Tag: woods

Fragrance Reviews

Smell Bent Holiday Collection Winter Vixen Fragrance Review

Post author By Ron Slomowicz
Post date December 6, 2013

* Gourmand with a capital G – starting with the smell of making hot chocolate with nutella.

* The top projects strongly – people around you will start getting hungry.

* The nutella melts away and Musc Ravageur starts coming through – vanilla and cloves mixed with dirty musk.

* This part lasts for several hours which makes me love it every time I catch a whiff.

* Woods come in for the base with a touch of musk lasting throughout.

Summary: If you couldn’t tell by reading my description, I love this scent. So much so that I am considering buying a full bottle. It combines two things that I love into one – hot chocolate and the top notes of Musc Ravageur. The holiday interpretation with the title is just about perfect… tempting you with a warm delicious treat and then seducing you sexually. Longevity is about six hours, which is really good for an EDT. Winter Vixen also smells like an expensive niche fragrance – like it could be a By Killian or a Tom Ford Private Blend. With its robustness as an EDT, I could only imagine how glorious an EDP concentration would be.

Other opinions:

EauMG

Smell Bent fragrances are available through the Smell Bent website.

Disclaimer: Samples purchased by me – no disclaimer needed. Image courtesy of Smellbent.

Tags edt, hot chocolate, musc ravageur, nutella, smell bent, woods

Fragrance Reviews

Majda Bekkali Fusion Sacree – Lui Fragrance Review

Post author By Ron Slomowicz
Post date November 27, 2013

* The beginning punch is manly sweet. Citrus and lavender, like a traditional man’s cologne sweetened with a strong, boozy rum note.

* The rum grows stronger as the citrus quickly fades.

* While not projecting strongly, this scent does have presence and makes itself known.

* The rum note is joined by a sweet candied tuberose, similar to Vamp A NY.

* The base is a snuggly mix of caramel, vanilla, and woods.

Summary. This is a gorgeous scent which is sold as a masculine but could easily be worn by women. Something about this scent makes me smile every time I spray it on – it’s sweet but not overly sweet. There is a depth to it that encompasses you. Longevity is excellent at 12 hours, and it’s office safe, as long as you spray it on at least 30 minutes before you go to work. This is a scent that was a love at first sniff, so I pretty much bought it after a quick smell at Sens Unique in Paris. The girls there know me and directed me to it. The girls really know me – at least based on how perfectly this scent works for me.

Other opinions:

Perfume Niche
Ca Fleure Bon

Majda Bekkali fragrances are available through Lucky Scent and Min New York.

Disclaimer: Bottle purchased by me – no disclaimer needed. Image courtesy of Lucky Scent.

Tags citrus, edp, fusion sacre, lavender, majda bekkali, rum, tuberose, vanilla, woods

Fragrance Reviews

Costes Fragrance Review

Post author By Ron Slomowicz
Post date August 9, 2013

* Crisp lavender and sweet cinnamon are quite exhilarating together on the top.

* It starts like a refreshing and manly sports scent – or what I wish a man’s sport scent would smell like, rather than generically clean and fresh.

* Out of nowhere, a soapy rose comes into play- with some of the cinnamon giving it a prickly feel.

* The rose blossoms literally by feeling really alive, as if it is breathing.

* If you sniff your skin closely, you smell the base of woods and nondescript musk.

Summary: Sort of in the vein of celebrity scents, this is the signature scent of the Hotel Costes. It’s fresh sand invigorating, but not overwhelming. It lasts about five hours on my skin, which is about right for an eau de toilette. I could see this as a great scent post-workout or as a nice wake-up scent in the morning. It’s available as shower gel and soap, which would be delightful to use or give as a gift. It’s definitely unisex and on the lighter side, so this would be great for people who are afraid of being too loud. If you are ever in Paris, you must visit the Hotel Costes to see not only the amazing rose market but to experience all the IUMX fragrance in the special automated flower machines… Hard to describe. Whatever you do, do not touch the tester bottles or else the animated perfume salescold will chastise you with “this is not f*king Sephora” (or “this is not f*king Boots” if you look British). Just one of the many animated characters you might meet in Paris…

Other opinions:

Bois de Jasmin

Perfume Smillin Things

Costes is available at LuckyScent and CO Bigelow.

Disclaimer: No disclaimer needed as I own a full bottle. Image courtesy of LuckyScent website.