blindy

Pleasantly surprised with the outcome - completely different smell, totally not what I expected it to be.

At first upon glancing at the notes I thought it’s going to be a boring, straightforward tobacco and honey syrup, something similar to Tobacco Honey that I hate. This one however blew me away!

I don’t think I smell something other commenters have mentioned - wild honey/neroli/orange blossoms. To my nose it opens up with something similar to dry wheat, it has this distinct hay-ish wheaty/flour-y smell, paired with beeswax. I don’t smell conventional honey, at least the one we have in Europe. Honey has a very multi-faceted flavor that is highly dependent on the flowers bees were feeding on. I think it smells more like a buckwheat honey, it definitely has these buckwheat flavor profiles in it. Perhaps the combination of beeswax and tobacco makes me smell buckwheat here.

Nevertheless beautifully crafted perfume, very unconventional, no sickening smell of pseudo-honey a lot of brands like to use in their fragrances. Will have to try wearing it during colder months but even now in August it’s not cloying at all.

The more I smell it, the more I think it reminds me of an array of fragrances that I’ve tried before, yet it is very hard to recall which ones Arbole reminds me of.

At first, I thought it resembles Zino by Davidoff with their soft, “golden” (I don’t know why this adjective comes up in my mind, but I can’t get rid of it) patchouli and salvia mix.

After less than an hour, however, I quickly realized it’s not Zino at all as almondy tonka is being placed in the spotlight too soon to my taste. It is a pleasant tonka chord that reminds me of a thickened version of Guerlain’s discontinued Tonka Imperiale: I think vanilla makes tonka here more syrupy compared to Guerlain’s take on tonka beans.

Very odd yet not unpleasant. Perhaps too sweet to my nose but I will have to give it another try during colder months.

You’ve probably already heard about John Varvatos and his Artisan line: the most well-known of which is Artisan Pure with a cool looking bottle. In my opinion, however, Artisan Pure isn’t the best frag of the line, I would place XX Artisan on top, and here’s why.

XX Artisan is a frag that was launched in 2020 and was dedicated to the 20th year of brand’s existence. I see this fragrance as a more mature and enhanced version of Artisan Pure. Yes, technically they don’t share the same fragrance profile with Artisan Pure being more soapy-citrusy and XX Artisan being more of a citrusy vetiver scent, but I can definitely smell similarities between these two: they both appear clean and somewhat fresh.

XX Artisan is a beautiful vetiver surrounded by bitter citrus notes. Due to its bitterness, it reminds me strongly of hand crafted vetiver soap bars you can buy in Italy. The only difference is that the soap smell will fade away pretty quickly while this fragrance will stay a decent number of hours on your skin.

So, why do I think it’s better than Artisan Pure? Both of them are “clean soapy fragrances”, but XX Artisan takes the soapiness to the next level thanks to the darkish and rich vetiver note. XX Artisan lasts longer than Pure and is sold for almost the same price.

Amazing dumb reach for the summer when you want to have a clean but non-obligating (doesn’t require to be dressed in any particular way) smell without breaking a bank. I think I got mine for around 30€ three or four years ago.

Chergui is in my opinion absolutely and most definitely NOT about tobacco and honey. Well, maybe there’s bit of honey in there that is mostly overshadowed by other notes.

This perfume opens up with a prominent hay and musky notes. I can definitely smell hay as I have a bunny and she is supposed to be fed mostly with dried hay, her hay smells close to the Chergui’s opening. Musk is also definitely present there and creates a powdery edge in the opening.

Later on, Chergui adds rose or rather rose water (it’s not a realistic rose, at least not photorealistic enough for me), the hay note is still there but gets more subtle. Still no tobacco or honey. Interestingly enough, I sometimes think I smell diluted Dr. Pepper, especially if you forget about the notes for a second. Overall an interesting perfume but definitely nothing like a sweet tobacco people are hunting for (Tobacco Honey, Naxos, etc.) so don’t get deceived by the notes on Fragrantica.

My first fragrance from Carner Barcelona and not particularly the popular one among this brand’s lovers. I can understand why - and I am going to try to explain that to you.

Sandor 70’s is supposed to be another time machine that should take you back to the iconic spot in Barcelona - a bar named Sandor, back in the time it was popular - the 70’s. I don’t know how it was back then in the 70s as I wasn’t even born yet, nor can I ask my parents how it was as they grew up in the Eastern Block, so I have to rely on what I could google and my olfactory journey.

This perfume lacks character in my honest opinion: it’s supposed to be a leathery-boozy-tobacco mix that should represent cigars and booze smoked and drank countless times by the bar’s visitors while sitting on leather chairs. I get the idea yet I am with Mr. Stanislavski on that one - I don’t believe the performance.

Sandor starts off by introducing a very interesting combination of Osmanthus, Rose, suede and some citrus that to me smells like slightly rotten fruits that were left on the sun in a plastic thrash bin. Later on, this combo fades away and we’re left with something that supposed to smell like leather and tobacco. I am sorry, but I can’t smell any of that here. It’s neither a tobacco leaf smell, nor is it a smell of cigarettes/cigar smoke like in Celine’s Nightclubbing. Instead, it is something indescribable, I don’t even know how to describe the smell. It’s not something pungent or bothering - just something weird. This smell anchors me somehow and I catch myself trying to sense it again and again. I don’t have any more words to say, certainly not a blind buy, test it if you want to experience something slightly weird but not offensive.