New Sniffs: 22.11.2018

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies

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Portia

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Hey Hey Perfume Junkies,

The idea is that anything worthy of comment, either good or bad, that’s passed under my nose through the week will get a short write up. Up till now I have kept APJ positive comments only, those days are gone. If I think something is terrible, shamefully lazy, greedy or stupid and you should know about it, it will be said. Not everything works for everyone and it would be pretty boring if it did >>> YMMV. I’d love it if you all agree, respectfully disagree, have any thought-out opinion and want to share, do so in the comments below. The point is starting a conversation.

New Sniffs Aug 2018

Anything that I’m not keeping becomes a super simple GIVEAWAY. All comments are entered. Next week I’ll tell you who random.org picked. If the winner doesn’t eMail me during the week it will JACKPOT to next weeks winner who will get both.

Last Weeks Winner: Kathleen Smith

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with your address please

New Sniffs: 22.11.2018

TinaG and I went down to City Perfume to see my mate Thierry. We did a couple of short videos about new fragrances for their site. Don’t forget if you’re shopping with them to use the 10% Discount Code in our sidebar.>>>

A Day In  My Life

Citrus, fresh and breezy. Peppery roses give A Day In My Life a lift, a jolt a call to action. This is the perfect fragrance for those days where sluggishness could rule but you don’t have time to wallow. Five lavish spritzes will see you out and living. An ozonic, breath of fresh air blows through and it may be the lily of the valley.

Message In A Bottle

Very delicate until it hits the body. Suddenly Message In A Bottle comes alive. Soapy and fleshy, riding a sea salt wind. The white flowers are sandblasted into submission and play a background role to the salty savoury version of themselves. Think a beach wedding or tropical evening walk without sunscreen. A manly floral.

Sexual Healing

OK so this seems to change depending on who smells it. I’ve had such disparate reminiscences as Coca Cola, Fleshiness, Powdery, Herbal and a few others I can’t remember. The animalics take it sweeter and sweeter through the heart to a labdanum/castoreum base. So unusual and I think the large amounts of synthetically created ingredients shine differently for everyone.

Hyun came over on Saturday and we sniffed some new stuff from First In Fragrance that they sent with my last order. Here are six of the best.

Black Phantom “Momento Mori” by Kilian

Ever had a White Russian? This is it in fragrant form. Delicious and dark. A sweet choc/almond/vanilla drizzled over creamy woods. WANT! a lot

Cedro di Diamante by Perris Monte Carlo

OK, so this is a cologne. It’s really fresh and invigorating. Smells like freshly cut lemon. “Why didn’t they just call it lemons” says Hyun. It does sweeten more towards mandarin in the heart and cedar pops through later with a bouquet of flowers. Sure, it feels like they’ve used the good ingredients but I would better spend my money on 4711 Acqua Colonia Lime & Nutmeg for around $30.

Chevalier de la Nuit by Ciro Parfums

Interestingly, this seems to be a re-release of a vintage perfume that came in an exquisite bottle from New York in the 1920s. It seems the current reformation is very modern, ingredients and smell. The patchouli and clove are the main players for a good while. It does that interesting sheer but hefty thing. This is a winner. Hyun says it’s sexy, I’m not convinced. Smells really good though

Dark Lord by Kilian

Kilian seems to be caricaturing his own work. I’m not complaining, it smells like he has remembered how to make dark and interesting perfume. Pepper, leather, booze and the desiccated green smell of nargamotha play hardball above the smoothing modern patchouli and woods. If you hate modern niche woodsy/leatherness this will smack your nose. I for one, love it.

Esprit Infini by Hayari Parfums

The artemesia opens green and lettuce-ish. The background is played by rose, patchouli and amber. Unusual and surprising. Esprit Infini could be quite challenging for newbies, it’s parts are slightly in cohesive and the battle that rages between green and sweet makes it utterly entrancing.

Revolution de la Fleur by Sana Jardin

Tropical flowers done in the Annick Goutal Songes style. Loads of ylang and white flowers over creamy sandalwood. Imagine a slightly overblown KAI. Very pretty, totally wearable and seductive but so derivative for anyone over 35. Hyun says, “It’s not remarkable” and I agree. On the plus side it’s not excessively expensive.

Sandalo by Acqua di Parma

OK, Hyun hit the nail on the head “It smells like a Chinese medicine shop” I don’t understand why they called it sandal because the lavender and cardamom play such significant roles. Hyun is also smelling Ginseng. We are BOTH loving it sick and want more to spritz lavishly. If you are a sandalwood aficionado then you will be let down. It is there but hardly the focus.

 

 

 

 

Have you tried any of these? How did they work for you?
Portia xx

45 thoughts on “New Sniffs: 22.11.2018”

  1. I have not tried ANY of these but the ones you like, P, sound so appealing 🙂

    Do not enter me in the draw so that others can enjoy your lovely draw wins.

    Congrats to Kathleen!!!

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  2. Thank you for choosing me as a winner! A fabulous surprise! Another reason to be thankful on this Thanksgiving holiday (as well as everyday). I so appreciate this community of fellow fragrance lovers who share their thoughts and feelings about what we love.
    All of your new sniffs are new to me as well. I’m not familiar with them, and the Sandalo by Aqua di Parma intrigues me the most. I’ve enjoyed many of By Kilian over the years and noticed there have been some new ones.
    My new sniffs have been various Etros (loving Heliotrope) and Eris. Oh my goodness, Ma Bete!!!! Thank you as always Portia for introducing me to fabulous scents! xoxo

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    • Congratulations on winning the samples Kathleen.
      I’m so keen to try Eris Perfumes but they don’t ship outside the US and in Europe their samples cost very much so I haven’t decided to try them yet. Have you tried the whole range?

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  3. Dark Lord sounds great. It reminds me a game character called DAHAKA ( Guardian of time) from Prince of Persia.
    I get to learn a lot of new fragrances through this New Sniffs blog..

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  5. Every time I see the New Sniffs thread I’m wondering where the week has gone…time really flies.
    Of this weeks’ sniffs I’ve tried only Black Phantom “Memento Mori”. It’s funny you described it as sweet. To me it is a dry, almost bitter, boozy vanilla scent. It feels like those artificially flavored instant coffees.
    The others I don’t know but A Day in My Life and Message in a Bottle both sound like pretty safe blind buys for me.
    Thanks for doing the testing for us Portia 🙂

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  6. I have Black Phantom and really want to try Dark Lord but Nordstroms won’t put out their tester until they have stock, so I haven’t been able to try it. The Sandalo sounds curious.

    Recently tried Etro Heliotrope and am liking that one, not sure if I need it though as I have FM L’Eau d’Hiver. Still dithering on Aedes Musc Encensé.

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    • is the Heliotrope similar to LdH? I have tried the LdH and find it to be very fleeting. And I thought you had already purchased the Musc Encense -LOL!

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      • I have a decant of the Musc Encensé… just had the husband smell it and he voted thumbs up. The Malle and the Etro are not identical, but have a similar feel to me. I wear the Malle to bed, so longevity is not a problem.

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        • Thanks for the mini review. The Etro was on my radar for a while but reviews said it had poor longevity. I don’t need it now so I can sit on my hands.

          I say get the bottle of Musc Encense 🙂

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          • I like Heliotrope the best of the Etro I’ve sampled. Almonds, cherry, heliotrope (I can’t described what this note or flower smells like but I love it in fragrances), vanilla. Gorgeous powdery almond deliciousness. I’ve never sniffed Malle L’eau D’Hiver so I can’t compare. From my little carded sample vial, longevity seems to be about 2-3 hours, sillage not strong. However, I am spraying lightly only on wrist to preserve the sample. If I had a bottle (considering), I’d spray liberally so perhaps longevity/sillage better?

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  7. I’ve tried none, only heard of Dark Lord (never been impressed by anything by Kilian but this one sounds great, actually).
    Portia, the first three refer to the famous songs (well, the first one has_almost_ the same name as the Beatles’ song), is it a theme or just a coincidence?

    No new sniffs this week but I’m not complaining 🙂

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  8. As usual I haven’t tried any of your new sniffs. But Black Phantom, phwoar, ringing all sorts of bells. You and Hyun have had very busy noses this week!
    I have, though, got some new sniffs of my own☺️ My new (unsniffed) purchases arrived. Holy schmoke, instant love for Cacao Dreams. Orange chocolate laced with cream. Totally scrumptious. It’s uncomplicated but dangerous, I will bring a stick to beat off anyone who wants to take a bite out of me while I’m wearing it. Tom Ford Ombré Leather is very good, too, but nothing new under the sun here. My seller also included a sample of Camel but haven’t had a chance to test yet. But from the sniff of the sprayer, it has huge potential.

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    • A blind buy that is successful is always a good thing. Enjoy your new bottle!
      I sampled Ombre Leather a while ago and I liked it, even if a bit derivative.

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  10. Sandalo from ADP sounds really interesting and i heard a lot of things about it. I’ve had the chance to test Black Phantom by Killian and i liked it a lot since dark gourmands are my favourites. I would love to test that Sexual Healing, i like the name 🙂

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  12. Parma’s Sandalo review reminds me I don’t really understand when companies give a literal name to a fragrance and it is nothing like that? What do they really hope to gain from it??? If you don’t want to give consumers idea, then don’t give such literal names, just artistic ones that leave everything to mystery. I mean when Mitsouko came out first or joy came out first, consumers did not know what to expect becaue these names do not create any olfactory expectations. But if you are naming your fragrance sandal or citrus or rose soemthing, you are implying this is the major note in the composition. I also blame Le Labo for kind of promoting this trend but their compositions often have nothing to do with the note in the name of the perfume.

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  13. I haven’t tried any of them, nope. No surprise there I guess. Only heard of a couple. I tried Hiram Green’s Hyde yesterday. Birch tar, a smoky malted vanilla, soft and rounded. A hidden floral. Labdanum resin (?) to complement the vanilla. Damn good. Bussis. ❤️

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  14. I have not tried any of these. I’m always happy to be warned when a perfume isn’t what you would expect from the name, since it narrows down my growing list of perfumes to try.

    Today I have been trawling for perfume bargains online, but haven’t found much of interest (Hèrmes was not at reduced price). It won’t really pay off to order from abroad if I aim at saving money. I’ve ended up with a blind buy of a cologne and shower gel from Le Couvent des Minimes, hoping I’ll like it! It’s a New brand here. I have only read about the colognes so far, so didn’t want to make a blind buy of any of the perfumes.

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      • No, I don’t shop online from abroad except for decanting supplies, samples and smaller items which included shipping would be less than 350 NOK. Just clearing anything worth over that amount through customs would ,mean an extrra cost of between 28 and 60 AUD, plus the VAT obviously. We now know the politicians have decided that we will have to pay VAT/various taxes on absolutely everything bought online from abroad as of 2020, so then it may just be that my shopping habits change again. I’m thinking I will then not make seperate orders of samples, but buy samples at the same time as larger decants or full bottles. It is also going to pay off to cooperate more with other fragheads here when ordering from abroad.

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  18. I’ve not tried any of them, but because I’m willing summer to appear, Message In a Bottle and Revolution de la Fleur appeal, as does the intriguing-sounding Esprit Infini. Thanks for the reviews 🙂

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