Nikander

After sampling this for over a year I finally pulled the trigger and bought a full bottle, because this is such a masterpiece. I love me an innocent and bright springlike floral perfume at times but this is truly a tribute to the animalic and procreative side of spring, to put it mildly. It offers what I was hoping to smell in ELDO’s ‘Afternoon of a Faun’. I smell a sweaty animal that has chased nymphs all day in the woods, taking a nap in a meadow filled with daffodils. Very impressive and sexy fragrance!

Smooth, effervescent and classy neroli fragrance, which is definitely worth the more than average price point. Unlike many other colognes centered around neroli this never enters astringent territory and I get insane longevity on my skin (over 6 hours). I also adore the artwork: this makes me want to lie naked in a hammock under a canopy of orange trees in blossom, all the while pensively peering at a romantic ruin in the distance, too!

Masterpiece and quintessentially L’Artisan Parfumeur. Lots of common ground with Camel and Aziyade, but those fragrances are loud and go way too heavy on the spiced fruit notes. This however is a masterclass in using ‘loud’ ingredients which then somehow take on an airy instead of an earthy quality, producing the most ethereal and uplifting silage. In that aspect this effect is very comparable with L’Artisan’s Voleur de Roses, which does the same trick to the notorious rose-patchouli combo.

Amid a sea of fragrances that feature saffron as a supposedly prominent note, this is the first I have ever encountered that actually smells like saffron, and does so beautifully. In fact, I can barely smell any of the other notes. Quintessentially Olivia Giacobetti, it is soft spoken yet refined, evocative and calming like a hug on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

This was a blind buy for me, but it turned out perfectly. Loudo smells like old mahagony chests, warm fur coats and black tea with chocolate and cherry cake. I wouldn't call it a gourmand, nor is it typically oudy. It really is in a league of its own. Decidedly unisex and totally worthy of being a signature scent.