MichaNase

[First, I have to mention that my step-cousin is a makeup artist, so the smell of iris smells more like work than sensuality to me.]

As a comparison for two Iris scents, I organized a bottling of DHI and of Zara 9.0 and then tested each on my right and left arm.
DHI starts with a lot of iris, iris and again iris. Zara 9.0 still has the cardamom and juniper in the opening.
In the heart notes, for my nose, DHI has iris, iris and iris with a little dry wood, while Zara slowly joins in with the soft sweet undertone. In the end, again, for DHI, I smell only iris, iris and iris with a little more dry wood. Sweetness I can't smell at all, perhaps because the Zara seems much sweeter and rounder by comparison.

To describe it in the local dialect: DHI is "like ä strängi, fuffzischjährischie, vertrockniti Fronzäsisch-Lehrerin, bei der unnerum long nix mea bassiert is." Zara 9.0 is "like a jolly, spony dancer, with a nice red dress."

Sillage and durability are very good, however.

Finally autumn, and time for denser fragrances. So finally time to try Spicebomb in cooler temperatures. So I took the bottling (thanks to the souk) and sprayed it on my wrist

A flood of scent rises. Sweet and spicy. A bit like a winter rice pudding with cinnamon or a spicy pudding. Interesting and tasty. This gourmand experience flattens out after half an hour. The sweetness and the spice explosion slowly disappear and the base notes emerge. In my opinion the heart note was very much connected to the top note and does not set any accents of its own.

But in the base note I smell neither leather nor vetiver. But something that oscillates between moist tobacco and moist wood. The scent reminds me extremely of the mouthpiece of my recorders (soprano, alto, tenor), which were fully sabbed after long playing. The spit and humidity of the breath make the wood of the flutes swell and start to smell. After more than 12 years of playing these instruments, I am only too familiar with this smell. Especially when I have blown out the air duct to free it from condensation.

It may have been a revolution for its time, but after the delicious opening I'd rather not smell like a wet recorder.

Introduction 1: The inclined reader of these lines may first allow me an introduction to the coconut. This tropical fruit from the coconut palm (cocos nucifera) is processed, among other things, into two completely different food products: Coconut milk and coconut water. A whipped coconut that you drink has coconut water in it (oh, I would love to go on a holiday to Thailand again...). A refreshing, slightly salty tasting liquid that has almost no similarity with the other coconut products. Coconut milk is a liquid pureed from water and coconut pulp, which is then strained and has a fat content of about 15% and is mainly used for cooking. The pulp contains the coconut aroma that some people like and others hate.

Introduction 2: Many commentators complain that the Cool Water Intense is not a strong version of Cool Water. Which then led to disappointments and low ratings. So: Please do not assume that it is a typical Cool Water. By the way, it is not an untypical Cool Water, but an independent scent, which is also rated by me in this case.

So, now further in the text:
The fragrances are said to be green tangerine, coconut water and amber. TLTG from YouTube says it directly: "the three notes do not make a lot sense to me". Not for me either. I would not know what a green tangerine smells like. A lot of reviewers are talking something about... "yes, the coconut rounds off the fragrance", although I don't know if this is just my imagination and people would have even noticed the smell of coconut without the hint of coconut water, especially since we are talking about coconut water that only smells very, very mildly of coconut, as shown above. I compared CWI directly with Le Beau in the Turquoise. In contrast, Le Beau is a sweet bomber, which directly conjures up a Pina Colada with pineapple and coconut.
Some also compared CWI to Eros. Two different scents, but both of them appear fresh-sweet, have extreme projection and durability and actually aim in the same direction, but then end up somewhere else.

Cool Water Intense looks more mature and above all it has a different sweetness in the Drydown, which stands out from the other Sillage monsters. The sweetness is seductive and pleasant and blew me away immediately, I stuck with this scent during the whole testing. I also like to smell CWI on myself and the good thing about it is that it causes little odour blindness. With its strength, it is also suitable for parties or evenings and is not worn by many people. During the day he always goes with his summery mood. If the fragrance had its own name and good advertisers, it would have many more fans. So it stays... MY SCHAAATZ!

TLDR: independent scent, also for coconut hater, which has an independent sexy sweetness in the keynote compared to the other Sillagebombers

In search of an office fragrance I also souped up Prade L'Homme Intense. Like the heavier of the two siblings, because: You want to try something brave.

When it was his turn to test it, I sprayed it on my wrist and was immediately killed by a cloud of scent. Pretty intense little guy. For me the scent consists of two different chords: On the one hand I smell powdery, underlaid with a synthetic-floral sweetness, on the other hand woods, which change again and again between tobacco and "dirty" leather, although I don't see any woods in the pyramid of scents now.

Both in itself quite ok, but in combination (subjectively) totally unpleasant. For me the whole thing seems inharmonious and even causes a slight nausea. The whole thing just doesn't want to come together for me, because my nose wants to separate the two chords. And since I don't want to smell like "dirty soap", I continue with the search for a scent for the office.

I got Aqva pour Homme at the same time as a 10 ml tester of the marine version as a present for christmas. For a long time I had a trauma with aquatic scents. But when I smelled Aqva, I didn't think it was bad at all - it goes much deeper than the proverbial shower gel freshness.

It's more of an oceanic scent than a sea scent. You can smell the tangerine at first, but it is already wrapped in aquatic notes that almost swallow it. The scent is deep, with oceanic notes and notes of spray. Although it doesn't remind me of a sea at the beach, the notes give me a holiday feeling. For me, the fragrance is more like a view of the billowing sea at dinner. These deep aquatic notes, with the really only very slight saltiness, are otherwise very clean and hardly change on my skin until the end.

On my skin the scent is already loosely left for 5-6 hours. On clothes it lasts much longer. I also perceive it well again and again. And also in winter, when I miss the sea, I sometimes wear it and think of a coastal cafe, directly at the harbour.