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Summer lovin', had me a blast
Some fragrances are sophisticated journeys through a complex blend of notes and accords that provide a fascinating, changing sensory experience over hours, showing you the endless potential that a talented perfumer can coax out of a bottle.
Then there's Le Beau, which - at least to my nose - is the fragrance equivalent of a happy-go-lucky beach bum flashing you a grin and the hang ten sign.
I would be surprised if anybody thought of Le Beau as "complex." It isn't. It's straightforward, linear, and pretty synthetic.
You basically get a piña colada accord here. The coconut is obvious, and despite not being listed in the notes, I definitely pick up a strong pineapple element (or maybe my brain just converts the supposed bergamot to pineapple as soon as it encounters all that sweet coconut). It IS sweet, but not sticky; and for a sweet summer freshie, it admirably manages to avoid going cloying.
It's not "bright" the way that a sharp citrus smell is bright, but rather "bright" like it makes you think of sunshine and the beach.
Does it remind me of sunscreen? Totally. Does that bother me? It does not.
Most surprising, at least on me, is the longevity. This stuff lasts for hours!
As long as you don't overthink it, Le Beau is a perfectly fun summer option and stands as one of those happiness-inducing bottles that puts a smile on my face and makes me go "ooohhh yeah, this stuff is really good!" every time I wear it.
Can't ask much more than that.
Then there's Le Beau, which - at least to my nose - is the fragrance equivalent of a happy-go-lucky beach bum flashing you a grin and the hang ten sign.
I would be surprised if anybody thought of Le Beau as "complex." It isn't. It's straightforward, linear, and pretty synthetic.
You basically get a piña colada accord here. The coconut is obvious, and despite not being listed in the notes, I definitely pick up a strong pineapple element (or maybe my brain just converts the supposed bergamot to pineapple as soon as it encounters all that sweet coconut). It IS sweet, but not sticky; and for a sweet summer freshie, it admirably manages to avoid going cloying.
It's not "bright" the way that a sharp citrus smell is bright, but rather "bright" like it makes you think of sunshine and the beach.
Does it remind me of sunscreen? Totally. Does that bother me? It does not.
Most surprising, at least on me, is the longevity. This stuff lasts for hours!
As long as you don't overthink it, Le Beau is a perfectly fun summer option and stands as one of those happiness-inducing bottles that puts a smile on my face and makes me go "ooohhh yeah, this stuff is really good!" every time I wear it.
Can't ask much more than that.
I love it. I cannot recommend it.
I confess that I sometimes get a little annoyed by those members of the fragrance hobbyist community who go on and on and on about performance.
I don't need every fragrance to last nine days and announce my arrival to everybody within a 20-mile perimeter. I don't WANT my fragrances to do that.
Getting 6-8 hours of gentle projection out of most fragrances is a perfectly acceptable, even preferable situation for me. It lets me easily change things up between daytime and evening, if I want; if I need it to last longer, I can always reapply.
...but there's a line, even for me. And Costa Azzurra is on the wrong side of it.
Let's start with the positives: I absolutely love the fragrance itself. This is a beautifully mineralic citrus. It's briny and oceanic without going fetid or funky. It's one of the most genuinely "coastal" fragrances I've ever tried.
The opening is dazzling - it leaps and fizzes off the skin when you first spray it, lively and playful. You get a heady and potent rush of salted lemon and a strong sense of sea air. It's a more complex lemon than most: it's bright, yes, but with a little bit of dark depth behind it.
As it dries down, you get minerals and woods. It truly is evocative of the seaside: I almost feel like I can hear seagulls every time I spray it.
And then, within an hour, it's gone.
The first time I tried it was from a tester in a store, and I figured it was just a badly-abused tester. So I tried a sample decant, and figured maybe it was just the decant. But I still liked it well enough to splurge on a bottle at full retail (from an authorized retailer, so I know it's the real deal) and, sadly, have the same problem.
I'm not exaggerating, either. I cannot get more than an hour out of this. It's the shortest-lived fragrance, by far, in my collection.
I don't just mean in the air: even as a skin scent, there's nothing left.
I don't just mean that I've got anosmic: I've tried it on test strips and clothing and left them in another room far away from me, and when I went back an hour later and stuck my nose in, they were gone from there, too.
If this was an inexpensive, reasonably priced fragrance, I'd say "hang the expense." I'd douse myself in it every hour on the hour on days I wanted to wear it, and cheerfully enjoy the experience. If the aroma was SO overwhelmingly magical that nothing else even came close, I'd say "it's still worth it." But as good as it is, it ain't all that. And at Tom Ford prices, even through discounters, I just can't find the value proposition here.
I love it.
Don't buy it.
I don't need every fragrance to last nine days and announce my arrival to everybody within a 20-mile perimeter. I don't WANT my fragrances to do that.
Getting 6-8 hours of gentle projection out of most fragrances is a perfectly acceptable, even preferable situation for me. It lets me easily change things up between daytime and evening, if I want; if I need it to last longer, I can always reapply.
...but there's a line, even for me. And Costa Azzurra is on the wrong side of it.
Let's start with the positives: I absolutely love the fragrance itself. This is a beautifully mineralic citrus. It's briny and oceanic without going fetid or funky. It's one of the most genuinely "coastal" fragrances I've ever tried.
The opening is dazzling - it leaps and fizzes off the skin when you first spray it, lively and playful. You get a heady and potent rush of salted lemon and a strong sense of sea air. It's a more complex lemon than most: it's bright, yes, but with a little bit of dark depth behind it.
As it dries down, you get minerals and woods. It truly is evocative of the seaside: I almost feel like I can hear seagulls every time I spray it.
And then, within an hour, it's gone.
The first time I tried it was from a tester in a store, and I figured it was just a badly-abused tester. So I tried a sample decant, and figured maybe it was just the decant. But I still liked it well enough to splurge on a bottle at full retail (from an authorized retailer, so I know it's the real deal) and, sadly, have the same problem.
I'm not exaggerating, either. I cannot get more than an hour out of this. It's the shortest-lived fragrance, by far, in my collection.
I don't just mean in the air: even as a skin scent, there's nothing left.
I don't just mean that I've got anosmic: I've tried it on test strips and clothing and left them in another room far away from me, and when I went back an hour later and stuck my nose in, they were gone from there, too.
If this was an inexpensive, reasonably priced fragrance, I'd say "hang the expense." I'd douse myself in it every hour on the hour on days I wanted to wear it, and cheerfully enjoy the experience. If the aroma was SO overwhelmingly magical that nothing else even came close, I'd say "it's still worth it." But as good as it is, it ain't all that. And at Tom Ford prices, even through discounters, I just can't find the value proposition here.
I love it.
Don't buy it.
Ambrosia
If Persephone herself gifted Adonis with a fragrance, it might well smell like this.
I didn't quite know what to make of this at first.
To my nose, the opening was something unusual. I get a bright, bracing, almost bitter mix of citruses, but it's smoothed out and deepened and mellowed by a gently sweet undercurrent of juicy and realistic apple.
It doesn't smell like melon, but it puts me in mind of the way a ripe honeydew can smell: fruity, floral, a little sticky, and almost ever-so-slightly funky.
Over the first hour or so, those sharper high notes relax into a sophisticated and complex base that weaves the typically-Roja "everything but the kitchen sink" list of notes into a mellifluous, achingly gorgeous, intoxicating symphony of fruit and spice and herb and earth.
It's rich, lavish, and most of all, deep. Every whiff gives you something new to linger over. This is a fragrance that stays very "present" while I'm wearing it, giving me plenty of opportunities throughout the day to reflect on just how fantastic it truly is.
And, as with the brand's other work, the caliber of the ingredients truly shines here. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but you really can smell the quality of what goes into a Roja bottle.
Before I tried one myself, I assumed this was marketing nonsense or something I wouldn't be able to pick up on with my pedestrian and unsophisticated palate, but it's no joke: you really can, and will, pick up on the quality that comes with whatever he's working with. His fresh fragrances (at least the ones I've tried) manage to be both ethereally light and extravagantly rich, in equal measure. Once you get hooked, you're HOOKED.
I don't doubt the poor experience others have had with the performance, but all I can say is that I've never had the same problem. This is an 8+ hour wear for me, and stays very noticeable through that time.
If this is what Elysium smells like, then may the gods grant me their favor!
I didn't quite know what to make of this at first.
To my nose, the opening was something unusual. I get a bright, bracing, almost bitter mix of citruses, but it's smoothed out and deepened and mellowed by a gently sweet undercurrent of juicy and realistic apple.
It doesn't smell like melon, but it puts me in mind of the way a ripe honeydew can smell: fruity, floral, a little sticky, and almost ever-so-slightly funky.
Over the first hour or so, those sharper high notes relax into a sophisticated and complex base that weaves the typically-Roja "everything but the kitchen sink" list of notes into a mellifluous, achingly gorgeous, intoxicating symphony of fruit and spice and herb and earth.
It's rich, lavish, and most of all, deep. Every whiff gives you something new to linger over. This is a fragrance that stays very "present" while I'm wearing it, giving me plenty of opportunities throughout the day to reflect on just how fantastic it truly is.
And, as with the brand's other work, the caliber of the ingredients truly shines here. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but you really can smell the quality of what goes into a Roja bottle.
Before I tried one myself, I assumed this was marketing nonsense or something I wouldn't be able to pick up on with my pedestrian and unsophisticated palate, but it's no joke: you really can, and will, pick up on the quality that comes with whatever he's working with. His fresh fragrances (at least the ones I've tried) manage to be both ethereally light and extravagantly rich, in equal measure. Once you get hooked, you're HOOKED.
I don't doubt the poor experience others have had with the performance, but all I can say is that I've never had the same problem. This is an 8+ hour wear for me, and stays very noticeable through that time.
If this is what Elysium smells like, then may the gods grant me their favor!
Mint condition
Would you like some mint with your Wulong Cha?
OK, that's not COMPLETELY fair...but it's also not super far off the mark.
This is a gorgeous, GORGEOUS fragrance. It's a crisp, refreshing mint and citrus blend. Sounds common enough, but this vastly exceeds expectations and landed a rare 10/10 rating in my collection.
First, the opening: and, oh, that mint. That MINT. This is an herbaceous, almost floral mint. It's nuanced and delicate but oh so present, providing a bit of cooling to the composition.
The citrus is the other half of the open for me, and this is one of those times where you get citrus without the bitterness, sweetened ever so gently by the basil. It's such a carefully crafted mix of notes where none dominates but each elevates, and you get to enjoy a silky-smooth dose of warm weather refreshment.
As it dries down, this is where it starts developing into something tea-like. Tea isn't listed in the notes, so it's some kind of accord or impression I'm getting from everything else, but it's mellow and rounded and helps maintain a calm, relaxing base to the fragrance even as the mint and citrus tease with a little bit of zest and vibrancy.
Eventually you get a very subtle musk base, but it never comes even close to cloying: here, it gives a richness to all of the higher notes that helps this feel so much more full-bodied than most other citrus freshies.
If you look at some of my other reviews, you'll see that I'm a total sucker for a mellow, velvety, spa-like fresh scent, and this lives firmly in that category, almost setting a bar for the competition.
In other words: a masterpiece.
No complaints whatsoever about longevity, it lasts ages on me. And top marks to Xerjoff as always for their presentation and the gorgeous JTC bottle.
My only complaint is that it's only available in a small-size bottle, although that may be a blessing in disguise because I'd buy it by the barrel if they'd let me.
OK, that's not COMPLETELY fair...but it's also not super far off the mark.
This is a gorgeous, GORGEOUS fragrance. It's a crisp, refreshing mint and citrus blend. Sounds common enough, but this vastly exceeds expectations and landed a rare 10/10 rating in my collection.
First, the opening: and, oh, that mint. That MINT. This is an herbaceous, almost floral mint. It's nuanced and delicate but oh so present, providing a bit of cooling to the composition.
The citrus is the other half of the open for me, and this is one of those times where you get citrus without the bitterness, sweetened ever so gently by the basil. It's such a carefully crafted mix of notes where none dominates but each elevates, and you get to enjoy a silky-smooth dose of warm weather refreshment.
As it dries down, this is where it starts developing into something tea-like. Tea isn't listed in the notes, so it's some kind of accord or impression I'm getting from everything else, but it's mellow and rounded and helps maintain a calm, relaxing base to the fragrance even as the mint and citrus tease with a little bit of zest and vibrancy.
Eventually you get a very subtle musk base, but it never comes even close to cloying: here, it gives a richness to all of the higher notes that helps this feel so much more full-bodied than most other citrus freshies.
If you look at some of my other reviews, you'll see that I'm a total sucker for a mellow, velvety, spa-like fresh scent, and this lives firmly in that category, almost setting a bar for the competition.
In other words: a masterpiece.
No complaints whatsoever about longevity, it lasts ages on me. And top marks to Xerjoff as always for their presentation and the gorgeous JTC bottle.
My only complaint is that it's only available in a small-size bottle, although that may be a blessing in disguise because I'd buy it by the barrel if they'd let me.
The joy of being pleasant
In every hobby, you hit that point where you overcomplicate things.
You spend hours falling down the review rabbit hole (hi, thanks for reading my review!)
You start prioritizing your fragrances by compliments they've gotten (or, more likely, that you wish they'd get you).
You set your heart on a new fragrance only to agonize over that ONE reviewer who said it was too mainstream to have any merit.
And you start to worry that a fragrance needs to be edgy, complicated, and esoteric - maybe even generally off-putting - to be worthy of your attention.
If you find yourself stressing out about this hobby like that, give Pacific Rock Moss a try, because this is one of the most joyously pleasant and uplifting fragrances I've tried.
Wearing it makes me feel happy. It's nice. It's just nice. And that's great!
That doesn't mean it's boring: it isn't. This opens as a juicy, vivacious citrus with all the bitterness stripped away. There's none of that zesty bite you sometimes get from citrus fragrances. It's a beautiful fresh scent.
As you glide along on that smooth and mellow lemon, you pick up a little bit of an oceanic touch, but in a way that's reminiscent rather than photorealistic. You won't smell LIKE the seaside, but you'll smell like the IDEA of the seaside.
As it dries down, a touch of woodiness comes out to deepen the experience, but it never gets too dark or too rich.
I know some folks have said "shower gel", and I sorta see what they mean as far as the overall scent profile, but I want to be clear that this stuff never goes soapy (for me, anyway). It's the aroma of a shower gel, not the chemistry of one.
I have never had a complaint about the performance. Now, to be clear, I am the OPPOSITE of those collectors who think that every fragrance needs to last 60 hours and choke out everybody in a 10-mile radius to be respectable. I much prefer my fragrances to have good manners and stay fairly close (I wear for myself, not to force others to experience my hobby). But this stuff still lasts a perfectly respectable and sensible 8+ hours on me, and throughout that time it pokes its head up and says hi.
This isn't going to challenge your idea of what fragrance can be. It isn't going to make any of your friends go "ew yuck what is that" so you can rush off to the forums and scoff at how their unrefined palates can't appreciate your niche masterpiece that smells like a rotting carcass.
It IS going to smell really really good, and be super pleasant, and maybe - just maybe - if you let it - it will make you feel happy too.
You spend hours falling down the review rabbit hole (hi, thanks for reading my review!)
You start prioritizing your fragrances by compliments they've gotten (or, more likely, that you wish they'd get you).
You set your heart on a new fragrance only to agonize over that ONE reviewer who said it was too mainstream to have any merit.
And you start to worry that a fragrance needs to be edgy, complicated, and esoteric - maybe even generally off-putting - to be worthy of your attention.
If you find yourself stressing out about this hobby like that, give Pacific Rock Moss a try, because this is one of the most joyously pleasant and uplifting fragrances I've tried.
Wearing it makes me feel happy. It's nice. It's just nice. And that's great!
That doesn't mean it's boring: it isn't. This opens as a juicy, vivacious citrus with all the bitterness stripped away. There's none of that zesty bite you sometimes get from citrus fragrances. It's a beautiful fresh scent.
As you glide along on that smooth and mellow lemon, you pick up a little bit of an oceanic touch, but in a way that's reminiscent rather than photorealistic. You won't smell LIKE the seaside, but you'll smell like the IDEA of the seaside.
As it dries down, a touch of woodiness comes out to deepen the experience, but it never gets too dark or too rich.
I know some folks have said "shower gel", and I sorta see what they mean as far as the overall scent profile, but I want to be clear that this stuff never goes soapy (for me, anyway). It's the aroma of a shower gel, not the chemistry of one.
I have never had a complaint about the performance. Now, to be clear, I am the OPPOSITE of those collectors who think that every fragrance needs to last 60 hours and choke out everybody in a 10-mile radius to be respectable. I much prefer my fragrances to have good manners and stay fairly close (I wear for myself, not to force others to experience my hobby). But this stuff still lasts a perfectly respectable and sensible 8+ hours on me, and throughout that time it pokes its head up and says hi.
This isn't going to challenge your idea of what fragrance can be. It isn't going to make any of your friends go "ew yuck what is that" so you can rush off to the forums and scoff at how their unrefined palates can't appreciate your niche masterpiece that smells like a rotting carcass.
It IS going to smell really really good, and be super pleasant, and maybe - just maybe - if you let it - it will make you feel happy too.
