Perfume Review & Musings Archives

Lifting up the daintily chained cap for the flask of Love Chloé Eau Florale and catching a strong whiff of powder, I expected the latest iteration of Love Chloé to be a baby powder bomb bound to please American...

Honey by Marc Jacobs opens up to the nose smelling like a ripe slice of honeydew melon in the summer followed next by an impression of vanilla cake icing. These two main initial sensations are enlivened by musk and...

When I poke my nose into El Attarine (The Sweet-Smelling One), a little whirlwind of sensations engulfs me. I think of Arabie, one of my two first purchases of Serge Lutens parfums, with Douce Amère, when the house was...

Well, indeed the new Addict Eau Délice by Dior opens on delicious, fresh, fruity and sparkling top notes quickly fading into a cosmetic interpretation of those as if someone thought it was fun to eat a rose-lychee cake in...

Nerolia Bianca opens on a rather soft impression of hesperides, like a more childlike eau de cologne before revealing a hyper-realistic aesthetic take on the orange tree. In-house perfumer Thierry Wasser has worked on the veristic nuances of the...

Les Cascades Songe d'Iris is the second installment in the new series begun last year by Rochas consecrated in part to expanding the influence and heritage of their 1970 creation by Michel Manounas, Eau de Rochas, a modern classic....

The house of Carven founded at the end of WWII in 1945 have left their mark on the history of perfumes with such classics as Ma Griffe (1946) and Vétiver de Carven (1956), the latter which influenced a succession of great vetiver...

The latest launch by Tom Ford, Sahara Noir, I will argue, takes us away from the catwalks of the fashion world and into the purer world of naturals and their potential direct effects on the human soul and psyche. Presented...

   ©Penhaligon's - courtesy picture As we get closer to Mother's Day 2013 on May 12, we are devoting our pages to proposing a selection of perfumes which are both Sexy & Maternal, a combination which you can find in some...

  With the spring 2013 Renaissance of eaux de Cologne, we decided it would be worthwhile to publish, at long last, a review of Eau de Fleurs Néroli by Chloé, which was kept in the archives since 2010 as...

Schwebebahn (Cologne) by Fritz Gartner (1882–1958). 19th century. The two latest colognes by Hermès, Eau de Mandarine Ambrée and Eau de Narcisse Bleu {See announcement}, are really, taken as a whole, a study in painterly contrasts and complementarity between a...

Marni eau de parfum is the debut perfume of a fashion label known for its originality and fondness in particular for unexpected remixes of patterns, textures and colors but also love of boldness and something which has been perhaps less...

 Photo ©The Scented Salamander   A Tom Ford fragrance is always eagerly awaited because we know that we can expect something not lacking in character from this brand which usually likes to make statements {see also Violet Blonde}. This is...

The flacon bears the handwritten signature of Stefano Gabbana  The One Desire is the latest feminine launch by Dolce & Gabbana, as they've also turned their attention now to fragrancing infants. The advertising shot by Terry Richardson continues to picture their...

Gabrielle Chanel at her villa La Pausa in 1938 with stars and comets on her bed headboard ©Roger Schall  The core olfactory signature of Chanel perfumes is unmistakably present: 1932 opens with a bouquet of aldehydes supported by the...