White Neroli Mizensir 2015

The citrus freshness is immediately overshadowed by a dry creaminess before it can become zesty, which is supported by wood. I also suspect that a dash of laboratory general fruit is involved, not just the citrus fraction.

For the theme of "smoke," I would have needed a while today without prior notice, as it still feels quite unusual to me in such company. Warm, sweet, and by no means festive smoky spice on soapy-creamy, gently fruity white floral notes. Quite nice, but no comparison, for example, to the spirited 'Shanaan' by Micallef, which acts much bolder with jasmine and smoke.

A positive aspect of 'White Neroli' is that the sweetness presents itself relatively airy overall, which benefits the mixture of incense/jasmine. Additionally, a bitter note close to the skin adds a mature touch.

On the other hand, I find the synthetic wood disturbing, which, unlike the sibling scent 'Eau de Gingembre,' comes across as quite offensively synthetic not only in the pyramid. Nevertheless, I gratefully accept its contribution on a meta-level as a kind of lesson, as a well-detectable synthetic wood variant is openly named. The perfume and fragrance ingredient supplier "Pell Wall" describes "Clearwood" (for the lawyers among us "Clearwood TM") as a completely deconstructed patchouli replica: "Soft, clean version of Patchouli without the earthy, leathery and rubbery notes found in the natural oil." Sounds like Radio Eriwan - "Patchouli? In principle, yes, but..."

In any case, I believe I have smelled this wood several times before. Specifically, I think of the wood in Dior's Bois d’ Argent. However, there the iris had a beneficial, almost noble influence. It is completely absent here. And with that, I am gradually coming to a close. Unlike the esteemed previous speaker, by midday at the latest, everything that could still be noticed has become a mere accessory to a creamy, banana-like synthetic wood note. It is bearable, so it is not annoyingly DIY or anything, just terribly dull. Only in the evening, and solely directly on the skin, do I (again) primarily perceive bittersweet jasmine and musk.

This scent really risks nothing. I dismiss it as a lesson, as mentioned above.

A "lesson extra point" is taken into account in my evaluation.

I thank Kovex for the sample.