Parma

I like 'Love Kills' a lot. It is a subtly physical rose-patchouli scent with great similarity to Malle's 'Portrait of a Lady'. Slightly leaner and more situated in the now than Paris Rose, which always seems slightly old-fashioned to me. The Milanese beauty mainly dispenses with incense and the usually very classic carnation and is more restrained despite also having enormous longevity. However, not quiet.

It opens with a fruity-acidic rose, medium-dark, full-bodied and slightly sweet. Lightened by a citrusy draught, which gives the fragrance a delicate freshness until the end. It is underpinned by a soft, gentle animalicness that I would most readily describe as "skin in the evening". A restrained, warm physicality that makes the rose so interesting and attractive to me. Probably brought on by a combination of animalic musk in a creamy texture, slightly coarse-grained powdery ambrette seed and the subliminally synthetic, velvety-bodied ambergris. A restrained dose of patchouli contributes a spicy-earthy tone (not a cellar-musty one), reinforcing the aromatics and adding verticality. Deep in the drydown, the protagonist develops a beautiful soap-like feel that I've rarely smelled better in its almost silky nature - combined with the soft-spicy physicality. This creates the aura of an aromatic, elegant rose. Well-groomed and at the same time slightly insinuating.

All this seems a bit more light-hearted and less serious compared to the Malle fragrance. Also opulently laid out, but more composed. Closer. Warmer. In addition, excellently tuned. Pleasing, without sacrificing a concise character.

Just as the fragrance character is somewhat less expansive than the Malle fragrance, the radiation and sillage are also reduced. One is discreetly perceived and in the room remains a slight hint of the fragrance. I myself perceive him easily throughout the day, without having to make an effort to do so.

'Love Kills' is in my eyes a successful on all levels, more suitable for everyday life and slightly more modern version of the very similar 'Portrait of a Lady'.

Ambrarome is a fully synthetic aroma substance that was developed as early as 1926 by the French company Synarome as an ambergris substitute. Its olfactory picture is described as "warm and enveloping ambery note with smoky nuances {and an} intense leathery and animalic heart {with} salty and mineral notes". However, I do not perceive smoky, leathery, salty and mineral facets in this fragrance. One notices its potentially scent-defining, urgent power, which is, however, prevented here by prudent use. However, I can imagine that this note could annoy one or the other in the long run something.

III - III Love Kills is part of Masque Milano's Opera line. The Roman numerals in front of the actual name indicate the respective acts and scenes of the in-house, four-act fragrance opera, which colorfully picks up themes of life (experiences, places, moods, feelings, reflections, relationships, dreams). In this act, love - symbolized by the rose - plays the leading role. The blossoming and death of this elemental force is portrayed in a tragic love story. Inspired by Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet".

As with many brands, this is nice accessory and possibly necessary to stand out from competitors and to appeal to a certain clientele, but for me rather uninteresting. I like him at least no more or less because of this thematic embedding and also do not recognize the reference (for me, for example, it is - if you get involved in this interpretation - a consolidated, mature love in the drydown and no ending with death, as they would like to know the brand narrative understood).

In 2020, 'Love Kills' was nominated for an Art & Olfaction Award in the 'Independent' category.

A green fragrance by Kurkdjian. It is right on trend. Here citrusy, fresh and thoroughly reinterpreted as part of his cologne-like Aqua series.

First of all: I think it's a pleasant, charming, light-hearted and very uncomplicated fragrance to wear. Fresh, airy, slightly unusual in its citrus and comparable to a modern eau de cologne in terms of feel. I like it, but I also have a few criticisms.

On the positive side, there is the green tone. I find it novel because my perception is that it's a mix of ginger (bitter fruity), tangerine peel (the inner side, i.e. predominantly bitter but with a few shreds of fruit hanging on), sugared wine gum apple rings and a lime room spray. I get a juicy, bitter-citrusy-fruity, sweetly sparkling, minimally watery and at the same time slightly artificial impression. The brand lists bergamot, verbena, sweet fennel, hedione and a "matcha tea-woody musk accord" as ingredients, but I hardly notice any tea-like notes. However, when I smell a fennel tea bag, I recognize its scent profile, but it is much sweeter and not as tart as the original. I also only detect a bitter green tea note to a very limited extent. The moderate but still present, sugary ethyl maltol sweetness masks too many of its characteristic qualities. Almost odorless musk and the slightly jasmine-like hedione work against this with a transparent aeration and balance out a lot.

In its aura, it reminds me somewhat of the unusually citrusy-green-fruity-watery scents of 'Verveine Cactus', 'Cactus Garden' or, to a lesser extent, 'Pacific Chill' (more orangy-peachy there, lemony-bitter here). It remains particularly appealing due to its noticeable sugariness, which quickly makes it a tad too sweet for me. And that brings me to the points of criticism: I would have liked it better if it had consistently maintained its fundamentally tart, fresh focus. I also dislike the noticeably synthetic nature of the fragrance as it develops. Due to a very round and balanced composition, this disadvantage is not too significant, but analogous to the sweetness, it is a little too much for me. As a final point of criticism, I would like to add that despite the quality of the ingredients, the fragrance comes across as a little too polished, too arbitrary. It lacks distinctiveness. In the sense that it quickly feels "pointless". The initially stimulating theme is not underpinned and runs out uninspired. It's like the feeling you get after an interesting movie opening when you're waiting for the story to develop in an exciting way, only to realize at some point that there's no climax. It ripples along in a semi-interesting way. Beautiful landscape shots and beautiful people keep you interested, but the real kick is missing. It might have benefited from the addition of another note, as fennel is a pale, insubstantial component in my nose. However, with its transparent, fresh structure, it fits in well with the Aqua range and I think it's good that it adds a new facet to it.

Finally, the thematic superstructure of the brand: with the reference to the green color as the middle element of the rainbow color palette and the balancing characteristics attributed to it, this seems quite far-fetched to me. However, the fragrance can be said to have a certain balance.

A nice, well-made summer freshness with its own, thoroughly new DNA, but after an interesting start, it remains too uniform and unexciting for me.

Fresh cut foliage from the flower shop, optionally juicy grass, green leaves and other green growth species - also very young wood - as well as an increasingly sweeter fruity fig, which acquires a discreet milky-creamy touch in the course of time and awakens coconut associations, make up this fragrance

So the structure is manageable, but the individual impressions are so authentic and finely nuanced that they give me a lasting and always new fragrance pleasure.

The very fresh green of the start remains throughout the whole process, but is gradually dimmed, so that the fragrance does not appear too green on the one hand, but does not become too sweet on the other. Wonderfully balanced. An unusual, but very portable mixture. Fresh green and slightly exotic sweet fruity. Ideal for spring and summer. In autumn for the memory of it :)

The durability is almost solid, the Sillage predominantly rather decent.

Compared to the EdT, the EdP is a bit less fresh and green, but a bit deeper and fuller.

If you like figs, but also the combination of green and fruity and also appreciate naturalness, you will certainly like this fragrance.

With Springfield, the small Berlin fragrance house Harry Lehmann has created a penetrating, juicy, aromatic-spicy citrus fragrance that is classic and timeless. Round lemony notes are combined with a bitter orange peel and a clearly perceptible spicy note (especially clove, possibly nutmeg), which in the course of the citrus is equal to the citrus note. A rose geranium, which can also be clearly seen, represents the connection to the reservedly sweet, discreetly sweet-flowered sprinklers (lily of the valley, jasmine), which soften the dominant citrus-spice combination somewhat. A slightly synthetic, but not unpleasant tonka bean (hay-like-sweet-spicy) rounds off the fragrance aromatically.

Always wearable, because not too elegant (no soap tone), but nevertheless well-groomed. It also does not have a pronounced softness/creaminess, which is often achieved by adding neroli, white musk or sandalwood to such fragrances

The fragrance is only available as EdP and forms a clearly oily film on the skin. The very tidy shelf life and appealing Sillage for such a fresh smell are explainable thereby.

Altogether a well composed, simple fragrance, especially for lovers of citric-aromatic fragrances and ideal for the small purse.

With the exception of this fragrance, Harry Lehmann - which most customers already know - has to reformulate his entire product range due to new EU regulations. It remains to be seen whether this will be possible, for which fragrances, how long it will take to develop a new recipe that is as similar as possible to the old one and whether it is financially viable for this small fragrance house. Until 23.08.2019 it is theoretically still possible, according to Mr. Lehmann, to acquire the old formulations.

Dark, smoky leather is interspersed with wonderfully sensual-sweet jasmine like fine branches. Sprinkles of spices and a woody nuance give some complexity and additionally soften the intense leather tone. This mixture is a dream on the leather jacket, on the skin finely dosed as well. Potent without screaming loudly. Linear, which is often the rule with Tom Ford fragrances, and therefore sometimes easily getting boring - promoted by the usually strong durability. The danger exists here also, therefore on it with it on removable garments and enjoy again and again in distances.

The aura of the fragrance is very pleasant and despite the potency not overpowering - a feat. An aromatic blend of dark leather wood, gentle spice and a sweet floral undertone.

Pretty perfect.