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Etro ManRose ~ fragrance review

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roses

Ambra, Gomma, Heliotrope, Lemon Sorbet, Magot, Messe de Minuit, Palais Jamais, Patchouly, Royal Pavilion, Sandalo, Vetiver, Shaal Nur. I’ve owned all these Etro perfumes. A new bottle of Vetiver arrived at my home last week, and I’ve bought many bottles of Magot, Sandalo and Messe de Minuit, too. When ManRose1 was released I had to try it (though my love of Etro perfumes stops around 1997…recent releases have been “nice,” but don’t appeal to me like the older fragrances).

I love the scent of roses and almost go bankrupt each (dry) Northwest summer watering the plants that keep my home smelling rosy from May till October. Rose appears as a note in many men’s fragrances these days, though it’s usually a bit player…

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Parfums de Nicolai Odalisque ~ fragrance review

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detail from Grande Odalisque

Oh, Parfums de Nicolaï, perfume house of intriguing fragrances and hideous packaging. To me, this line is the Jan Brady of the perfume world. It’s smart, homely, and too easily overlooked in the company of the glamorous Marsha and baby-cheeked Cindy. Parfums de Nicolaï Odalisque is a good example. It’s elegant and unexpected — and resolutely unfashionable. I hope it stays on the market forever.

Odalisque was created by Parfums de Nicolaï’s founder and Guerlain family member Patricia de Nicolaï. The perfume house’s website describes Odalisque as a green woody chypre, and its notes include mandarin, bergamot, lily of the valley, jasmine, iris, oak moss and musk. To me, it’s a light, spring-fresh floral with a kick of post-church luncheons and ocean breeze…

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Tom Ford Vert Boheme & Vert de Fleur ~ fragrance reviews

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galbanum

It’s almost been a year since Tom Ford released the Private Blend Les Extraits Verts collection; two of the fragrances — Vert Bohème1 and Vert de Fleur2 — have finally come within smelling distance so here goes.

Vert Bohème begins with a blast of rich galbanum (if you don’t like galbanum, no need to search out Vert Bohème). Joining the galbanum is a cool, almost mentholated citrus peel aroma and “green” flowers. I can’t detect magnolia but there is honeysuckle in Vert Bohème, mixing with some soft violet leaf. As for the listed Gustavia superba, I have no idea what this glorious-looking flower smells like, but its mention in Tom Ford PR fueled my interest in smelling Vert Bohème…so it served a purpose…

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Tauer Perfumes L’Eau ~ fragrance review

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Lemon lollipop

Tauer Perfumes has done citrus fragrances before, most notably with Orange Star (2010) and Cologne du Maghreb (2011). Based on the name, I thought the newest, L’Eau, might be the first Tauer riff on a citrus classic cologne for hot summer days, but no, that’s not what it is. It is about citrus — it was reportedly “inspired by a lemontree in bloom on Andy Tauer’s veranda in crisp Zurich morning air”, and the notes follow suit: bergamot, lemon, orange, lemon blossom, iris flowers, musk, ambergris, timber and sandalwood. And L’Eau does start with a nice sparkle of lemonade, and it does start bright and cheerful.

But L’Eau has more heft than you’d expect from a classic cologne, and the “classic” citrus sparkle / juiciness is short-lived, as L’Eau moves quickly into something more modern and diffuse…

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Eric Buterbaugh Florals Nick’s Sunflower ~ fragrance review

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Sunflower petals

Nick’s Sunflower is based solely around the Sunflower, or what a sunflower would smell like if it had a scent…The scent is delicate, fun and happy, yet an intriguing choice for a fragrance as the sunflower actually has no scent.

[…] Nick’s Sunflower is an abstract interpretation of a summer moment. Think yellow flowers following the sun, blue skies, immense fields…1

So reads the press release accompanying EB Florals Nick’s Sunflower. As the press release further informs us, EB Florals’s founder Eric Buterbaugh is a “globally renowned floral designer” who “embarked on an exciting venture to return perfumery to its refined luxury status” by paying “homage to the sublime notes of highly coveted flowers.” Nick’s Sunflower was inspired by Venice, California, hat designer Nick Fouquet, who loves sunflowers, a flower Eric Buterbaugh admits he’s not wild about.

Now, back to this abstract interpretation of a sunflower. What might a sunflower smell like to you? I think of heat, earth, corn cobs and squirrel fur. (Good thing I don’t have my own perfume line, huh?) From sampling Nick’s Sunflower, I conclude the folks at EB Florals think of peppery musk…

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