht often there is no more and no less.

My thesis why Or Noir will never experience a big hype: Or Noir does not create it like for example Aventus or Sauvage a completely new direction, which will imprint itself in the heads of the people. Or Noir is a fragrance, which will always lead a shadowy existence.

The price is still not that crazy in my opinion: Roja, Xerjoff, Tom Ford is priced at a similar level. Of course, this is not a bargain, but just not extreme yet, as it is with some Rojas.


The durability is good and leaves nothing to be desired, but after 8-9 hours Or Noir is no longer perceptible on my skin. The silage is good and for 4-5 hours even over an arm's length perceptible, but becomes skin tight after about 7 hours.

Unfortunately, I have here probably just expected too much and really fell for a hype.