Perfume Reviews by Martin__

Vétiver by Christian Dior

Opens up with a sparkling, effervescent and fizzy load of citruses with a detectable green vetiver. While it dries down it gets woody and the citruses fades away. It is nowhere as smoky as the Chanel Sycomore is.

Longevity is pretty decent, I usually get up tp 9 hours from Dior Vetiver.

I truly love Dior Vetiver. I think it is very classy and along with Chanel Sycomore EDT it is the best vetiver based scent available on the market, currently.

Lanz by Slumberhouse

Right off the bat I KNEW I know this aroma. Smelled like L'Artisan Parfumeur Dzing!, maybe with dialed down cotton candy and other musk/sweet notes. But I detected leather and subtle animalic notes right away. Generally familiar theme and my first shot was - it is something L'Artisan Parfumeur might have released (well, having or not having in mind that L'Artisan is one of Josh's favourite brands and Olivia Giacobetti being one of his favourite perfumers and inspirations of his).
Lanz dries down to sandalwood (Fjerne came to my mind, almost instantly) with an addition of buttery iris.

Not a fan, but glad I got to know this rare limited release.

Mare by Slumberhouse

The opening smelled sort of similar to me. Seaweed, quite Ellena-ish in style, I would say. Somewhere in between I got also some (oak)moss and things I'd associate with Grev. The further scent goes the funkier and more weird it gets. I get those famous pickles - yes! I am getting also something a'la playdough or silly putty.
I find Mare as an intriguing and difficult to wear. Challenging to an average perfume user. I wish Josh brought this one to live....

Pear + Olive by Slumberhouse

Now, that is an interesting one! Right off the bat I got strong chamomile flower-ish punch, that hit my nostrils. After few mins, maybe 90 seconds it it joined with very sweet pear. The fragrance itself is kinda' oily indeed.
Another weirdo, but that one is so nice and cozy, that I imagine absolutely everyone liking it. I find it as definitely the most feminine leaning fragrance I've ever smelled from Slumberhouse.
Associations? Well, it's unique as hell, but I feel like Fjerne does resemble it somehow. Don't know how yet.
Spring and summer staple, maybe even the only Slumberhouse I'd dare to wear in a super hot and humid day.
I also detect some face and body cream/balsam accents/nuances here and there. Inexperienced noses might confuse this with some sort of products you're using when you got right out of the shower and you want to moisturize your body.

When it reaches its drydown interesting coconut has shown up. A bit like sun lotion mixed with coconut milk smell. Alluring and calming scent. Still the scent doesn’t loose its oiliness. Very interesting.

Longevity is up to 10 hours, sillage is medium.

Vikt by Slumberhouse

Dark, resinous and oud-y - that's how I'd describe Vikt. The opening is strong, spicy and sweet - similar to licorice, it kind of reminds me of black Harribo sweets. It may be star anise as well. Within time I detect oud nuances that I mentioned before - but rather resinous oud than smoky oud. There are smoky elements as well. I detect a hint of Sova and a pinch of Norne in Vikt, but not that much.

Very good sillage and good longevity.

Nice fragrance, a bit too spicy for my liking.

Black Grev by Slumberhouse

A wallop of big, fat licorice in the opening. This might choke some people out, especially the ones that haven’t experienced any Slumberhouse fragrance before in their life. This dries down after 15 mins, maybe less. I detect clear resemblance to Norne, mainly cloves and a tiny hint of black hemlock/fir playing in the background. This is one of the main parts of Black Grev to me. The other significant part of Black Grev is tea, but here I’m not sure what kind of tea is it, actually. Might be good quality strong black tea, or possibly smoky Lapsang Souchong. The tea however, is rather subtle and delicate, I had no problems with detecting it within the scent. Digging deeper into the drydown reveals the more known „climates” of Josh Lobb’s signature - I detect the good ol’ slumberade - the very same I detected in Sova, or Baque. I can tell Sova and Black Grev are distant relatives. Very dark, resinous, mysterious and „evil” in a way - that’s what Black Grev feels like while wearing.

Longevity and sillage are very good.

I like Black Grev, I think that after Mond and Winter Kiste releases Josh kinda’ wanted to go back to the themes that made him and the brand famous, and that people loved. It’s not my type of a scent, but wearing it was sort of a pleasant experience. I wish he released more stuff in that genre.

Sundowner by Tauer

I own an original, ready-made Tauer’s Sundowner sample for almost a year now. Being quite honest I’ve been barely wearing it, therefore the sample is almost full.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Sundowner before, and was excited to try it. Well, I’m not going to lie, this was a let down and huge dissapointment.

Sundowner is unique on one hand, on the other hand I’ve smelled this genre of scent plenty of times before. I detect weird, oily sun lotion, boozy drink with rotten oranges and some cocoa-oriental notes in the base. That’s pretty much it. To me this perfume is an epitome of such drink, okay, let’s say drank at sunset on the beach.

It is a let down, because I was told it’s a solid, pretty good tobacco scent. No tobacco whatsoever for me. I was kinda’ misleaded.

Longevity is over 9 hours, sillage is above average.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice overall and I can tell the Tauer signature and Tauer quality are up there. It’s just not what I expected.

Guerlain Homme Eau de Parfum by Guerlain

I love it ever since I got it. It's my spring and summer staple. So easy to wear, transparent and refreshing. Mint, lime and rum on ice. Mojito in a bottle. Classy yet modern. Personally I'm wearing it to non-formal casual dress, but fits formal suit as well. Longevity - 7-10 hours on my skin, sillage is medium.

Al Oudh by L'Artisan Parfumeur

My review from Feb 11th 2017 from Fragrantica:
Starts off acidic with a weird urine-like note (it must be civet) mixed with some spices, mainly caraway. There is some rose and saffron in the background.
It dries down to a soft oud-leather mix with a subtle rose in the background. Later on some smoke appears with a musky touch added to it. At the end the whole fragrance gets a little sweeter, but just a little bit.
Longevity is 12 hours with 2 sprays, sillage is soft to moderate.
With a small application the fragrance is soft and cozy. Overapplied it changes to an oud monster.

Cloud Illusions by Folkwinds

The name of this perfume says it all. I’d probably could guess that clouds smell like this :D very blue, wee aldehydic with some fruity blueberrish background. Some alternative for spring and summer and definitely an alternative to smell unique during warm days.

Santi Ana by Folkwinds

Hay, definitely a lot of dry hay, supported by a hint of colling mint. There is totally no sweetness in there, but the amount of flowers add a lot of greenness to the composition.

My favourite from the brand, so far.

American Pharaoh by Folkwinds

A very authentic cherry pipe tobacco, I think the most authentic in that genre I’ve ever smelled. Supported by a delicate musk and I’ve also detected some cocoa in the background. Slightly gourmand, but definitely with some farm climates. Doesn’t change much on my skin, but that’s not a bad thing at all.

Impression: a vision of farm workers resting, sipping their americanas/espressos and smoking cherry flavoured pipe tobacco.

Longevity is above 9 hours, sillage is above moderate.

Haxan by Parfum Prissana

Green, resinous, spicy and smoky - that's how I would describe Haxan in a nutshell. Very complex with long development on my skin. The dominant vibe is herbaceousness with some oriental and animalic notes hanging around. As with others from the brand, excellent sillage and longevity.

One of my favourites from Prin Lomros.

Arsalan (ارسلان) by Prin

Rather not for the fainted hearts out there. First impression might get you literally wrong and you may assume it's a hardcore animalic. In fact, it's not. It's characteristic with one of the many facets of oud combined with another characteristic, indolic nature of jasmine. Deep drydown is resinous, woody and still spicy.

Very good longevity, sillage slightly over moderate. Quite a good one.

Anatolia by Prin

Fruity, oriental and wee spicy. Characteristic and detectable candied dates, I also detect oriental sweets that I have tried in Turkey. Not a typical gourmand. There is some chocolate or cocoa background (maybe even wee dry or dusty). Drydown is woody with slight leathery touch.

Good sillage and longevity. A nice one.

Hayra by Parfum Prissana

Very soft, herbaceous silky perfume that is leaning towards floral and slightly smoky on my skin. The opening is definitely jasmin without being indolic and unpleasant. It develops more and more herbaceous. Eventually the drydown is woody and delicate smoky without pushing the boundaries in any way. Surely it has oriental touch to it.

Good lngevity and sillage.

I appreciate it for what it is, but is not my type of a fragrance. Moreover, I think it suits better for women.

Sagan Dalya by Maher Olfactive

Definitely warm and spicy with very interesting immortelle and tobacco. It is being compared to Slumberhouse Mond and there is a sense comparing these two - the general vibe is in the pretty same genre, both being tobaccos wrapped up in resins and spices. The difference is, to me Sagan Dalya has very clear and prominent tea note to it - maybe it is caused by immortelle or honey somehow, anyway I feel that tea on my skin. I love tea so it was almost an instant like leaning towards love.

Longevity is way over 12 hours and the sillage is quite subtle, but it does project releasing a "whiff" sometimes.

Very good to me.

Cotswold by Pineward Perfumes

Cotswold IMO is a good entry fragrance to the darkest of the line, including Murkwood, Brokilan, Fanghorn II or Eldritch. Not that dark as the ones mentioned, but gives you a nice overview what darker Pineward are about.

Cotswold to me is spicy, a little bit sweet and smoky. It has conifers that you can detect in other scents from the line, but it's also got ponderosa, I think it's Nick's experiment with that note and led to creation of a perfume called Ponderosa.

Longevity is around 9-10 hours, sillage is quite good.

In general: semi-sweet and semi-smoky. Well balanced.

Ombre Noir by Lalique

Opens up with green tobacco leaves mixed with some smoky aroma.

I can clearly detect strong, black tea. Also - fig (rather leaves, not fruits), some woods. IMO it's a spicy fragrance, not a woody one.

The general feeling on my skin: it's a close cousin of Gucci's Pour Homme II (myrrh, cinnamon, tea, tobacco) mixed with Davidoff Good Life (fig,tea). I cannot detect alcohol (neither cognac nor any other) nor papyrus. It's smoky, just slightly as mentioned before. Myrrh, olibanum or mix - hard to say.

I can clearly smell dried fruits - dried figs and dates in my opinion.

Longevity is around 7-8 hours, sillage is poor to medium.

The resemblance with Gucci Pour Homme II is strong IMO. No wonder, it's the same perfumer. A nice fragrance, glad I bought it (blind of course).

Ponderosa by Pineward Perfumes

I feel like it’s a green sibling of Cotswold, maybe less sweet. Also, some fruity-smoky-resinous nuances have been replaced with nutty and even more woody elements. That nutty aspect is quite prominent on my skin. Generally - green and spicy. Good longevity, moderate sillage.

Quite okay.

Gristmill by Pineward Perfumes

The most woody composition I've experienced out of the whole Pineward lineup. Woody to the bone, also a little greasy, or oily making Gristmill unique perfume out of all the woody scents out there. Also, one of the rather rare ones lacking typical conifer backbone.

Very good longevity, decent sillage.

Rosenthal by Hendley Perfumes

Generally a soft, cozy and mild unisex rose softened by a quite big amount of patchouli added to it. Also, quite linear on my skin. Just perfect unisex for all people out there, who like rose in perfumes.

Longevity is 8-10 hours, sillage is slightly below medium.

Rather spring, summer and fall than an all-year-round perfume.

6/10

Sycomore Eau de Toilette by Chanel

Opens up with soft floral-aldehyde touch which in fact stays longer than I previously thought, moves back to background though.

This is pretty linear on me. After that floral beginning it changes into vetiver, maybe with a hint of pepper and a pinch of tobacco pipe.

However - yes - I do think it's classy. It's a black tuxedo fragrance. Although linear, it is more complex than Lalique's Encre Noire. Both are good, however to me Encre Noire is more like a mainstream (but not a stereotypical everyday!) fragrance.

Longevity is 6-10 hours. Sillage is medium to good.

Chanel Sycomore EDT vs Dior Vetiver:

Chanel opens up with a cloud of aldehydes which actually quite fast fades away. It dries down to woody, quite smoky and earthy vetiver with a lot of dark nuances and a hint of incense in the background.

Dior opens up with a sparkling, effervescent and fizzy load of citruses with a detectable green vetiver. While it dries down it gets woody and the citruses fades away. It is nowhere as smoky as the Chanel is.

If you prefer darker vetiver, choose Chanel. If you prefer green vetiver, go for Dior.

Around 2-3 years ago I was lucky to get a bottle, partially used, of Sycomore's EDT original formula from September 2008 (I guess, the code is 0601), so that basically means it is one of the first releases of this perfume - not only initial year, but also initial month after its release. I've had few mililiters from this particular bottle already, so my review below is up to date.

However, I wanted to compare it with another fragrance so here it is.

Chanel Sycomore EDT vs Lalique Encre Noire a L'Extreme EDP:

Chanel is more sharp and woody, definitely a lot more on the rough side of vetiver. Despite the aldehydic opening I would rather compare it with Encre Noire EDT with tobacco added.

Lalique is softer, also more smoky hence it's got insence in it. It also lasts longer on my skin.

My final vetiver rating incl. price/quality ratio and my preferences:

1. Dior Vetiver
2. Lalique Encre Noire a l'Extreme
3. ex aequo Lalique Encre Noire EDT and Chanel Sycomore EDT
4. Chanel Sycomore EDP

Chanel Sycomore EDP is still a good scent, but my least prefer option out of these.

Burning Barbershop by D.S. & Durga

Approximately 1,5 years ago I was lucky to get 10 ml of the first formulation.

Opens up quite fresh with some sweet citrus but that quickly fades away. The mid part is what I find the most interesting - quite a big cloud of smoke mixed with some old school fougere vibes. I also can smell lavender per se. At this stage fragrance stays on me for around 6 hours and then changes into musky base that sits on me for another 3 hours or so. Sillage is just over medium at the beginning, then sticks close to the skin.

Overall - a very unique composition. If you like fougere fragrances and you don't know Burning Barbershop - it's a must sniff for you. However, I wouldn't recommend buying it totally blind. Some will not like the barbershop appeal of this scent and might eventually say it smells 'dated for them. I don't care being quite honest.

I do like it.