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

Tobacco Noir by Montagne

Herod, a Parfums de Marly creation by none other than Olivier Pescheux, nose behind Eros Flame,

Valentino Noir Absolu Musc and 1 Million! (to name a few)  was introduced in 2012 and became a legend of its own, being the first niche in many people’s collections, being a love at first smell for countless stories in Instagram, suffice to say, Herod’s imprint in the fragrance world is here to stay. Like many niche scents, they can be expensive to acquire and in the case of Herod, a common critique is that the longevity can be better. Montagne, the inspired expression house based in NY has come up with a contender that pursues that Herod DNA, aptly named Tobacco Noir.

Openning

Tobacco Noir opens, for me, with a very strong green tobacco note and vanilla, enveloped in a grassy note , the note pyramid does not include Vetiver but that’s where my mind goes and that’s how I would describe it. It’s very comforting albeit it’s darkness (this is not a fresh fragrance, hence the noir name). Cinnamon and Pepper are also there, but I would not describe Tobacco Noir as being heavy on those notes, the opening is actually very well rounded and no note completely dominates over the other.

Heart

This fragrance’s middle is very complex and the incense really comes through, providing a sort of “ash” background, but it comes and goes, it’s extremely rounded and no notes take over the composition at any moment., I continue to detect Vanilla and now Musk is entering the composition, it’s one of those fragrances that are not linear, that invite you to keep investigating them.

DryDown

Vanilla, Musk, Cedar…. it’s very rounded, soft but woody, sweet but musky. I would consider this a crowd pleaser and would never assume it’s a niche offering just by the drydown alone, I can see why it’s so famous  though, it’s pleasing and although it can be a little complicated, the drydown being about those 3 major notes makes it so that it stays crowd pleasing. I really like this drydown, it’s very inviting and  not offensive.

Comparisons

Unfortunately, I don’t have Herod to compare it to, however, I do own Arabian Horse (AH) from Alexandria Fragrances. On opening, Tobacco Noir (TN) is more tobacco whereas AH is more peppery, almost peppercorn, for me, this part is the less inviting aspect of AH if I’m honest, it’s again the obsession with one note being all-powerful and taking over. However, things get better, Tobacco Noir goes woody when Arabian Horse goes sweet (ambery), with Tobacco Noir I have to wait for the incense, with Arabian Horse is there and it’s way more ashy than Tobacco Noir.  They are fairly different on the opening. A way of explaining it would be that Arabian Horse goes amber & pepper, whereas Tobacco Noir goes tobacco, vanilla & grassy. That grass note, although faint, is amazing.

Montagne goes peppery & cinnamon on the heart., at mid point, these 2 frags are completely different. Arabian Horse has a very strong note that completely takes over, I think its ISO E, it just wins with the pepper musk amber combination. It’s not bad, it’s just not complex.

On dry down they become way similar whereas AH is more amber with Tobacco Noir exposing cedar instead. No comparison for me, Tobacco Noir wins, for the wife, Arabian Horse wins because it’s denser, less skin scent. 

Conclusion

Montagne’s openings for PdM Inspirations are amazing, they really found something that clicked on the formula and I for one am excited to experience it, long gone are the days of harsh openings that threw notes in all directions, after some time to macerate, the first sprays are amazing. If you like the Herod DNA, you can’t go wrong, however, notice that the performance is not beast mode, Tobacco Noir will invite you to sniff and experiment, to learn, not necessarily to sit and be slapped in the face by it’s projection. This is extremely well done.

Thanks for reading,

X.

Top notes: Pepper, cinnamon, tobacco leaf absolute.

Middle notes: Incense.

Base notes: Musk, vanilla.

Links:

Tobacco Noir @ Montagne's Website

My Instagram

Azonto by Montagne

Bal D’Afrique , from the Stockholm based niche perfume house Byredo was introduced in 2009, nosed by Jerome Epinettee,  inspired by Paris in the late 1920’s and its infatuation with African culture, art, music, and dance. Well, that won’t invoke any memories for me so I decided to comprehend the feeling further, Bal translates to bale, bale from Africa, ok, this perhaps makes more sense as the grass notes and floral undertones would convey, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Today I explore Azonto, an inspired expression from NY based house Montagne.

Opening

Red & White Florals sprinkled with lemon, kissed by grass, enveloped in beach grapes. I know that sounds complicated…and I’m glad it does because that is what Azonto’s opening is like, complicated and fresh. Trying to peel out individual notes is very hard, lemon and vetiver are definitively there with a hint of neroli to my nose, neroli usually takes over fragrances, not this time. It’s a little powdery for me, perhaps from the violet but the fragrance itself does not feel as dry as other powder scents tend to be. The first few sniffs will definitively feel like a bale with vetiver grass surrounding a bunch of florals in the middle, picture it, a big bale with hay and vetiver intertwined on the outside, hiding a big bouquet of flowers in the middle, you open it on a humid day…that’s what this opening is like. I have many fragrances and have tested hundreds, the opening of this fragrance is on shelf of it’s own.

Heart & DryDown

Look, I’m not disappointed by the drydown, that would be too harsh of a word to use, it’s just that the opening is so perfect that I wished it stayed for a long time, I wish those notes lingered for hours, but alas, they don’t. The drydown is all about the amber, musk, vetiver with (what I think) is jasmine, basically, a woody base with a floral over-tone. It’s good, it’s just not this complicated fascinating fragrance the opening provided us, I love smelling this during the day, finding it on my skin and let it complement my day, it’s very fresh without being green, it’s floral enough without being floral.

Performance & Usage

Sadly, for me, this becomes a skin scent really fast, within 2 hours or so. I can find it on my skin for 6 to 8 hours easily, but, it does not project at all after the initial hour. This is 100% unisex, but, if you’ve read my review before you know I don’t believe in assigning gender to scent. This is a summer fragrance or perhaps a warmer spring day as well.

NOTE: I live in Seattle and the temperatures are on the cold side still, I will wear this when it gets warmer and will adjust my review if the performance changes due to weather changes.

Conclusion

I don’t own Bal D’ Afrique and to be honest, I’ve never even tried it before, I know it is a hyped fragrance but I never did pursue it. I tried Azonto thinking I wouldn’t like it, I was proved wrong so fast, I love the opening and how well mixed this fragrance is. Should you buy it? If you like fresh fragrances, I would say yes, the price to value proposition is amazing for what you get, there are ZERO designer fragrances I’ve tried that have this level of complexity, heck, even niche ones fall short.  However, if you are a big fan of beast-mode fragrance or those that last 2 days on your skin, I would consider the performance implications with this fragrance before pulling the trigger and getting it, me, I’ll spray this twice during the day…because I get to experience that amazing opening twice :) 

Thanks for reading,

X.

Top notes: Neroli, lemon, African marigold, bergamot, buchu.

Middle notes: Violet, jasmine, cyclamen.

Base notes: Musk, vetiver, cedarwood, ambery. 

Links:

Azonto @ Montagne's Website

My Instagram

Eau Bergamot by Montagne

Le Labo is a house you can’t judge by experiencing only one of their fragrances, Santal 33 is strong and

niche, Bergamote 22 on the other hand isn’t, it’s pleasing, soft, bright and can almost be called a crowd pleaser. Daphne Bugey, perfumer behind this fragrance is also responsible for Neroli 36, Rose 31, Tonka 25 and Lys 41 from the Le Labo empire, suffice to say, Daphne knows how to create a wonderful fragrance. Today I examine Eau Bergamot, an inspired expression of Bergamote 22 by the house of Montagne.

Review

BRIGHT! That’s the first word to comes to mind, sparkly bergamot is the first thing you feel. Interestingly enough, bergamot is technically not a lemon (as we tend to think) and instead it’s more related to a sour orange, hence the complicated and fascinating scent that can be extracted as oils from its rinds. Suffice to say, bergamot is a great note that can take sharp or dark connotations depending on what fragrance it’s used and how it’s mixed, it can be fleeting as it’s staying power is not great. On Eau Bergamot, the note is very bright which in this case it’s different from fresh, bright for me means it sparkles on your skin, comes alive, whereas fresh (for me) implies it envelops you on the scent, it brings you in like the smell of fresh coffee. Eau Bergamot is pretty straight-forward, bergamot, an amazing sour grapefruit and humid vetiver envelop a great amber/vanilla/musk base, although the fragrance can be described as simple, it should never be called boring or even similar to anything else, Eau Bergamot stands by it’s own merit and makes the wearer feel immediately happy, as if walking a citrus fields with no shirt on and the breeze picking up every scent. I feel this fragrance has a great resin/amber note on the dry down and I’m surprised the OG is not mentioned as a great amber dry down.

Performance is decent for a bergamot based fragrance that never lets the cedar or vetiver take over completely, I get 1 hour of solid projection and around 5 hours before it starts tapering off to a scent skin, note, performance on hot days is better as the sweat allows this fragrance to spark again! So, depending on use and number of sprays you  you might get 7 solid hours out of this.

Do I recommend this? If you like the bergamot note, that’s easy, yes. If you instead prefer darker fragrances, this might be too bright for you. When would I reach for this? In cases where I would reach for Acqua di Bergamot from Zegna, Mugler Cologne or Versace Man Eau Fraiche, I prefer Eau Bergamot to those because it’s less watery and the notes come alive!

Thanks for reading,

X.

Eau Bergamote @ Montagne's Website

Vanille Fraiche by Montagne

Parfums de Marly (PdM) introduced Layton in 2016, a creation of Hamid Merati-Kashani, nose of several fantastic fragrances including Percival from the same house, Oud Rose Intense from Fragrance Du Bois and Mystic Experience from Initio, suffice to say, Hamid knows what he’s doing and Layton might be his best creation with a 4.4 rating on Fragrantica, not a small feat to accomplish. Layton’s blue bottle has become a staple of fragrance shots on Instagram and you can’t find a forum that talks about scents that doesn’t obsess over this bottle, so, if you are pursuing Layton but find the price to be a deterrent, I present to you an alternative from Montagne, called Vanille Fraiche.

The Opening

The first few minutes with this fragrance, I can detect bergamot coming through, not dominating mind you, just coming trough, making the whole thing lively and sparkly, it’s enveloped in this lavender/apple/vanilla cloud that is then surrounded by wood and imprisoned… yes, the opening can be perceived as slightly fresh but it really isn’t a fresh fragrance, the sandalwood makes sure of that. In the past, I’ve had reservations about Montagne’s fragrances’s openings, I’ve found them different from the OGs and to be truthful, a little lacking. That changed with Vanille Fraiche, from the moment you apply it to your skin it’s well rounded and no notes go sparking off your skin in unknown directions, they work together to envelop you, out of my 15 Montagnes (so far), this has the best opening in terms of quality, it’s pretty amazing.

Heart & DryDown

The drydown for me is pretty crowd pleasing, it’s not challenging or mind-bending complicated, it’s very well done. You can detect different wood accords in there, sandalwood is not the only player and they all complement each other to form a wood bubble that is nothing short of pleasing, inside that bubble you get vanilla and lavender, a non-tart apple note as well, earthy apple, what you get from peeling and smelling the peel.  Note here, the patchouli comes through and it can create similarities to some of the Mugler fragrances, but, they are very different scents, Vanille Fraiche to me is about a ton of notes playing together, it feels complete, whether Mugler can take some notes and over-do them in a different way, pleasing as it is, it’s not this. The scent bubble from the drydown is inviting, office friendly, date approved, cuddling encouraged.

Is this spicy? That’s the one question I’m not able to answer yet… when compared to really spicy fragrances, this is not spicy to me, but, there is something on the drydown that invokes that spicy feeling, it’s a fleeting note that augments others, like pepper, I really like it but I’d be hard-pressed to call it spicy per-se.

Gender & Body Chemistry

Is this unisex? Absolutely. On my wife’s skin, bergamot is more lively than on mine and the apple is way more “detectable” than on my own skin, on my daughter’s skin, the fragrance goes almost fresh with the bergamot playing first violin as her skin tends to make fragrances sweeter than they are. Suffice to say, all 3 directions that I tested this on are incredible and I have no reservations saying this is a unisex fragrance (provided you like wood notes, of course)

Comparisons

I compared this to Alexandria Fragrance's Royal Equestrian, a clone I’ve held as a great interpretation before. Look, honesty can be brutal, but truth is important, Vanille Fraiche made me hate Royal Equestrian (RE), I wore them at the same time (one on each arm) and Royal Equestrian was so invasive on my skin, so loud without being rounded while Vanille Fraiche felt so complete on my skin, on the openings, there is a 100% clear winner and that is Vanille Fraiche. On the drydown, RE becomes more sub-dued and rounds itself better becoming more pleasing, but still, it augments certain notes (vanilla/apple) and they are louder than the wood, in my opinion, changing the fragrance from a wood bubble with apple/vanilla notes inside to a vanilla/apple bubble with wood notes inside, so, my comparison will be based on which I prefer and I do prefer Vanille Fraiche, I see no situation in which I would choose RE over Vanille Fraiche.

Compared to OG, I sadly ran out of my sampler for Layton before I could do a brutal and extended 1:1 comparison, but, the one time I compared them I couldn’t believe how close they were, in fact, I couldn’t take in that I was comparing two different fragrances. Layton is a staple scent on everyone’s collection, I’m not buying the OG, I don’t need to, I already have my Layton scent.

Performance

On cold days, this stops projecting after 1 hour and remains a pleasing skin scent for 8+ hours, on warmer days the projection lasts longer (perhaps 1.5 to 2 hours). Due to quarantine, measuring sillage or scent trail is almost impossible! This is not a beast mode fragrance and I’m glad it isn’t, making it beast mode would augment notes that need no augmenting, this scent profile is meant to be Eau de Parfum concentration for us to be able to enjoy all the notes and I’m glad Montagne respected that.

Conclusion

Clones or Inspired Expressions can feel different from the OGs on your skin because they lack the depth the OGs went for, for a long time those of us that like clones had to live with that and be ok with it, I think Montagne just introduced a fragrance that changes that perception, the opening on Vanille Fraiche is fantastic and the drydown worthy of daily wear. If you like Layton, this is an easy option which, considering the cost, is almost a no-brainer. The ingredients in Vanille Fraiche feel natural and over-spraying will not cause a headache or choke you, it will complement you. This is a solid 7/10, mainly because I find Layton to be too crowd pleasing for my taste. Well done Montagne, well done.


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

My Instagram.

Essence N°9 : Tubéreuse by Elie Saab

Introduction

This fragrance was created by Francis Kurkdjian, the nose behind JPG Le Male, Mr Burberry, Baccarat Rouge 540, Grand Soir and many others. The essence collection from Elie Saab is all about taking one prominent note and make it play first violin on the compositions behind the name of the fragrance, for example, on Essence N°9  Tubéreuse, it’s all about the white flower but the notes also contain cinnamon bark,  musk and bergamot, however, the Tuberose flower is the main note and the prominent one, same for the rest of the line. What’s more, the fragrances are are meant to complement each other (for example, this one can be layered with the Vetiver, Our or Amande Tonka versions), part of the genius that only Kurkdjian can bring to the table.

The Opening 

Tuberose (Agave amica) can lean feminine as it’s very floral and rounded…. but, I think it leans feminine because we associate certain notes with a population, in my case, I associate white florals with a fragrance my mom and her friends wore when I was growing up called White Diamonds …therefore I consider Tuberose to lean feminine. However, I think forcing a scent profile to a gender is not correct, it limits your olfactory experience and you’ll miss out on some gems out there.

Enter Essence No 9. The opening is all white floral, all powder, very powerful and loud, the cinnamon sharpens the opening, upon first spray you think it’ll grow close to skin but it doesn’t, it sparks, it does this magic trick where it rests on your skin first and THEN it becomes loud, the scent cloud, if you are not careful, will be super strong. Imagine grabbing two handfuls of freshly picked tuberose flowers, on a hot day where the flowers are particularly loud, now imagine burying your face in those flowers…. but what’s more, imagine your hands can hold twice the amount of flowers and you bury your face again…THAT is what this feels like. It’s amazing, it’s so pure and loud.

The DryDown

Musk enters the composition but it never takes over completely, the essence of the white flower is there even though it sits darker and earthier on your skin. The drydown is very well rounded and still floral, the powder aspect remains but it’s not what I would consider a powdery scent considering the ingredients (meaning: it’ll always be powdery

Performance

This fragrance is a beast! It will project 1 to 2 feet for at least 3 hours, and will be on your skin 8+ hours.

Where to Buy?

I got mine from FragranceNet, highly recommend you join their mailing list to get some significant discounts.

The Bottle and The Sprayer

The cap is magnetic and it's easy to hold the bottle from the cap (useful when you store bottles on a drawer), the bottle is thick glass and screams quality, the sprayer produces a beautiful mist, 9/10 for the bottle. One of my favorite bottles from my collection.

Conclusion

If you are into white florals, this is not to be missed, if you are into Tuberose (pure scent) then this is definitively not to be missed. It sparks from your skin with the most pure Tuberose note, the cinamon helps tone down the powder and add complexity to the scent, the bergamot makes it shine and the musk allows it to sit on your skin, rounded and complete. This is not everyone’s cup of tea, but, it’s the right person’s sip of whiskey. Totally recommended, 8/10.

Have you tried this or any from the Essence Line? Drop me a line and tell me about your experience!

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

Thanks for reading,


X.


My Instagram.

Good Life by Rêveur

Vetiver can take many forms in fragrances, it can be earthy with a strong edge, almost dirty… it can

also be bright, almost like a happy version of itself, regardless, the fragrant grass with a great fixative is a staple on perfumery, and Rêveur has included it on it’s Eaux de Perfume, Good Life.

The Opening

The first time I smelled Good life I remember thinking “so, this is what a green fragrance is”, don’t get wrong, I love Guerlain’s Vetiver, Creed’s Green Irish Tweed and many other well known green fragrances I’ve tried or owned before this one, but Good Life managed to separate itself from the rest by the perfect mix of mint, vetiver and lavender, the opening is very green and rooty , it’s strong, almost essential oil strong, however, it has a lot of character while it allows you to enjoy it. It’s important to note, I think the concentration on this fragrance is pretty high, all of the notes spark from your skin as though to yell at you, do not apply this and think it will disappear, it will not.

Look, I’m a sucker for lavender, I just am, but I’m not a fan of the overly done lavender note on soaps / shampoos /etc, I’m a fan of the earthy lavender and this is what I detect on Good Life. It stays at the same level as the Vetiver and the mint and they complement each other.

DryDown

This fragrance is linear,  meaning that it stays on the same vibe from opening to drydown with the difference being that musk now appears after 30 minutes or so, white musk is how I would describe it and what I feel. It compliments the vetiver as the mint and lavender die down from the notes. The drydown is less sharp on the vetiver but the fragrance never loses it’s DNA, this is a green fragrance from beginning to end, have no doubt about it.

Performance

Good Life will suffocate if you over-spray it, I did the mistake of spraying 7 times on me (3 on chest, 1 on neck, 1 on each arm bend, 1 on forearm that I rubbed with the other forearm) and the scent bubble became too much for the first 45 minutes or so, after that, it died down enough to be more tolerable (NOTE: This is subjective, some people love that beast mode so to each it's own). However, when I spray less, the scent bubble is airy and very pleasing for my taste. Longevity wise, expect a solid 5-7 hours depending on how hydrated your skin is (or if you apply it over lotion) and expect a projection of 1 feet for about 1-3 hours. Sillage is harder to measure in times of Quarantine, so, I was not able to measure it.

Use

This is a spring/summer fragrance with the capability of extending into warmer days during Fall. I use this when I’m wearing a buttoned short sleeve shirt with shorts and it really complements the attire and overall feeling of a sunny day. Because this is not a skin scent and it projects, the scent bubble will become more noticeable as you sweat so take that in consideration.

The Bottle and The Sprayer

I got the 1.7oz (50ml) and it comes with a nice pleather bag for travel. I can lift the bottle by the cap (which is useful as I store my fragrances in drawers) but the cap is not magnetic. The bottle has good heft to it and you can tell the label is applied manually as sometimes it’s not 100% centered, I like this as I appreciate the fact that someone worked on my bottle individually. The sprayer produces a nice mist but its not great at regulating, so, the spray it produces is awesome but don’t expect to press halfway and get a consistent spray like you would get with Dior. I rate the bottle and the sprayer at 6.5/10 where Creed, Kilian and Dior’s sprayers are 10.

Price

The 50ml goes for $80 ($1.60 / ml) while the 100ml goes for $120 ($1.20 / ml).  These prices enter the niche stratosphere as you would expect, but look, I’ll throw a curve-ball here… price per ML is on the same range as DUA and the quality and unique-ness you are getting here is better…so, there’s that. Also, price per ml is less than some offerings from Creed and I would compare this house to Creed in terms of quality. So yes, it’s a little expensive for a relatively unknown brand but I assure you, the quality is there.

Conclusion

Look, there are many options on green fragrances that are good and many options that are fantastic, I think Good Life is part of the fantastic ones and one you should consider, at $80 is not exactly cheap and committing to it might scare someone off, I suggest you visit Rêveur’s page and get some samples, put them to the test on your skin, play with them, see if you agree with me... I have a feeling you'll get the bottle.

I have 99 bottles of fragrance on my collection, I use Good Life several times a month as the weather gets warmer, that should tell you how high I think of this, 8/10 on my book.

Artic Palace by Montagne

Today I review Arctic Palace, a play on words that is descriptive of its inspired expression, Winter Palace, by the French niche house Memo Paris. The OG, released on 2019, was concocted by Alienor Massenet , same nose behind Replica Jazz Club, Emporio Armani Night and many Memo Fragrances…. suffice to say, the DNA and the history is there.

The Opening

Arctic Palace (AP) opens with a strong citrus, it does not have an Italian vibe though, for me it’s the citrus you would expect from a great mixed drink or great appetizer, a different take on orange, perhaps more orange peel to me, darker orange if you must, oily, earthy. I get grapefruit as well and it’s intoxicating… because that grapefruit never truly dominates. At the back of it all, there’s a beautiful medicinal wood that sits with a tea scent, there’s so many things you get from sniffing this and every time I sniff during the opening one of the notes comes sharper, the scream and then retract. Note: I thought this fragrance would be challenging for people that aren’t as involved with fragrances and I tried with at least 10 different individuals (at a party), they all liked it but none of them could describe it to me, many of them mentioned oranges while 1 person described a tea note, however, they all loved it the more they tried it. I was wrong, this is a crowd pleaser.

Mid

You beautiful beast. After 5 minutes on your skin, the slight sweetness of the opening all but disappears and the grapefruit now plays together with a resinous note, a little bit of bergamot as well, I would say the mid is a “fruity amber”… but please, don’t think of fruity as sweet, just as “coming from a fruit”.  The amber on the mid is marvelous, no other word to describe it. The mid, in this case, lasts for about 1-1.5 hours for me, it’s amazing.

DryDown

I’ll be honest, I wish the Mid was the dry down, it’s so potent! Arctic Palace moves into musk and resin for the drydown and those stay with you for a very long time (10+ hours), for me, the dry-down is unique enough because of the tea note that seems to have great duration and what I can only describe as a Yerba Maté note as well, it’s very slight mind you, but I can detect it, it gives the drydown a earthy tea note, it’s very complementary.

Compared to the Original

The openings, as it tends to be the case with inspired expressions, are not the same, the OG is more rounded in the opening, less citrus explosion and more bergamot/ambery opening to my nose, the tea note is prominent faster on the OG for me as well. On drydown, it’d be hard to tell them apart unless you constantly sniff looking for a difference, for example, I think the OG has a more detectable vanilla…but again…only when you really look for it.

Who should wear this?

I think this is perfectly unisex and something I’d wear with a t-shirt and shorts, or, with a slim fit white linen suit… which is my way of saying, it’s fresh …but it has character.

Conclusion

The world is in love with fresh fragrances, we see them everywhere, but, they all tend to blend together after a while, all the “acqua” based scents have created a boring world for those looking to stand-out, the Italian inspired citrus scents are never as sharp as you want them to be, I thought that was the way it is. Enter Arctic Palace, I now have a fresh fragrance that stands out and claims a place on my collection…and it stands there by itself, by it’s own virtue. My dear reader, I’d advise 2 things though: First, let it sit after you order it from Montagne, perhaps give it 2 weeks once you spray it a couple of times, you will notice such a difference on the fragrance! (My written notes from first sniff and the notes now are fairly different!) ..and Second thing, this might not be love at first sniff for you, it might seem “ordinary” but I assure you, wear it a few times, let the scent round up on your skin and I think you’ll be in for a surprise, catch sniffs of it during the day and realize how the notes become sharper for you with time, note how they complement you, let the fragrance do it’s thing while you sit back and enjoy the ride. I think this is a solid 7.5/10 and one Montagne needs to be proud of.

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


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Artic Palace

Mystic Oud by Montagne

Mystic Out is an inspired expression of Oud for Greatness, a 2018 composition from Initio Parfums
Prives. As part of my review, I wanted to see when Initio Parfums started (as a company), the scent is so well composed that I was sure it was an established house…I was wrong (and surprised), Initio started on 2015 and in that short time it has cemented it’s way into the niche perfumery world, Oud for Greatness is a force to be reckoned with but it’s price makes it un-attainable to many folks, enter Montagne and their expression called Mystic Oud.

OPENING

Saffron medley with Oud, at first sniff, the dirtiness of Oud comes through, that medicinal strain appears if only for a second and quickly gets put into place by the saffron, it’s something to marvel really, your brain is prepared for the Oud to get darker and stronger but instead it’s like it gets punched into submission by the saffron and a little bit of the nutmeg.  The top notes include Lavender, I can’t pick it apart by itself but I know something on the notes keeps it cleaner than just saffron and nutmeg so I attribute the Lavender to that. The opening is complex for the first few seconds and then becomes more linear, but, linear is not a bad thing… linear for me means that it keeps its head and doesn’t change constantly on you, allows you to appreciate it better. The Oud is still there, I can feel it, however, it’s a wearable Oud.. I need to pause here: What is wearable Oud? Well, Oud is very polarizing, for those of us that didn’t grow up with burning Oud at our houses find Oud to be a little too strong, specially the first few times you smell it, Oud after all comes from a sickness that the tree gets and the tree’s defense system creates what we know as Oud, therefore, it’s strong, it’s pungent and medicinal and most new-comers to the fragrance game call it “too strong to wear”, I believe Montagne has created that wearable Oud, something that even the un-initiated on Oud can appreciate and perhaps be that stepping stone for them to get into real Oud. My conclusion on the Opening? If you like Saffron and Oud, this is not to be missed, heck…if you like Saffron and Wood, this is not to be missed. I find the opening to remain for at least 5 minutes before the Mid kicks in.

MID

Hey Patchouli! That’s my first thought. Oud remains on the background and saffron starts mellowing out, I can’t feel the nutmeg anymore but ironically, can feel the lavender now as the patchouli kicks in as well. The mid for me is sweeter than the opening although that’s a hard word to use because sweet is not how I would describe this fragrance, however, if it ever feels sweet… it’s only at the mid.

I love barbershop/fougere scents…heck, I adore them, and this …during the mid only, it’s like a grown up barbershop scent, it’s very strange, like a hipster version of a lavender scent, like Jameson aged in Stout barrels, replacing the softer woods on those fougeres we know by a strong pungent wood, it’s very strange and fascinating. It’s something you want to keep smelling, it draws you in. I went through many of my bottles trying to see if the mid of a different fragrance beats this one, I tried Bois du Portugal by Creed, Plum Japonais by TF, Oud Wood by TF, A-Men by Mugler (my signature scent), Bottled Oud by Boss, Essence #4 Oud by Elie Saab, Versace Oud Noir… none of them touch this on the mid. I love how the Patchouli feels so different from the others but its still recognizable.

DRYDOWN

Off with the saffron, nutmeg and the lavender. Enter musk. Patchouli and Oud continue to be present and the Oud never goes medicinal, never goes pungent or too “earthy”, however, it does remain “oudy” if that’s a word. The drydown is all about that Oud and the patchouli,  which creates this soft note on top of the Oud and it remains like that, its a strong fragrance that has a softer lingering note on top, simply called…it’s amazing. I’m not an expert on types of musks but on this case, I believe it was used to keep the Oud from going too medicinal and it works. This remains a wearable Oud, perfect for colder weather, perfect for date night, perfect for wearing a suit-no-tie with a clean shave. I assure you, once you wear this, you won’t resist the temptation to continue to catch sniffs of it during the day, it’s fascinating.

PERFORMANCE

Projection is around 1 feet for the first 30 minutes or so, after, people would need to be closer to you to detect it. Longevity is 22+ hours on my (hydrated) skin, I’ve yet to wear it and have it disappear w/o showering. Scent Bubble (the one YOU feel), is strong, I feel this fragrance on my for at least 15 hours before I have to look for it on my skin. I love wearing this.

THE BOTTLE AND THE SPRAYER

A new section on my reviews will include comments on the bottle itself and the sprayer. Montagne’s bottles are all the same so if you’ve tried one, you’ve tried them all. They have good weight to them and remind you of the bottles used by Le Labo, a single white label with black letters on front display the name of the fragrance and a customized note (if you choose to customize it). The bottle is nothing special but the minimalist approach can be a winner for your collection.


Let’s talk about the most ignored thing on frag reviews, the sprayer, I have a mental ruling with sprayers that go like this: Dior and Creeds are the ones I used to measure all sprayers, Dior has that regulated sprayer and Creed has that wide spray, both are the best of the best I’ve tried. Montagne’s is not great but its not horrible either (I’m looking at you Mugler), so, where Mugler is 0 and Creed is 10, Montagne is probably a 3.5 to 4. Would I pay way more for Montagne to have a better sprayer? I wouldn’t, but that’s me, the one it has works just fine.

COMPARED TO THE OG

The OG has a great opening with more saffron, it’s almost reminiscent of BR540 for me, a great opening without a doubt. The Montagne is less saffron heavy and the Oud comes into play sooner, in simple words, it goes stronger faster.  Although the dry downs are not exactly alike, it’s tougher to note as time progresses, 1 hour in, you’d be hard pressed to either tell them apart…or….pick a favorite. Now, I’m not saying “don’t buy the original”, the original is a great fragrance with amazing performance, its a work of art both from the fragrance itself down to the bottle, I’m saying, if you need this scent profile in your life, the Montagne version will bring it for a lot less money, if however, you need that beautiful bottle and the original scent untouched….only the OG would do. Me? I can see myself getting the original eventually and reserving it for special occasions …but wearing the heck out of Mystic Oud!

CONCLUSION

Oud is polarizing. If this is your first Oud fragrance, Mystic Oud will start your journey into Oud in the best possible way and I envy you! If you are looking for a sophisticated and complex scent to add to your arsenal, this needs to be on your short list. Is it Unisex? Totally. The opening is beautiful with the Saffron and the nutmeg and the drydown is not only long lasting with the Oud, it’s potent and complex with the Patchouli and the Musk, it has a presence that will stay and complement you all day. This, for me, requires a certain confidence to pull off as you are not wearing a necessarily crowd-pleasing-scent but you are wearing a fantastic scent, make no mistake. Is this blind buy worthy? If you already have some strong fragrances on your collection (or are into those), I would say yes, you will like it, if you prefer airy non-wood-heavy scents, I would get a sample before committing. Mystic Oud is a solid 8/10.



What do you think of this fragrance? Let me know on the comments below!





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Get Mystic Oud here: https://www.montagneparfums.com/fragrance/mysticoud
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