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Fragrance Reviews

Bond No 9 Perfumista Avenue Fragrance Review

bond-no-9-perfumista-avenue-eau-de-parfum-panella-parfum
* Kicks off strong with a burst of spicy herbal fruit with a touch of honey and hay.

* It feels like an Arabic fruit – which must be the saffron and the rose.

* After that opening, it mellows down to a floral melange – a sharp rose and some jasmine.

* A light patchouli appears with the flower and quietly becomes the focus.

* The patchouli is joined by some clean musk and a slight hint of amber in the base.

Summary:  I kind of have a love/hate relationship with Bond scents.  Either I love them immensely or absolutely detest them.  Perfumista Avenue is the rare Bond scent where I am neutral on it. It’s okay, if a bit generic. I don’t get the Perfumista Avenue theme – it’s saffron, flowers, and a pretty generic dry-down.  It does smell like a Bond Scent – sniffing it, that’s obvious, but there isn’t anything in it that makes it stand out from the rest of the collection.  Longevity is disappointing for an edp as it becomes a close skin scent after two hours, then after four hours, it’s barely noticeable.  There are much better scents in the collection, so I would advise you to try a different one in the collection.  Please note – other reviewers are getting much different results on this scent, so read the other reviews below and test for yourself if they sound interesting.

Other Opinions:

The Scentrist
Man Loves Cologne

Bond No 9 fragrances are available at Nordstrom, Saks 5th Avenue, independent boutiques and from Bond No 9 boutiques.

Disclaimer: Sample provided by department store. Image courtesy of Panella Parfums.

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Fragrance Reviews

Mona di Orio Violette Fumee Fragrance Review

mona-di-orio-violette-fumee
* Large cloud of airy violet – slightly sweet, but not candied.

* When I say cloud, I mean it’s airy and voluminous – like you walked into a hazy space and you feel the violet all around you.

* Actually, fumée means smoke in French – so the smoke / cloud effect makes sense.

* After the first hour, the cloud begins to get closer and a little more dense. 

* It gets a little more masculine, with lavender and sage cutting the sweetness a bit.  Violet is still the focus – these are just there for support.

* The scent also reacts differently on my skin.   Sometimes I get a musky floral after the lavender, while at other times there is a dry rose.

* In the deep dry-down, the violet is still the star with some resins grounding it.

Summary:  Mona Di Orio is a line that I have been meaning to explore for a while.  Many fragrance friends of mine are diehard fans, and even though I have a sample kit, I haven’t dove in.  A trip to a Louisville perfumery netted me this sample of Violet Fumee, and I can see why people love the line.  This is not a feminine, candy sweet violet bomb.  Neither is it a classic masculine violet lavender.  The feeling is defiantly unisex, mixing both sides together for a composition that can develop on your skin in a few different ways.  After the first hour, this would be a great office scent because while it’s long-lasting, it’s not so strong as to overpower those around you, yet you will definitely smell it on yourself for at least 8 hours.  The price is on the high side, so definitely test it a few times before you take the plunge.  And yes, this has inspired me to dive into my sample box.

Now Smell This
Chemist in the Bottlev
Perfume Possee
Candy Perfume Boy
The Non Blonde
What a Fragrance Fanatic Things
A Scent of Elegance
Q Perfume Blog
The Scented Hound
Ca Fleure Bon

Mona Di Orio fragrances are available from Lady Ruth Perfumes, LuckyScent and MIN New York.

Disclaimer: Sample provided by Lady Ruth Perfumes. Picture courtesy of LuckyScent.

Categories
Fragrance Reviews

Costume National Homme Fragrance Review (Mainstream Monday)

costume-national-homme
* Starts with a spicy citrus burst of orange and grapefruit, covered with cinnamon, and sharpened with a touch of cedar.

* With those top notes it feels surprisingly dense – this isn’t a cologne-style citrus, but a cloud that surrounds you.

* The citrus gets sweeter as an earthy patchouli comes in.

* That incredibly dense feel of the top continues and actually starts to make the scent feel a bit muddled.

* Luckily, when the base comes in it gets a lot better. The amber woods with a touch of sweetness and booze are really nice and almost makes the scent worth wearing.

Summary: When I first got this scent, I absolutely loved it. I am guessing over the past few years my tastes have changed. I tried to figure out the right word to describe it and I came across Victoria’s description on EauMG when she called it milky. That’s exactly it. It’s not that I don’t like like milky scents (I love Join the Club Shun Koin) – but just like orange juice is great with cereal and milk – the idea of mixing milk and orange juice together in one drink is disgusting. That’s how it reads on my skin. I haven’t worn this in a while and will probably sell my bottle. I guess I need to go back and revisit CN Scent Intense as well. A lot of people really like CN Homme and it’s worth testing – especially as a designer scent that is unique. It is really long lasting (more than 12 hours) with strong projection – not office friendly and more for nighttime.

Other Opinions

EauMG
Sorcery of Scent
Pere de Pierre
United Style

Fragrant Moments

Costume National Homme is available from Lucky Scent.

Disclaimer: No disclaimer needed, I own a full bottle. Image courtesy of Lucky Scent.

Categories
Fragrance Reviews

Tom Ford Private Blends Oud Fleur Fragrance Review

* Sweet yet subtle flowers – not really muted but not as vivaciously strong as you would expect

* Then after 5 minutes – it blooms – a lush garden of dirty jasmine and spicy carnations.

* Next comes a sweet rose that is both powdery sweet and fruity/jammy.    

* At one point it seemed to have morphed into a fruity floral with a bit of a kick.

* During this portion, if you sniff really closely there is a hint of oud behind the rose.  Not overbearing, it kind of just levels out the sweetness.

* The flowers fade away for a base that is a soft mix of light leather, woods, and amber.

Summary:   Fleur oud is confusing.  It makes me think again of the infamous “chess for girls” sketch from Saturday Night Live, but it goes both ways.  A few times when I wore this, it felt like it could be a safe “non-oud” oud for women who didn’t want a skanky, dirty oud scent. Other times I wore it, it seemed like a floral fragrance that a guy could wear without feeling too girly.  Either way, this is one that definitely needs to be skin-tested several times to get the full story of how it works on your skin.   Projection is strong for the first hour, but after it calms down it would be safe for office wear.  Longevity is excellent for an EDP, lasting over ten hours.   Together with Tobacco Oud, these two scents restore my faith in the Tom Ford Private Blend line.  This is the line that first got me into niche perfumes a few years back.  The past few collections (Musks, Atelier D’Orient, and Jardin Noir) made me feel like the brand had lost their way but these two oud scents make me think that the line is ready for a comeback.

Other opinions:

Perfume Possee
Kafkaesque
The Candy Perfume Boy
The Scentrist
Ca Fleure Bon
Persolaise
Man Loves Cologne
Katie Chutzpah

Tom Ford Private Blend fragrances are available at Saks 5th Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

Disclaimer: Sample provided by sales associate for review. Image courtesy of Neiman Marcus.tom-ford-private-blend-oud-fleur-nordstrom