Ickis
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Ickis
Surprisingly nice and calm (after the initial blast fades a bit)
The opening hits you with a lot of pepper, closely followed by resin and frankincense. The pepper is very realistic and strong in the beginning, but after couple of minutes fades little by little and lets the other tones come out.
The mid is dominated by frankincense and resinous and ambery tones, the wood is also quite prominent, with some florals and spices in the back. The pepper never goes away completely though.
When I close my eyes and sniff this, I see an old castle library, with wooden shelves filled with books, dark portraits on the walls and comfy armchair or perhaps a cathedral, warm, sunlit, inviting for a contemplation.
The projection is medium, definitely not a room-filler. The longevity is 8+ hours on my skin, although it becomes rather faint after ~6 hours.
I can imagine, it is not going to be a favorite for everyone. And I see why others see this more fitting into Amouage line - it is however much more european in my opinion.
In any case, this is not a blind buy material, definitely try first.
The mid is dominated by frankincense and resinous and ambery tones, the wood is also quite prominent, with some florals and spices in the back. The pepper never goes away completely though.
When I close my eyes and sniff this, I see an old castle library, with wooden shelves filled with books, dark portraits on the walls and comfy armchair or perhaps a cathedral, warm, sunlit, inviting for a contemplation.
The projection is medium, definitely not a room-filler. The longevity is 8+ hours on my skin, although it becomes rather faint after ~6 hours.
I can imagine, it is not going to be a favorite for everyone. And I see why others see this more fitting into Amouage line - it is however much more european in my opinion.
In any case, this is not a blind buy material, definitely try first.
Grand opening
First impression after I sprayed this was: "Wait a minute, I know this. It is Naxos!".
It has completely identical notes of lavender, vanilla and tonka. Compared to Naxos it is missing tobacco/honey combo, so it is in a sense simpler. The opening is awesome anyway. It is fairly linear, although in the drydown I could sense a little bit of powderiness, which I remember from Chergui (which I really did not like) and it was a little bit headache inducing.
Drydown itself is 7/10 for my nose.
The perfume is very loud and very long-lasting - it stayed on my skin for almost 24 hours.
Worth the money? Not for me as I feel Naxos is better and this perfume is in the same family.
It has completely identical notes of lavender, vanilla and tonka. Compared to Naxos it is missing tobacco/honey combo, so it is in a sense simpler. The opening is awesome anyway. It is fairly linear, although in the drydown I could sense a little bit of powderiness, which I remember from Chergui (which I really did not like) and it was a little bit headache inducing.
Drydown itself is 7/10 for my nose.
The perfume is very loud and very long-lasting - it stayed on my skin for almost 24 hours.
Worth the money? Not for me as I feel Naxos is better and this perfume is in the same family.
Burned rosemary
I was looking for maybe an alternative / upgrade to Dior Homme Intense as I quite like the iris there. Some reviewers suggested that Black Iris could be this upgrade, that it is more wearable than the original Interlude, which I really didn't like. But is not really the case for me. I personally see very little difference between the two.
There is a nice iris note in the opening, but that lasts for about 10min and then it's back to the original burned rosemary ash with hints of leather. It is very dry, leathery, ashy scent, that hits you in the face.
After couple of hours the ashy note is less pronounced and other notes come out, but still not pleasant for my taste.
Definitely try before you buy.
There is a nice iris note in the opening, but that lasts for about 10min and then it's back to the original burned rosemary ash with hints of leather. It is very dry, leathery, ashy scent, that hits you in the face.
After couple of hours the ashy note is less pronounced and other notes come out, but still not pleasant for my taste.
Definitely try before you buy.
Love at first sniff
I ordered some samples from Xerjoff and from the bunch of 8, this one was a clear winner with a big margin.
I was completely amazed after just one sniff. It has gourmand sweet opening, with clear and realistic honey note, spicy tobacco and unusual lavender on top. These are the main accords I could get right of the bat. If you dive into the scent you can get slight hints of citrus and cinnamon and later in drydown, vanilla notes. The parfume is quite linear though, losing pretty much just a bit of the citrussy notes and gaining a more pronounced sweetness in the mid-to-drydown.
Projection is very good and longevity is exceptional. I could smell it on the back of my hand even after 24 hours.
I was completely amazed after just one sniff. It has gourmand sweet opening, with clear and realistic honey note, spicy tobacco and unusual lavender on top. These are the main accords I could get right of the bat. If you dive into the scent you can get slight hints of citrus and cinnamon and later in drydown, vanilla notes. The parfume is quite linear though, losing pretty much just a bit of the citrussy notes and gaining a more pronounced sweetness in the mid-to-drydown.
Projection is very good and longevity is exceptional. I could smell it on the back of my hand even after 24 hours.
Really great, but expensive compared to alternatives
This was a blind buy for me after seeing some youtube reviews and _before_ I have read any comments about varying quality. The order took quite a long time, but it was announced on their web as there is probably a lot of traffic during xmas, so I didn't mind. Surprisingly it came from US, not Dubai, as I was expecting..
Presentation is pretty basic, no fancy boxes etc., but that goes to waste anyway, so it's fine for me.
I must say, I was a little worried after reading some comments, but the perfume is a complete banger. I cannot compare it to Aventus, which I haven't smelled, but I can compare to Armaf - Club de Nuit Intense Man Limited Edition. That one, has a very strong, sour lemon opening, while Emperor starts much more gentle, rounded and pleasant. Otherwise however, they are both very similar, maybe 95% in all the aspects - scent profile, projection and longevity (which are all great by the way - way above average)
I was expecting the Emperor to be a little more pineappl-y and sweet, but it is a great parfume nevertheless.
But is it worth the money? If you have CDNIM then definitely not. 100ml bottle of Emperor is around 160$, while I got CDNIM Limited Ed. 100ml for about 75$.
I like the Emperor more, but the price difference is not justified.
If you don't have CDNIM, then I would suggest you test it - if the sour opening will not be off-putting for you, then go for it. If you don't like the lemon, Emperor is a good alternative, though a lot pricier.
Presentation is pretty basic, no fancy boxes etc., but that goes to waste anyway, so it's fine for me.
I must say, I was a little worried after reading some comments, but the perfume is a complete banger. I cannot compare it to Aventus, which I haven't smelled, but I can compare to Armaf - Club de Nuit Intense Man Limited Edition. That one, has a very strong, sour lemon opening, while Emperor starts much more gentle, rounded and pleasant. Otherwise however, they are both very similar, maybe 95% in all the aspects - scent profile, projection and longevity (which are all great by the way - way above average)
I was expecting the Emperor to be a little more pineappl-y and sweet, but it is a great parfume nevertheless.
But is it worth the money? If you have CDNIM then definitely not. 100ml bottle of Emperor is around 160$, while I got CDNIM Limited Ed. 100ml for about 75$.
I like the Emperor more, but the price difference is not justified.
If you don't have CDNIM, then I would suggest you test it - if the sour opening will not be off-putting for you, then go for it. If you don't like the lemon, Emperor is a good alternative, though a lot pricier.
