INDIGOSPHINX

Man.. I know some folk maybe upset with me for this review so please hear me out.
We all have different taste

I enjoy classical men's fragrances. Amouage offers some really nice solid daily drivers : interlude, memoir, and dia are amazing in my opinion.

When I sprayed this the first time, it is really extremely reminiscent of fresh vomit.
imagine you just ate a spicy meal and then your stomach turn and then you vomit that out. There you go.

Some people may think that it is the cumin that's bothering me. I think it is more than that. The combination of cumin and something very aldehydic makes the impression of fresh vomit.

As this dries down it becomes more of a B-O- impression scent.

LOL, I hope this helps some people. Please sample this first before you buy. Also, I didn't grow up in the west, so for me to find this fragrance disgusting says a lot.

If you do have a goal of getting people away from you, spray this 10 times before you go to work, I think it would do.

(a review before me mentioned this induces nausea, +1 here)

Before you get upset.
I love classic men's scent. For example I've adored Equipage Geranium, Bel Ami Vetiver, Beau De Jour type of scents...

Why am I criticizing this?

Being relatively unavailable in the US, this thing can be hyped up to $161 USD for 100ml. That is niche price already. When I first bought this, it was the most expensive scent I've ever purchased.

Being a lover of classy scents, I've seen this recommended by some solid reviewers like early greek, AC Smells good, and Scentinel.

So I bought it without smelling it. My first impression upon spraying was.... this smells incredibly generic.

I have never smelled the 2012 version but presumably, I would like that better because I love myrrh's deep dense resinous quality.

It opens with a slight citrus and goes right into the dry down, which is a very generic vetiver combined with a little fruity sweetness from the elemi. Throughout my wearing, the redeeming part of this frag is that it leaves that wondering Eau Sauvage EDT jasmine sweetness to me, but I don't get the whaff often, which leads to my next criticism.

This is a poor performer on me. I am not sure if it's caused by olfactory fatigue but once I spray it, it seems like it completely disappears within 5 min. Throughout the day, I get rare whiffs.

I just find this to be lacking in character.

the EDT version is wonderful as it exudes a ultra classiness and Italian suave. But this is just forgettable.

The review before me mentioned a licorice note, I get that for sure. It has a slight root beer smell to it indeed.

However, my overall assessment is this is a big disappointment given its price. I think it's overhyped (not by jeremy-like reviewers, but by classic men frag reviewers)

Trust me folks, I really wanted to like this. You know how sometimes you look at a fragrance's reputation and its beautiful bottle and you just wish you would love it? But it's a no for me.

I have owned the parfum for about 3 months now so here we go. (P=parfum EDP=EDP)

Opening:
P is more realistic fruity, imagine a juicy pineapple and lemon peel squeezed together. P's opening also smells fizzy to me, you can smell that fizziness from the atomizer. Very refreshing, fruit juice like. Along with that there is a greeness to balance, it's slightly spearminty and green.

EDP is more bitter and zesty with the grapefruit, if you smell it up close it can be somewhat mettalic and pungent, but in the air others can perceive an ultra-fresh-zestiness.

Mid:
P is a funny one because in hot weather, I perceive more woody notes and creaminess. Some mentioned a crayon note, I think that may be the cashmere note. The sandalwood along with the cedar really shine through. In coldish weather you can still detect the pineapple fruitiness. Lavender is absolutely there, very realistic and natural smelling. You don't get the lavender note all the time, sometimes when the temperature is right you can smell the lavender from sprays on cloth very clearly.

EDP has more floral nuance to it. Hedione is absolutely used. Citrusy seems to be completely gone to me. I never perceive any incense in BDC but whatever... The airy jasmine is combined with a slightly warm ginger note so it's very pleasing in warm - hot weathers.

Base:
P becomes more woody. In short, a lemony sandalwood with cedar roughness.
EDP's ambroxan comes out, gives this fragrance an addictiveness


My opinion on them:
both can easily cause olfactory fatigue. But EDP does actually project more.
the Parfum version is really much better if applied on skin because on cloth sometimes I can barely detect anything.
EDP on the other hand... spray on cloth or skin is fine.

EDP is absolutely fresh enough for summer 80-90 degree IMO
Parfum is best worn under 80 degree as in high heat the fruity notes are gone and you get tremendous woodiness.

Price wise, I think honestly both are worth the money. I currently only own the parfum and have a sample of the EDP (I've owned the EDP before)
To me, since my collection lacks some winter, warm scents, I'll keep the parfum. as it is more warm and cozy.

A lot of people say there is not a big difference between the Parfum and the EDP. To me, upon the first 15-30 min there really is not a big difference, but they dry down very differently to me.

some cues:
Sandalwood, cedarwood, warm, cuddly scent lovers=Parfum
Ambroxan, floral, ultra fresh scent lovers=EDP

To me there is not a point in owning both as both are extremely pleasant so it's hard to decide which one to wear LOL. Just for your own convenience sakes, I recommend only getting one in the line.

Also, I known people often despise it's "genericness", however to me this is really like the counterpart of Coco-Madamosille.
If you smelled that, you know it's instantly recognizable, but it's SOOOOOO good on a woman.
This is like that for us men. Us fragheads may find it boring but man, I can imagine any woman who smell it on us to be very pleased.

Also, I've owned all 3 versions of sauvage before.
Compare to BDC line, Sauvage absolutely smells more shower gel like. Nothing wrong with that but I'd recommend anyone who enjoys natural smelling stuff to go for BDC line.


Finally, I've owned BDC EDT, I CANNOT STAND IT. reason being, some ingredient in the EDT causes a sore throat for me, literally. I remember for a long time I had a bad throat but I didn't know what was the cause then I eventually figured out it was the EDT that was causing it. I guess I'm just sensitive to super harsh scents...

So I grew up in China.

When I was a kid my grandma made sticky rice cakes and they are served cold. Now thinking back they are probably my favorite carbs LOL. They are not sweet in themselves but the sticky rice flavor is subtlety nutty and sweet, slightly sour too.

My grandma would also collect certain flowers from the local park. She called them roses, which now thinking back they're probably not roses at all LOL. I don't know exactly how she made jam out of them but it was like a jam that has those flower's pedals in them and somehow they are syrup-like.

In conclusion...to enjoy this floral packed jam with that rice cake resulted in one of my best early childhood memories. It was delicious.

For a long time I didn't know what kind of flower she used as roses don't smell like that jam to me.. and for a long time I never tried a fragrance that's geranium dominant.

When I first sprayed this on... my immediate association is grandma. For a while I was trying to recall why do I make that association. She didn't really wear any perfume at all. but...Boom! the memories came back. It must have been geranium that she used to make that jam!!

Geranium is quite a challenging flower to like. My favorite is jasmine, as it's scent is so sweet, delicate and innocent. Geranium has this particular green pungency to it that can make itself somewhat too medicinal.

but... if you are a fan of geranium or that you want a cooling scent for summer nights. I think this would do

So i first heard about this from AC smells good.
I've owned PE 3 times and sold it three times, it's a love hate relationship for sure LOL

let's compare (L=legsi PE=Platinum Egoiste)

L is sweeter than PE in the sense that it is not as galbanum/geranium dominant. The lavender in both are of good quality but IMO PE's garlic like smell from geraniym and galbanum really makes it hard to swallow.

performance wise, L kills PE hands down.

I can't really say enough how surprised I am to find armaf to be able to produce this stuff.. I'm very impressed.

If you LOVE PE for what it is, you won't like this. But if you are like me, you like PE's scent profile but don't like geranium, go for L.

the only down side....please somebody work at armaf... do you purposefully design your bottle to be in such style?? man.. can't really relate to it is all I can say