Based on my sampling of three perfumes from the Argentinian brand Frassaï, I can say that this is exactly the kind of thing that one hopes to see from modern niche perfumery…
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Amber Floral Fruity Scents Gourmand House Exploration Incense Independent Perfumery Jasmine Review Scent Memory Smoke Spice Tea White Floral Woods
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Ambergris Ambrette House Exploration Independent Perfumery Iris Leather Oud Review Smoke Vetiver
Neandertal: Them, Us, Light, Dark
The indie perfume brand Neandertal boasts some of the most achingly cool bottles I’ve ever seen, one of the hottest talents on the indie perfumery scene (Euan McCall), and several glowing Luca Turin reviews…
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Aromatic Citrus Cult of Raw Materials Floral Fougere Fruity Scents Green Floral Hay House Exploration Iris Lavender Neroli Orange Blossom Review Rose Tonka Tuberose White Floral
Les Indémodables Part II: Iris Perle, Fougère Émeraude, Rose de Jamal, and Chypre Azural
Iris Perle Username checks out. In its totality, Iris Perle is an opalescent soap bubble of freshly peeled mandarin over soapy-waxy-fatty mimosa clasped in a child’s slightly sweaty paw, but studied closely…
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Ambergris Aromatic Collection Cult of Raw Materials House Exploration Independent Perfumery Review
Les Indémodables Part I: Vanille Havane, Oriental Velours, Musc des Sables, and Cuir de Chine
Vanille Havane Vanille Havane is an undeniably good smell. How could it not be? It is basically a Greatest Hits tour of some of the most feelgood smells in modern niche…
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Floral Oriental Fruity Scents Hay Honey Incense Independent Perfumery Leather Musk Review Tuberose White Floral Woods
Tyger Tyger by Francesca Bianchi
There are three types of tuberose fragrance and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Category I is Photorealistic Tuberose, which is where you find the dewy ‘ripped from nature’ takes like Carnal Flower (Malle),…
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Ambergris Balsamic Frankincense Green Incense Independent Perfumery Leather Review Smoke
Spell 125 by Papillon Artisan Perfumes: Love in the Time of COVID
I keep trying to sum up Spell 125 by Papillon Artisan Perfumes for myself in one of those snappy two-liners that Luca Turin excels in, but it is a testament to the perfume’s shape-shifty-ness…
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Aldehydes Amber Ambergris Attars & CPOs Balsamic Chypre Cult of Raw Materials Gold Lists Oriental Osmanthus Oud Resins Review
Gifts of the Three Magi: Going for Gold
Gold is the most challenging of the gifts of the three Magi, of course, given that, unlike myrrh and frankincense, it is not a fragrant material in and of itself. I could write about…
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Amber Animalic Aromatic Attars & CPOs Balsamic Citrus Cult of Raw Materials Frankincense Incense Lists Resins Round-Ups Scent Memory Smoke Spice Thoughts Woods
Gifts of the Three Magi: Frankly Frankincense
Each of the gifts of the three Magi carried a special symbolic meaning – gold representing kingship, myrrh foreshadowing the death of Jesus (myrrh being commonly used as an embalming and purifying ointment in…
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Amber Aromatic Attars & CPOs Balsamic Citrus Cult of Raw Materials Herbal Honey Incense Lists Myrrh Oriental Osmanthus Oud Resins Review Woods
Gifts of the Three Magi: A Myrrh-athon
Myrrh is the sulky emo teenager of the resin family. From soapy to waxy to mushroomy to medicinal, let's do a deep dive on this most recalcitrant of resins. …
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Aromatic Balsamic Citrus Herbal Incense Independent Perfumery Masculine Review Sandalwood Smoke Woods
Kerosene Part 2: Blackmail and R’Oud Elements
Mining the same marshmallow-meets-campfire vein as By the Fireplace by Maison Martin Margiela, albeit only about a hundred times more pleasant and natural-smelling, Blackmail captures that exciting feeling of anticipation your tummy gets at…
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Amber Aromatic Balsamic Herbal Incense Independent Perfumery Oud Resins Review Sandalwood Smoke Spice Tobacco Vanilla Woods
Kerosene Part 1: Copper Skies and Broken Theories
Copper Skies Sometimes you want a silky pâté that rolls around velvetily in your mouth for a few seconds before dissolving into perfumed air, and sometimes you want the thick, meaty savor of a…
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Aromatic Balsamic Chypre Fruity Chypre Incense Leather Patchouli Resins Review Suede Woods
Kintsugi by Masque Milano
Kintsugi by Masque Milano smells the way those mysterious salted fruits and chutneys in an Asian restaurant taste – perfumey, bitter, and dark in a way that sucks all the moisture out of your…
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Balsamic Citrus Coffee Collection Cult of Raw Materials Floral Fougere Green Floral Incense Independent Perfumery Iris Jasmine Lavender Leather Musk Oriental Osmanthus Oud Resins Review Rose Round-Ups Saffron Sandalwood Smoke Spice Spicy Floral Thoughts Violet White Floral Woods
Areej Le Doré Agar de Noir, Musk Lave, Cuir de Russie, Grandenia, & Santal Galore
The challenge for any reviewer in reviewing the Areej Le Doré releases is that (a) either you’re late and the perfumes you’re writing about are no longer available to buy, or (b) you’re on…
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Honey Maurice Roucel Milk Musk Review Spice Tea
Hongkong Oolong by Maurice Roucel for Nez, the Olfactory Magazine
What a beautiful and refreshingly to-the-point fragrance. In the tinderbox of nowtimes where the fuse is short and the flashpoint just a meter downwind of someone having a bad day on Twitter, Hongkong Oolong…
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Cult of Raw Materials Independent Perfumery Musk Oud Patchouli Resins Review Woods
The Cult of Raw Materials: Treewitch by Teone Reinthal and Antiquity by Areej Le Doré
A common assumption in evaluating all-natural fragrances – thanks in large part to the Cult of Raw Materials that has sprung up around top-tier artisanal, distill-it-yourself houses such as Bortnikoff and Areej Le Doré…
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Amber Animalic Balsamic Chocolate Honey Incense Independent Perfumery Iris Leather Oriental Patchouli Resins Review Sandalwood Spice Tobacco Tonka
Sticky Fingers by Francesca Bianchi
The more I wear Sticky Fingers by Francesca Bianchi, the more I’m convinced it is the Bengale Rouge of the Bianchi line, by which I mean a deliciously thicc n’ fuzzy oriental that’s characterful…
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Aldehydes Amber Ambergris Aromatic Balsamic Citrus Floral Jasmine Musk Review The Discard Pile White Floral
Ormonde Jayne Jardin d’Ombre and Ambre Royal
Neither of these 2016 Ormonde Jayne releases – Jardin d’Ombre and Ambre Royal – are my kind of thing, even though there are interesting and even beautiful moments in both of them. But I’m…
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Collection Fruity Scents Gourmand House Exploration Musk Neroli
Ormonde Jayne La Route de la Soie Collection
As you might have guessed from my recent series of posts, I am a big fan of the house of Ormonde Jayne. After having invested in several full bottles and having worked my way…
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Amber Aromatic Balsamic Chypre Citrus Collection Floral Floral Oriental Green Floral Herbal House Exploration Iris Jasmine Musk Orange Blossom Resins Review Rose Round-Ups Spicy Floral Summer Violet White Floral Woods
The Ormonde Jayne Core Collection
Ormonde Jayne set out its mission and values in its original core collection, and to this day, it remains the standard bearer for the brand. I’ve written about some of the perfumes in the…
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The topnotes of Serge Lutens Serge Noire‘s smoky, dried fruit incense draw me in every single Goddamn time, like a mermaid’s song. And then I am dashed cruelly against the rocks that are this…
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Ambrette Aromatic Blogging Carnation Citrus Collection House Exploration Iris Jasmine Musk Oud Review Rose Sandalwood Spicy Floral Suede Thoughts Vanilla White Floral Woods
The Ormonde Jayne Gold Collection
Rose Gold Rose Gold opens with a fiercely fresh green rose that briefly hints at the rose in Ta’if before folding its lemon-rind-and-black-pepper topnotes into the folds of a richer, pulpier rose that smells…
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Aldehydes Ambergris Aromatic Balsamic Citrus Collection Floral Floral Oriental Fougere Green Herbal Iris Leather Osmanthus Oud Review Rose Sandalwood Spice Spicy Floral Suede Tea Tobacco Woods
Ormonde Jayne Four Corners of the Earth Collection
Ormonde Jayne Four Corners of the World collection upped the ante on the already amazing core line, exploring key raw materials drawn from, well, the four corners of the earth: oud from India, tobacco…
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Aromatic Citrus Floral Fruity Scents Gourmand Green Green Floral Osmanthus Review Suede Tea Thoughts White Floral Woods
Ormonde Jayne Love Trio: Sensual Love, Passionate Love, and True Love
Ormonde Jayne is a brand that I turn to for sophistication and polish. I'm looking past the core collection of original releases and asking: what did Linda do next? Part I is on the…
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Animalic Aromatic Floral Independent Perfumery Jasmine Review Rose Tonka White Floral
Quasi Un’Absurdia by Chris Rusak
Quasi Un’Absurdia by Chris Rusak is a rare joy. In the modern hodge podge of brutal woody ambers and syrupy eau-de-department-store florals, instances of classical beauty are few and far between. So a minute…
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Balsamic Coffee Fruity Scents Gourmand House Exploration Independent Perfumery Leather Oud Review Smoke Spice Vetiver Woods
Parfums Prissana and Strangers Parfumerie: A Sampling
I’m fascinated by the individuality of the models at play in the indie perfume sector. Some houses, like Diane St. Clair and Papillon work slowly, releasing an average of one perfume a year (if…
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Ambergris Animalic Aromatic Balsamic Chocolate Independent Perfumery Review Sandalwood Smoke Spice Woods
Eris Parfums Mxxx.
Mxxx. by Eris Parfums is an almost embarrassingly sexual scent – the result, I imagine, of an experiment to cross breed the silvery, driftwood aroma of a far-off beach bonfire with the boudoir-ish scent…
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Chypre Floral Fruity Chypre Green Floral Independent Perfumery Iris Review Smoke Spice Spicy Floral Vetiver
Eve and Pandora: Two Perfumes by Diane St. Clair
I don’t know how to say this without sounding condescending, but one sniff of Eve and Pandora, the new duo of perfumes from Diane St. Clair, is enough to tell that there has been…
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Aromatic Floral Green Green Floral Hay Herbal Independent Perfumery Iris Milk Review Woods
Dusita Le Pavillon d’Or
Although I’ve always worn make-up, my reasons for doing so have varied dramatically over the years. As a teenager, my first and only concern was to make my face into a blank mask to…
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Amber Animalic Balsamic Hay Herbal Independent Perfumery Myrrh Oud Review Saffron
Fallintostars by Strangelove NYC: A Review
Fallintostars by Strangelove NYC is clever because it pairs the 15th century smell of Hindi oud – the dank, rotting, wet wood smell of animal hides piled high in a medieval dungeon – with…
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Douleur! by Bogue, a collaboration between Freddie Albrighton, a tattoo artist and erstwhile perfume blogger, and Antonio Gardoni, the beloved beardie of Bogue Profumo, has already garnered quite a bit of reaction on the…
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Have you ever been walking along the street and suddenly feel so good that you burst into a run? Zoologist Bee is that for me – a burst of positivity that settles on you…
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Hiram Green Voyage 2019, huh. I remember little of the original Voyage other than (a) I liked it a lot – or at least enough to spend €25 on obtaining a precious 5ml decant,…
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Ambergris Animalic Balsamic Floral Hay Herbal Honey Independent Perfumery Iris Leather Musk Resins Review Smoke Spicy Floral Suede Vetiver Woods
Francesca Bianchi Lost in Heaven and The Black Knight
The amount of depravity Francesca Bianchi subjects orris root to, I don’t know to be scared of meeting her in a dark alley – or take her out for an Aperol Spritz. People are…
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Blind Smelling Blogging Review Thoughts
Adventures in Blind Smelling: Rose et Cuir, the Fragrance Foundation Awards, & Other Stories
I used to think that fragrances were like books, in that the more you experienced, the more your mental library expanded. But that’s not true. When I read a new book, the bookshelves in…