Maison 21 G

What do you think of creating your own scent? This was a question I asked myself when I got contacted by Maison 21 G to offer me their bespoke services (bespoke is adjective that means “made for a particular customer or user”). I was intrigued but nervous, the premise was simple: you choose some notes or accords, they do the rest, everything is done online and you receive a bottle or roll-on with your fragrance. Too easy to be good? Would this be a quality scent or a cheesy un-usable scent? I decided to try it out and will tell you about my experience

The Process

First, why the name? Maison 21 G, well…the 21 G comes from the idea that our soul weighs 21 grams and also because the perfumes are offered at a 21% concentration, that’s pretty cool right? Also, Maison is the French word for Home…which ties the whole idea together, so, there you have it, a pretty cool story for the name!

The process is all self-service and done online, you go to their page and select how you want to create the perfume, you can choose from (1) Based on your personality, (2) based on a fragrance you love already or (3) full custom where it’s based on your ingredients. To be honest, I tried all 3 but found the “based on your ingredients” to be my favorite, manly because I’m not a huge fan of quizzes (option #1) and I wanted to create something unique (which steered me away from doing a “inspiration” which is option #2).  

When you create your fragrance, you first select if you want a Day Perfume or a Night Perfume, I think this is good because it already starts filtering notes and accords for you, I selected a Night Time one…then, you select you Heart Note or main ingredient, which can be floral, woody or aromatic, for example…on floral you can select Lily of the Valey (Muguet), Jasmine, Tuberose…and others, plenty of options and the same is true for the other options, lots to explore! After you select your top scent, you select your base…and those change based on your top which I considered to be super cool becaus it takes the guessing out of which accords can complement each other. After you select both notes (or accords), you can customize the bottle by adding one of the images they offer or uploading your own, super easy and someone who isn’t technical can figure it out easily. My advice? Go check out the website and play with the options yourself, I think you’ll like what you see.

My fragrance

As I explored all of their accords….one struck me as different, Frangipani, also known as Plumeria, this strongly perfumed white flower is endemic to the Caribbean and Puerto Rico, that called on me
immediately, I decided that was my heart note, then…I needed to decide on a base….and I couldn’t decide between patchouli and Oud, sometimes I thought Musk would be good as well, I decided to email Maison 21 G and ask for their advice, they answered almost immediately and said “We like where you are going with this, we think you should do Frangipani, Rose, Oud and Patchouli”, I was in heaven just thinking about that combination, the sweet Frangipani, the depth of Rose, the sweetness of Patchouli and the character of Oud, “I’m in” is all I answered back and they helped me create the fragrance.

Three days letter, I received my fragrance which I called “El Morro” for the old fort in Puerto Rico and the fact that it reminds me of going out at night, it came with the custom photo I uploaded. The package was perfectly wrapped with a blotter on top that had my fragrance already on and a hand-written note. I was impressed, this is quality delivery..then I grabbed the 30ml bottle, it’s heavy, thick glass, comes with a little bag, the label is high quality and the cap is almost as heavy as the bottle itself, the sprayer is very decent, the whole thing screams quality and had I received this as a gift from someone, I would be impressed and would think it cost way more than it did. Had I received this as a present, I would’ve been blown away!

My fragrance opens up floral & sweet, white floral without the powder, white floral with a twist of rose that rounds things up in your head, the opening is amazing and perfectly unisex. It’s niche quality and stretches me. Soon the patchouli sweetens things up further and creates that bubble we all love from patchouli, that character….but, here’s the kicker, the fragrance never goes fully sweet or fully floral, it plays right in the middle of the two with a very distinct character on the background, I can’t tell you that I detect the oud by itself but there is a creaminess on the base of the fragrance that I often associate with agarwood, it’s deep and comforting. This is extremely well blended and it’s hard to pick one scent from the other, it truly is a night time fragrance and is quickly becoming a staple in my floral fragrances collection. I am very happy I went with Frangipani and even happier the company helped me round things up with the other ingredients, I wouldn’t change a thing from the fragrance I created, not a thing.

Conclusion

I was nervous about creating my own scent, I thought it would be cheesy, low quality and underwhelming, I was completely wrong. The process was easy, the bottle is high quality, the company was very easy to reach and my fragrance came out as fantastic and one I will use and treasure. This would make a great gift  specially with the customized bottle names and photos….but at the end, I think this is perfect for someone looking to create their own thing, looking to create something that when inevitably asked “What are you wearing?” you can answer….”this? I created this myself”, and I think that is awesome. Well done Maison 21 G, you have a customer for life.

Thanks for reading,

Xavier.

Instagram

Maison 21 G was cool enough to offer a 10% to my readers, you can use “M21Gxavier10” at checkout! 

Links

Frangipani on Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumeria 

Maison 21 G - https://maison21g.com/ 

21 Grams Experiment - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21_grams_experiment 

Carmanah by Wild Coast Perfumery

Questions:

What do you think of natural perfumes?
What do you think of Indie perfumery? 

Wild Coast Perfumery (WCP) is all about transparency and telling us what ingredients go into their creation, all natural, visit their website, their pledge is right there. I’ll admit, when I started really collecting I stayed away from indie mainly because it was a high risk with a potential high reward situation, but, it could also have a potential low reward, I told myself that trusting the “big” companies was better, I was under a blanket of security of thinking “they know better”, well… I’ve been proven wrong, time and time again, for example: Laurie’s creation: Carmanah.

Carmanah is an all natural creation from Wild Coast Perfumery in Vancouver Island, it opens with a really strong Lemon Verbena, a scent profile I often struggle with because I like it but don’t love it, the first 1.5 minutes are all about that Lemon…but, it’s not headache inducing or “too much” and it’s natural, it’s pleasing. After that initial blast…. OH MY! The flower heart of this fragrance opens up in a fantastic blossom that includes a very real jasmine enveloped in this amazing green bubble from the petit grain, absolutely welcoming, again, extremely natural and airy, like standing in a rain forest during a windy day.

The mid and dry down do bring some oakmoss to the mix, the green aspect of the fragrance becomes louder and although I couldn’t pick up the Lavender or Vanilla by themselves, I imagine is what keeps the balance on the fragrance from either going too floral or too green, it sits on the middle, exactly as you would expect as this is not an “aquatic” green, this has a backbone to the green notes, they sit on wood but wood doesn’t dominate them, it’s really well blended and perfectly unisex. My favorite aspect of this fragrance is how good it feels on your skin, it’s welcoming, fresh, clean and just complements you, that feeling is immediate and the fragrance (with 6-9 sprays) lasts over 8 hours on my skin, I like this so much that I’ve found ways to wear it 3 days in a row….I wouldn’t be surprised if that trend continues.

Look, getting into Indie fragrances can sometimes feel like a high risk, I get that, but, the 50ml of this fragrance is about the same price as Bvlgari Aqva Amara (same size) and I can tell you, hands down, this is better. In fact…and this was hard for me to accept, I prefer this to Creed’s Green Irish Tweed by a small margin , not because they are similar scents because they are not…but, rather, because I would use this fragrance on the exact moments I would use GIT and this is more unique and welcoming to me (I prefer oakmoss-y scents as well). The performance is better, the uniqueness factor, the clean green scent, everything is just amplified better…also, when I buy from WCP, I’m buying from Laurie up in Vancouver Island, not from some big company, Laurie makes the fragrances by hand, bottles them, prepares the packages in what I consider the best boxed presentation I’ve received…. and that is amazing.

Have you tried anything from Wild Coast Perfumery?

Thanks for reading,

X. 

Instagram

More Photos!

Hacienda by Montagne

One of the last steps in my review process, once I’ve made up my mind and have achieved conclusions, is to read reviews about the fragrance and investigate some of the history behind it. Hacivat means “Ivan the Pilgrim” in Turkish and was created by the creative directors and founders of Nishane, apparently, HACIVAT is a tribute to elegance, competence and love of art and its a direct tribute to the traditional shadow puppetry for story telling in Istanbul. I’ll admit, I can’t stretch my imagination enough to understand how you portray all of that into a fragrance but I’m not here today to discuss the name Hacivat and instead I’m here to talk about Hacienda, Montagne’s inspired expression of the significantly expensive extrait de perfume by Nishane, I just thought it was an interesting story to share.

OPENING

Pineapple note…., quick question, did I just create a scent memory or profile on your head? If you’ve discovered Creed Aventus or any of its clones or derived inspirations, it will be hard to remove that association from your head, the pineapple note is so unique and identifiable that it creates that memory for you. Perhaps, the hardest part about reviewing Hacienda is exactly that, how to objectively talk about it without a never ending string of comparisons to Aventus, how to switch that scent memory for you and leave it open for a new interpretation…well, let’s start at the beginning, the opening!. Hacienda opens green & grassy….it’s dry, not sweet, it’s not watery and in fact it goes a little bitter, the oakmoss is the main violin here and the pineapple accord plays second violin to keep the oakmoss from going too sour, too earthy, too punchy. The pineapple notes is not the sparkly accord your scent memory is telling you, instead, its darker and less pronounced because Hacienda has a surprise up its sleeve…grapefruit! The distinct aroma of grapefruit stops Hacienda’s pineapple from going too sweet while the bergamot sparkles those notes to the surface, the bed of oakmoss is strong…but you can detect the fruity aspects as well, this is the main differentiator to the Aventus DNA, you could never describe Hacienda as a sweet fragrance but you might stretch to call it sour…it plays a perfect balance there in between and it’s amazing to experience.

DRYDOWN

I expected the oakmoss to take over the composition on the base, oakmoss absolute is a strong fixative after all. I was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t and I could still pick up some of the fruit intricacies now fighting for their position on the scent triangle with a significant wood accord, if I really push myself I can pick up some florals but those are fleeting. Look, there is no way I could tell you what wood aroma is more prevalent but I can tell you this is not a woody fragrance, this is a Chypre from beginning to end. The dry down sits heavy on your skin, this is not a easy-to-wear fragrance unless you’ve initiated yourself on the fragrance world, you won’t put this on and have people ask you what you are wearing because they want to buy it…they’ll ask because it’s unique, they’ll ask because they won’t really get it at first, and that is perhaps my favorite part of this fragrance, how complicated it is for such a simple combination of accords.

PERFORMANCE

Longevity wise, I was able to push this fragrance to 10 hours with 7 to 9 sprays on a well hydrated skin, amazing to say the least. Projection is around 1.5 feet and lasts for a good hour, no significant sillage to detect and Hacienda started becoming a skin scent about 5 hours in. Is this beast mode? Quick answer: Yes, long answer: for this type of fragrance it is, but, it doesn’t sacrifice any of the official notes to achieve it which is sadly what a beast mode fragrance tends to be.

BOTTLE AND SPRAYER

Montagne recently introduced a new sprayer which is more powerful (distance) at the expense of not necessarily being more wide (like a Dior sprayer). I like this sprayer better than the previous generation and allows for a significant amount of liquid per spray. 

CONCLUSION

This was a hard conclusion to get to, I tested Hacienda on my skin at least 20 times, I could not get to my conclusion at first, I compared it to Aventus and Aventus Cologne, I compared it to Montblanc Explorer, to Pineapple Royale…I wanted to see which one was better, I was obsessed….and then I realized what I was doing wrong….I was actually comparing them, I was being unfair to Hacienda, I was being unfair to every other fragrance, the second I stopped doing that and just thought of Hacienda as it’s own thing I was able to come to a conclusion, and here it is, you get Hacienda because you are a niche lover, because your love of fragrances goes a little beyond designer releases or crowd-pleasers, you want to stretch, you want to understand oakmoss and how it can play with fruity accords at the top, you want do deep dive into your fragrance and have some florals poke their heads to later disappear, my friends, Hacienda complements you and your hobby…..but, you will get complimented with Aventus faster, at the end, they don’t compare because one is not better than the other, they don’t compare because they don’t reside on the same playing field, and that, my friends, is fine by me.

Thanks for reading, what are your thoughts on Hacienda? share them with me below!

X.

Notes

Top: Bergamot, apple, grapefruit.

Mid: Jasmine, patchouli, cedarwood.

Base: Oakmoss absolute, clearwood, timberwood. 

Links

Montagne 

X’s Insta

Pineapple Frais by Montagne

 Intro

I’ll be the first to admit that when I learned Creed was releasing a Cologne version of Aventus, I thought it would be a watered down version of the original and a way of continuing to generate cash out of the Aventus wave that seems to be never-ending (I still get countless messages on my Instagram from new-comers to the fragrance community asking me whether the “investment” in Aventus is worth it). During the release of the Cologne I actually read that they pursued the DNA but were deviating enough to create a new thing instead, I got excited and waited for reviews, then, those seemed to be mixed with some people absolutely loving the Cologne and others saying it was a waste of money, the polarization of Aventus, a legacy of it’s own, continued with the Cologne. I put the Cologne in the back-burner of my brain and didn’t give it much thought… until I tried Montagne’s Inspiration: Pineapple Frais, let’s dig in.

Opening

My first thought on the opening was “Oh, this is a citrus version of Aventus, got it”, but it’s more than that, the first sniff is all about a subtle mandarin accord, it’s very natural and not cloying…but, it’s almost “great designer” instead of niche, the journey continues when that accord starts getting subdued by what I interpret to be a combination of ginger and vetiver, grassy, earthy while the birch really takes it’s turn at front violin as well. The symphony is quite pleasing and the mandarin orange continues to linger but the fragrance is no longer on the designer realm….it jumped, it got complicated by showing you how to combine multiple notes and seem simple, it’s beautiful and pleasing. On a 1:1 comparison…. I prefer this opening to the original Aventus, perhaps it’s because the Aventus DNA is so over-used that I’ve grown tired of it, or perhaps it’s because I prefer the mandarin note, but, 1:1 I would take this one every time. In terms of projection, I don’t get a ton and people can smell me 1 feet apart, beyond that, it’s hard for people to notice it, I don’t feel a scent cloud around me even with 8 sprays, but… I still feel I’m wearing this.

Heart & DryDown

Birch, Vetiver & Benzoin, if you like ‘em, you are in luck! The mandarin for me morphs into more of a mandarin peel… it gains a certain earthiness to it where the bright gets replaced by the textured… like, you feel the mandarin, but, it’s not yelling at you anymore and instead is this constant note on the background reminding you of it’s presence. I’d be hard pressed to describe the texture I feel from the wood as smoky…. but, I can see how that word would create the right image on your head so I’ll go with it, the birch feels light-smoky where the ginger keeps everything popping into the foreground. The more you keep sniffing, the more the benzoin pops its head to you, the balsam has this creamy undertone that really makes this fragrance different, this is not a note I feel on Aventus and one I’m glad to feel here. This is the easiest one to wear from the Creed DNA if you were to ask me, no one would find this offensive or challenging, the drydown remains a comfortable wood scent kissed by a grassy note while a orange/citrus scent lingers of top of it all, my favorite part of the drydown is that it can give you a nice scent for the un-initiated and a deep bouquet for those willing to keep sniffing.

Composition

I decided to add a paragraph about this to my review because this fragrance from Montagne requires a recognition about how well blended everything is! The first time I sprayed it, birch & mandarin kind of took over and it was hard for me to recognize other things, it was this woody heavy frag that although it was good, I couldn’t get into it, then I let it sit after a couple of sprays and a month went by…one word? WOW. Everything now just complements each other on the frag, nothing jumps at you and stays on the front, the more you sniff, the more your mind goes places, I am very impressed by that, it’s one of the most rounded fragrances I’ve tried from Montagne so far.

Conclusion

My initial lack of interest for the Aventus Cologne was based on reviews, my current love and passion for it is based on Pineapple Frais, I think that tells a story by itself. This is a fragrance I’ll gladly use when hanging with people that can be challenged by heavy fragrances, this will be pleasing to them while giving me the opportunity to find complexities on it at the same time, what other fragrance can do that for you? This is the kind of fragrance a non-initiated-in-the-fragcomm would call “nice” while an initiated person would say “oh…..that’s nice”. I thought, in the beginning of my discovery journey for this frag, that this was a good designer-ish scent ….that thought was short lived as the scent developed on my skin, the smoky woodiness, the grassy tone, the balsam and the orange/mandarin create a creamy combination that is hard to dislike and can provide you hours of comfort. Performance for me is 3 solid hours where I can easily find it on my skin with it lingering past 8 hrs for me total, not bad at all. Would I recommend this? Yes, no doubt in my mind, this fragrance is pleasing and for the price, you’d be hard pressed to find a direct competitor for it, this would also make for a great gift with the new boxes and sprayers that Montage is delivering really rounding things up. Well done Montagne, well done indeed.

Thanks for reading and please, share your thoughts me on this fragrance! Do you like it? If you haven’t tried it, is it on your radar to try it?

X.

https://www.montagneparfums.com/fragrance/pineapplefrais 

GIVEAWAY!

GIVEAWAY ALERT! (Instagram ONLY)

I created my Instagram account created last year as a way to share my passion for fragrances and show-off the beautiful bottles on my fragrance collection , never did I imagine I would gain so much knowledge from the fragcomm in such a short amount of time! The wholesomeness of the frag community is amazing. To celebrate 1,000+ followers and the fact that you guys are the BEST, I got together with Montagne Parfums and am doing my first GIVEAWAY! You can win 1 of 3 bottles and, optional, a IGTV or VC call with me to discuss the fragrances before you get them! This is a small way of giving back to a community that gives so much!

Montagne, the NYC-based original and inspired expressions fragrance house is one that I’ve enjoyed getting to know this past year, you’ve seen me review or display their bottles multiple times and I particularly like how natural the fragrances feel on your skin, now you can experience that as well!

Giveaway prizes:

* 3 winners will get 1 Montagne bottle each (same account cannot win more than once), winner picks the bottle they want from the available stock!

* (Optional) To help you decide on the bottle, I will send a list of the fragrances and what they are inspired on, also, we can do a public IGTV or private Video Conference call (in English or Spanish) to go over the Montagne fragrances, I’ll tell you my favorites, hyped ones, etc.

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How to participate:

1- Go to Instagram and Like this post

2- Follow @montagneparfums and @99bottledscents

3- In the comments for the post, tag at least One (1) friend.

4- (Optional) Help me out 🙏! Repost/share this post on your feed/story!

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Rules:

Open to US and International participants. One entry per person. Giveaway is in no way endorsed or sponsored by Instagram. Giveaway will be closed at 11:59 PM PST 8/6 and winners will be selected via a random comment picker and announced on 8/7 via a post and DM. Good Luck!

Victory by Triangle Fragrance

Fragrance houses come in many different shapes and forms, sometimes it’s a designer house looking to expand their portfolio, other times its a niche house that tackles finding scents that no one else is tackling and introducing us to different experiences through those scents,  we also get established non-fragrance-brands looking to gain followers and create a lifestyle around their house, and sometimes it’s indie houses that enter the fragrance world because they want to reach a certain population in their own way…but through the art of scent, I think this is where Triangle Fragrances comes into play. Magda Khalifa, a veteran and book author, decided to bring her book’s teachings into the fragrance world, from talking to her, I can gather this is a venture 100% driven by her, by her desire to create something, I can respect that and although I haven’t read her book, I have tried her first fragrance aptly named “Victory”, the boldest of all fragrances she is releasing… and today, I will be reviewing it. Let's deep dive on it!

Notes

Cuban Tobacco, Vanilla, Russian Leather & Bourbon

Review

On the opening, this fragrance is all about the Tobacco and the Bourbon although it can sometimes feel more like cognac… either way, it’s boozy!. On first sniff, you can detect a subtle green leaf tobacco that quickly turns a bit darker, a strong boozy note is also part of the opening, this is not fresh or aquatic, this is dark from the get-go, this is like stepping into the Cigar room of a steakhouse or entering a bar full of old-school bikers, a very sharp and strong scent indeed. Notice one thing, Tobacco is not the same as cigarette smoke and this fragrance, to my nose, is not cigarette, it’s a clean & pleasing tobacco, it's not smoky or incense, it’s a tobacco note drenched in cognac, then taking that note and wrapping it in a leather accord.

The opening lasts for a good 15 minutes and that’s when the leather kicks in. Let me nerd out for a minute on the leather note, if you are into fragrances, you will eventually find out that leather as a scent cannot be extracted from the skin of an animal, leather is created through other notes like birch tar and styrax, or synthesized with compounds created in a lab, regardless of how it’s created, it’s reminiscent of the real thing and that is perhaps a big reason why people love it (Ombré Leather by Tom Ford was Fragrantica’s 2019 Fragrance of the year by popular vote). Suffice to say, the leather note in the fragrance world is here to stay and many fragrance nerds and followers aim to find that perfect leather note for them. Victory is all about that leather note, sharp, in your face, unapologetic, pleasing and dominating.

The drydown, for me, is doubling down on that leather note and this is where it gets interesting for me… this is leather from a sofa on that cigar room, that’s the perfect analogy for me, this is not a jacket scent, this is a sofa that has been exposed to that tobacco for years. What did the perfumers use to mitigate that…I have not idea, but they managed to do it.

Through the life of the fragrance you can expect the leather note to continue to dominate but you'll still get the boozy accord and the tobacco accord, vanilla is used to keep every other note from going "sour" and I think it does a good job at it. The life of the fragrance remains pretty linear, you don't get a lot of changes or spikes on notes until the scent fades into a skin scent (8+ hours before that happens)

Who is this for? 

That was my first question when I tried it and through my testing, well, I actually asked Magda directly  and I really enjoyed her response, she said: “This is for a business man, for a decision making guy who enjoys a good cigar and a good bourbon, for the guy who doesn’t normally wear fragrance, Victory can be an introduction to this world of fragrances”. 

I can agree with her direction, Victory is so dark, sharp, strong and definitely a in-your-face leather boozy fragrance. My thoughts were always that this fragrance is for the  guy that isn’t the “citrus cologne wearing guy”, for the guy who will always shy away from a “fresh” scent and considers sharp scents to be the only thing they’ll apply to their skin, for the bike rider that just can’t get away from the leather scent and must have it at all times, for that guy, Triangle Fragrance created a winner.

Bottle & Pricing

The bottle is 3.4 oz (100ml) and its solid glass, hefty and truthfully a looker with the red and gold accents. The cap is snug (not magnetic) and you can lift the bottle by the cap. The atomizer is very decent and allows for a great application. 

Currently, you can find Victory at the Triangle Fragrance website for $120.

Use & Performance

This fragrance is "beast mode", a monicker to describe a fragrance that both projects from the skin more than others, and lasts for a long time to boot. Triangle fragrance are bottled at 18% which puts them at an Eau de Parfum concentration , two to four sprays will project 2 feet from you for an hour or so and will last on your skin 8+ hours, depending on the weather and temperature. The testing strips that I used would hold the scent for at least 3 days! 3 days! On clothes…this scent will stay until you wash them, period.

This fragrance, for me, is better used in cold weather as it’ll cut through the cold with ease. During the summer months, it feels too heavy and cloying, although, I noticed that it feels better on a cloudy day or when you are not directly under the sun. This is not a gym scent nor does it aim to be that! You wear this for certain ocassions, when you want the fragrance to deliver a message and trust me, it'll do that.

Final Thoughts

I like that Magda formed Triangle Fragrance and went with her gut for her first release. The tobacco is pleasing, the vanilla comes through and the boozy leather plays the symphony for this creation. I like that she  released the fragrance that she felt was bold and identified Victory for her,  something that spoke to her Freedom Triangle, she could've gone safe and created a boring crowd pleaser but I don't think that's who she is or what she wants Triangle Fragrance to be, with Victory she created something very unique and polarizing...the way fragrances should be, "office safe" scents are easily found now-a-days, this went the other direction, this went bold and I am a fan of that. The world of scents has felt safe for a while, Victory brought a sledgehammer to that glass house!

Thanks for reading! 

X.

As always, wear it because it complements you, not because of the compliments.

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L'Epice de Mer by Montagne

Introduction

Vikings were the Norse people from southern Scandinavia…but, that’s too nerdy. Vikings, to all of us,

were sailors, had the longship (boat we all think of), they were amazing navigators and traders, but most of all, they were fearless and smelled of the sea. Creed attempted to encapsulate all of this into a scent in 2017, nosed by Olivier Creed, he captured the spices and citruses Vikings transported, the smell of the sea, the unmistakable scent of pepper and the uplifting feeling of navigation. This review though, is not about Creed’s Viking, it is instead about an inspired expression by the house of Montagne, aptly called L’Epice de Mer. Let’s dig down on the fragrance.

Notes

Top: Pink pepper, bergamot, lemon.

Middle: Pimento berries, mint, rose, orris.

Base: Sandalwood, vetiver, ambergris, patchouli. 

Review

L’Epice (LE) opens up spicy and peppery, all sitting on a bed of fresh bright bergamot,  a very remote mint plays second or third violin, it’s also reminiscent of root, has that earthy vibe to it, almost dirty, it’s dry from the white floral angle, yet, it doesn’t have the powder associated with white florals. The bergamot does not dominate, neither does the lemon although they make their presence felt and can spike through the spiciness as the fragrance progresses. Ten to fifteen minutes in, the salty ambergris comes to the front of the fragrance and this is when I think it really shines, this is when the name L’Epice de Mer (the spice of sea) really shines through, at this stage, you can really experience the feeling of the sea on top a bed of spices, it’s marvelous. Imagine standing at the stern of a boat (back part), this boat is carrying spices and it’s made of wood, as you stand at the back the air sips through the hull of the boat and carries with it the spices you are transporting while at the same time the saltiness of the sea comes through, close your eyes and imagine that, you did? that’s L’Epice de Mer.

The dry down, 1 hour in, things get simpler and a very mature salty woody base comes to the front, the spices are now gone… but be aware, the drydown is salty, ambergris does not lose it’s head ever, what makes L’Epice feel like the sea is still there for the remainder of the fragrance’s life.  This makes the drydown stand on it’s own when compared to the plethora of wood based fragrances, it makes this unique. It’s pleasing and non-invasive, however, it does not become a crowd pleaser by itself, it remains weird enough to remind you of a niche fragrance.

When compared to the original, Viking is brighter and the ambergris salty note kicks in earlier, Viking has a better opening and it’s way more rounded early, to tie it to my previous reference, it feels like sitting on the boat from the get-go, it wastes no time showing it’s head.  L’Epice , however, takes longer, it’s very strange but it’s almost like both fragrances go through the same stages but Viking gets there faster, it develops almost immediately whereas L’Epicee takes some time to get there but those stages, once developed, are very similar, never completely the same, but, very close. How close? You know I don’t throw percentages around but, I’d say, close enough that unless I identified my tester strips, I wouldn’t remember which one is which.

Compared to Other Clones

I compared this to Alexandria Fragrance’s Seven Seas and instead of putting those 3 to fight each other, I

put L’Epice and Seven Seas on the ring. Seven Seas (black label) is darker and it does not “pop” like L’Epice does, it’s not bright, the pepper is different and I can barely feel the bergamot. Don’t get me wrong, Seven Seas is a fine fragrance and I like how deep it is, but, when compared to L’Epice, it loses, and it does because L’Epice has that ocean vibe, that pepper sparkling. 

A good way of concluding this: Seven Seas is like being inside the boat I was describing, but sitting at the front , close to the wood and no wind to be felt, the pepper feels like it’s been sitting for a while instead of fresh pepper, the saltiness and marine feeling is not as present. Seven Seas reminds me of the sandalwood and rose used on Viking where’s L’Epice reminds me of the bergamot, vetiver, lemon and ambergris on it. When compared to the original? Hands down, L’Epice takes the cake as closer comparison.

99BottledScents Grading & Usage

Scent: 8/10

Projection: 8/10 for 1 hour or so.

Sillage: with quarantine, it’s hard to measure this

Uniqueness: 8.5/10

Longevity: 7/10, lasts for a good 6 hours before becoming a fainter scent.

Versatility: 7/10, I can’t think of a situation I wouldn’t wear this, it wears up (suit) and down (flip flops & t-shirt).

Overall: 8/10

Is it Unisex? If you know me, I don’t like labeling fragrances for men or women, we should all feel the freedom to wear whatever scent we want. I sprayed this on my wife to do the test and I don’t prefer it on a woman, however, that is only my opinion and in no way should change your decision to wear and rock this!

Final Thoughts

When comparing clones or inspired expressions, it’s easy to judge the clone by the original or the other way around, judge the original by it’s clone. If you choose to judge the clone by the original, L’Epice is a bottle you can consider adding to your collection, the price difference between the Viking and L’Epice would be hard to justify for someone who only has a passing desire for Viking and I can assure you the essence of Viking is very present on this inspired expression. If you are ok with not owning Viking, you won’t find a better clone or inspired expression out there and when you put into the equation what L’Epice costs, this starts falling into the “no brainer” territory.

How about judging the original by it’s clone, this can happen when you don’t have access to the Original but think you know it just by the clone, this is where L’Epice can fall short. This is not a 1:1 representation of Viking and Creed can easily be called the king of ambergris, they know how to make that note really pop and Viking is a prime example of that, Viking feels like the ocean, Viking has an edge that only Creed can give a fragrance,if you want the original, only the original will do…. however, something to consider on your journey…Viking’s performance is horrible when compared to L’Epice, after 2-3 hours, Viking becomes a skin scent where L’Epice continues to project and that can tip the scale on L’Epice’s favor considering how close they are on the scent profile.

This brings me to my conclusion, when I first started reviewing L’Epice I thought it was going to be a bust given my experience with other Viking clones, I never thought I would like a clone over the OG, the consumerist part of my brain was like “the OG is better because it’s 4 times the price!”, alas, I can say that where I stand is this: The OG is better for the time it lasts on your skin, it is, the sprayer on the bottle is better, how fast it becomes rounded, all of that. I’m glad to own the original, but, had L’Epice be available when I bought the OG and I was able to compare them like I did just now, I wouldn’t had bought the OG and I would be happy with just owning this clone. Montagne did good by the Creed’s DNA and was able to bring us the spices of the sea for a price we all can afford. Good job Montagne, nah, scratch that, Great job.

Thanks for reading,

X.

Links:

L'Epice De Mer @ Montagne’s Website

My Instagram