The first five minutes of Antaeus cologne for men scared the bejesus out of me, as the reaction of some spice (coriander, probably), strange dark florals or herbs, and possibly civet as well seemed the prelude to something very close to the smell of crap. Thank goodness it turned out to be just the opening dance of notes, and after five minutes it settled down to a good ole reliable leather. Kouros by YSL comes easily to mind [...] Read more »
It’s only the third Chanel perfume for men that I’ve reviewed so far (or should I say the second, as one was Allure Homme Sport and the other one was its close fresher cousin Allure Homme Edition Blanche), but I think I’m starting to see a pattern: they’re all similar to stuff that you may have smelt before, but with a sort of Chanel-ness in them, which makes them classier and with better quality. Rather than fresh, Chanel Bleu [...] Read more »
OK so I decided – in this initial phase of my perfume smelling apprenticeship – to adopt this simple principle: the main purpose of a fragrance is to smell good and not to smell different from anything else. This is why – when it comes to designer perfumes – I normally disagree with criticisms like “it’s good, but it so smells like such and such,” especially when the comparison is made with super-ultra niche fragrances. Frankly, it always gives [...] Read more »
The opening of Allure Chanel for men is fresh and warm, at the same time (or maybe should I say sensual?). There are the same citrus notes of the original Allure: lemon, bergamot and mandarin, but even fresher and more informal, as it also includes grapefruit. The initial phase lasts about half an hour and Read more »
If you read a couple of reviews of this Chance by Chanel perfume (created by Jacques Polge, Chanel’s in-house perfumer), you will soon notice this is not deemed as the best of Chanel fragrances: too artificial, too strong, too citrus lemon, too formulaic and uninspired, too sweet, too fresh-flowery and all-the-same… and on and on. In other words, Yet Another Floral Fragrance. But I like this one, you know, like those quirky school-mates or colleagues that no one [...] Read more »