Ostara

I love myrrh and had been looking for a fabulous, feminine myrrh perfume to take the place of my beloved Myrrh Ardente which is sadly discontinued. I love resinous scents, I love powdery scents, I love vanilla, so why don't I love this?

Leather.

To my surprise, the dry down of Myrrh Assoluto smells very close to a Scentsy room fragrance called "Weathered Leather". To my nose, it's an indistinctly sweetened, clean and slightly resinous leather scent. The opening is powdery and sweet with just a hint of undefined fruitiness, but it all quickly transitions to that leathery base accord within a few minutes. It is certainly unisex bordering on something that would usually be created as a masculine offering. Men should have zero qualms wearing this one.

While very nice and seemingly well made, I do not enjoy smelling of leather. My search for another feminine myrrh continues elsewhere.

Velvet Haze is indeed an Egyptian musk fragrance. Sure there's a strong resemblance to the NR line, but the same would be said about literally any Egyptian musk fragrance nowadays. Velvet Haze is not a dupe by any means.

The opening is unpleasant to my nose. I don't love the way the lactones were executed here as they don't fit smoothly into the composition and that's usually what they are supposed to do. Instead I find that there is an odd juxtaposition between a bitter dirt accord, and a strangely milky overripe fruit accord. This unsettling push-pull character lasts for the first half hour of wear and then slowly fades as the Egyptian musk accord comes to the forefront: it's all lived in musk and tamed patchouli. I like the dry down very much for it's familiarity rather than for any compositional innovation.

Aside from the opening, Velvet Haze is easy to wear and easy to love. It's probably a big seller for Byredo. However for my personal preferences, I strongly prefer the composition of NR for Her as it's more overtly femme while Velvet Haze is solidly unisex and monolithically musky.

This review is for the original formulation of Gris Montaigne. It is a hazy, mentholated woody-floral composition. A purple patchouli adds shimmer to the soft, floral chypre base. With the exception of the distinctive purple patchouli, most of the notes are indistinct: the florals are out of focus and the mossy woods are muted. There are no harsh edges and the composition is cohesive and rounded. The overall effect is discreet, minimalist and straightforward while still managing to be enchanting.

Gris Montaigne is easy to wear and unisex with a feminine leaning opening and a slightly masculine leaning dry down. Imagine a less oriental Chanel Coco Noir with a prominent mentholated note added and you've got something close to GM. Overall it's a very nice, wearable offering from Dior.

Loukhoum achieves it's goal of smelling like Turkish Delight, especially in the heart. The first half hour of wear time is dominated by the warmth and slightly animalic purr of honey over a soft floral and mild powdered woody base. Had the opening reversed with the dry down it could have been love, but alas.

Not that the dry down is bad by any means. It is perfectly respectable as a powdered almondy woody base. Its sweet but not terribly so, certainly not the ethyl maltol overdose of so many other sweet scents. For my tastes the dry down is just lacking something that would elevate it--- maybe a stronger and berry tinged rose note would have made me love it? Or perhaps a hint of that original honey or some spice to warm it back up, or even some icy aldehyde to make it sparkle? IDK, for me it just feels incomplete after the glorious opening. So close and yet so far.

The opening is an enjoyable blast of tart berry juice and sparkling synthetics. As it dries down it remains very fruity and sparkly with a fresh peony note and the suggestion of some low key white florals, cottony musk and just the tiniest smidgeon of clean patchouli. The overall effect is fresh-fruity, bright, optimistic, and frankly effervescent. It is not as sweet as you would think based on the notes. Those who have likened it to champagne are right on the money IMO.

To those who are wary of trying something with a calone note, have no fear. Calone is used judiciously and to great effect here as an accent to the fruitiness. There is not cucumber/melon here, no 90's aquatic vibe. I suspect that the calone in tandem with some soft aldehydes are responsible for the sparkly effervescent quality.

Final verdict: Fun and easy to wear, perfect for someone who wants a fruitier and less patchouli forward option than Miss Dior (2012) or Coco Mad. Way, way, less sweet than LVEB and Flowerbomb and with a much less woody base note than either of them. Casual and flirty.