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Safe flowery citrus
I need to open this review by saying that lemon-centric perfumes have never been a favourite of mine, so my thoughts will be slightly biased.
Vert d'Eau opens fresh and lemony, unfortunately reminding me of run-of-the-mill air-freshener. It smells like someone took a handful of lemon zest, dumped it in ice-cold water, gave it a good shake and then threw it over you, which depending on your preferences, could be either a good or bad thing (the association with air freshener made it more of a bad thing for me, personally).
Fortunately, I get a blast of mandarins and its leaves barely 3 minutes after application, so that helped deviate a little from the initial blast of lemon-flavoured water. I pick up a clean white floral too.
As it wore on, it became more floral and a tad less citric, like a pleasant spring/summertime breeze. It felt like you had your nose in a pot of white blossoms, breathing in the flowers and the leaves, with a bowl of oranges by your side. Not bad at all. Very airy, light, and unobtrusive.
And it just keeps getting more floral! As it wore on, somewhere into the 3rd hour, it developed a slightly fruity feel to it. It wasn't a specific fruit note, but it just freshened it up a bit more and made it more sunshiny. It remained like this all the way till the end of wear.
Overall, I wasn't very impressed. It seemed to be like a very office-safe scent that is citric and floral. Yes, it's uplifting, and yes, I'm glad I stuck on pass the air-freshener opening, but this isn't a game-changer for me.
It sat rather close to the skin, and lasted around 5 hours on me.
Vert d'Eau opens fresh and lemony, unfortunately reminding me of run-of-the-mill air-freshener. It smells like someone took a handful of lemon zest, dumped it in ice-cold water, gave it a good shake and then threw it over you, which depending on your preferences, could be either a good or bad thing (the association with air freshener made it more of a bad thing for me, personally).
Fortunately, I get a blast of mandarins and its leaves barely 3 minutes after application, so that helped deviate a little from the initial blast of lemon-flavoured water. I pick up a clean white floral too.
As it wore on, it became more floral and a tad less citric, like a pleasant spring/summertime breeze. It felt like you had your nose in a pot of white blossoms, breathing in the flowers and the leaves, with a bowl of oranges by your side. Not bad at all. Very airy, light, and unobtrusive.
And it just keeps getting more floral! As it wore on, somewhere into the 3rd hour, it developed a slightly fruity feel to it. It wasn't a specific fruit note, but it just freshened it up a bit more and made it more sunshiny. It remained like this all the way till the end of wear.
Overall, I wasn't very impressed. It seemed to be like a very office-safe scent that is citric and floral. Yes, it's uplifting, and yes, I'm glad I stuck on pass the air-freshener opening, but this isn't a game-changer for me.
It sat rather close to the skin, and lasted around 5 hours on me.
Green, green fig
Fleur de Figuier is, I believe, the first fig perfume I have tried, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. It opens very, very green, transporting me to the woods in the morning after a light night-time rain. It smells a little juicy, and as green as it is, I keep thinking of the colour purple, for some unknown reason.
2 hours in, I smell beautiful lavender! I like how lavender smells in sachets, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it in perfumes. This one isn't overpowering though. It's nicely rolled in leaves and wood. Fig still hogs the spotlight.
Towards the end, it retains some floral and tons of green notes, with fig still being the star player. Woody notes become a tad more prominent as it warms up and dies down into a skin scent.
Overall, as I've reiterated many a time throughout this review, Fig Flower is definitely a green fig scent with floral and wood notes backing it. It's a little sweet, but not overly so, with the tiniest hint of wanting to be sour, but never quite reaching that. Do I love it? No, but that's simply because I'm not the biggest fan of green frags. Does this have character? I'd say it does and it is nice in its own way, so definitely worth a try if you're looking for a take on fresh frags.
Projection was not too much, about arm's length for the most part. Lasted about 4 hours on me, with the final hour sitting incredibly close to the skin.
2 hours in, I smell beautiful lavender! I like how lavender smells in sachets, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it in perfumes. This one isn't overpowering though. It's nicely rolled in leaves and wood. Fig still hogs the spotlight.
Towards the end, it retains some floral and tons of green notes, with fig still being the star player. Woody notes become a tad more prominent as it warms up and dies down into a skin scent.
Overall, as I've reiterated many a time throughout this review, Fig Flower is definitely a green fig scent with floral and wood notes backing it. It's a little sweet, but not overly so, with the tiniest hint of wanting to be sour, but never quite reaching that. Do I love it? No, but that's simply because I'm not the biggest fan of green frags. Does this have character? I'd say it does and it is nice in its own way, so definitely worth a try if you're looking for a take on fresh frags.
Projection was not too much, about arm's length for the most part. Lasted about 4 hours on me, with the final hour sitting incredibly close to the skin.
Buttery biscuit in warm vanilla milk
True to its name, Lait de Biscuit opens with the wonderful scent of a butter biscuit soaked in milk that has been boiled with vanilla beans. So creamy and yummy!
Midway, it develops what appears to be a burnt quality, like that of burnt sugar, which is essentially caramel. It doesn't smell like charcoal though, and helps ensure that this isn't overly linear by giving the creamy biscuit a touch of sweetness and some smoke.
Apart from the appearance of a caramel-like note, there wasn't much development in this fragrance, but that's fine if all you're looking for is a gourmand that is positively delicious and delightful!
Projection was alright, not too strong, but noticeable. It started sitting close to the skin around the 5 hour mark.
Midway, it develops what appears to be a burnt quality, like that of burnt sugar, which is essentially caramel. It doesn't smell like charcoal though, and helps ensure that this isn't overly linear by giving the creamy biscuit a touch of sweetness and some smoke.
Apart from the appearance of a caramel-like note, there wasn't much development in this fragrance, but that's fine if all you're looking for is a gourmand that is positively delicious and delightful!
Projection was alright, not too strong, but noticeable. It started sitting close to the skin around the 5 hour mark.
Musky, floral, tangy, balsamic.
Etoile de Lune was love at first try for me. My eyes widened upon application - a wonderful blast of musky purplish red rose, and while this isn't listed in the notes, I feel like there's something like a violet in this.
Out of nowhere, it takes a turn and becomes primarily citric, which lends some light freshness to this. A little sour and tangy, keeping it grounded and exchanging some of the initial light-hearted frolicking with a more sober disposition. It is still enjoyable though.
It progresses to a more balsamic jasmine rose. Something that you would inhale and just drift away on the fumes. And then it slowly fades into a musky skin scent that is reminiscent of a star-studded velvet sky.
I'm rather impressed at how well everything is leveled in Etoile de Lune! The balance between florals, greens, citric notes, musk, and balsamic notes is fairly remarkable. At times, one aspect may take center-stage, but it never overpowers the entire perfume. It's not a powerful fume by any means, or terribly original, but it's also not a run-of-the-mill floral - feminine but not girly; mature but also projects youthfulness.
Projection could have been better as it mostly sat close to the skin. Lasted about 5-6 hours on me.
Out of nowhere, it takes a turn and becomes primarily citric, which lends some light freshness to this. A little sour and tangy, keeping it grounded and exchanging some of the initial light-hearted frolicking with a more sober disposition. It is still enjoyable though.
It progresses to a more balsamic jasmine rose. Something that you would inhale and just drift away on the fumes. And then it slowly fades into a musky skin scent that is reminiscent of a star-studded velvet sky.
I'm rather impressed at how well everything is leveled in Etoile de Lune! The balance between florals, greens, citric notes, musk, and balsamic notes is fairly remarkable. At times, one aspect may take center-stage, but it never overpowers the entire perfume. It's not a powerful fume by any means, or terribly original, but it's also not a run-of-the-mill floral - feminine but not girly; mature but also projects youthfulness.
Projection could have been better as it mostly sat close to the skin. Lasted about 5-6 hours on me.
Intriguing, but not exactly mysterious
Mysterious probably isn't the best way to describe this oud. Multifaceted? Yessir.
Oud to me has always been mostly bitter, but this isn't just that. It opens almost sweet and wispy, but very resinous. Powdery sandalwood is pretty prominent on me, too. I would venture to say that this was even seemingly floral at times, woody at others.
I've never known this to be possible with a perfume that is so laden with resin and oud notes, but Mysterious Oud oddly manages to wear rather lightly! You can almost taste a kind of stickiness - what I think warm, melted leather might taste like. It ends in a very pleasant and soft but slightly bitter musk.
I give this massive props for taking oud out of its comfort zone, so to speak, and show that it could be a lighter, melancholic-tinted happy fragrance. It is a little curious in the sense that while it retains the obvious qualities of a oud-based perfume, it succeeds at setting itself apart. But as I said, perhaps mysterious isn't the right adjective for it.
Projection wasn't much to shout about, which is always a relief for me when it comes to resinous perfumes. Lasting power was alright, around 5 hour on me.
Oud to me has always been mostly bitter, but this isn't just that. It opens almost sweet and wispy, but very resinous. Powdery sandalwood is pretty prominent on me, too. I would venture to say that this was even seemingly floral at times, woody at others.
I've never known this to be possible with a perfume that is so laden with resin and oud notes, but Mysterious Oud oddly manages to wear rather lightly! You can almost taste a kind of stickiness - what I think warm, melted leather might taste like. It ends in a very pleasant and soft but slightly bitter musk.
I give this massive props for taking oud out of its comfort zone, so to speak, and show that it could be a lighter, melancholic-tinted happy fragrance. It is a little curious in the sense that while it retains the obvious qualities of a oud-based perfume, it succeeds at setting itself apart. But as I said, perhaps mysterious isn't the right adjective for it.
Projection wasn't much to shout about, which is always a relief for me when it comes to resinous perfumes. Lasting power was alright, around 5 hour on me.
