* Sahara Noir starts off with an explosion of frankincense.
* Explosion as in bomb- and very powerful but also familiar. It hit me that the initial stage of Sahara Noir is identical to Amber Absolute after the top calms down a bit.
Month: June 2013
* Eau Illuminee kicks off with a refreshing and bright lavender, with a bit of light citrus floating in.
* It starts to get sweeter and powdery with the lavender still in the forefront. I also get some nose-tickling herbs that prick the sniffer.
* The herbs stay in the mix as a light tonka comes in with vanilla and some rooty, earthy notes.
* The base is sweet resins with the earthy notes grounding them.
* Longevity is about average, for an EDT at 3 hours.
Summary: Clean is often used as a bad word amongst fragrance lovers because it refers to a generic, clean scent that is weak and mundane. Eau Illuminee is clean how I imagine it being – fresh, with a bright energetic feeling to it. This would make a great office fragrance for guys or girls, provided you carry a spritzer to refresh yourself after lunch. What better way to pick you up for the second half of the work day?
Parfums Del Rae fragrances are available through LuckyScent and Parfums Del Rae website.
Other opinions:
Disclaimer: Sample provided by publicist for review. Image courtesy of Parfums del Rae website.
* Taylor of Old Bond Street is a family business that has been making male grooming products since the 1850s.
* The coconut shaving cream smells really good; almost like a trip to tropics.
* The cream is very smooth and has the feel of moisturizer on your skin.
* Foam is easily mixed up when aerated with a brush and a bit of moisture.
* The resulting shave is incredibly smooth without the need of a preshave.
Summary: I visited the Taylor of Old Bond Street store when I was in London last year at the suggestion of a wet shaving aficionado. The feel is a very old school, upperclass gentleman’s club, yet there is a friendly feel and a real focus on service. I had tested one of the creams previously but decided to sniff all of them to see which I liked best – the decision was between almond, rose, and coconut. Something about the coconut spoke to me and I’ve enjoyed many amazing shaves ever since. Not only is a preshave not necessary, an aftershave balm/lotion is optional- which is saying a lot since I have extremely sensitive/reactive skin. The 150 gram/5.3 oz bowls are priced between 8 and 9 pounds in the store – which is quite reasonable for the quality and if you buy them in the US, the markup isn’t horrible considering the import fees – putting them at between $14-$16 each. A funny story, though, looking at the ingredient lists, I saw coumarin and thought to myself why would they put in the prescription drug for preventing blood clots as that didn’t seem to fit with the genteel old school natural approach. A little bit of research proved I was being an idiot – as coumarin is a fragrance compound and is completely unrelated to Coumadin.
Taylor of Old Bond Street products are available through West Coast Shaving,
Italian Barber, and Amazon.
Disclaimer: Product purchased for review – no disclaimer need. No financial compensation is received for this review or any others. All opinions are mine. Image courtesy of West Coast Shaving.
* Kicks off with a bright, refreshing, and bold lime with a bit of other citrus in the mix.
* It’s fruity, tangy, and sweet. Almost like pouring the juice on your arm but without the stickiness.
* Lime stays in the forefront for about 20 minutes before it begins to recede, with a sweet vanilla and light florals coming into the mix.
* The florals just kind of sit there – they are nice and pretty but feel kind of, I don’t know, blah.
* After the florals wane, the base of generic wood and bland musk lasts for a few hours.
Summary:
Yes, citrus notes don’t usually last long as top notes in fragrance, but twenty minutes? Come on… If you are looking for niche fragrance version of premature ejaculation, you’ve found it. The lime note, while it lasts, is really good, but for the price of a Tom Ford Private Blend it should last a lot longer (as should the whole scent, 3-4 hours longevity for an edp is bad.) After the proverbial wad is shot, it becomes a bit generic, floating between that realm of Bath and Body Works and low-end Department Store scents. Not that there is anything wrong with those kind of scents, but at $200 for 50ML, my expectations are a lot higher. As a devoted Fordie, I have probably 10 of the Private Blends in my collection and this is one that I rarely reach for – and if I do, it’s to layer with Creed Virgin Island water or as just a quick pick me up. If Azure Lime was a scent at Bath and Body Works for $20 a bottle, I would STRONGLY recommend it. At Private Blend pricing, I recommend testing but would think very carefully before investing in a full bottle.
Tom Ford Private Blends are available from Tom Ford boutiques, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Other opinions:
Image courtesy of Yahoo.com. No disclaimer needed as I own a bottle.