Ex Nihilo is one of the strongest, if not the best niche brands out there in my opinion. If Blue Talisman is the only one on your radar so far: Definitely check out the other fragrances! So when I was recently in L.A., I of course had to head straight to the flagship store to spray the new Demon Dancer on my skin.
The opening is absolutely explosive. It starts off extremely fruity, sparkling and fresh. This distinctive rhubarb note really packs a punch, while a juicy blood orange quickly joins in. The mint provides a wonderfully invigorating freshness kick in the background. The opening immediately caught me! The employees at the store were super friendly, completely doused me in the fragrance and packed up a few samples for me. That’s how my journey through L.A. began.
After just the first few steps, you quickly notice that Demon Dancer shares this characteristic, airy vibe with Blue Talisman (EdP). Both use this framework of modern synthetic building blocks such as Akigalawood, Ambrofix and Georgywood. In the heart, a delicate blackcurrant note then moves to the forefront, while the fragrance remains somewhat woody yet feather-light. Despite the blackcurrant, I see absolutely no parallels to Bal d'Afrique here, by the way.
What probably only happens to you in the USA is having someone follow you through several aisles in the supermarket just to ask, completely enthusiastically, what you’re wearing, saying they could smell me from miles away (no joke!). So the sillage seems to be very good.
It was at exactly this moment that I thought: I need to buy this immediately! But the longer I wore it that day, the more my enthusiasm turned around. Unfortunately, the fragrance loses me in the drydown. It simply becomes a little too unremarkable for me, and on top of that I’m not a huge fan of this strongly synthetic aspect (which you also know from Bois Impérial, among others). That’s why I also own the Extrait of Blue Talisman, because I think this aspect is handled better there.
The longevity is absolutely solid for a fresh fragrance and the sillage, as mentioned, apparently very strong. The regular retail price is quite steep, though. If you can pick it up in the souk at a good price, that’s perfectly okay, but at full price it ultimately wasn’t enough for me.
My conclusion: The opening is extremely awesome and the fragrance is guaranteed to turn heads among those around you. Anyone who is into the Blue Talisman DNA or fragrances like Bois Impérial should definitely test Demon Dancer. Personally, I’m missing that certain something in the end for a full bottle purchase, but who knows, maybe it simply needs two or three more wearings on me before it finally clicks!
Cedric23 2 days ago