A Scent by Issey Miyake Review

A Scent by Issey Miyake is the latest feminine launch from Issey Miyake, whose last main successful fragrance launched 17 years ago. Over on the ‘A Scent’ website, you can watch a video interview with Daphné Bugey, who mentions that she chose to use a ‘forgotten’ ingredient, that has been extracted with a new modern technique.

A Scent opens with a light citrus note, possibly from the listed Verbena, and a whole lot of green. Green has been a theme of this years feminine launches, with Cristalle Eau Verte and Versace Versense, as well as Miss Dior Cherie L’Eau, and Bvlgari Green Jade all spearheading the trend throughout the year.
Galbanum quickly takes the lead and heads centre stage. This Galbanum is dry, soft, slightly moss like and grassy. The inclusion of Galbanum in a fragrance is very interesting as it seemed to have fallen out of favour with the perfume buying public, and although mentioned in many notes pyramids recently it hasn’t really been as potent as here. Good examples of Galbanum in fragrance are Chanel’s No19, Guerlain’s Vol de Nuit and Estée Lauder’s Private Collection.
Although not particularly harsh, it is softened by light floral accents, with super clean Jasmine beside the Galbanum. There isn’t much of a drydown to speak of, but the fragrance is transparent throughout and not as thick as many green scents have been. A Scent is very different to what the perfume market is used to (fruity-floral) and has been very polarising with customers. Maybe Issey Miyake will be at the front of the new trend in fragrance, as he was with L’Eau D’Issey.

Top: Verbena, Fresh Notes
Middle: Galbanum, Hyacinth
Base: Jasmine, Woods

Yatagan Review

Over at Basenotes.net, it was Sniff n Speak Saturday, which has come round very quickly! I wore Caron’s Yatagan yesterday. According to several reviews, Yatagan is ‘difficult’. I disagree wholeheartedly.

Right away, Yatagan smells dated to me, “aftershavey” and thick. It’s also dry, but not parching, more astringent, and spicy. Dated isn’t always a bad thing though, I’m impressed by the balls on Yatagan.
On the card I put it on too I smelled a distinct vegetable note, which I guess is the Celery that other people have described. It’s earthy and dirty. The opening on me was familiar, and reminded me of L’instant (homme), with it’s Patchouli and sweat note, but feels much rougher than L’instant does. Also, there is something slightly floral – reminds me of Opium (the feminine) and Knowing – but charred, which must be the listed Geranium.
The heart is a sweet Pine note with a dusty and smoky character. Almost like Gucci pour Homme but without the Cedarwood and Incense.
The leather note in the drydown reminds me of Antaeus, with it’s warm feel, but Yatagan still smells more manly and much dirtier, where Antaeus smells quite feminine because of the baby powder note I get from it. It still feels spicy, bringing Obsession to mind. 24 hours after applying it, I can still smell it pretty strongly. You don’t get longevity like that from modern scents.

Top: Lavender, Wormwood, Petitgrain, Artemisia
Middle: Geranium, Pine Needles, Vetiver, Patchouli
Base: Leather, Labdanum, Castoreum, Styrax

Sean John I AM KING Review

Sean John’s first offerings, Unforgivable and Unforgivable Woman, didn’t excite me terribly. The feminine is perfectly nice, but the masculine annoyed my nose. I AM KING is supposed to be a ‘unique masculine freshness’ (lifted from the overly camp website). I love the idea that we need another fresh fragrance!

The scent opens with Orange peel. It’s not just orange though, there is Tangerine as well! It smells convincing for roughly 10 seconds then smells like a “faked” and oddly synthetic Mandarin. If you are looking for an Orange scent, then Hermes has got that covered with the much more effective and convincing Concentrée and Eau D’Orange Verte. I don’t get any of the listed ‘Berry’, Imperial French (what?) or otherwise.
The heart is essentially the same Mandarin on top of the odd, citrus and milky smelling musky-aquatic note I get from both Boss Pure and Fahrenheit 32. Either of those gives the same effect but much more pronounced.
The base is slightly salty, I assume from the naming of Vetiver in the note listing that’s what I’m smelling, with a very light woods note, and the Mandarin is still present even though the scent itself is barely perceptible by this point. If you want a better salty base, go for Beyond Paradise or Bvlgari Aqva/Aqva Marine. A good effort? Not really. We’ve seen the same thing hundreds of times since Acqua di Gio. “I AM MEDIOCRE”.

Top: Tangerine Zest, Orange, Cranberry, Imperial French Berry
Middle: Key Lime Pie, Lemon Creme
Base: Labdanum, Cedar, Vetiver, Sandalwood Essences

Comme Des Garcons 2 Review

Comme des Garcons 2 was the first fragrance I smelled that I thought was just a bit, well, odd. I bought it on the spot because I longed to understand it. As soon as I got home, and found Ink in the notes, the whole thing made sense.

2 opens with a blast of nose tingling Aldehydes, not at all like the fatty aldehydes used in No5 or White Linen, with bright fruity notes. A slight sugar note lingers for a few seconds, then the smell is of a fruit cocktail – but not overly sweet like many fruity florals are. The Magnolia note is very prominent to me, too, and it smells almost feminine for a while.

The heart and base notes are basically Ink. 2 is meant to smell of ‘Sumi Ink’. If Sumi Ink smells like this, I’d like to be painted with it. But it’s definitely Inky. If you don’t think Ink has a smell, draw a big ball with a biro on some paper and sniff it. If you imagine that and add an almost Banana-y smell, you’ll have a good idea of the heart of 2.
It dries into a warm Amber, with a soft powdery quality, which is hidden behind the ink note.
Ink is probably the defining character of the fragrance. It’s all over it, as though a picture has been drawn or painted and then a bottle of ink has spilled all over the picture, wiped away, and left it’s hue all over the original picture.

Top: New Aldehydes, Mandarin, Angelica Root
Middle:  Cade, Maté Absolute, Cumin, Magnolia, Folia Absolute, Floral Notes
Base: Patchouli, Labdanum, Incense, Ink, Amber, Cedarwood, Vetiver

“Best of ’08” Infusion d’Homme Review

I think Prada’s newest offerings are both wonderful scents. I fell in love with Infusion d’Iris at first sniff. A sweet, soft, green floral scent. It makes me think of pressed Orange Flowers. I don’t feel that the feminine is particularly girly, and I wore it, most men probably could. As soon as I heard there was going to be a masculine, I was intrigued. I first smelled Infusion d’Homme in a duty free store at Heathrow and was annoyed with myself all the way to Hong Kong for not buying a bottle. I was fascinated by the sensation I got when I smelled it. I tried it again in Hong Kong, and was convinced I’d be buying a bottle, but instead I went to eat some noodles and continued my journey to Australia. I eventually bought a bottle when I got back home to England a few weeks later, along with the shower gel.

The opening is Aldehydic, slightly sparkling and similar to Chanel No5, but also dry. And not just dry in the crisp sense. Dry in the sense that it induces dryness at the back of the throat, parching and arid. I’d never experienced this from a fragrance before d’Homme.  The Neroli is the main player in the top notes, and the Iris isn’t really the main feature. After about 20 minutes, the sweet citric Mandarin note appears. I find this unusual in that citrus notes are usually there right away in the first spray and then disappear.
This turns into soap. Old fashioned soap, like my Nan used to keep in her bathroom. This is incredibly comforting, and I guess because of the memories of my grandparents. It also reminds me of Estee Lauder’s White Linen, crisp and like fresh laundry. Floral notes intermingle in the background, especially the Iris, which gives a light powdery quality to the heart. It feels very elegant to wear.
I would call the drydown of this fragrance a light Vetiver. Similar to Guerlain’s classic, but cleaner. The Guerlain is earthy and d’Homme is not. It doesn’t always appear to be around, but it drifts in and out of perception all day if using the bath products as well. If not, it doesn’t last particularly well.

Infusion d’Homme is a clean woody floral scent of beauty. I can see this becoming a classic fragrance over the next few years, I can see myself getting lynched for this, but to me it’s a modern Eau Sauvage.

Top: Mandarin Orange, Neroli, Aldehydes

Middle: Iris, Galbanum, Cedar, Vetiver

Base: Benzoin, Frankincense

Estée Lauder Beyond Paradise for Men

This is my first review, I hope someone finds it useful. For the most-part, I will be reviewing fragrances that I either own, have a sample of, or have tried in a store and made a mass of notes on. Beyond Paradise is described by Lauder as a “prismatic wood”. I’m not sure if prismatic really defines this fragrance well, but this is certainly bright in that it exudes a clean and (as much as I hate to use this word when describing fragrance) fresh aura.
What I love about Beyond Paradise is that it is abstract, a real fantasy fragrance, and incorporates a note know as “Eden’s Mist”, from the Eden Project in Cornwall.

At first, I smell a lot of Citrus, fruits, a shot of Melon and most importantly, Cucumber.
Then, an Aquatic accord, that smells like a field does after a short rainstorm in the summer, held up by Lavender and Thyme, bringing an almost menthol quality. Also, I smell a Patchouli which is much like the Patchouli in Prada Amber’s (the feminine) top notes.
The base of this fragrance is incredibly long lasting – I get at least 7 hours out of it. Melaleuca Bark, Vetiver and Oakmoss are what Lauder says are in here – and I definitely detect the Oakmoss and Vetiver, but it brings to mind driftwood that has washed up on a pebble beach months ago, and lost much of it’s saltiness.

Top: Eden’s Mist, Jabuticaba Fruit, Eden Buchu
Middle: Lavender, Sage, Tarragon, Thyme, Cistus
Base: Melaleuca, Eden Vetiver, Beach Wood, Oak Moss, Patchouli