VON3615
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Truly Imperial
I’ve been lucky to get my hands on this beauty. It comes in 2nd behind HJ Bonjour for Men in terms of my taste.
When first sprayed the scent is light with low sillage and projection. But something incredible happens and the scent starts to evolve revealing the beautiful ingredients like vanilla, amber, and Oud that form the crux of its powerful scent.
From here on, the scent has strong sillage and longevity. This is one of my top scents of all time. I was only able to obtain 4x10ml bottles.
When first sprayed the scent is light with low sillage and projection. But something incredible happens and the scent starts to evolve revealing the beautiful ingredients like vanilla, amber, and Oud that form the crux of its powerful scent.
From here on, the scent has strong sillage and longevity. This is one of my top scents of all time. I was only able to obtain 4x10ml bottles.
A sweet fruity smell
As a preface, I have not tried the original zoologist bat, or their new version of bat.
The opening of night flyer starts with a sweet fruity smell (banana / fig notes), immediately followed by what I would call a wet, damp, mineral accord.
During the drydown, the fruity notes disappear first, followed by the mineral accord, and the vetiver becomes more prominent.
For the fruit notes, I do not find them to be photorealistic to either Cavendish bananas (low isoamyl acetate), Gros Michel Bananas (high isoamyl acetate), or figs.
That being said it is believable enough. When focusing on the mineral accord, I sometimes perceive an almost sodium salt-iness.
Not table salt, but a bit more synthetic, perhaps something like epsom salt. It is very faint and does not take away from anything.
I don't get any animalics (musky fur). It's a nice and fresh scent, easy to wear in my opinion. I do wish the fruity notes were more accurate and that the longevity / strength was increased ; the longevity on my skin was about 4 hours until skin scent (after 2 sprays).
The opening of night flyer starts with a sweet fruity smell (banana / fig notes), immediately followed by what I would call a wet, damp, mineral accord.
During the drydown, the fruity notes disappear first, followed by the mineral accord, and the vetiver becomes more prominent.
For the fruit notes, I do not find them to be photorealistic to either Cavendish bananas (low isoamyl acetate), Gros Michel Bananas (high isoamyl acetate), or figs.
That being said it is believable enough. When focusing on the mineral accord, I sometimes perceive an almost sodium salt-iness.
Not table salt, but a bit more synthetic, perhaps something like epsom salt. It is very faint and does not take away from anything.
I don't get any animalics (musky fur). It's a nice and fresh scent, easy to wear in my opinion. I do wish the fruity notes were more accurate and that the longevity / strength was increased ; the longevity on my skin was about 4 hours until skin scent (after 2 sprays).
Horizon
Following reviews by Toxicon and Varanis is daunting, so I'll just add a few observations.
I get a scent of a chinese herbalist, with artemesia, gentian, ginseng and similar bitter principles.
That isn't a negative - I have always loved that scent. Mysterious, alchemical. This is soon joined by a slightly less prominent accord of aromatic fougere, bursting with lavender, aldehydes and soapy goodness.
Mixing two quite different accords that I like often results in failure, but here, it works nicely. While not the same, this brings to mind Perry Ellis 360 (the og, not the Red, the one with the blue color), showing a risk-taking approach revered by the niche lovers, by a house and at a price that straddles blind buy and outright.
As made clear by earlier reviews, you will be disappointed if you are expecting a blue freshie.
But if you are one of those people who says "there is no creativity in fragrances anymore", this may be your antidote.
I get a scent of a chinese herbalist, with artemesia, gentian, ginseng and similar bitter principles.
That isn't a negative - I have always loved that scent. Mysterious, alchemical. This is soon joined by a slightly less prominent accord of aromatic fougere, bursting with lavender, aldehydes and soapy goodness.
Mixing two quite different accords that I like often results in failure, but here, it works nicely. While not the same, this brings to mind Perry Ellis 360 (the og, not the Red, the one with the blue color), showing a risk-taking approach revered by the niche lovers, by a house and at a price that straddles blind buy and outright.
As made clear by earlier reviews, you will be disappointed if you are expecting a blue freshie.
But if you are one of those people who says "there is no creativity in fragrances anymore", this may be your antidote.
La Fin du Monde
The End of the World. Is this a reference to the apocalypse, or to the more romantic notion of explorers of old pushing beyond the known horizon? The bottle, with its radioactive hazard symbol, and the press release, suggest the former. This must be another ELdO joke, but I can't say I'm in on the punchline. This perfume smells beautiful. A little bit of smoke, a little bit of pepper, a little bit of seed spices, all nestled on a bed of iris that sits on a frame of fresh and breathable vetiver and woods. Effortlessly light and diffusive and swooning, the seeds spices and pepper twinkling at moments like stars in the night sky, perhaps what this fragrance is trying to tell us is that when the world ends all will be beautiful again? I have no idea.
The peculiar narrative aside, there are two other things that are striking about this fragrance. One is that, given the narrative, this fragrance is decidedly feminine in nature. Maybe that's a clue to ELdO's idea of the end of the world - that women will save it, or be all that's left? The second striking feature is just how calm, quiet, and close this perfume is. ELdO is no stranger to - and is perfectly capable - of making big and loud fragrances, which you would think would tee-them-up with a title like "The End of the World." But they've taken a very deliberate pass. This perfume is very quiet, very subtle, it speaks in whispers and caresses, not booms or bangs or shouts. If this is what the end of the world smells like, bring it on. I am perplexed by it, compelled and allured by it, but I have no idea if I'd want to wear it again.
The peculiar narrative aside, there are two other things that are striking about this fragrance. One is that, given the narrative, this fragrance is decidedly feminine in nature. Maybe that's a clue to ELdO's idea of the end of the world - that women will save it, or be all that's left? The second striking feature is just how calm, quiet, and close this perfume is. ELdO is no stranger to - and is perfectly capable - of making big and loud fragrances, which you would think would tee-them-up with a title like "The End of the World." But they've taken a very deliberate pass. This perfume is very quiet, very subtle, it speaks in whispers and caresses, not booms or bangs or shouts. If this is what the end of the world smells like, bring it on. I am perplexed by it, compelled and allured by it, but I have no idea if I'd want to wear it again.
Tucson / Arizona
A nice easy to wear and refreshing fragrance. I find it to be a sweet resinous / coniferous scent.
To preface, I've never been to the west in the USA, so I've never smelled Ponderosa pine, chaparral, sagebrush (or acacia for that matter).
The opening is shockingly reminiscent of licorice, perhaps a bit of anise. This dies down and I can detect juniper (I've smelled the essential oil before).
The rest I can't really describe, but it is quite pleasant. I do wish Olympic Orchids stated the concentration of their fragrances... someone else mentioned this is an EDC (very well could be considering the longevity).
To preface, I've never been to the west in the USA, so I've never smelled Ponderosa pine, chaparral, sagebrush (or acacia for that matter).
The opening is shockingly reminiscent of licorice, perhaps a bit of anise. This dies down and I can detect juniper (I've smelled the essential oil before).
The rest I can't really describe, but it is quite pleasant. I do wish Olympic Orchids stated the concentration of their fragrances... someone else mentioned this is an EDC (very well could be considering the longevity).
