BamBamNYC

I really, really want to like this, but that performance is awful. Juniper Sling smells like good gin, to the point I’m convinced they took a gin recipe and modified it for perfumery. Someone passing by might think you’re a drunkard who spilled gin all over yourself.

Performance. I’m in heaven for the first 15 minutes and then it’s gone. I’ve tried going very generous with the sprays but I can’t make it last longer than an hour—maybe an occasional faint whiff at the 90 minute mark. It is the most fleeting fragrance I’ve come across. For that price point, I can’t justify getting a bottle; if this lasted for 4 hours or so it’d be a buy for sure.

Many fig fragrances add a hefty dose of woody notes to boost longevity, like Philosykos EDP and Gris Charnel. Philosykos EDT resigns itself to the impermanence of beauty.

Philosykos EDT focuses on the white milky sap that oozes out when you snap off a fig branch. Some may associate the smell with coconut. It intermingles with the smell of crushed leaves and broken stems. Perfect for quick outings in the summer; longevity is scant.

When a perfume is described as “almond” I assume it’ll be overloaded with heliotrope. I assumed right.

It’s powdery almond-y, with a lot of hyacinth in the opening. It is unfortunately a case of the sum being lesser than its parts. I’d want to smell of heliotrope in a colder day; I’d enjoy the smell of hyacinth in a warmer day; I can’t imagine a situation where I’d want to smell of both.

I don’t love the first two hours of Une Rose but it dries down to the richest smelling rose. Deep, dark, dense, earthy, jammy, velvety. Tom Ford’s Noir de Noir feels like a watered down copycat in comparison. Portrait of a Lady is known as the gothic rose, but I imagine gothic vampires wearing Une Rose instead.

Une Rose is insanely strong. If I get it on my jacket I will smell like roses for days. The projection is far too enormous and makes me feel self-conscious going outside; two sprays might even be too much with this fragrance.

Enigma smells like a luxurious cola, with a fizziness up top that I presume is some kind of aldehyde. This is what I put on if I want to feel classy while having presence. After two hours the fizziness disappears, making the cola feel flat. What remains is a sweet, warm, boozy tobacco amber that keeps you cozy throughout the day.

I love this fragrance enough to feel that the price is nearly worth it if you can find a good deal. The price is outrageous. But I’ve smelled many other cola-like fragrances and none have the zip and zing of Enigma.