Sweetgrass

Far from being adventurous, this perfume is the spitting image of domesticated and carefully cultivated pleasantness. The opening citruses last only a moment, and while ginger does provide some contrast to the peach, it loses eventually and blends into discreet musky oblivion. Points to Boadicea for sober use of musk (this perfume escapes the laundry detergent genre), but all in all I have yet to encounter a more disappointing name to perfume ratio. Sillage seems to be on the weak side, and the perfume dries down very quickly.

The least I would have expecting was the wild feminine aroma of Xena's old leather armour hanging by the campfire in hostile territory, but I suppose we all have our own ideas of adventure. I do hope Boadicea the Victorious has more interesting perfumes to offer, since this is the first of them that I have tested. Don't get me wrong: it's pretty and pleasant, but it's also far less adventurous than even most other fruity-floral scents around. I have absolutely no idea who decided on the name since it is so far-fetched.

Catch Me is the one perfume outside of the Alien family I've smelled that actually resembles them a lot. Ropion seems to be building on his past work with this perfume, but doesn't quite achieve what has made the various Aliens memorable. It isn't the blast of jasmine, orange blossom or citrus in the opening alone: it is the mellow woody amber drydown that balances the fanfare, and the comparative simplicity of the accords involved.

Catch Me is nice, and I love the fresh, very well balanced citrus-white floral opening blast. But something about it feels off, something soapy creeps in about 20 minutes into the development, and I am surprised there is no musk listed in the notes. The sweet almonds don't quite counteract the soapiness, and as a whole the fragrance is a cute, girlish, more wearable Alien light that works in its own way. But soapy is one thing I find hard to overlook. Cute bottle, though!

Disclaimer: I love Rihanna. No questions asked. I was really excited about this new release, and when I read about others' impressions, I got even more excited! Thus, after a lot of nudging and winking, I got a mini bottle of Rogue for Christmas, and I'm glad! The rectangular bottle departs from its predecessors' style, thankfully, and hints at chic and elegance. The "studs" in the bottle base are a nice touch, although as a whole the image is maybe not as stylish and grown-up as it aspires to be. The stopper feels light and cheap to the hand, but that is another issue.

This scent seems to be made for the colder season with its warm undertones and soft, comfy suede base. I only know one other Rihanna perfume (Nude) so I cannot compare categorically, but this definitely seems like a style overhaul with the brand. Rogue is only moderately sweet, and despite its name it is quite tame for a leather. At first smelling the leather seemed much more dominant and I could barely catch the top notes. I caught on quick enough, though. The top and heart notes are sweet and they retain the best parts of fruity-florals, but there is something smooth and powdery setting the sweetness off and preventing this from becoming sickly sweet or cloying. Leather becomes more prominent during the drydown, and the remnants lingering in my clothing from yesterday are soothing and powdery, with just a hint of sweetness. Sillage seems pretty soft, extending about an arm's length with three sprays to the neck and hair area. As for longevity, it lasts about 4-5 hrs on me. (Bear in mind, I live in the subarctic and I imagine this scent could be overpowering in warmer climates.)

Comparisons to Bottega Veneta are not completely unwarranted, but the biggest common denominator is leather and apart from that, BV and Rogue are totally different. Rogue is unmistakeably a young girl's or woman's scent. It is, by definition, an easy and pretty enough perfume to be instantly likeable, but not without some its own depth and complexity. Based on Rogue, I predict leather-based fragrances are going to be the next big thing in mainstream fragrance (although I could be wrong, seeing as my tastes probably differ from most perfume consumers in the target market).

I haven't reviewed this one yet? What a shame! It is one of the few full bottles I own and my most worn perfume along with its flankers. Mugler fragrances aren't that popular in Finland and kind of hard to find for mainstream frags, but worth the search: all of them have something unique and interesting about them, even the ones I don't like.

The opening is nothing like anything I've smelled before, which was one of its best selling points for me. I go for the bold and daring, and the jasmine cloud is like a projection of assertive, self-assured femininity. What's better is that it isn't cloying or too carnal, unlike many other jasmine and white floral fragrances I've tried, but rather glowing and radiant. The drydown, for me, is less interesting, and alas the woods turn acidic on my skin before mellowing down to soothing amber. I have resolved this by spraying my hair and clothes rather than my skin.

For such a simple composition it has a lot of power and complexity. I can see why it is so polarizing, though: it's very dominant, projects like a teleport beam, lasts forever on clothing and several hours on my skin (seems to be another common trait for all Mugler fragrances I've tried). I keep my bottle on my bedside table, along with Coromandel. Extra points to Mugler for the refillable bottle!

I have to hand it to Oriza L. Legrand for making their perfumes like they do. All of the ones I have smelled (well, all of them, thanks to their generous sample program!) are both timeless and wearable and I would imagine well-suited to the modern perfumista who has become disillusioned with the recent reformulations of the better-known old-timers.

First off: You have to like powder if you want to like this one. This perfume is all shimmery, sugar-powder flowers from beginning to end, and one of the few that are not turned soapy on me by the white musk in its base. It starts with powdered orangey/rose notes and then mellows down, still sweet, to the carnation, but to me powder dominates all the way. I like the opening notes a little more than the drydown -- I love how it manages to be sweet, floral and a tad fruity without being cloying or sappy. I have never smelled anything like this before (although granted my experience is very, very limited) and I just keep sniffing my forearm to catch those powdered flowers again.

Oeillet Louis XV sits close to the skin and doesn't take over the room, so it is quite safe to wear in casual settings. For me it will make a tad more glamorous day scent, for when I want to feel like a princess in Versailles. I really hope there is a body powder for this, too... I really have to thank Pipette for alerting me to the existence of this house!