Catsylvania

Some spices are great in cooking, but no matter how you try, they don't cut it in perfumery. So far, I must say that Reckless Leather is my personally least favorite in the current state of the Library Collection. The opening instantly made me think of body odors, and may I be forgiven for using this expression. I was off to an offensive start and a chaos that, regretfully, lasted for almost an hour on my skin. Later on, however, I got a very pleasant fresh (oh, the irony!) slightly spicy green accord and a very subtle tinge of leather. After a couple of hours, that's when I finally reached the "leather" state, and this fragrance had a lot of wonders to show me. The leather was strong, somewhat akin to a well worn leather jacket that has been out in the sun for a while. The oud was prominent and it gave everything a rounded feel, and I overall got what appeared to be a smoky woody sweetness at the base. The rest of the day was a pleasure, however, I started noticing a very strange, almost soapy tint to the leather and musk on the drydown. Of course, this is a powerful scent. It's a beast performer, it lasts a long time, it trails and it projects. Overall, I did get a positive experience wearing this scent, but I feel like I cannot validate having this fragrance in my perfume collection just for that "base note" experience. In many ways, it's a great core that has been butchered and wasted. Perhaps, if the top notes were removed entirely, this could have been a great scent. At its current state, alas, that is a pass from me.

I won't bother going on to a rant over how many times can a brand milk a cash cow, but one thing should be noted straight away. Shalimar Souffle de Lumiere has absolutely nothing to do with the original Shalimar. Not even any of the flankers known to me. Understandably, this is an attempt to cash on a big name, however, I will focus on the scent itself. One might argue that there is a grain of the original DNA present via the top layer of citruses and vanilla. The scent comes off to a very bright, crisp and delicate opening. The sweet, sparkly bergamot is rounded by a delicate vanilla touch to resemble a dessert in some way, not too sweet though. The heart is a warm jasmine, fairly creamy, "fleshy" in a way, thanks to ylang, and I wouldn't call it airy. Overall, this is not a complex composition, it's very straight to the point, and does not pretend to be what it's not. It is behaving like a souffle, and you absolutely certainly get the "luminous" feel from this scent as the name suggests. Souffle de Lumiere is a fresh scent and perfect for those looking for something simple and perhaps, more traditionally suited for the warmer times of the year without the need for opting for something blander. I personally enjoyed the scent, it lasted a very long time, but the projection left me wishing for a better performance, and there is a certain need to reapply, and a lot you will be reapplying. I can understand why this has been discontinued, but at the same time I personally have little complaints about it. The price point, nonetheless, is all up to interpretation because my bottle has been obtained at a bargain price. Perhaps, I should note that I would not want to buy this had it cost more.

The opening felt rather bizarre, a slightly dusty, chemical in a way, blow of sweet cocoa with a weirdly compressed smoke notes. Luckily for me, the rum in this diffused the overall composition and toned down the sweetness along with any other strange rough edges. The scent was a delight, a beautifully crafted smoky, just a little bit boozy chocolate resting on a quality woody base with a tinge of powderiness. Tobacco felt a too tamed and too subdued by the sweetness, and this note was one of the things that inspired me to try Ecrin de Fumee. Alas, I didn't find tobacco in the quantities desired. Or, perhaps, I should clarify, not with the edge I was hoping to see. Moderate silage and great longevity. You might want to reapply just once during the day, but this is only if you feel like going out and give a new spin to this scent. Overall, I enjoyed it thoroughly, but not for the reasons I hoped I would.

When I stumbled upon Ultrared in one of the Chemist Warehouse stores, I wasn't even aware of this scent's existence. A quick search yielded a promising pyramid, which indicated the presence of anise and licorice! Being an anise fan, what more could I want? Ultrared is pleasant. It's sweet, but not too much as the red currant seems to sour up the mix enough to ensure the concoction doesn't condense itself to a syrup state. The marshmallow note gives plenty of playful softness and cushioning to the scent. However, a sweet "red" berry scent wasn't what I was hoping to find as there were very faint traces of not even anise, but licorice itself, which is usually very prominent in most scents. Ultrared will disappoint anyone looking for the two forementioned notes. The silage is surprisingly questionable, and the scent does tend to sit very close to the skin after about an hour in my personal experience. Longevity is good, no complaints in that department whatsoever. Having said that, unfortunately, I didn't reach for this scent much and will be letting go of it.

Very peculiar opening, a green iris mixed with a quality rum. This tandem sets the scent off to an impressive start. The rose and oud combination is exceptionally solid, albeit nothing out of the ordinary. It's a standard yet wonderfully performing genre (or subgenre if you wish) staple. The floral notes with a slight green spicy tinge remain in the background throughout, while the woodiness starts dominating. The rum note doesn't fade, much to my delight, and puts a slightly unusual twist to the overall arrangement. Noted shall be the relative absence of powdery notes in my personal experience. Longevity is spectacular, silage is great, but definitely not as powerful as some of the other scents from Amouage. My partner was wearing Amouage Rose Incense, and it completely beat Woods Symphony down. That's not necessarily screaming poor silage by any means, but just a funny observation.