Le Bonbon by Montagne

The Journey

I started the journey into this fragrance with a sample of Montagne’s Le Bonbon some months ago, an inspiration of Baccarat Rouge 540, I thought to myself “this will be great” but other than that, had no other pre-conceptions going in.  I had seen the original being hyped by the fragrance community to no end, but, truth be told, I hadn’t read about it or watched any reviews, I had zero idea what to expect.  I sprayed it  on the bends of my arms and found it very soft and hard to decipher, it was not love at first sniff for me, not because I found it bad but rather because I found it lacking character, that one spray on each arm bend did not give me a good starting base. My wife, who has a very sensitive nose, immediately told me it smelled like a hospital hallway, I was blown away, she had no context about this fragrance so I was surprised she mentioned that, I, however, would never compare this to a hospital, for me it was like a “artisanal cotton candy” or the cotton candy you would expect at a farmer’s market, calling itself revolutionary, “cotton candy without the added sweetness” I imagined someone would call it. Later that day, my daughter smelled it and immediately asked me why I was using her fragrance Clouds by Ariana Grande, however, after getting close to me and smelling it directly from my skin, she immediately retracted and told me “it’s kinda the same but it isn’t”, she did say it smelled amazing though. The puzzle began on my head. What is with this fragrance! I decided to get a bottle and do 3 things, One: Review it by itself, Two: Compare it to the original and Three: Compare it to Clouds by Ariana Grande.  I like solving puzzles and this one piqued my interest.

Part of my process for reviews involves smelling the fragrance, making notes and then reading about it. Why do I do this? I want to see how far off I am and if there is something I should concentrate on for future tests. When I started researching for it, comments I read compared it to the iodine mixture hospitals use, others to cotton candy, others to pure sugar while others went as far as to say they can’t smell anything.  This fragrance has layers and understanding it would be a puzzle.  Adding to the puzzle is the fact that this scent is signed by Francis Kurkdjian, a perfumer I admire, creator of Le Male, Ultra Male, Mr Burberry and most importantly (in my book), Elie Saab’s Essence Line, a favorite line of mine, the pedigree is there and the hype is real, Kurkdjian can turn one note into magic so I could only wonder what he could do with the ingredients for BR540.

The Opening

Saffron, the most expensive agricultural product in the world has a very unique scent , it’s earthy, salty sweet, almost like honey, I’s a smell I remember only because my parents used to get saffron to make Paellas and my mom would bring the flower sometimes, the rare item has such a unique scent that it stuck with me forever. I detect a little saffron …however,  the addition of Jasmine (a powerful scent by itself) really tones down the sweetness and turns it more earthy, this does not feel fake, does not feel incomplete and it commands your attention,  in fact, the first few times I wore it I could not split one scent from the other, nothing stood out…the blend was amazing… I have to make a point here: Fragrances are about blending and finding what scents blend well with other, in my opinion,  this fragrance takes 2 ingredients that not only blend well together but rather they change each other and make each other better.  Why do I say that? I can tell you that Saffron, although it smells very unique, its not something I want on my skin…because its potent and in your face, it’s got too much character by itself, Jasmine is beautiful, but, if not blended correctly, smells like expensive soap, it also has a character that I don’t want by itself. Yet….combined, they fight each other on your skin and none wins so you can’t detect one versus the other, during the fight, they tone each other down while allowing their best traits to be on display,  it’s pretty amazing if Im honest.

The opening is soft, it’s inoffensively clean…it’s fresh under the connotation of fresh meaning airy, not on the connotation of fresh being citrusy, it is not woody although it can feel like it has a resin layer (which I attribute to the earthiness of the saffron). Upon inspecting the opening further, sweetness is extracted, it turns cotton candy for me, but not like a $2 cotton candy that is only sugar, this is cotton made by a Michelin star chef, perhaps replacing the sugar with extracted jasmine notes and sea salt. Its a fascinating opening and I’ve sprayed 6 sprays on me without feeling like the scent bubble drowns me, its a fragrance that truly complements you.

Compared to the Original: This is interesting, when I put one fragrance on each arm, it’s an experiment by itself. I’ll explain. The opening is not the same for me between them, BR540 is more Saffron, Le Bonbon is more Jasmine, they share the same wave but one makes the notes more prominent than the other, for example, BR540 has the volume set to 4 or 4.5, whereas Le Bonbon has it to 7, Le Bonbon is louder and because of that you can miss some of the depth of BR540, at first I thought this was a result of me taking deeper sniffs with BR540 but no, even when I go soft, BR540 is just more complicated. This is why I say this is an experiment, if I was only smelling Le Bonbon or only smelling BR450, I could not for the life of me detect one note dominating over the other, but, when I do a 1:1 comparison between them, suddenly I can! I have to say, I do prefer the opening of the original even if harder to detect on your skin, but I prefer it only a little bit., would I pay 3 or 4 times the price for the opening difference? That’s easy, NO. I wouldn’t pay 10% more for the opening difference. It’s crazy to me how close Montagne can get these openings, but more importantly, it’s incredible to me that their inspired expression feels complete by itself, even if its not the same as the original, that takes something to accomplish.

The Drydown

Did you know that Ambergris comes from sperm whales only? ..and that it’s estimated that only 1% of those produce ambergris? Talk about a rare ingredient on top of another (saffron)! I will not explain the whole history and processing of ambergris as it’s rather disgusting but…suffice to say, the salty marine mix of ambergris is sought after by perfumers because the musk like quality it produces is second to none. I’ll be honest, It’s hard for me to detect the note of ambergris…mainly because I’ve never smelled it by itself so I can only detect it as a “it smells like this other fragrance that has ambergris”, for me it brings ocean saltiness to the mix and I feel on this fragrance it gives the cedar a “moldy” presence, meaning it gives the cedar a humid tone …it removes the dryness of cedar and helps it sit on your skin less woody, if that makes any sense! My favorite aspect of this fragrance is the dry down, the complexity is there when you look for it, when your nose is trained enough, but, there is also a certain mass appeal as well….I know in the fragrance community mass appeal is almost a bad word, for me its not, for me it means that at a party everyone will think the fragrance is fascinating…how can that be a bad thing?

Compared to Original: The same notes from the opening remain and the same effect. After the first hour, Le Bonbon remains louder and not as “wide” as BR540, when I mean wide is my way of expressing that BR540 provides a wider range of notes while Le Bonbon, with prominent cedar is a bit more linear.. BR540 remains very targeted to the scent, it’s salty, marine, woody, it’s a thing of beauty, I have to admit.  Now, don’t get me wrong here… Le Bonbon, by itself, is amazing, it’s also salty, marine, woody and has that amazing cedar note, it feels natural and it’s airy on your skin, I like that it’s louder as I can enjoy it more without having to “look for it” as I had to do with BR540, also, Le Bonbon lasted way longer on my skin so by the end of the day, I could still detect it when BR540 was long gone. This is Le Bonbon’s ticket to success, they created an inspiration of the original, a similar profile but different execution, Le Bonbon by itself is fascinating and the days I wore it by itself (not against anything else), I found myself sniffing myself throughout the day, specially my arm bends and taking deep sniffs just so that I could detect all the notes.

The Magic Act

This fragrance has a layer that is very strange… I call it The disappearing act! For some reason, unbeknown to me as I am not a chemist, this scent disappears from you olfactory radar.. the bubble, for lack of better terminology, is no longer there or so you think. That was driving me nuts! So much in fact that I mentioned it to a friend while we were out and it just so happened I was testing the frag that day.. I said, “I’m using this fragrance but I think the performance is not great”, her response? “You are kidding right? I can only smell whatever you are wearing” so I mentioned the same thing to people around me (at the party) and 10 out of 10 people corrected me telling me that the scent bubble was there! Later I realized that if I look for the scent, I find it, but if I don’t, it disappears on me. I can’t tell you what that is, only that through 5 days of testing, it remained the same story. Note: All 10 people I asked mentioned how great the fragrance was although many said “I can’t pull that one, too sweet for me”. This is as far as you’ll read from a compliments stand-point on my reviews!

Compared to Ariana Grand Clouds

So, I might disappoint plenty of readers but, I don’t see it. I can’t compare them because they are not similar to me, in fact, I went completely blind to Clouds, I didn’t read the notes before trying it. The opening has bergamot!  These are not comparable on the opening, not at all.  When it comes to the dry down, I’ll be honest, they don’t compare. Clouds is whipped cream through-out, its not complex, its not salty, it’s not earthy. Clouds for me is milky and turns musky eventually,  its totally different. I admit that from a distance I can sort of see where the comparisons are but once you put them to the test, they don’t compare. Don’t get me wrong here… I really like Clouds, but don’t get it because it imitates BR540 or you’ll be very disappointed.

Performance

This lasts 7-9 hours on my skin when I do 4 sprays on the chest. During the last hours, it’s definitively faint, but it’s still there. One thing to be careful of is the scent bubble because you might not notice it but others will, you’ve been warned!

Conclusion

Do I recommend it? This answer, like the fragrance, has layers. I think Montagne did a magnificent job of creating an inspired expression, the original is expensive and this is a no brainer to own if you like the DNA of BR540… you will not be disappointed.  Do I recommend this over  getting the original? I think you can own Le Bonbon by itself and never feel you are missing out on BR540 if you are a “passive fan”,  meaning someone who likes the fragrance but doesn’t want to consider it their signature scent, but, if you really really like BR540, I would have both. I would save BR540 for special occasions where I want someone to enjoy the fragrance with me and I would have Montagne for every time I just want to enjoy the fragrance. As for what I’ll do, myself, I’ll just have a bottle of Montagne because my love for BR540 is fleeting, I wont pursue it too much but its comforting to know I can have it when I want.

Remember when I said the recommendation has layers….  This fragrance is a puzzle, it has layers and they are hard to decipher, but, like any good puzzle, it’s rewarding as you start figuring it out. This DNA grows on you….I suggest sticking to it and trying it multiple times , you will be rewarded by an appreciation to it and once you reach that, it took me 3 full wears before I could see why this scent profile is hyped, by wear #5, I was reaching for it and looking forward to wearing it.

To conclude, my first impression on this was not positive, I couldn’t believe what I was smelling was so hyped… but I gave it a chance and it grew on me…but perhaps, I was the one that needed to grow for it, , the hype, as it turns out, was real.  I’m glad I discovered this fragrance later in my fragrance journey, had I used this when I started, I would’ve given it tags like feminine, or “too soft”, or “too sweet” and never wore it, I would’ve missed out!  Today, I can appreciate it and enjoy it, Today, I can honestly say, this is a hidden jewel in my collection. Montagne, keep doing what you are doing, my scent journey thanks you.

Have you tried this? Do you agree with me? Passionately disagree? Let me know in the comments!

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

X.

Parfum de Cerise by Montagne

Intro

Cherry is one of those scents we all can probably associate immediately, whether it’s through a good topping, or a pie, or eating them by themselves, cherries have a unique scent that is easily recognizable. However, cherry is not a note we search for on our fragrances too often, perhaps because we associate it with a child’s perfume, toothpaste, or badly prepared candles that ruin the scent for us. I’ve got to be honest here, when I first read about Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry, I had zero interest in it, years of working as a bartender ruined the cherry scent for me, the extra sweet and syrupy maraschino cherries I served on hundreds of drinks (and came on a extra large glass jar) made sure I wanted to stay away from that note, for me, it was extra sweet and annoying as a note.

A couple of months ago I went to Oahu, Hawaii. At the airport, I had some free time and decided to visit the fragrance store there with my daughter, they had a huge collection of Tom Ford fragrances and Lost Cherry was there. The bottle, I’ll admit, intrigued me but I stayed clear of it….until my daughter sprayed it on a testing strip, WOW, the cherry and almond bomb captivated me immediately, I was blown away, could I really care about cherry? I tried many fragrances that day…many…yet I’m here telling you about the time I went to Hawaii and met Lost Cherry for the first time.

So, did I buy it? That’s the thing… Lost Cherry is very expensive, we are talking $335 for 50ml, that’s an expensive purchase, I was planning it on gifting it to myself in Christmas, and then… I met Parfum de Cerise from Montagne.

Opening

The opening on Parfum de Cerise is a cherry bomb, it’s maraschino cherry with an edge, the rose keeps the sweetness from getting too crazy…but, don’t let me fool you, this is like the topping of a pie you make with organic cherries, it’s beautiful and so different from other fragrances, I find myself sniffing this constantly…and more interesting, I don’t get a throwback at my bartender days when I smell this, it’s completely different, for me, this is not syrupy, it’s a bag of cherries, its a topping on a pie, it’s loud and evoking. What’s more, the opening reminds of Hawaii immediately and sharing that moment with my daughter, an added bonus.

Compared to the Original: I did many tests comparing both fragrances and Lost Cherry opens less pie topping for me, the almond is there from the beginning with Lost Cherry, honestly, I like the opening of Lost Cherry better just because it’s more complex, but, openings only last for a few minutes and for example, today, I sprayed Perfum de Cerise on my hand just so that I could get a sniff of that cherry (even though I have a decant of Lost Cherry)…so, there’s that.

Mid

Hello beautiful. I literally said those words first time I experienced the mid of this fragrance, the almond comes and plays with you and removes some of the cherry, I know it sounds crazy, but I would say the mid of this fragrance and the opening of Lost Cherry are almost the same to my nose! I know, madness! This is a great stage of the fragrance, I’m pretty sensitive to rose scents and here I can barely detect it but, I believe its what makes the fragrance less sweet and gives it a darker edge than you would expect from something that includes the word cherry on its name. The mid starts opening up the florals as well,  this is a complicated scent and it’s here where you start detecting it. My wife says that it leans feminine and I think it’s because of the florals that get added, for me it remains unisex and the florals just open up the stage for the wood notes.

Compared to the Original: Lost Cherry, to my nose, is harder to detect a mid stage on it, for me, LC goes from cherry/almond/rose to sandalwood & guaiac, perhaps, the opening is longer and it stays true to it all the way to drydown.

DryDown

Sometimes, specially with sweet fragrances, I think the drydown can end up being a letdown, I was afraid of that with Parfum de Cerise, I was wrong. The drydown still contains cherry but now, the almond, the sandalwood, the cedar and vetiver create a creamy base for the cherry, it removes the sweetness but not by losing the full DNA, 7 hours later you’ll still know what you applied in the morning, the next day…when your shirt or your jacket still smell of cherries, you’ll know. I often catch sniffs of this during the day and it always put a smile on my face, it’s such a complicated scent but it’s also so earthy and natural, it’s like a great 18 year Scotch, it knows what it is and it does it well, it’s not loud and no note is overwhelming others, they all play together and the sandalwood really comes through with the cherry, yet other times you’ll feel the vetiver more, it’s a great scent.

Compared to the Original: Lost Cherry has a more prominent guaic wood for me, it goes a little more “animalic” than Parfum de Cerise goes, now, if you spray them on my hands and ask me to tell you which one is which, I couldn’t, I could tell you they are not exactly the same but I would be hard pressed to tell you which one is which. If you’ve read my reviews before, I’ve mentioned that I can’t really say that something is 90% or 93% similar or whatever because that’s not how my nose works, I can talk about whether or not I’ll miss something from the original if I use Parfum de Cerise and the answer to that is no, I wouldn’t.

Performance

The word beast gets thrown around a lot, and for me beast means that it’s loud and the sillage and projection are very intense. I don’t think this is beast under those terms then, this is constant, it lasts at least 7 to 9 hours on my skin projecting for at least 2 hours in the beginning. It’s not a beast like a bear would be, rather, its like a panther, you can feel the presence and its captivating,

Usage

Usage is very subjective, for me, this is safe for office, works in semi-cold temperatures, fits a t-shirt and jeans the same way that it’ll fit something dressier. I’ll say this, you wear this and you are wearing something different, it’ll take some getting used to but dang it, it’s amazing.

Conclusion

Look, I don’t like bringing money into my reviews because it can lead to my readers interpreting that as “for the money, it’s good”, in this case, I want to bring money as a comparison to the original: Right now, you can go to Montagne’s website and order Parfum de Cerise for less than 10% of what it’ll cost you to get the same size of Lost Cherry from discounters! 10%! That is crazy talk and why I wanted to bring it to your attention, this fragrance is AT LEAST similar to the original, it’s not identical but it’s similar and where they are different it’s not something that you’ll notice unless you wear them both at the same time. I am grateful for Tom Ford’s mad scientists for concocting this formula, they created something that is truly espectacular, on the same way, Im thankful for Montagne for choosing to create an inspired expression that I can afford, that feels good on my skin and has the performance that it has. Good job Montagne, good job.

Hope you enjoy my review, have you tried Montagne’s Parfum de Cerise? Let me know on the comments below!

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

X.

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Buy Parfum de Cerise here: https://www.montagneparfums.com/fragrance/parfum-de-cerise

Top notes: Cherry, Almond, Rose.
Middle notes: Gardenia, Jasmine, Pistachio, Griotte syrup.
Base notes: Sandalwood, cedar wood, vetiver, guaiac wood, tonka, vanilla, Peru balsam.

Pineapple Royale by Montagne

Creed Aventus, commonly known as the King by anyone who gets even a little deep into the world of fragrances. I’ve often wondered why this is, given I don’t see it as the best scent out there, but, I’ll give you my theory: It’s natural. That’s it, Creed introduced the frag community to a natural smelling fresh scent, something that complements and gets absorbed by your skin in a fresh way, instead of sitting on top of skin as a strong wood scent or a strong citrus, like you would have in the 80’s and 90s.  That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it! Regardless of the reason, Aventus is so important to the fragrance community that the business of cloning or creating an inspired expression of it has become a normal thing, even for designer houses!. Hundreds of videos compare Aventus to every other fragrance out there, and Aventus versus every clone or inspired expression out there, the reality is that Aventus is here to stay and companies will continue to search for that DNA as a way of bringing new customers to the door, with that, my review today is about Montagne’s offer to the world of Inspired Expressions, Pineapple Royale.

When I think of Aventus I think of 2 notes, Pineapple and Birch,  a wrong assumption on my part as the fragrance is actually composed of 12+ ingredients, but, that’s the DNA for me…those 2 notes, those are the main violins on the orchestra. Pineapple Royale takes what I consider to be a “safe” approach to creating their fragrance: They go natural. Now, notice when I use the word safe, I do it on a different context, I say safe as a way of saying “If we go natural, we’ll get more customers”, they don’t rely on gimmicky marketing or fancy bottles, or 2 paragraphs of beautiful words on their page for the product, or people lying through their teeth on youtube sponsored videos, they rely on word of mouth and great ingredients and they hope the fragrance will do the work. So, does Pineapple Royale take those 2 ingredients seriously? Let’s go deep:

Opening

When you first try Pineapple Royale (PR), the first note you notice is that pineapple, it’s fresh, it’s airy, never powdery, it’s complimented by the bergamot but unlike other fragrances that use bergamot, you don’t think of citrus when you first spray this, you think of pineapple, a little sour but not sour, a little sweet but not sweet, the opening is fresh and clean, it makes you feel refreshed and evokes the feeling of wearing a slightly-loose but perfectly fitting linen shirt under a ceiling fan on a fresh day, after a shower, that’s the best way I can describe this opening, it’s beautiful and without a doubt, very evocative of the Creed DNA. There’s a note of apple but I can barely feel it, it’s fleeting, I don’t get any lemon or citruses like some other Aventus’s inspired expressions, this is perhaps the most airy opening on an inspired expression I’ve ever experienced.

Mid

My favorite part of PR, the mid. When the pineapple note gets sub-dued, it’s like the drums are shut down and now you can hear the violin by itself and WOW. I love this stage of PR, the birch starts coming out poking it’s head, the patchouli and the rose are there too playing with the birch, it’s less fresh but more inviting, more complicated, the pineapple is still there and very present but now it’s not the main attraction, the mid (around 15 min after applying) is , for me, almost perfect.

Application

I have to mention this….even though it’s weird. When I apply fragrances, I do 5 sprays usually, 3 on the chest (never on the neck because I don’t want my neck to over-dry and I have a beard that I’m not interested in it smelling like a cologne) and 1 spray each on the bend of my arms. I do this for a variety of reasons but most importantly, I like smelling the bend of my arm during the day and it just looks like I’m yawning or something in front of people, they don’t know what I’m doing but they don’t care as its not un-natural to move your hand and place the bend of your arm on top of your mouth/nose. I put it on my chest because I’ll lift my shirt from the neck area during the day and that works as aromatherapy for me, it helps me with stress and frankly, allows me to enjoy my fragrance during the day. But…why do I go through the effort of explaining my application process for you? Because of the dry down

DryDown

The dry down on PR is birch, musk and ambergris to me, I know there’s oak moss there but I’m not as suited to detect that scent so it goes over my head. It’s a good dry down, masculine, complete and natural, but I’ll be honest, it’s nothing to go crazy about specially if you own many fragrances with those notes, the only obvious difference is how natural it feels. It’s not a bad dry down, don’t get me wrong, but buying this frag for that would be challenging for me….and this is where it gets interesting. This fragrance keeps its “head” (the top / mid notes) for hours if you don’t “cover” it or drown it, what I mean by this is…the sprays I put on my arms, because I use short sleeved shirts, do not get in contact with fabric and the smell of pineapple and birch is detectable for HOURS (and I love smelling it through the day). However, the sprays I put on my chest, covered by my shirt, immediately go to the musk and ambergris stage, it’s very strange, it’s almost like the top notes literally sit on top of my skin and therefore get picked up by the fabric. I don’t think this information is necessarily important in your purchasing decision but it’s good to know! Did I mention how much I love the Pineapple/Birch on this? It’s magical.

Performance

Right now, for me, the performance is not good. I get 3-5 hours depending on the day before it goes into skin scent territory, it just doesn’t last. Now, there’s a caveat here, I live in Seattle where it’s been pretty cold so I bet those temperatures are directly affecting the performance, I’ll test again in the spring/summer and will modify this review to the results of that. So, I don’t think this is a Fall or Winter fragrance unless you only want a few hours of a scent bubble.

Comparisons to others…

I thought about going deep and test and test against Club de Nuit Intense (CDNI) because it’s such a famous version of Aventus, but, I decided to not do it because of 1 reason: They don’t compare. CDNI is synthetic and has a metallic after-scent that is very off-putting to me, even if the top notes are good, I can always tell it’s cheap, with PR, I don’t get that at all, nothing is headache inducing and nothing feels cheap about it, so yeah, no use comparing. I also though about comparing to DUA’s versions, I decided to not do that because of a single reason: DUA is beast mode, it wouldn’t be fair to either to compare, PR is more about the little notes, the airy feeling, the fresh feeling, the natural ingredients… DUA is about people around you telling you “DUDE, I can smell you from a mile away”, so they over index on some notes to get that, don’t get me wrong, I love DUA, but they do things their way and its different from Montagne

Conclusion

I’ve been thinking about this conclusion for a while…do I do a conclusion as a comparison to Aventus, do I do it as a comparison to other clones or inspired expressions, do I do it as a stand-alone fragrance. I decided on the last one, I’ll do a Montagne Pineapple Royale as a stand-alone fragrance conclusion: You can’t beat it, period. I keep a list of every fragrance I have ever bought and the price I paid for it,  I went in and compared what I paid for this versus what you can get for the same money (on discounters) and it’s also a fresh fragrance, notables include Issey Miyake’s summer fragrance, Ferrari’s Noble series, Bvlgari Blv, Bentley for Men, Individual by Mont Blanc, CDNI, L’Homme by YSL among others… I’ve got to be honest here, none of those touch the quality of Pineapple Royale, none of them have that immediate vibe of freshness when you put it on, none of them have that wow factor. How good is Pineapple Royale then? I tried 5 versions fo Green Irish Tweed before I decided to buy the original, Pineapple Royale was my purchase #3 of Aventus, I’m not buying Aventus. No need.

Thank you for reading! '

X.

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Pineapple Royale: https://www.montagneparfums.com/fragrance/pineappleroyale

Malay Aklan by Montagne

As you get into the world of fragrances, one thing becomes clear…Creed has a name because it deserves to have a name, I would love to tell you otherwise as their prices make them hard to collect but I tell you, when you first smell a Creed you notice that it’s DNA is very hard to replicate and their scents tend to have a very natural feeling to them (specially the Millesime series).  Why am I talking so well about Creed for a review about Montagne? Easy, so you know how high my expectations are, so you know that when I review an inspired expression of Creed’s Millesime Imperial, I will be brutal and I expect to be impressed, anything less will become an instant NO from me (I’m looking at you Armaf).

The Opening

Malay Aklan opens up very fresh, marine, bergamot, fruits… but none of it is heavy, everything is airy as though it sits on top of your skin like dew on a big leaf, it opens up so fresh that you wonder if it’ll perform, if anyone around you would be able to tell you are wearing it, you doubt yourself for a second there and perhaps over-spray to compensate….then you get it, the scent bubble, the beautiful and natural scent bubble that makes you think of mandarins for a second, shifting into fruits later without losing that marine salty undertone that yells fresh at you. It never becomes cloying,  its never insulting, never animalic, never leather, just fresh…

The Mid & The DryDown

On the listed ingredients, there’s Iris, I can’t notice it…for me iris is always powdery and this fragrance never goes  powdery for me, …..but, the musk! Oh how magical is the musk and the sandalwood! What is the dry down for me? This is hard to describe, but I’ll try. Usually, chemical-induced fresh fragrances lose their opening notes and mid notes too fast and basically  turn into the heavy base wood note, whatever that is. Malay Aklan dries down to its sandalwood and musk base but it doesn’t lose that fresh feel , it stays airy and marine, in fact…and I know this is weird, for me the change from opening to dry down is not exponential, its linear (but not in a negative way, linear in a keep-enjoying-me-linear), the clean vibe stays and hours after applying this you can sniff the same DNA still, that’s a big deal with fresh fragrances that lose potency over the day…this loses potency but it’s still there, up to 9 hours later….it’s still there! It’s crazy, it’s almost too powerful for a “freshy”.

Compared to the Original

So I was finally able to test it, on skin, against the original, however, I could only do it once and I put MI on my skin and later put Malay, so, it’s not a deep dive per se as I wasn’t able to do my multiple day comparison test. However, this is where I stand: On my skin, with my chemistry, they are fairly similar but I detect more fruit on MI over Malay, there’s some watermelon DNA that isn’t listed for MI but that I can detect. Now, this is where it gets interesting, I hate the watermelon note (perhaps why I can detect it), it just doesn’t jive with me, now, it disappears on MI eventually so not too bad but, still, the point stands. I’ll say this, they are not completely alike but Malay Aklan is very close AND, unlike other houses that I’ve tried…Malay feels as natural as Millesime does, you don’t get any chemicals at all, it feels so clean. So, if you put them on test strips without names…most people would say they are the same fragrance (on the opening) and on the dry down Malay’s performance is over the top, it’s quite ridiculous, so that depends if you like that or not. If you are a fan of the watermelon note…however….you should pursue MI over Malay. If you ask me which one I would buy? That’s easy, Malay everyday, pound for pound there’s nothing on the Creed version that makes me think it should get my money.

A word of Caution

I like aquatic fragrances to go to the gym, or I did in my 20s, as a test, I decided to wear Malay for the gym, I put 1 spray on the chest and drove to the gym. Did cardio first so sweat a lot, the scent bubble became too much for the gym, TOO MUCH. On the gym I am very self-conscious of strong smells and Malay was off putting with “lemon pledge” DNA that I was not happy with. This was my fault, I shouldn’t had wore it for the gym! No one complained…but, I’m 6’2, over 200 pounds and have a big beard, people don’t usually stop me on the street to talk to me.

Conclusion 

I’ll be honest here, I got this fragrance thinking that if it didn’t work out, I would give it to my 12 year old son (who  has a healthy collection of Armaf bottles because of this same reason), worst case scenario, they don’t work for me…I buy the original and he gets the inspired expression. First time I tried Malay Aklan, I was impressed by the scent, but, truly believed it wouldn’t perform, it was too airy to perform I told myself and I made a note about measuring longevity….I have a note, 9 hours later that simply says “WOW, still there”.

I had my doubts about projection…so I tested that, I can say you would get 1.5 hours of solid projection, mind you, this is not Beast Mode, this is not going to leave a trail of scent wherever you go, this is the projection you want at a house party (even when its outside) where someone close can smell it without making the air around you so dense no one can ignore it. I’ve worn Malay Aklan three times, it has grown on me further with every wear, its a fantastic scent and one that I truly believe benefits my collection, should you buy it? Well….maybe? If you like Millesime Imperiale, then yes, 100%, if you don’t know it…try it first, it’s well done and playful, but so are tons of other fragrances that are as interesting. If you ask me “Should I buy this to replace MI?”, then the answer is Yes.

 I give this fragrance a solid 8/10 for itself, a 10/10 if I consider it costs $40, a 8/10 with how close it is to the original. I am happy its part of my collection, looking forward to Summer so I can use this a ton!

Eau Santal by Montagne

Sandalwood is perhaps the most mis-understood of all scents, it’s strong but can be turned into a deceptively simple fragrance, in the case of Eau Santal, an interpretation of Le Labo’s Santal 33, Montagne goes in your face…and it goes in early! What do I mean by that? When you first wear this I would describe it with one word: prehistoric. Let me tell you why, if you’ve never smelled Santal 33, be prepared for a strong fragrance….let me rephrase that, be prepared for a really-strong fragrance!, its woody, it’s dry, it’s spicy, when I use the word prehistoric its because this is what I imagine opening up a bark of a tree that’s been sitting for hundreds of years smell like, it’s that earthy. People use the word “pungent” to describe certain frags, I would use this word with one caveat…pungent implies it smells bad, in this case, this is pungent because it’s sharp and strong, do not expect a soft “woody” scent that sits on your skin, expect a slap of wood on the opening, but, that sharpness is tone down by something…that’s where the bergamot and the mandarin come into place, it makes the fragrance airy and removes some of the heaviness you expect from such a woody frag. I

The dry down of this scent is all about wood and what I can only describe as “old paper”, its very strong yet the spicy tones down and what you get instead is this lovely sandalwood that is not tamed but perhaps its willing to share the spotlight with the other ingredients, it goes from prehistoric to civilized by bringing in the cardamon, the amber, the iris that provides just a touch of the powdery feel that makes it pop on your skin. It sits lovely on your skin and provides hours of a scent bubble, I don’t apply cologne to my shirts but I imagine putting this on your shirt will mean you can smell it all day!

Now, how does this compare to the original and to competitors?: I determined that I needed to compare this against Le Labo’s original fragrance and compare it against at least one of the famous “clone houses”,  I decided to use Alexandria Fragrance’s Santal’s Kiss for this purpose. How did I conduct my test…it literally took me three days! I used Eau Santal by itself on Day 1 as I wanted to understand how this fragrance conducted itself when playing solo, wore LeLabo and Santal 33 on each arm on Day 2 and then on Day 3, I compared Eau Santal to Santal’s Kiss by doing the same test. All 3 days included me going to the office and working for around 9 hours, all while taking notes on my handy notebook!

How does it compare against Santal 33?

I’ve got to be honest, my nose is not specific enough for me to say that this is 93% close or some random number like that, I did a test however, the day I wore it solo, I went to Nordstrom (I needed to sample something else), the lady asked me what I was wearing, I gave her my arm to smell, she said “Santal 33 I see, nice”.  If you ask me how close it is, I would say…. I could not identify one versus the other if blind testing.  Now, let’s be honest, when I wore Santal 33 and Montagne on different arms, I could tell a difference, Santal 33 smelled “cleaner” but not enough for me to be able to say how different which means it’s extremely close. I think Santal 33 has more cardamon if I were to identify anything different.

How does it compare with Alexandria Fragrance’s Santal’s Kiss?

I hate to say this because I used to like Santal’s Kiss a ton…but, Montagne’s is a bit more airy and therefore closer to the original, the dry down of Montagne does not sit heavy on your skin,  I can detect the amber and the musk more, that makes a big difference, this fragrance is meant to be Eau de Parfum, not extrait, and Montagne made that right!

How does it perform?

In one word? Epic. I put 2 sprays on my chest, one on each arm bend, …that lasted 14 hours! At hour 14, I showered and I could still smell it! The projection was at least 3 feet for the first 2 hours. This is what beast mode gets defined as! Now, this is a strong scent so be careful, if you are taking public transportation and you just applied it…you might get the stink eye from someone because the projection is beastly! Beastly!

Conclusion

There’s a simple formula here…..price vs performance, do you go with the original or do you go with the inspired expression? Montagne is the winner, hands down. The price of this bottle versus what you get is simply ridiculous, Santal 33 is extremely expensive and I tell you, unless you have both bottles and try them side by side, you will not be able to tell one from the other, if you wear this to a party…and someone knows Santal 33, the’ll talk to you about it. Amazing and highly recommended.

Spiritus Dei by DUA

Inspired by “By Killian’s Single Malt” this is a boozy scent…but, what is boozy scent? When some people hear boozy fragrance, the image on their heads might be of a drunk person and that perspiration of alcohol, the smell inside a car when someone who’s been drinking gets in or perhaps the smell of a bar after a full night of drinking…but it’s not…boozy scents are an olfactory experience reminiscent of high end liquors minus the alcohol and, what I consider more important, a different base.

What do I mean by that? where a good Scotch has a barley & yeast base, a good boozy fragrance has a wood base, in the case of Spiritus Dei, it’s cedar that stays with you long after the initial opening is gone… but this fragrance is more than that, its a beautiful concoction of plum and vanilla, on first spray, it smells like good rum, it’s shocking, it makes you question wether you made the right decision with this fragrance because it truly opens like liquor….when I first put it on my wife immediately said “It smells like Coquito”, a traditional Puerto Rican Christmas-season drink that is heavy on rum. However, that first rum explosion is short lived (2 minutes) and the plum comes alive… but it’s the plum you would sniff on a good whiskey, its airy and pungent at the same time, its the kind of smell you need to keep ingesting…to keep savoring because it’s relentless, it stays with you and never loses that potency. The mid on this fragrance tends to get absorbed into the base, my journey with this fragrance goes from opening to base, without anything in the middle..perhaps its the strong rum scent in the beginning that knocks my senses for a quick minute, perhaps it’s that the single malt, plum, vanilla and the cedar are too strong, I don’t mind, this fragrance is one that makes me coming back to it. 

Why smell like a drink…? Someone asked me that. I don’t think of this as smelling like a drink, although I love a good single malt scotch, I would never pour it on me to absorb the smell. Whiskey tends to hide notes for you, makes you search for them (that is arguably half the fun of drinking them), Spiritus Dei tells you “Here’s your plum, your vanilla, your single malt, your cedar….go enjoy it, see how it complements you? See how it keeps giving?”. Performance on this can only be described in superlatives….”epic” perhaps comes to mind? This lasted on my skin way over 18 hours and on my clothes for 2 days. 4 sprays will do for the non-over-sprayer, with a a projection of at least 2-3 hours. So yes, this is what is commonly referred as beast mode in the frag community.

Invasion of the Barbers by DUA

When I decided to do in-depth reviews of fragrances I love (or just like), one of the hardest decisions was... which ones do I review first? Does my order imply importance, does it convey a sense of reverence of one bottle vs the other? Then I realized...I was over-thinking it (again) and I should go with the flow and perhaps review the one that has been on my mind for a while or at the moment of sitting down, smelling it, enjoying it... and trying to put my thoughts into words for my readers....and this is how I arrived at Invasion of the Barbers by DUA. If you haven't read my review of Tonkalicious, you should, because I talk about the company and what they do, giving you some insight into what DUA is about.

What is up with that name? Invasion of the Barbers, nostalgic me thinks of high-end barbershops where everything smells of very fresh lavender and leather seats tell a story, however, I also get reminded of Sweeney Todd and the feel of a single razor removing stubble, weird, I know. Invasion of the Barbers is a play on the name of the fragrance this was inspired from, Invasion Barbare by Parfums MDCI. First, a history lesson: Parfums MDCI Invasion Barbare was founded in 2003 ("MDCI" stands for Marchal Dessins et Créations Indépendantes") and it was created by perfumer Stephanie Bakouche. Their bottles are a thing of beauty, pure art, sculpted stoppers, the glass, everything about this brand is beautiful, but alas, with that beauty comes the expense and the hard-to-find aspect of the bottles. I tried searching for the bottle and getting it after learning Luca Turin reveres on his book "Perfumes", and it was an exercise in frustration for me. The bottle would cost me upwards of $250 and I could not find a place where I could get a sample for a good price, meaning I would buy a tester for way too much money just to see if I like it! I decided to get the DUA inspiration after reading and hearing good things about it, oh boy, was I in for a surprise.

Let me address the elephant in the room, many people consider what I'm doing to be wrong, they believe that by me purchasing inspired expressions, I am collaborating in what they see as an insult to the individual creators.... as though there is some sort of reverence to be held for that creation... I just don't see it that way, sorry about that. I find art in my different things and these fragrances, for me, are never exactly the same as the original and that's why I enjoy them. For example, I bought 2 different "clones" of Creed's Green Irish Tweed.... I didn't like any of them, so I got the real thing, because the inspirations were lacking something for me but the original was perfect in any way that I cared about, but, my son prefers one of those clones on his skin to the real thing!. In some bottles, I actually prefer the inspired expression because the longevity is better, or the projection, in some cases, getting an inspired expression makes me realize that owning a bottle of the original would be a waste of money for me as the fragrance doesn't lend itself to be constantly used by me... what I'm saying is...do your thing and think less of the labels and more about how the fragrance complements you!

Back to what's important now, the review. This fragrance is considered an oriental fougere (pronounced foozh-air), fougere means fern in French, built on a base of lavender, coumarin and oakmoss, these fragrances are characterized by its sharp herbaceous and woody scent. What fougere means to me is lavender! Mind you, not your typical "candle smell" lavender, something more complex but with that fresh / clean shaven & groomed vibe. The opening of this fragrance is lavender, ginger with a slight note of vanilla.... but they mix in a creamy way. Cardamon is also playing here but every note here is so perfectly executed that its hard to just pin-point one at a time. The drydown, my favorite aspect of this fragrance, is a lot of the notes from the opening but now musk and patchouli play main violin, and the character of this bottle really comes through. This is clean, complex, fresh....yet....its not powdery (like other fougeres tend to be), it's not piney, it remains close to you skin and really complements you, it's creamy at best and fresh through-out. I often get asked if a fragrance is masculine or feminine, I find that funny, I think scents have no gender and you should wear whatever works for you. This fragrance reminds me of being clean shaven and well groomed so perhaps that invokes things in my brain that say "it's masculine" but that's silly talk, my immediate memory should not deter a woman from using this and trust me, it's a beautiful scent you don't want to miss on!

In conclusion... I am sorry I could not compare both fragrances and give you an honest opinion of the comparison, in exchange, I've reviewed this fragrance by itself and determined how it stands by itself...and it does, it delivers. This fragrance makes me feel better immediately after putting it on, it makes my outlook on the day to be more positive, it truly complements me.

Until next time, you can follow me on Instagram for my almost daily scent of the day and shorter reviews!

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L'Envol by Cartier

 In the world of fragrances, there are names that evoke a feeling of prestige, names that by just hearing them, you might think the fragrance is special. One of those is Cartier, the name itself conjures wealth, beauty, fast expensive cars, expensive parties at hotels, jewelry, watches, well dressed humans, shoes, boats... all of that and then some. Fragrances though...what does the name Cartier conjure in your mind? I tell you what it does for me.. it makes me think "old", mind you, not old as in lame, old as in "I'll wear Cartier when I turn 60 because I'll do it justice", however, I decided to try L'Envol, for the record...I'm 41.

L'Envol was introduced in 2016 as a men's fragrance in both Eau de Parfum (EDP) and Eau de Toilette (EDT) variations. A little note on EDP vs EDT, most people will tell you that EDP is always better because it's more concentrated, and that, technically, is true (the second part at least). EDP has a higher concentration of essential oils to water, ranging from around 15% to 20%, whereas EDT lingers at less than 10%, this means EDP tends to last longer because the oil takes longer to evaporate from your skin, but, does that make it always better? I've found that on my skin (pale latino guy that sweats a lot and burns red like a lobster when exposed to the sun), EDT tends to work better, why is that, I don't know...but it's true (I am investigating and I will get to the bottom of it eventually!). So, with that preamble, why did I choose the EDP of L'Envol? Simply put...because it smells better, I compared both and the EDP takes the cake against the EDT, let me deep dive and explain what I mean.

Honey, the sweet and viscous food substance that was depicted as being foraged by humans at least 8,000 years ago in Cuevas de la Araña, Spain, honey is well known to all of us, the sweet substance is liked by arguably everyone....but what does Honey smell like? Would like you that smell on you? Would you bathe in it just to preserve that aroma? Although bathing in it is a thing we are lucky enough to live in a time where Mathilde Laurent used it as the main ingredient of L'Envol... and it turned out beautiful. When describing fragrances, its tough to say in words what you are feeling, when it comes to L'Envol, one word comes to mind: Character, L'Envol does not try to be modern, or cool, or liked by everyone, L'Envol knows what it is and demands that you either appreciate it or look away, the sweet honey opening is accompanied by Iris and Lavender, but lavender is subtle here... you can feel it, but its not the main character, it helps reduce the sweetness a little and move those florals into your attention span. The opening is so different from other honey-based fragrances which I attribute to the Iris on the mix...don't get me wrong, the honey is there but its refined honey, its honey from a long haired guy that named all of his bees, it's cared for, its unique and hits you with the elegance you expect from Cartier. Once this fragrance starts to dry-down, you get the Guaiac wood and the powdery aspect starts to become persistent, yet the honey remains, even if playing softly on the background...and when I say this, I go back to my previous statement, the honey stays on the background and helps the fragrance maintain the character that it started with. That's the ticket with this fragrance, it changes but remains its character and that is something I admire about it.

L'Envol evokes the feeling of drinking good scotch by yourself, by a fireplace, enjoying all the little intricacies and aromas, you do this because you like it...not to make others think you do. That's the definition of character in L'Envol.

Compared to the EDT: I only own the EDP version, but, have compared it against the EDT, note, this is a fragrance to be tested on skin...not on a piece of paper or cardboard (don't insult it like that), this needs to be experienced by burying your nose in it, by closing your eyes and letting your brain fly for a second. The EDT loses the complexity and its, in my honest opinion, watered down to the point of losing it's character and it just becomes "something to wear" rather than "something to enjoy"..

Compliments factor: Dear reader, as you'll learn from my journey, I am not about the compliments, I am not the sharpest dresser (I blame Eddie Bauer for my "tactical fashion"), I'm an introvert, I live in Seattle, I work with introverts, Im 6'2 with a big beard...people don't really walk to me and compliment me, specially on softer fragrances, it's not a thing, I wear this because I feel better when I do, it complements my day, it complements my mood for the day, it brings a smile to my face when I first wear it. I asked my daughter, a foodie, what she thinks and her response was "that is so different...it's like its sweet but not edible, I like it".

Conclusion: Cartier might evoke class, jewels and that 1% lifestyle, but this fragrance evokes character, being proud of who you are, as a scent, it commands you to take it seriously and not second guess it. I highly recommend this fragrance, my journey has taken me to different scents and I never thought honey was one I cared for...until I tried this. A solid 8/10.

Bonus: Did I mention the bottle is beautiful and feels very solid on your hand? Also....it's refillable!

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Tonkalicious by DUA

Today I review a fragrance from the house of DUA, but first, a little explanation about this house. In the fragrance world there a lot of "houses", there are (1) Designers (Calvin Klein, Armani, etc) that do fragrances as part of their extensive portfolio of products, (2) Non-Designers (Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Ferrari) that are brands that also go into fragrances to extend their lifestyle brand, (3) Niche (Mancera, Roja, Creed, etc) who only do fragrances and then there are the (4) Clones, often seen as a bad word because they try to recreate the fragrances from the groups above with less-than-stelar ingredients that can create a cheaper version of the fragrance (Armaf, etc). However, a "new" group has emerged, a group of oil-based fragrances that seek inspiration on the fragrances of the other groups but then add their flair to the equation, they take what they like about the fragrance and expand it to create their own version with perhaps a stronger base, or a different opening, this is where DUA lives and shines. Founded by Mahsam Raza, DUA creates both inspirations and original creations, all at a Extract de Parfum concentration meaning they are usually very strong and long-lasting, they also rely on high quality ingredients instead of cheaper alternatives. DUA is very polarizing in the fragrance community, some people hate them because they "copy", others adore and desperately wait for their next release with Mahsam being a folklore hero on their Facebook group. Mahsam, a charismatic guy, subscribes to the idea that everyone has an art, and his is the art of bringing beautiful fragrances to people who would never even try them in the first place... because he often seeks hard to find bottles, country specific releases or extremely expensive ones, and creates an inspired expression from them, meaning you get the same DNA from the fragrance, even if at the end they are not exactly alike. I can get behind that and at the time of this write-up have a total of 13 of their fragrances! Today, I concentrate on one, Tonkalicious, an inspired expression of Tonka Imperiale by Guerlain.

Through my journey in fragrances, I've realized and accepted that Guerlain is a brand I adore above them all, they have a dirty DNA to them that I just can't find on other brands. I own many of their fragrances, sometimes even the same fragrance in EDT and EDP versions just because I can detect the subtle differences in them. Fragrances, like many other sensory experiences, are very biased by definition, so, what I find amazing, others might not, and that is why I love them so much, they force us to make a decision...to like it or not, there's no friend zone in fragrances, there's committed or not, and I , for one, am a fan of that. Tonka, a wrinkled legume from South America that is often described as smelling like vanilla, cherry, almond, cloves... or even cinnamon! (some people swear unicorn horn dust is a main ingredient) tonka beans are actually illegal in the US since 1954 (for consumption) so I've never tried them in my granola, but oh...I love their smell. They bring this gourmand aroma to fragrances (gourmand means that is a perfume consisting primarily of "edible" ingredients), this does not mean all the ingredients fall in that category, it just means thats the impression it gives you, like its edible. I tend to navigate towards gourmand smells and Tonka is one of my favorite scents (Pure Tonka by Mugler comes to mind) so I decided to give this one a shot. For the record, I don't own or have ever smelled Guerlain's Tonka Imperiale, the price point to get it on my front door is beyond what I can stomach, so this review is based on Tonkalicious as a stand-alone product.

Tonkalicious starts....well....with TONKA! Now, this might sound obvious, but, that's not the case on all fragrances, the opening can go in a completely different direction from expected, not this, Tonkalicious makes your mouth water almost immediately, you can almost taste the flavor of Tonka.... but it's dirty, and this where I love this fragrance, it has that Guerlain DNA of avoiding sweet and instead going for dirty. When I say dirty, I don't mean dusty.... those are 2 different things, rose is dusty and feels dry to your nose, Guerlain is dirty.... meaning (for me) that it has that wood base always, that earthy undertone that never goes away. I detect Vanilla and almond almost immediately, what is that...cloves? I think so, but then it's cut with something, something makes it bright and pop...perhaps bergamot? It's hard for me to detect because my mind is all happy in tonka land but that could be it, again, Im in tonka land here. The drydown remains heavy on tonka but opening itself off for Cedar, the performance is above 8-9 hours on my skin and it projects very well for at least 2 hours. A common comment was "I can taste your fragrance in the air", Now, I never thought I would say this, but I will, this is better than Pure Tonka by Mugler and that's crazy because Mugler is my signature fragrance house and that was my go-to tonka-based fragrance. I can't attest of how close it is to Guerlain, only thing I can say is... if you gave me this scent on a bottle with no sticker and told me to guess the house, my mind would go for Guerlain. One common question on fragrances is: Did you get a lot of compliments? I wear fragrances because they complement me, because I love wearing them, because smelling them during the day brings me peace and transports me, having said that, my wife said "yummy" if that helps..

Conclusion: my take on this: This is a 9 out of 10 for the fragrance itself, if you like gourmands, you will not go wrong. The performance is crazy good, the sillage and projection are also crazy, notice: sillage is the scent trail, projection is what people around you get. So that's it, a great fragrance that will become a staple of my collection. If you think houses that seek inspiration on other scents are wrong for the world, dear reader of my review, I can't criticize that, but, I think you are missing out on some beautiful fragrances out there.

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