Benlives

at least in my humble opinion. A brilliant blend of tea, herbs, leather, and musk. If you find old-school sledgehammers like VC&A Pour Homme a bit too much but are generally not averse to leathery and tea-heavy scents, you should definitely go for this one. At least if it’s available again at a bargain price at the red outlet.

Citrus and cardamom kick off right away, and soon a fine but very present herbal note reminiscent of lavender and sage joins in. A subtle leather note envelops everything, and soapy musk can increasingly be sensed as a foundation. Sounds unexciting? But it smells damn great! Especially with cardamom-heavy fragrances, I tend to get annoyed quickly, but here everything is so wonderfully balanced that nothing bothers me. No tea scent, no leather scent, no fougère, no chypre. Nothing really fits into any category. A bit of everything, but unique, not clearly assignable to one genre. Strong character. Long-lasting. Masculine with a modern twist. Millions of miles away from the modern uniform (fruit) mush. A milestone from Morabito. I can say this without knowing the vintage version.

One more word about the often-mentioned "dark" quality of the fragrance. The name is just part of the program here. As dark as I found it during the first testing, I don’t think it’s that dark anymore. Dark, yes, but not unapproachable. The tea note certainly contributes to this, coming with a certain underlying sweetness. Of course, it’s no comparison to current gourmands, but just right to make it "accessible." It’s not as graveyard cold as something like "Encre Noir." It doesn’t have to be. Because Or Black shows that even a "black" fragrance can be multifaceted.

Flash = Trash? Somehow yes. But with a certain something! The synthetic aspect cannot be denied. To put it cautiously. But it has a recognition value, wow! At least on my girlfriend. On her, it lasts a good while. I wouldn't expect such attributes from this fragrance if I only referred to the Parfumo database as an information source. It shows once again how dominant an influence skin chemistry can have on a scent experience. I can't detect any strawberries on my girlfriend, nor is the fragrance sweet in any way on her. A bitter-floral trash spectacle that comes across as very quirky and unique.
I think Jimmy Choo has created a fragrance with Flash that is extremely polarizing. There probably isn't much room between love and hate here. I really like it on my girlfriend, this trashy-synthetic, very charming loner. Maybe also because it always makes me think of the song... "Flash, a-aaaah... you saved everyone of us!"

...and without popcorn. That's about how "exciting" the encounter with Yves Saint Laurent's "Parfum" Y is. One expects excitement, emotions, complexity, an intriguing progression, and the like from a fragrance. Y doesn't even meet the most minimal requirements for a men's fragrance. For a fragrance at all. It is monotonous, it is meaningless, it is boring. Excruciatingly boring. So boring that even the Parfumo search function seems to refuse to find it. A "fragrance" with the recognizability of a well-trodden piece of chewing gum on the sidewalk. Its "fragrance" pyramid is a bad joke in light of the synthetic carnival that is revealed here. At least it disappears quickly. In 2017, YSL jumps on the fruity-squeaky cheap plastic train that apparently still hasn't left the perfume world (and seemingly still brings in a few euros).

"Everything starts with a (wh) y," it says so flowery in the advertisement. Unfortunately, the fragrance also leaves me with the question of "Why." To lose one's face as a label for a few cheaply earned euros? Does one really want to be degraded to a run-of-the-mill manufacturer like so many other labels and give up one's own handwriting, one's character? Such soulless mainstream corpses really make me angry nowadays. I expect more authentic entries in the database at Parfumo in the future, in the case of Y, for example:

Y is a nose-numbing agent from Yves Saint Laurent from 2017 for ladies and gentlemen. The scent is cheap-synthetic. Longevity and sillage are below average. Unfortunately, it is still being produced.

Now that would be something, right ;-) ?

At least I like the song from the advertisement.

Unfortunately, I (once again) lack the comparison options to the original version. I find this particularly unfortunate here, because on one hand, I definitely think that the current version is a truly exceptional fragrance, while on the other hand, I have read a lot here and in direct comparison, the original formulation usually comes off significantly better.
A blend as fine and beautifully balanced as Antaeus is rarely encountered. It is a difficult-to-describe mix of herbal-soapy, balsamic, mossy, and animalistic essences that is extremely well executed. Masculine, mysterious, timeless. Similarly well-balanced as the original Davidoff or Vermeil pour Homme, yet more serious and darker in its olfactory impression. No doubt, it is a scent for men. Not for softies, not for boys. Nevertheless: For such a weighty name, it lacks the final determination in terms of longevity and sillage. There it must be a "giant," no matter how great the scent impression is. I simply expect that from such a fragrance milestone (and corresponding price). It lingers on my skin for about eight hours. A Van Cleef PH in the current version, which costs only a fraction, beats it here, for example, and goes in a not dissimilar direction scent-wise. That’s just a shame. Especially since it seems to have been much more powerful in the original version. So it remains tall and looks down on most perfumes, but unfortunately, it doesn't really reach giant status (anymore)...

That sometimes less is more is exemplified very well by Light Blue. This fragrance, which is predestined for summer, is characterized not by an endlessly overloaded scent pyramid, but by a clear and well-structured scent profile. "Keep it simple." I don't know if Mr. Cresp had this motto in mind when approaching this composition, but the finished product perfectly reflects this principle. Apple, lemon (a very mandarin-like lemon in my opinion...), a hint of jasmine, and wood. All accompanied by this clean and light creaminess. A beautiful, successful fragrance for warm days. It comes without a large floral bouquet or cloying fairground sweetness, which I also appreciate in a women's fragrance and is rather rare these days.
It lasts about 5 hours on my girlfriend, which is truly remarkable for a rather light summer perfume. I also find it astonishing that there are only marginal differences between the men's and women's versions.
All in all, a great candidate for the warm season, which can score points with its simplicity and harmonious composition.