NicheOnly

This review will sound more negative than I actually am about "Alexandria II Anniversary | XerJoff" (A2A). Also, a disclaimer: I wear the original "Alexandria II (Parfum) | XerJoff" (A2) as a signature and have been for a couple years now. To me, the main criticism of A2A is that the changes relative to the original A2 are so negligible that it just feels like the brand is riding its hero franchise into the ground much like how designer brands drop flanker after flanker. I wish I had smelled "Elle Anniversary | XerJoff" just so I had an idea whether they made noticeable differences there.

Discussing A2A's profiles: The scent opens powdery rose-oud, much like the original A2. I notice a hint of animalic flair that is not there with the original. I notice the lack of that sweet-creamy artemisia/coca cola style flair that the original A2 has which brings it some additional utility. First time smelling "Alexandria II Anniversary | XerJoff" on skin, I notice the mint bringing a menthol-esque vibe. As we settle into the drydown, the mint and the animalic flair become rather tame, dare I say they almost entirely fade. There are two core differences that I can notice in the base: (1) the scent smells a bit more aromatic, thanks to the introduction of mainly the clary sage; and (2) the leading accords are oriental & woody because the prominence of the sweet & creamy accords is not there with A2A (relative to the original A2).

So we had some twists in the top, we have some twists in the heart and even the base. What is there not to like? Well, my question to you is what does this achieve that the existing catalogue of Alexandria releases doesn't? If people wanted a less mature A2, they had the option of "Alexandria Orientale | XerJoff". If people wanted a more mature A2, they had the option of "Alexandria III | XerJoff". To me, A2A sits somewhere between A2 and A3 as it's clearly not in the direction of A2 Orientale.

The most annoying part is that even if I did like it, I would be expected to shell out €580 for 100ml knowing that the original is now €545 for 100ml. That €580 would pay for a fragrance that has less utility than the original (noticeably less sweetness), the same performance and only minimal changes to the existing catalogue of Alexandria releases since the scent is 80-85% similar to A2, A3 and A2 Orientale (nobody experienced would mistake this for a non-Alexandria product). To conclude: the scent is fine, but the changes are minimal; therefore most fans of the series stand to gain nothing from purchasing it, so why even release it?

The downfall of BDK as a brand needs to be covered with an in-depth video, because this brand continues to alienate the few fans they have left. After the successful come-up off the back of YouTube's perfume godmother Demi Rawling with the original "Gris Charnel (Eau de Parfum) | bdk Parfums", cracks first started to form in 2022 with the release of "Ambre Safrano | bdk Parfums". Those cracks were smoothed over when "Gris Charnel (Extrait) | bdk Parfums" brought a brilliant twist to the brand's hero franchise, yet subsequent to that release, the brand was 0-for-2 and now 0-for-3 as designer copycatting and unoriginal product pull the catalogue down alongside the embarrassing price increase enacted by BDK just to support the release of their boutique in Paris which is aptly located at... you guessed it, 312 Saint-Honoré.

It should come as no surprise that "312 Saint-Honoré | bdk Parfums" instantly feels quite boring. The fragrance opens with a prominent 1-2 of white florals and white musk. The combination of the white musk and the tonka give it this fluffy sensation with a touch of sweetness as the white florals have a somewhat elegant feel to them. Up-close "312 Saint-Honoré | bdk Parfums" has a very unexpected spicy-green twist with the on-skin blending really struggling to work. No patchouli is listed, but the feeling here is similar to the spicy kitchen pantry feel you get in Amouage's "Lineage | Amouage". I believe the pink pepper leaf top note here accomplishes the same vibe that the fenugreek and the peruvian pepper tree achieves in the Amouage. Another scent offering this type of feel is The House of Oud's "Hidden Shades | The House of Oud". In terms of feel, THOO and Masque Milano are likely the two houses that make similar product to this. In the ultimate drydown, the accords even give me some tropical hints with the musk, tonka and florals smelling a bit like a solar floral.

To me, floral and spicy are the top 2 accords. This scent doesn't feel powdery and I could not separate iris in its standard form no matter how I smell the scent as the white florals, white musk and pink pepper leaf dominate the wearing experience. While the scent isn't synthetic to my nose, the hodge-podge of notes and accords is extremely puzzling. I get average longevity in the 7-8 hour range on mostly a weak-to-average sillage. With BDK now being €190/100ml retail, the brand's value proposition is completely gone. But luckily, instead of shopping at BDK's boutique, you can go shop Initio, Nishane, Serge Lutens, even Le Labo and Byredo all within a 200 meter radius.

It's not exactly a secret that Parfums de Marly make basic and largely unoriginal product. The fact that the loudspeaker allowed for "Althaïr | Parfums de Marly" to amass all this attention and sales is nothing short of embarrassing for the niche community as a whole (albeit it is unclear just how niche Marly really even is as a brand doing more than $250 million in annual revenue). So it should come as no surprise that "Perseus | Parfums de Marly" accomplishes absolutely nothing in the landscape of niche perfumery.

To put it bluntly, "Perseus | Parfums de Marly" is just a generic citrus freshie with vetiver. The profile that in the mass market is dominated by "Terre d'Hermès (Eau de Toilette) | Hermès" and it's many flankers. "Perseus | Parfums de Marly" opens with bitter grapefruit and green vetiver. Predictably, all the muppets spreading fake rumours about this being a "Le Gemme - Tygar | Bvlgari" inspiration can be put to bed and tucked in within seconds as "Perseus | Parfums de Marly" lacks the sweetness of those profiles. The grapefruit in Perseus is done well, but there are no other accords there to support it. The ambergris offered some short-lived stints of aquatic feel in the top-to-heart, but never developed. Somewhat surprisingly, the vetiver note fades and the orange heart note is the one that sits alongside the grapefruit for most of the wearing experience.

I feel as if this would've slotted in nicely right next to a fragrance like Greenley in the unofficial line with the translucent bottles. The extremely generic feel of this fragrance, due to it being a standard citrus-freshie, makes me feel like this could easily be an Atelier Cologne fragrance. The scent feels more like the Hermès (or a combination of its takes) with the raw ingredients not surprising, that is to say the difference between this and scents like "Pomélo Paradis | Atelier Cologne" isn't as big as you'd expect given that Marly's 125mls are now retailing for €265 relative to the €218 they used to be back in 2021.

In terms of gender, "Perseus | Parfums de Marly" opened strong masculine and it dries leaning masculine to unisex. The performance is extremely underwhelming as it gets down to intimate-to-weak sillage within minutes. Expected longevity is in the 5-7 hour range, depending on how much credit you want to give the scent for having some accords remain weakly noticeable. While blend quality isn't an issue, the trifecta of the lack of performance, the lack of complexity and pricing definitely are. Only a brand loyalist should be owning this.

I remember when I believed that the original "DesirToxic | M. Micallef" was a worthwhile competitor to a scent like "Layton | Parfums de Marly". The free product flying around on YouTube and Instagram definitely can give off that sensation. On my first experience of the original DesirToxic, I actually felt like there was some of that there. And then 1 day before smelling this flanker, I downgraded my rating from 8.5 to 5.5. The original "DesirToxic | M. Micallef" is in line with stereotypical sweet-masculine F-boy style fragrances, but due to the huge overload of tonka bean, the scent feels like it could easily be in Carolina Herrera's line of Bad Boy fragrances.

While the opening of the new "DesirToxic L'Intense | M. Micallef" has a similar designer feel from the sweetness and tonka bean, the on-skin scent is a mild improvement over the original. The scent features a prominent woodiness this time around. At first it smelled a bit, dare I say, green and/or camphorous. It made me believe that the cannabis accord was still featured (in reality, it isn't). I notice the patchouli bringing a mild spicy flair in the base and I notice the black currant offering hints of fruitiness. However, I wouldn't say that fresh is a top 5 accord.

The core utility of the fragrance remains the same. The performance improvement is nonexistent as I get equal performance with the synthetic tones aiding performance on the original. The price mark-up is quite negligible, meaning the flanker is a little bit better in value. Both Micallef and Penhaligon's have produced fragrances in this genre and ultimately, the product of both houses (within the masculine sweet-aromatic class) smells closer to designer than they do to fragrances like "Layton | Parfums de Marly" and even "Papilefiko | Nishane". Nothing to see here, move along people.

This is an early contender for worst release of 2024. Yes, it dropped in December of 2023, but I'm still ranking it in 2024 as well.

From the very first moments I'm underwhelmed. "Dubai - Ajyal | Nabeel" opens with a blast of sweet-fresh candied apple, tropical fruit (melon type) and an omnipresent feeling of (slightly aquatic) muskiness. It smells *a lot* like cheapie designer/niche trash - think Kajal or better yet, think "Ambassador for Men | Gisada". It could basically be Gisada Ambassador without the overwhelming Sauvage aspects. But even the Gisada is better blended.

I'm a little bit lost as to what their inspiration was here as the only place where this scent smells as much as decent is in the vial. In the vial, I get vibes of that Ambassador DNA mixed perhaps with mild hints of the "Solstis | Fragrance Du Bois" and/or "Météore | Louis Vuitton" DNA. In the initial drydown, that mint brings a very slight bitterness which I'd relate to a scent like Xerjoff's "XJ 1861 Renaissance | XerJoff". While the musky-fruity type profile remains throughout, the on-skin blending of this scent when you smell it up-close is beyond embarrassing for a niche fragrance retailing at €255/50ml. Even Kilian produces better fresh fragrances than this (and that's saying something).