MrGaunt

A Xerjoff from 2018 and still without a review? Very unusual. Well, then I have to contribute as a lazy writer probably a few words. Actually, you can almost make up the from the various statements, but a little bit of detailed text should be granted.

He starts very floral-citrus-fruity, for me rather something harsh and difficult to distinguish. This start has unfortunately something bathroom cleaner charm. Not the citrus bomb, but something with flowers. This attack fortunately subsides after a few minutes. If honey is there, it goes down rather.

The heart, on the other hand, stays for quite a while. The citrus has faded, quite strong flowers of the white variety dominate. Rose I smell not at all to minimal, the orange blossom actually appreciated by me also holds back very much. In addition to ylang-ylang, I would also suspect jasmine, even if that does not appear in the notes. The background is supported by light sweetness, the honey seems to have saved itself into the heart. The heart phase with the strong floral dominance lasts a long time. Exact time can not be said, because the change to the base is very slow.

With time, the flowers take back a bit and the fragrance becomes softer and I find also more complex. A very delicate but recognizable tobacco leaf note is supported by some vanilla, also the honey seems to persistently but discreetly. For me, the most beautiful time of the fragrance, because it shows a complexity and interwoven. Whether this is then already the base or a late development of the heart note may everyone decide for themselves. If heart, then this is a long heart phase.

After 3-4 hours, the flowers are obviously somewhat exhausted and you can also sniff a slightly woody base. However, the aforementioned base notes gaukeln a much stronger woody base, the whole is rather restrained woody and shows no dominance of vetiver or patchouly. Quite withdraw the flowers, moreover, not.

Overall, quite a successful fragrance with interesting development. Me personally too blossom-heavy especially for daily use, so there is no exuberant rating. Tends to be rather feminine (if you want to stay with the classic classification). You should definitely like blossoms, then it is definitely worth a test. The blooming phase längt long and is really very successful after the first attack.

Surprisingly still uncommented, although the fragrance has been around for a few months and Mark Buxton enjoys certain celebrity.
Mark Buxton is definitely no stranger to fragrances, in his own line he should be known primarily for the prominent use of incense in fragrances. So also here. However, the fragrance is not his at all, but David Chieze's. He is still quite young in the business and has probably also worked with Bertrand Duchafour. On Mark Buxtons homepage he appears as the only second perfumer.
With the Free one has nevertheless the impression, the fragrance could probably also come from Mark Buxton himself. The direction fits very well together with the creations of the mastermind. He will also certainly have had some say.

How smells the machwerk then now? The fragrance works from my point of view but different from what you might expect from the pyramid, but you find very much of the pyramid again.
The start is relatively fruity, the pineapple clear thereby but not the sole fruit. Overall fresh, not sweet, certainly not sticky, quite slightly peppery. The fruit remains and also intends to stay a while longer. The fresh is directly accompanied by a tart note. Even if you can guess the spice part, the second main role takes over but pretty quickly the incense.
And that then stays for a long time. Fruit and incense. Both in amazing clarity, the fruit perhaps even as a kind of essence. Virtually no acidity, no sweetness, just fruit. The way you find fruit in a really very good fruit brandy. The incense resins along happily and brightly. If the combination of pineapple and smoke now makes you think of a not unfamiliar scent and you're looking for an alternative, keep looking. The big A and the Free have little to do with each other. Little tar here, more resinous. Beautiful clear soft smoke.

As already written: It incense and fruit determine. The development of the fragrance is unspectacular after the short top note and shifts naturally more to the incense. Even if the fragrances do not have too much to do with each other, the development is quite similar to Oud Wood. The also remains long and changes only imperceptibly.

Now I always emphasize "fruit and incense", and that's where you have to be careful. While the scent seems unspectacular on the surface, you can find out a lot more when you consciously engage with it. The vetiver supports over almost the entire length and in the later development you can even smell out quite soft tones. Then the base notes come into play for a reasonably trained nose, so that you can even sniff out a slight sweetness and creaminess. However, these notes manage to shine as supporting actors to the two main players, and that makes the fragrance special and exciting in my view. On the surface, apparently not too much happens, but actually but by the diligent perfectly coordinated further notes.

The fragrance is a great choice for incense lovers and I mean even well suited for the office. Not edgy, not overpowering. I'm still skeptical about the sillage. With 2 1/2 sprays, I seemed to be cautiously supplied. But when I came back to my office after some time, I could detect the scent surprisingly clearly. So it could be a classic case of "I don't notice it that way, the environment does". Comments there were none.
A great fragrance that follows a clear line and where you have to discover the subtle depths first.

Bois 1920 is already busy churning out the odd scent or two. There are really nice pieces, for me the fragrances tend to go in the more pleasing direction, but mostly well done and still with niche appeal.

So now at Oro Bianco a rose with wood. One or the other yawns, there are quite a few rose-oud combinations. Besides, you could end it here, write a "read pyramid, get there" statement instead and save yourself a comment. But I think the scent has something, so a few words more.

It's a citric start. I don't smell ginger explicitly, but a slight pungency is already present at the start. Maybe there is also some wood involved. The rose is also there very quickly. However, in the top note rather than a light floral note, the clearly recognizable rose comes only in the heart note
The heart is then already very clearly dominated by a lot of rose, but also with a light, slightly medicinal wood content. Even if here the guaiac wood is mentioned and "noble woods", it could also be a medical oud without animalism, often described as western, which has its appearance here. This combination with rose and medical wood lasts quite long. You have to like this type of wood. Together with the citric entrance you can also combine a freshness or at least lightness with it.
After a longer period of time the rose withdraws slightly, the medicinal part becomes softer and warmer and then the appearance of the vanilla actually comes. However, very discreet in combination with still quite light but then much warmer wood. Sandalwood obviously helps here. If you smell it carefully, you might be able to sense the vanilla earlier, but it's more subtle. In this slightly vanilla base, the scent remains rather close to the skin.

A very beautifully composed fragrance, despite the light somewhat medicinal woods, it does not appear aggressive. Absolutely wearable and unisex, I like it. It reminds me a little bit of the "Royal White" by Charriol, which is very much appreciated by me and probably (probably) discontinued. For me the Charriol is a bit more oud and less soft in the base, in addition a bit more independent. If you like and miss it, you should definitely take a look at the Oro Bianco. Its bottle with white and gold is similar to the colours, but in the shape square instead of round like Oro Bianco.

This fragrance is a speciality in the niche sector. A fragrance commissioned by a musician, but a rapper. In addition one of the also Gangsta-Rap. This gentleman is called Booba. You don't have to know him, his pictures on Wikipedia show him as the stereotypical rapper with tattoos, thick gold chains and baseball cap. Someone who is assumed to be a loyal customer of Philipp Plein or similar monstrously overpriced cheap clothing manufacturers, whose only task is to shout "I am expensive Alda, you can't afford it" into the world
So the only possible scent is something screeching in the direction of "1 Million" by Paco Rabanne, better still something like this in even louder and from a company as expensive as possible, so loud that it smells right into the last concert series.

Now Nejma is a niche house with, in my opinion, rather fine fragrances. They can also be sweet and oriental, but on the whole they don't seem to be screamers. Well, when the rapper waves money, maybe even a small Swiss niche house gets weak and creates a completely undecent scent?

Stage performance: Koeptys
No gangsta rap
No gold chains
No thick eggs
More like Lang Lang.
Or Mark Knopfler with "Sultans of Swing"
Quite a surprise

But let's start over...
The packaging is not very exciting. Standard perfume packaging. Not cheap but not exciting either. The flacon puts a scoop on the quality. Grey, heavy, anthracite-silver cap (plastic, but valuable and also with weight), the lettering with a metal badge which is not only flat but slightly embossed. Chic and restrained.

When first sprayed, the bergamot makes its appearance, together with light fresh incense. All very light, almost a bit aquatic and not so much citric. Incense can also be fresh, at least in the "20 L'Eau Guerrière" by Pierre Guillaume, for example, I find it explicitly fresh, even when integrated. Here also.
The start is fast and I find jasmine and lily of the valley coming across clearly. I occasionally have my difficulties with these two, they seem feminine and too loud from time to time. Here they work well. Together with very light wood they last for quite a while. The florets are a bit less intense and you have a very balanced light scent that keeps a pleasant freshness. No shower gel, rather clean, quite complex and exciting to smell.
In time, maybe after 2 hours or so, the base comes out. Described with "benzoin, patchouli, vanilla, coconut milk" it does not quite do justice to the appearance. You would expect more sweetness and maybe patchouli earthiness. I don't smell a strong patch, it rather works together with sandalwood and gives a soft base. Benzoin and vanilla are added, I can smell coconut milk, but it's the soft kind. Just like you find it in a carefully composed Asian dish, not the Virgin Island Pina Colada coconut (although there's nothing to be said against it) and no sweet coconut macaroons either. Wood, benzoin/vanilla and coconut carry the flowers in the base for quite a while.

The fragrance lasts astonishingly long. After 12 hours I could still sniff something. But after about 4-5 hours I think the Sillage is rather skin-tight. But I like to misjudge me there.

All in all, an absolute surprise for me. Very soft, light freshness, a lot of harmony in the tuning. It seems to me to be quite reserved and absolutely unisex-suitable and wearable in the office even without colleagues gasping for breath. Maybe it lacks the absolute uniqueness that is so often sought after in niche fragrances, and some will find it too reserved. I really like it and the rating just wobbles more towards 9 instead of 8.5.

A new Tauer is always an exciting thing, as he tends to go his own way. In many fragrances one recognizes his specific handwriting, a special light dry-powdery touch that shows itself sometimes more and sometimes less. Interestingly enough, he can be found in very different perfumes.
Now then the newcomer Phtaloblue, "redefining the aquatic genre" (Tauer's own description). The first statements about it leave you a bit perplexed. But no matter, the order is on its way. Then I can make my own picture.

For my nose it doesn't start out too salty, I feel a strong note of ice candy at the beginning. Those blue things that taste a bit strange the first time and smell very typical. For the chemists here in the forum: Acetic acid pentylester. Hach, was the ester cooking fun with all the great smells.
The citrus aromas are used rather reservedly. A touch of salt I can also perceive, but not as some statements suggest

The strong ice cream candy then takes a little bit back quite quickly and gives way to a slightly herbal note. All in all, a slightly fruity, green-herbal note then dominates. I don't know how exactly samphire smells, but fennel fits quite well. I would have expected stronger floral notes, but they tend to blend into the background. This combination doesn't stay too long either

In the drydown Tonka dominates very clearly for me, supported by a light fennel note. Amber and cedar only play a supporting role and are not in the foreground. I find the fragrance in the base very tonal-calcareous, but in a positive way. The real tonka beans have a slight almond smell in addition to the vanilla, and also have their own tonka specific note. This combination is clearly shown to advantage here and remains, together with the fennel.

The smell is very pleasant, from my point of view for a Tauer very suitable for everyday use. Is it an aquate? A little, yes, but as usual, Tauer goes his own way. Lasts for a while, too. I hope I'm not as wrong in my assessment as I was with Megamare. I also found it suitable, one of the few moments where I got some bad looks at work.
Very untypical for a Tauer, but successful.