Chypre Sultan by Ensar Oud is a proper chypre, by which I mean that it smells like a chypre, not that it is at all proper (which it is not). …
Vaniglia by Santa Maria Novella smells reasonably like posh gelato in the air but like burning black plastic on the skin. (Minority opinion). Sometimes I like it, sometimes it gives me the dry heaves.…
Gatsby 22 by Ormonde Jayne is a fresh, citrusy floral musk that's definitely not for me but perfect for a modern-day Daisy Buchanan…
The secret to Cuir d’Iris is that it is simultaneously sooty and wet. Bone-dry cedarwood and iris kick up dust eddies as stale as the air from a newly-fired radiator. Floating in this…
Reviews about attars and mukhallats for my Attar Guide aren’t conjured out of thin air. When I write about a Sultan Pasha or an Abdul Samad Al Qurashi oil, I come armed with…
Fiore d’Ambra by Profumum Roma is the rare amber that confronts rather than comforts. Which makes sense, because it's barely an amber at all. …
Shalimar Millésime Vanilla Plantifolia by Guerlain is a lot of words to say 80% Shalimar spliced with 20% of an expensive niche bakery vanilla like Lira or Tihota, but I am surprised at just…
Casablanca by St. Clair Scents is a tour de force of the indie BWF (Big White Floral) perfumery, perfect for modern day sirens and sexpots.…
Fresh but dark, bitter and woody-musky, Libertine Neroli by Francesca Bianchi is a fantastic neroli-oakmoss chypre that nods at 1950s classic masculine perfumery without getting pulled into it completely. …
The Attar Guide: Resin Reviews K-T wraps up the Resin portion of the Guide, with some very mediocre indie oils bringing up the rear. …