Lalique Hommage a l’homme ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 26 February 2014 22 Comments

Lalique Hommage a l'homme

Lalique, in the U.S. anyway, seems to be an almost-forgotten perfume house; the fragrances are hard to find. The first Lalique scent I tried (I believe) was Encre Noire in 2006: I sniffed; I bought; I still adore. Lalique launched Hommage à l’homme* in 2012; it was created to commemorate Lalique’s 20th anniversary as a perfume house. This review deals with the Eau de Toilette version of Hommage à l’homme; I’d love to try the Extrait de Parfum (but realize that’s an almost impossible wish).

Hommage à l’homme goes on liquor-y with sweet violet leaf and candied violet flower notes; the violet leaf is especially sophisticated in this formula…

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Atelier Cologne Cedrat Enivrant ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 19 February 2014 30 Comments

Atelier Cologne Cédrat Enivrant

I’ve fallen behind in my sampling of the Atelier Cologne line. I tried all the original releases (and I liked Trèfle Pur enough to put it on my to-buy list — where it’s languished for years). Just-launched Cédrat Enivrant* is the first brand-new Atelier Cologne fragrance I’ve tried since Vanille Insensée three years ago.

The Atelier colognes I’ve worn remind me of Jo Malone perfumes: well-blended, non-threatening, mostly “dressy-casual” in style. These type scents smell “good” but rarely inspire me to purchase them. Cédrat Enivrant fits in this category.

Cédrat Enivrant (“intoxicating citron”) goes on smelling sharp, robust and natural…

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Etat Libre d’Orange La Fin du Monde ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 12 February 2014 16 Comments

Etat Libre d'Orange La Fin du Monde

Go Out With A Bang. Or not. Before smelling Etat Libre d’Orange’s new La Fin du Monde* fragrance, I imagined many ways to approach the ‘end of the world’ in perfume — the possibilities! —what FUN! Having worn La Fin du Monde for two days (not scary, not inspiring, and definitely not fun), I’ll save any talk of earth’s annihilation for a future review of a worthy scent.

When first applied to skin, La Fin du Monde presents a sweet, earthy/food-y spice mix of carrot seeds and light cumin, with some pepper in the periphery…

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Bvlgari Aqva Amara ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 6 February 2014 11 Comments

Bvlgari Aqva Amara

Bvlgari Parfums managing director Valeria Manini said Bvlgari’s new men’s fragrance, Aqva Amara,¹ a flanker to 2005’s Aqva Pour Homme, was:

…part of a larger strategy to promote the best-selling Aqva and Omnia lines as high-end creations “developed for a larger audience…. We are working very hard to try to elevate what are considered the ‘entry’ product lines. There are two possible approaches here: either you treat the fragrance as a big commercial blockbuster, or you say, no, we want to treat this like a very precious object.”²

The trouble with this strategy, when it comes to the Aqva line at least, is that the perfumes don’t smell “high-end.” Original Aqva Pour Homme has its moments, but it smells more like a blockbuster wannabe than an expensive niche creation…

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Schiaparelli Snuff ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 22 January 2014 41 Comments

Elsa Schiaparelli

Over the last several weeks, I’ve come across many articles in fashion magazines and style sections of newspapers congratulating Diane von Furstenberg on the 40th anniversary of her “creation” of the wrap dress. Diane von Furstenberg certainly made the wrap dress popular, and that dress propelled her to designer superstardom, but another woman beat her to the wrap dress…by decades.

I had seen Elsa Schiaparelli’s work in museums, knew her face from perusing old photographs of the Paris art scene pre-World War II, and had sniffed some of her perfumes, including the most famous, Shocking, before reading Judith Thurman’s great 2003 New Yorker article, “Mother of Invention,”¹ but that article sent me on a more in-depth trip of discovery into the world of Schiaparelli…

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Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Lalique Hommage a l’homme ~ fragrance review

Atelier Cologne Cedrat Enivrant ~ fragrance review

Etat Libre d’Orange La Fin du Monde ~ fragrance review

Bvlgari Aqva Amara ~ fragrance review

Schiaparelli Snuff ~ fragrance review