Lasagne

Another landmine this week, a mild disappointment, a real hit-and-miss, so to speak.

A lovely, sparkling fruity opening; a harmonious and pleasant fruity-floral salad, very refined and easy on the nose. The apple and peach come forward quickly; yes – as if there’s some lychee in there too. Over a soft, pleasant hint of rose, after barely twenty minutes this settles into a rich floral with a touch of honey and then turns into a scent that strongly reminds me of a very familiar body milk, and it stays like that, only fading with time. I don’t want to trivialize the fragrance, but honestly: Dove, Nivea, something of that sort – ladies, please jump in with suggestions in this little guessing game.

On my skin it lasts about four hours, but it quiets down rather fast. I don’t see how this wouldn’t suit someone; it’s entirely wearable and pleasant, but it doesn’t tell a story, doesn’t hide an ace up its sleeve. Sexy? Depends on the wearer. Forbidden games? Sure.

I see it as ideal on a younger woman, and to her I’d recommend remembering that old, wise line with this Kilian: “less is more.” That’s the key here.

Rivages Noirs – the shores that we're talking about here are not nearly enough dark as the name suggests. The third Guillaume's perfume I had the opportunity to experience (others were Huitieme Art Aube Pashmina i Parfumerie Generale 7.1 Grand Siécle Intense) and also the one I dislike the most.

I admit having tried wearing the perfume before I decided to write this review. Every time i wore it, it was a bit more bearable, maybe I would learn to love it by the summertime :D If I' left it judging on just one wear, I would not have much to say, and none of it would actually be good, I would probably click on the „diskile“ and forward it to someone in my frag family. It is very neatly put together, that I must admit, and judging by the longevity of today's perfumes this one positions itself somewhere in the middle. It would last for a couple of hours, on a warm day that would a little bit more, I'm sure. Aromatic, fresh, spicy scent, the drydown being a mix of refined combination of cypress and something ambery, a bit sweet, which makes it an altogether pleasant scent.

The perfume opens with the more or less typical notes of a fresh, aromatic, masculine “shower-gel” scent. At first sniff, it’s so typical—and so intensely freshie—that you’d swear this is how you’d smell if, halfway through a shower, fully covered in foam, the water suddenly stopped running… so you just towel off and pretend nothing happened. Later, you jump into the sea and foam up again. :D

The suggested whiskey association completely missed me. A few minutes in, melon steps onto the stage—this little delight that, in my opinion, belongs best on its own, chilled, on a plate or in a salad, or Italian-style with prosciutto... or in a daiquiri. Not in a perfume. I still haven’t found one where its presence worked for me.
At this stage, the scent irresistibly reminded me of CK Crave—still a vivid memory since I had it in my collection up until a few years ago. Not a bad youthful scent; it evokes the sea, beaches... yes, but not in a way that suits me. It’s a scent for some young surfer strutting along the rivages with his board and a shark tooth around his neck.
In Rivages Noirs, that surfer is now older and well-off; he’s traded the board for an entire yacht. The talisman still hangs there, clearly visible against his typically unbuttoned shirt. He may have aged, but his youthful spirit is still recognizable—he refuses to let go. He still charms young women around him, and he enjoys it. That’s somehow both right and wrong—those girls on his yacht, just like this damn melon in this bottle.

Because of the kindness of some of the community members some time ago, when I made it my focus to experience the tobacco/vanilla combos, I have managed to get the Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille and Phaedon Tabac Rouge samples, probably the two most famous ones in the group… and it was a disappointment for me. Shortly afterwards the TH Pure Havane has arrived, and I felt it was a little bit different than the first two, it felt most wearable of all three. I like Tom Ford and Muglers, but I couldn't fall in love with these, no matter how hard I tried.

In the quest of getting my hands on all possible vanilla/tobacco fragrances, I got the Herod that has left a completely different impression. It was the time before I learned that PdM are naming their perfumes after famous horses - I remember I was thinking that this perfume would be something crazy, dark and almost insane. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, fantasizing about how avantgarde it must be. Unfortunately, Herod turned out to be nothing like the mad king I leaned the mental image of the perfume onto. This is a very pleasing male perfume that I wear gladly and easily and that has a positive vibe.

The opening is pleasant and spicy, mildly peppery and with loads of cinnamon. At that point the perfume resembles L’Erbolario Dolcelisir a lot. Twenty minutes past, a dry and not too sweet vanilla makes it’s appearance, accompanied by the notes of tobacco, and this is the smell of raw tobacco that I am accustomed to - the tobacco from a pack of cigarettes, not the honey-like cigar tobacco. Herod was there around me for about five to six hours and was delighted each time a Herod wave around me would appear. This is excellent longevity as my dry skin has an increased appetite and eats up most perfumes - the usual longevity may easily be cut to 60% in my case.

The thing that Herod won me over with was a set of notes that (besides amber that makes everything you put it in so much better) are somehow leathery, and give a feeling of sophistication and… well, wealth. This is further enhanced by beautiful note of patchouli and a bit of musk that will be noticeable fairly close to skin, just as faint soapy scent that will appear somewhere in the drydown.

Herod is a very wearable perfume in my opinion, creating positive, calm and serene feeling to the wearer. It does not have the historic king’s lunacy, but it certainly has the royal attitude.
It is not mundane nor boring, as - unfortunately - the aforementioned ones are.

Among the few of the ELDO’s that I have sampled so far, this one is a winner when it comes to the longevity and aura. A very comfortable blend of soft tobacco scent with some sweet powder and a lot of tonka - but I like it.

The opening mesmerizes me with the orange blossoms that are dipped in creamy musk nuanced with some honey. It’s a good thing for me that the sweetness does not last that long and is not overly intensive. It soon gives way to the tobacco notes, soft leather, mild rose and powder, and that’s how it continues to play far into the dry down. Even though I find it leaning towards the feminine side, it’s because of the gourmand oriental impression that I would be occasionally wearing it, when the mood would call for it.

On her skin the perfume is immensely sensual, calm, warm and intimate. It creates a desire to be near to someone, to have someone in your arms.
To a man, this might be a scent invoking the feeling of calmness, being at home, in a haven, in the only place where everything is ok - and if now it is not, it would be, by the time the sun rises. Waiting for the dawn, in someone’s embrace, that feeling could make him pull his arms to his chest, crossing them inadvertently as if he has something to hold and keep safe. Something that isn’t there, but once was. Or that is yet to be?

Soundtrack: Max Richter - The Leftovers Piano Theme

A perfume that will definitely thrill all the lovers of gourmand type of scents, provided that they are fond of the rose accords as well… A very elegant note of the queen of flowers which in this perfume -thank heavens - is not cloying, but sings in a pretty loud duet with the vanilla, both on a stage paved with cotton candy. My tolerance levels for the rose notes in perfumes is not very high and, though there are some rose-centered perfume artwork that I like very much and adore, that note is not among the ones that I fancy a lot. On the other hand my skin has a tendency to emphasize the warm and sweet notes, and after a rather pleasant opening, and some hour and a half past that, the rose gets toned down a bit, while everything else becomes even sweeter.

Around the same time the musk appears and this is the moment when I draw the line, when I cannot take it anymore. A soft rose, light but omnipresent and enveloping vanilla, a ton of sugar and soft musk lasts for hours on my skin. I can feel it clearly on my skin even the day after.

This is a very long lasting scent, when you see the oily patch on your skin after applying you know what you’re dealing with. It creates a good aura and it is nice to feel wafts of it here and there from somewhere close by - say on a young, positive and cheerful female. For the ones among you that fit the description and the ones that just feel like that - Roses Vanilla is highly recommended. This is where it would shine, as it is definitely a perfume of positive vibrations and good times.

Even though I consider myself to be a Mancera fan, being of the opinion that their creations are quite interesting, I have to say that this is the first one that I actually do not like, even though I tried to like it and gave it many second chances. We had coffee together in the morning, went for walks later in the evening, even spent some time at work with each other, we did not click. We parted ways calmly, in good faith of new acquaintances.