Smirky

Jacarandá is the third Fueguia 1833 fragrance I've tried and by far the most interesting and the first I really liked. It opens with a strong tar and turpentine type of scent that's almost bitter and not at all sweet. Over the next 30 minutes as it dries down, Jacarandá begins to lose the edge on the tar and turpentine and transforms into more of a resinous pine scent. Even more surprising, a touch of sweetness also appears, making the overall scent much more wearable. Although classified as unisex, this is without a doubt a masculine fragrance. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Projection was on the high end of moderate. Only sprayed this on my hand and did not wear it long enough to judge the longevity. Will have to give Jacarandá another wear to get a better idea. Will update this review at that time.

I've smelled fragrances with a tuberose note but this is the first fragrance where tuberose is the main player. Reviewing this as a designated unisex fragrance and as a man, I would never be caught wearing Almafolia. It's a creamy synthetic mess. At it's best, this is a feminine fragrance but one that I wouldn't want to smell on my girl friend either. It almost brings to mind a grandma scent but it just smells too synthetic for that. All in all, not good. Fortunately, I was suspicious and only sprayed the back of one hand, so it was easy to scrub off.

Projection was quite good, but didn't leave it on to really rate the longevity.

Amber Elixir opens with strong scents of fruity and booze with sweetness. As it dries down, the amber becomes prominent combined with smooth leather, sandalwood and tonka bean. Despite the castoreum and musk notes, there was nothing animalic about Amber Elixir.

As I took in the evolving scent of Amber Elixir, two fragrances I have came to mind, so I had to do some side-by-side comparisons. Those two fragrances are Boss Bottled Absolu and Kutay. Sniffing them one after the other, they are clearly different but share some similarities. Kutay opens with sweet booziness but as it dries down, a slight animalic almost pissy bite appears, probably from the oud, nagarmotha and tobacco. Boss Bottled Absolu, OTOH, has no booziness but does have a sweet, creamy leathery dry down. So while they share aspects, they are three unique fragrances.

The other major difference between these three lies in performance. Both Kutay and Boss Bottled Absolu are quite strong in longevity and projection. The strength of these two fragrances impart an interesting depth to their scents. Amber Elixir, despite being an "elixir" has quite weaker performance and smells rather flat, without any depth and isn't a standout. I'll stick with Bottled Absolu and Kutay.

Reflection 45 is quite similar to Reflection but it immediately becomes obvious that it's the superior fragrance. In what way is it so much better? The florals are turned down a bit with incense quite noticeable in the drydown making it a truly masculine fragrance. (I classify plain Reflection as unisex at best.) The other thing that impressed me was the added depth to the fragrance. Reflection seemed to be flat and one dimensional while 45 has the added depth and presence.

Similar to Reflection, 45 is the florals, powder and incense/spice but dialed up and down correctly to better proportions. Being an extrait, longevity and projection are both better with 45.

If you like this DNA, definitely go with Reflection 45, if you can afford. Price is expensive. You'll have to decide if it's worth it for you. For me personally, I don't really care that much for the DNA, so I'll skip both Reflection and Reflection 45.

Opens quite floral-forward with a bit of spice. As it dries down, the woody base appears but is quite subdued. Dries down powdery, but not overdone. Comes across a bit synthetic and also feminine. Unisex at best. Not impressed.

Longevity was good with mediocre sillage.

Also tested Reflection 45 which I found to be much better. I definitely suggest trying Reflection 45.