Perfume Reviews by Buzzlepuff

Island Lush by Goldfield & Banks

Island Lush by Goldfield & Banks is a tropical oceanfront refresher fragrance that at opening recalls guava, pineapple and coconut blended into a creamy dreamy coconuts, sandalwood and rainforest wood base. As the fragrance wears on the fruit opening disappears and the sandalwood, guaiac, and cedar wood becomes more dominant. It is a fair categorization to calll this a sandalwood fragrance but the tropical influences are ever present down to the last bit of toasted coconut laid upon a sandalwood spoon.

Chinese Tobacco by 19-69

Woody dark tobacco and incense blended with generous doses of ginger, red pepper and coriander spice. The coriander gives this a familiar soapy smell that is a background for the warm woods and tobacco. This is a difficult to describe fragrance because it is not primarily tobacco, or incense, nor culinary spices but is a combination of all three. Exotic clove cigarette? The darkness of the base notes keeps it interesting. Rated 3 of 5 stars.

Pacific Chill by Louis Vuitton

Pacific Chill is the latest summer aquatic outdoor fresh fragrance from Louis Vuitton. The essence of this scent is luscious, juicy orange fruit and light radiating rose essence. There is something that is also aquatic in nature here that seems to lift and project the orange rose signature across sunny summer breezes. That's it! I like the scent for an everyday, simple, casual wear and warm summery effect. The image of Pacific Chill put into graphic illustrated forms, would be cross cut orange halves, small pink rosebuds, and little white clouds floating across a blue summer sky with a warm emerging sunset in the distance.

The "Pacific" in the name must refer to the native orange fruit and juicy aroma that has mouth watering accuracy. I don't sense anything "chill" and I do not smell mint which is listed and I was hoping to find but if its in there is very sublimated in the overall freshness. I don't really smell a synthetic or chemically sharp note that is sometimes common to aquatic fragrances and so this one is more fruit and sunshine than cold ocean "chill". A nice casual summer scent to wear.

Acqua di Giò Parfum by Giorgio Armani

What's it smell like? Some comparisons. The opening notes remind me of Profundo a little, but not as strictly marine in character and more agreeable all around than Profundo. The ending notes of AdG Parfum reminds me of Louis Vuitton Orage probably due to the slight bit of olibanum incense and the green mid notes. Orage is one of my favorite LV's and AdG Parfum is similar in character but it projects stronger, better imo. AdG Parfum also lacks the sharp citrus character found in the original AdG and more recent Profumo and this change in opening notes really makes me question if it drifts too far from the Acqua di Gio DNA? I would never guess this to be an Acqua di Gio flanker. No matter, it is a very pleasant smelling fragrance for men and although similar to LV Orage it doesn't have the big price point! This is a good but maybe not great perfume.

Nimitr by Parfum Prissana

Nimitr is classic, easy to like, masculine light leather scent that is comprised of a huge notes list which make up a scintillating sheen of small bits and pieces of all kinds of things layered on to the outer coating of this incense leather fragrance. The blending here is amazing and the variety and range of notes make up a delightful orchestration of positive scented tones for an all purpose masculine. This scent will please a wide variety of people and situations. Sort of a coat of many colors approach but the variety of colors and tones become like tiny pixels in larger fabric made into a grey tweed suit that hides the diversity of colors through its blending. I can find no objections to Nimitr and enjoy wearing it. I would give it personal subjective rating of 4 of 5 stars. Nice one!

Onthamara by Prin

The word Onthamara is created from two Thai words translated, "darkness, devil". The intention of the perfumer to go dark in the creation of this scent is revealed in the name.

Onthamara is a scent built around a well hidden through line of amber, olibanum, rosewood and labdanum. However the pleasantries of these incense and amber notes are hidden by bitter opening notes which make a dry, dark fugue of violet leaf, artemsia, black tea, camphor and dry, burnt animalics of hyrax, wood smoke and castoreum. The bitterness and hardness of these opening notes initially repels and pushes you back before it levels out. I was repulsed by this bitterness at first but after some time it evolves into a leather like patina with some depth.

The warmth of the oud, amber, and incense notes eventually overcomes the bitter "hard" character of the opening and after an hour or so Onthamara emerges from its hidden darkness into a masculine, wood and leather scent that has a resonant timbre.. The story line of Onthamara is hidden in darkness and frightening contrasts, but I like the perfume results even though it was quite a journey to get to "like" and therefore I strongly recommend careful testing before springing for a purchase. To appreciate this perfume you will need to welcome a bit of darkness into your world. A cautious warning before a carefully considered thumbs up rating.

Eshu by Prin

Prin Eshu is easier to enjoy and more wearable than other Prin Lomros experiments in the oud/leather/wild naturals category where he seems to break new ground in genre exploration. Some are successful and some are less so - this is one of the more successful products, imo. Eshu is easy for me to enjoy. I describe it as a leather/amber/oud scent that adds to these primary ingredient directions with spices (cumin, cinnamon) and leafy dry ingredients (tobacco and hay). The copaiba and cognac notes are also noticeable. I like this one and recommend it.

Aran by Prin

Aran is a warm leather amber type fragrance with subtle smoke, tobacco and mushroom like musk notes added to a faint oud scent. . The notes list goat hair tincture as a prominent note and well I don't know what that smells like, and I don't recognize a goat hair smell. I do smell dry leather which isn't surprising with dry notes such as leather, civet, castoreum, saffron, mushroom, tobacco, nagarmotha and oud - all dry very earthy. The leather scent does smell like old suede leather with lots of aged muskiness to it. Hence - goat hair I suppose. Aran is a soft and subtle dry leather oud with slight amber type warmth. This is impossible not to enjoy the fragrance of Aran as all aspects are smooth and well blended. Quite masculine. There are not many changes or contrasts in the notes which would categorize this one as one of the more conservative compositions from Prin. Highly recommended!

Dunhuang by Parfum Prissana

Dunhuang is a very attractive floral incense perfume with notes that are similar to Ayutthaya, however the primary object of fascination in Dunhuang are the florals instead of woods. Plum, rose, jasmine, osmanthus and magnolia construct the central theme that also contains warm spices that settle upon a light woods base of cedar, sandalwood, and amber. The overall character of this scent is a light floral incense that has woody and spicy qualities. The lapsang souchong and jasmine tea opening provides a nice warmth and depth in the early going, but the florals lift the scent to a higher octave through the heart. There is a feminine quality of the incense in here that comes out after the blending of: tea, florals, spices, amber and light woods. Nice one! Dunhuang is an early trading city and entry point along the Silk Road. Dunhuang also has a subtle Buddhist incense character.

Ayutthaya by Parfum Prissana

Ayutthaya, named after an ancient city, long ago destroyed, that was a center of trade and commerce in Siam. This is probably the best temple incense I have smelled. The scent instantly brings memories and associations with buddhist temple celebrations where the abundant mix of exotic floral, incense resins, rich spices based in sandalwood spirals toward the heavens.

The scent of Ayutthaya expands a rainbow of rich dry wood scents, spices, and florals. This is a lively high contrast, brightly colored fragrance. Very noticeable are: black tea, ebony, papyrus, sandalwood and teakwood. Spices of cinnamon and cumin waft over the top of these clean deep woods. The density of the wood and spice notes is opened up with breeze of champaca, camphor and the sparkling aldehydes. Every now and then I find a bit of patchouli layered inside the wood elements. This is an exceptional fragrance and a fascinating combination of incense wood notes that will hold mindful insight upon the interplay of this meditative blend. Excellence from Parfum Prissana!

Silphium by Stora Skuggan

Silphium has a smokey medicinal therapeutic feel to it. It reminds me of some of the natural aroma products from Aesop such as Hwyl or Marakech. Also similar to Tom Yum by Parfum Prissana - but lighter. A sublime combination of green naturals and soft spice with an incense depth to the dry down. There is a healing quality like from an ancient apothecary salve formula. No leather - very unique really. I will be ordering this one!

One Man Show Oud Edition by Jacques Bogart

One Man Show Oud Edition turns out to be a very nice fragrance. There is a central cooling oud wood note that carries all the way through the life of this scent which is very similar to many other respectable vetiver oud perfumes on the market, re: Oud for Greatness or perhaps MFK Oud Velvet Mood. Not as powerful as these more expensive oud brands, but also one tenth the price - not bad. The green notes have an ashen dryness originating from galbanum, red thyme, and possibly black pepper layered over some sort of synthetic oud agarwood. The base stays in cooling wood notes with patchouli, papyrus and soft sueded leather. A very nice masculine dry woods scent overall that retains little of the original One Man Show truck driving attitude. 3 1/2 stars for this bargain masculine find.

Fleur Diamantine by Maison Crivelli

Fleur Diamantine by Maison Crivelli was created in partnership with Bertrand Duchaufour and has listed notes of: saffron, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, jasmine absolute, musks, bitter almond, oakmoss. A very exotic floral jasmine neroli blend floats in the air over a dry bitter almond. The mint is felt more as texture and temperature as it blends with saffron dryness. Overall this is a very attractive floral scent with an innocent feminine personality. The floral is a bit too exotic for my taste, but no question this smells very nice. I like how the mint and saffron grounds the jasmine and neroli.

Dior Homme Eau de Toilette (2020 version) by Christian Dior

Dior Homme EdT 2020 version is a soft and subtle slightly woody cologne that takes the place of fragrances such as Pour Monsieur and Tiffany for Men. It opens with lemony bergamot warmed with light elemi resin that is accented with pink pepper, patchouli, and vetiver. The characteristic Dior Homme softness is present with cashmeran and musk but no iris or leather. Overall the fragrance has an even handed but lasting character. Does it lack boldness? Yes, but you would be hard pressed to find a better soft masculine scent that is perfect for everyday wear and will not wear you out.

Rhinoceros (2020) by Zoologist Perfumes

Prin Lomros rendition of Rhinoceros is artistic brilliance. This is Rhino! It smells dark and dusky, a brown/black tone with a cold clay layer dried over soft rough folds of leather. The impression of dried mud and trampled grasses mix with a slight patchouli patina. There is a dried leafy aspect that is like exotic tobacco or a woody tea like Rooibos or Sassafras. It all works really well. This falls somewhere between categories of a dry patchouli, or an earthy tea and leather fragrance. Nothing else like it. The patchouli reminds me a bit of PG Coze but not as spicy + more leather. I am a big fan of Prin's work and this is a winner for my taste. One of the best of Zoologist perfumes.

Santal Blond by Atelier Materi

With cardamom, sandalwood and tonka as a base this is a very lite soft sandalwood and all the other notes compliment and add slight tones to the sandalwood essence. Immediately after spraying I can hardly smell it, but there it is far in the distance, a soft, subtle, dry and very pleasant sandalwood. The bergamot and jasmine adds a little expansive movement. The Hinoki adds a slight green cedar wood touch to the base making the sandalwood a slight green tone. I like the subtlety of this sandalwood. I don't smell any coconut or fig which are common to many sandalwoods and also not much spice here either. The natural softness of sandalwood is complimented beautifully here. Add this to a long list of nicely done contemporary sandalwood perfumes.

Richmond by Jack

A wonderful fragrance that is spicy and green but also has a dark side to it. Ginger at the opening covers cedar and mossy green notes that have a cool green amber tone. Clary Sage and Cade give a well worn, dirty tar and rubber finish that is what you might smell deep in a heavily wooded forest that doesn't allow the sunlight to warm the ground. A good one from Jack Perfume.

Tabac Rose by BDK Parfums

Tabac Rose by BDK Parfums.

Tabac Rose has a nice harmony of uplifting and lyrical accords alternating with dry dark softness. Tabac Rose becomes its own thing as opposed to being a rose fragrance or a tobacco fragrance. The rose element in this scent is introduced by Italian Citron (lemon) and Plum for a jammy tart rose accord at the opening. This is softened a bit by pink pepper. The lemony citron plays a dominant influence with the gentle turkish rose which also gathers a hint of spice from pink pepper. This opening accord of citron, plum, turkish rose and pink pepper results in the pleasant tone of this scent and undulates through the dry soft base. Underneath the opening is a cool soft base of dry chocolate, tobacco leaf and patchouli which rests on a warm base of labdanum. There is a light cooling powder to the base of this scent, but not too powdery as in VC&A's Midnight Patchouli which has similar personality but is softer. The base accord is strong powdered chocolate + patchouli which seems to completely cover up the tobacco which adds only a bit of dry leaf to the base. This chocolate patchouli and tabac base reminds me a bit of the patchouli chocolate in Sammarco's Bond-T which is a remarkable scent that isolates this base combination entirely without roses or citron. The opening elevates upward with lemony, plum and rose then undulates downward with a cool dryness of chocolate, patchouli and tobacco. The labdanum base disappears into the background. At first I felt that this scent is slightly feminine because of the relatively high pitched and light tones. But I now see it as a unisex scent with a slightly higher register of tone. I would rate this scent 3.5 of 5 stars.

Jake's House by Henry Rose

Clean and fresh with a bit of fresh cut floral aroma. After a spring rain kind of freshness comes from this fresh simple musk scent. I like how Jakes House smells. Like many of the Henry Rose scents this fragrance stays hidden in the abstraction of a few splashes of natural scent (neroli) hidden within the miasma of expressionistic and hard to define woody musks.

Dark is Night by Henry Rose

Dark is Night is an all context fragrance that will add a slight impression of metallic mint to dull warmth The patchouli is not strong and also the vanilla is lightly dosed as well. Not being a fan of vanilla in fragrance gives an appreciation of what the patchouli adds here - a bit of mint edge to things is a blessing. I like how this makes my skin smell - its a tonal influencer - but is hardly a perfume. Staying on one note all the way through limits the conversation with dark is night. I want to like this one, but its just too little too late for me.

Torn by Henry Rose

Torn is a very light slightly floral and vegetal scent at first but when it dries the vanilla becomes dominant bringing out a light sweetness. This is a very soft floral vanilla scent without a bold statement. This fragrance doesn't have a lot to say. Very polite, unoffensive, soft, lightly sweet and lacking personality. What makes this fragrance difficult to talk about is that the name doesn't seem to fit and tells me very little about the fragrance.

Queens & Monsters by Henry Rose

Queens & Monsters - what a great name - very memorable. My guess is that Queens refers to jasmine and Monsters refers to the very synthetic chemicals that make the musk and woods notes. To my nose this scent is a fine sandalwood perfume. Unique. It has a delicate soft quality that at opening is feminine (jasmine) but as it dries down it is a nice light ephemeral sandalwood type of scent. Reminds me a bit of Milky Musk by Parle Moi de Parfum, but is more mysterious.

The brand says about Queens & Monsters "The freshness and zest of petitgrain balances the fluid sensuality of sandalwood to create a woody aroma". The brand does an admirable thing by listing the exact ingredients that go into their scents and mostly these are all synthetic or naturals that have very long chemical names that I have never heard of - but you can look them up to give some direction as to what is in there. I don't get petitgrain in here or violet. This perfume contains a jasmine synthetic, very sanded woody musk, a dry iso e super type of wood scent and a dry juniper oil. These harmonize together to create a synthetic sandalwood scent that is very attractive and has an elusive floating almost haunting nature. I like it very much but is it better than all the other sandalwood perfumes out there? I do like it and would give it 3.75 out of 5 stars for a review. I probably won't buy this one - it's not me - but I do like it for a feminine and elegant sandalwood.

Windows Down by Henry Rose

Windows Down by Henry Rose is a bright fresh citric spring floral kind of scent. A name like Windows Down hints at fresh air, light breezy purity and I really don't get that impression here. This is a very light and lively floral bouquet that cuts through the air with grapefruit tartness but maintains its orange blossom, jasmine, broom very round and pretty floral tone throughout the scent. The smell is pleasant and definitely feminine in nature - but it doesn't smell natural to me. Not sure why - maybe its the combinations that don't sing naturally. I think I would naturally try to avoid this aroma. I like light floral or white linen kinds of spring floral scents and I own several, but this fragrance has too much fabric softener fresh laundry for my taste. Sorry but this is a complete miss for me. Glad I ordered a sample first.

California Dream by Louis Vuitton

California Dream has that clean ocean breeze purified air smell that I associate with early mornings of fresh breezes near the ocean. There is a also a sun drenched, ozone quality. These fresh notes are found also in Afternoon Swim from Vuitton, however California Dream does not have aquatic notes to go with it. They have isolated that ozonic freshness from the air and removed the swimming pool vibe and also stayed far from ocean or sea water smells. Just sun drenched ozonic breezes. They list mandarin, ambrette, benzoin as notes however I don't really smell these - maybe the opening of mandarins zest smell. The primary aroma is the pure freshness of coastal breeze and sunshine. Another word for it is Prana - which is the expansive energy that fills nature and feeds life. How they captured this in this scent I don't know - but I like the result.