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My first 10/10
I'm pretty new to this hobby. I moved from bath and body products, to candles, to personal fragrances just within the past year. When I decided to dip my...er, nostrils, into this world, I went to my closest department store to try stuff out. For the most part, I was bored. One insipid, generic profile after another.
Then I tried Réserve Privée. That first day, this was the one that I let myself try on skin, and that's when I learned about the "I couldn't stop sniffing my arm" fragrances. And, well, now I'm 40 bottles deep and writing reviews on a fragrance hobbyist website.
...so thanks, Givenchy, I guess?
I didn't know then, the way I do now, that this is a tweaked version of the staple, tried-and-true masculine-iris formula. But what a tweak.
A lot of folks who talk about this fragrance focus on the whiskey/boozy note. And it's there, and it's good, but for me this is all about the chestnut. That nutty, cacao-ish, ever so slightly bitter, rich chestnut is what sets this apart (in my opinion) from the iris peers.
You mix that in with the buttery and slightly powdery iris, and then slap a little whiskey over the whole composition, and oh, yes. Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
This is sophisticated, compelling, and alluring perfumery. It has that glorious and heady x-factor that the best fragrances give me, where every time I get a deep whiff of it, I feel like I'm sinking or falling into it all over again. And I never want to leave.
I've sniffed and sampled a couple hundred fragrances at this point, and Réserve Privée still stops me in my tracks every time I go back to it. It's a magnificent achievement.
Then I tried Réserve Privée. That first day, this was the one that I let myself try on skin, and that's when I learned about the "I couldn't stop sniffing my arm" fragrances. And, well, now I'm 40 bottles deep and writing reviews on a fragrance hobbyist website.
...so thanks, Givenchy, I guess?
I didn't know then, the way I do now, that this is a tweaked version of the staple, tried-and-true masculine-iris formula. But what a tweak.
A lot of folks who talk about this fragrance focus on the whiskey/boozy note. And it's there, and it's good, but for me this is all about the chestnut. That nutty, cacao-ish, ever so slightly bitter, rich chestnut is what sets this apart (in my opinion) from the iris peers.
You mix that in with the buttery and slightly powdery iris, and then slap a little whiskey over the whole composition, and oh, yes. Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
This is sophisticated, compelling, and alluring perfumery. It has that glorious and heady x-factor that the best fragrances give me, where every time I get a deep whiff of it, I feel like I'm sinking or falling into it all over again. And I never want to leave.
I've sniffed and sampled a couple hundred fragrances at this point, and Réserve Privée still stops me in my tracks every time I go back to it. It's a magnificent achievement.
Yes, it really is THAT good
Ah, Club Black. The supposed bargain-basement wunderkind, praises sung by a thousand influencers. A hidden gem, they say. Actually really very good, they say.
Turns out, they weren't wrong. This stuff is terrific.
Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first: I hate the bottle. It's gaudy, chintzy, and silly. I know this sounds snobbish, but it looks awful sitting with the rest of my collection. The aesthetics alone turned me off from this one for so long. If it was a classier-looking bottle with the logo, I'd be fine with it, but don't give me a shiny plastic fingerprint-magnet obelisk and try to tell me it's elegant. It just isn't. (It claws a point back for a surprisingly decent atomizer, at least.)
But we're here for the juice, and the juice delivers. As others before me have pointed out, you're not going to get much development out of this. From first spray to final whiff, it pretty much is what it is.
And what it is, is a dark, rich, sumptuous, intoxicating vanilla, made captivating by the lightest touches of accenting grace notes. It's a little woody, a tad spicy, a fractional bit flowery, a smidge powdery, and the teensiest bit smoky. None of these other notes ever competes - the vanilla is the megastar here - but they do keep it just dynamic enough to avoid ever being boring (to my nose and tastes, anyway).
The vanilla itself is glorious. It's dense without being cloying; sweet without being sugary. Vanilla is one of my favorite notes, and this ranks up there with the heavy hitters.
Add all of that to the absolutely respectable 8+ hour longevity (although this does sit close to the skin), and at the price point it sells at, and suddenly all of that online-influencer praise makes perfect sense.
Yup: it really is that good.
Turns out, they weren't wrong. This stuff is terrific.
Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first: I hate the bottle. It's gaudy, chintzy, and silly. I know this sounds snobbish, but it looks awful sitting with the rest of my collection. The aesthetics alone turned me off from this one for so long. If it was a classier-looking bottle with the logo, I'd be fine with it, but don't give me a shiny plastic fingerprint-magnet obelisk and try to tell me it's elegant. It just isn't. (It claws a point back for a surprisingly decent atomizer, at least.)
But we're here for the juice, and the juice delivers. As others before me have pointed out, you're not going to get much development out of this. From first spray to final whiff, it pretty much is what it is.
And what it is, is a dark, rich, sumptuous, intoxicating vanilla, made captivating by the lightest touches of accenting grace notes. It's a little woody, a tad spicy, a fractional bit flowery, a smidge powdery, and the teensiest bit smoky. None of these other notes ever competes - the vanilla is the megastar here - but they do keep it just dynamic enough to avoid ever being boring (to my nose and tastes, anyway).
The vanilla itself is glorious. It's dense without being cloying; sweet without being sugary. Vanilla is one of my favorite notes, and this ranks up there with the heavy hitters.
Add all of that to the absolutely respectable 8+ hour longevity (although this does sit close to the skin), and at the price point it sells at, and suddenly all of that online-influencer praise makes perfect sense.
Yup: it really is that good.
Singular sensation
Tam Dao is a triumph of focus, showing what's possible in perfumery when a house lets itself celebrate and elevate a single note (or, well, ok, kinda two notes - more on this below).
I spent huge portions of my childhood camping in the pine forests of the northeastern U.S., and while a northern white pine or balsam fir obviously isn't the same thing as an Indian sandalwood or Lebanese cedar, there's a reminiscent, coniferous quality to Tam Dao that brings me back to those days.
It's a tremendous fragrance.
Tam Dao is dry, warm, mildly creamy sandalwood and cedar. Think freshly cut wood drying in the sun, or a green branch you just snapped off a tree on a summer day. A previous Parfumo reviewer described it as smelling like a dry sauna, which is very accurate.
And that's it. That's what you get here.
This is stripped-down, linear, nearly photorealistic perfumery. There's no evolution over phases, no complex blend of notes, no interpretation needed. It's as uncomplicated as can be, and magnificent for it. It's tranquil, calming, and sophisticated.
If you're looking for something more creative or interpretive or multifaceted, this will disappoint you. But if you can appreciate the artistry and sophistication in a tiny number of high-quality ingredients singing in absolute harmony, you will enjoy Tam Dao.
I spent huge portions of my childhood camping in the pine forests of the northeastern U.S., and while a northern white pine or balsam fir obviously isn't the same thing as an Indian sandalwood or Lebanese cedar, there's a reminiscent, coniferous quality to Tam Dao that brings me back to those days.
It's a tremendous fragrance.
Tam Dao is dry, warm, mildly creamy sandalwood and cedar. Think freshly cut wood drying in the sun, or a green branch you just snapped off a tree on a summer day. A previous Parfumo reviewer described it as smelling like a dry sauna, which is very accurate.
And that's it. That's what you get here.
This is stripped-down, linear, nearly photorealistic perfumery. There's no evolution over phases, no complex blend of notes, no interpretation needed. It's as uncomplicated as can be, and magnificent for it. It's tranquil, calming, and sophisticated.
If you're looking for something more creative or interpretive or multifaceted, this will disappoint you. But if you can appreciate the artistry and sophistication in a tiny number of high-quality ingredients singing in absolute harmony, you will enjoy Tam Dao.
Bracing, for impact
I tend to like smooth, mellow, velvety fresh scents - ones where the sharp, spiky citrus highs get toned down and mellowed out.
Isola Blu is NOT that kind of fragrance.
As always with Roja fragrances, almost the entirety of the list of 50,000 notes is utterly indistinguishable to my nose. Is there birch in there? Grass? Maté? I mean, I guess so, but it's either all so blended together or my nose is so amateurish that I can't find 99% of the individual notes.
But you DO get a sharp, ferocious, cold blast of citrus right upfront. It reads more like citrus peel than citrus juice to me - this is a very dry fragrance to my nose. It isn't unpleasant, but it is a little bit unforgiving and unyielding.
I understand why people associate this with Terre d'Hermes, because the lime and bergamot opening ends up coming across to me very similarly to the grapefruit in TdH.
After 15 or so minutes, it does calm down a bit and relaxes into something only slightly more approachable. Once that citrus opening eases up, the rest of the notes get a chance to talk. It's green and herbal, and stays bone-dry throughout the wear (which, on me, is about 8 hours). As always, Roja ingredient quality shines: you can "smell the quality" here.
This is an iron fist in a silk glove. I have come to appreciate it quite a bit, and it fills a distinct role in my collection, but I think it's a harder fragrance to love than something like Elysium.
Isola Blu is NOT that kind of fragrance.
As always with Roja fragrances, almost the entirety of the list of 50,000 notes is utterly indistinguishable to my nose. Is there birch in there? Grass? Maté? I mean, I guess so, but it's either all so blended together or my nose is so amateurish that I can't find 99% of the individual notes.
But you DO get a sharp, ferocious, cold blast of citrus right upfront. It reads more like citrus peel than citrus juice to me - this is a very dry fragrance to my nose. It isn't unpleasant, but it is a little bit unforgiving and unyielding.
I understand why people associate this with Terre d'Hermes, because the lime and bergamot opening ends up coming across to me very similarly to the grapefruit in TdH.
After 15 or so minutes, it does calm down a bit and relaxes into something only slightly more approachable. Once that citrus opening eases up, the rest of the notes get a chance to talk. It's green and herbal, and stays bone-dry throughout the wear (which, on me, is about 8 hours). As always, Roja ingredient quality shines: you can "smell the quality" here.
This is an iron fist in a silk glove. I have come to appreciate it quite a bit, and it fills a distinct role in my collection, but I think it's a harder fragrance to love than something like Elysium.
Parfums de Marly-er Fructis
Greenley is a goofball.
It's a daft golden retriever of a fragrance - cheerful, crowd pleasing, playful, a little clumsy, and completely loveable despite the quirks.
The hullabaloo with this one has always been and will always be the green apple opening. And fair dues, because it's great. Vibrant, punchy, juicy, apple-y apple.
Does it smell almost exactly like Garnier Fructis shampoo? Yep! Does it smell naturalistic rather than synthetic? ...eeehhhhh...? But it smells really good, and it's a note that I imagine most people will find inoffensive, if not plain likeable.
From there, you dry down into a nicely blended, pleasant, but not particularly remarkable blue-ish summer freshie with some green tints at the edges. On me, it stays on the blue side of things: not exactly aquatic, but far from mossy or vegetal.
You've smelled stuff like this before. That doesn't make it bad, at all: it's good at what it does. But it just underscores why the apple is the killer feature here.
I'm somebody who errs on the side of UNDERspraying: I wear my fragrances for myself, and actively avoid loud or heavy scents if I know I'm going to be around others. So I was pretty surprised when one of my friends picked this one up on me last time I wore it, especially considering he was standing on the other side of a cafe counter and was actively working an espresso machine at the time. I didn't think it was a particularly heavy-projecting fragrance, but he got it clear as day. So, be warned: this stuff is livelier than you might expect!
It's a daft golden retriever of a fragrance - cheerful, crowd pleasing, playful, a little clumsy, and completely loveable despite the quirks.
The hullabaloo with this one has always been and will always be the green apple opening. And fair dues, because it's great. Vibrant, punchy, juicy, apple-y apple.
Does it smell almost exactly like Garnier Fructis shampoo? Yep! Does it smell naturalistic rather than synthetic? ...eeehhhhh...? But it smells really good, and it's a note that I imagine most people will find inoffensive, if not plain likeable.
From there, you dry down into a nicely blended, pleasant, but not particularly remarkable blue-ish summer freshie with some green tints at the edges. On me, it stays on the blue side of things: not exactly aquatic, but far from mossy or vegetal.
You've smelled stuff like this before. That doesn't make it bad, at all: it's good at what it does. But it just underscores why the apple is the killer feature here.
I'm somebody who errs on the side of UNDERspraying: I wear my fragrances for myself, and actively avoid loud or heavy scents if I know I'm going to be around others. So I was pretty surprised when one of my friends picked this one up on me last time I wore it, especially considering he was standing on the other side of a cafe counter and was actively working an espresso machine at the time. I didn't think it was a particularly heavy-projecting fragrance, but he got it clear as day. So, be warned: this stuff is livelier than you might expect!
