Aedes De Venustas Iris Nazarena Review – From The Archive
Persolaise Aedes De Venustas Iris Nazarena perfume review by award-winning critic Persolaise (Ralf Schwieger, 2013, from the archive)
Perfume Mini-Reviews From Twitter – April to June 2014 [part 1]
Here’s another ‘digest’ of the reviews I’ve posted on Twitter. To read the first instalment of this occasional series (which focussed on reviews published between January and March) please click…
Fragrance Foundation UK FiFi Awards 2014 – Best New Fragrance Nominees
Here are Fragrance Foundation UK’s nominees for what are often referred to as the two most important FiFi categories: Best New Female Fragrance and Best New Male Fragrance. Ladies’ list…
Fragrance Foundation UK FiFi Awards 2014 – Best New Fragrances In Limited Distribution Nominees
More FiFi UK shortlists. Today, it’s the turn of what the Fragrance Foundation calls perfumes “in limited distribution”, ie those which are available in a relatively small number of retail…
Fragrance Foundation UK FiFi Awards 2014 – Best Perfume Commercial Nominees
The excitement around this year’s Fragrance Foundation FiFi Awards is starting to heat up! To mark the approach of one of the most important dates on the UK’s scented calendar,…
Persolaise Review: Amber Oud and Rose Oud from Nicolaï (Patricia De Nicolaï; 2013)
Ah, the power of peer pressure! A few years ago, you needed quite a few fingers to count the number of brands who said they’d “never do an oud.” Now,…
Perfume Mini-Reviews From Twitter – January to March 2014
Could this be the start of a regular feature? Below, you’ll find all the mini-reviews I’ve posted on Twitter since January of this year. I’ve decided to re-publish them here…
Persolaise Review: Ingrid from Tableau De Parfums (Andy Tauer; 2013)
You probably won’t believe this, but I assure you it’s true. When I first sniffed Ingrid, before I knew anything about the movie character on which it’s based, it seemed…
Persolaise Review: Magnolia Grandiflora Michel (Michel Roudnitska; 2013) & Magnolia Grandiflora Sandrine (Sandrine Videault; 2013) from Grandiflora
It’s hard not to make a connection between Michel Roudnitska’s Magnolia Grandiflora and his late father Edmond‘s unsurpassed Diorissimo. Before it became a victim of repeated reformulations, the latter was…
Persolaise Review: Coven from Andrea Maack (2013)
I dismissed the first three fragrances from Andrea Maack as derivative and uninspiring. The next two, Coal and Silk, were marginally better, but they didn’t possess sufficiently distinct personalities to…
Persolaise Review: Iris Nazarena from Aedes De Venustas (Ralf Schwieger; 2013)
Aedes De Venustas Iris Nazarena review by award-winning perfume critic Persolaise (Ralf Schwieger, 2013)
Best Perfumes Of 2013
Don’t look now, folks, but I think we’ve made it to the end of another December. Rose-tinted nostalgia goggles aside, it’s probably fair to say that 2013 has been as…
Christmas Wishes 2013
I can’t believe a year has gone by past since I last wished all of you a Merry Christmas. It’s a cliche, but I honestly don’t know where the time’s…
Persolaise Review: Oumma from 777 (Stéphane Humbert-Lucas; 2013)
If you’re going to do something that’s been done before, you’d better do it well. And if the thing you’re going to do is artistically suspect and quite possibly mercenary,…
Persolaise Review: Monsieur from Huitième Art (Pierre Guillaume; 2013)
Monsieur makes me angry. Sure, it displays the high levels of technical competence that we’ve now come to expect from Pierre Guillaume – it’s diffusive, long-lasting and generally cohesive –…
Home Scents For Christmas 2013 – From Diptyque’s Mechanical Air To Kurkdjian’s Supernatural Jasmine
You can keep your boughs of holly and your clove-encrusted oranges. If there’s one thing that’s enjoyable about the yuletide season, it’s the opportunity to scent your home with olfactory…
Tauer Advent 2013 – Explorer Set Winner
Thanks very much indeed to all of you who entered yesterday’s Tauer Perfumes draw. I enjoyed reading all your entries. Sadly, there can be only one winner, and on this…
Persolaise Review: Épice Marine from Hermès (Jean-Claude Ellena; 2013)
If only all press packs were as helpful as the one for Épice Marine. Amongst the various bits and pieces of info provided by Hermès for this latest addition to…
Christmas 2013 Perfume Gift Recommendations – Little Black Dresses, Smoky Vanillas… And A Good Read
Please don’t mention sprouts or cranberries. I haven’t even done my cards yet! And as for presents… well, I expect there’ll be a fair amount of mad dashing around in…
Persolaise Review: Phi – Une Rose De Kandahar from Tauer Perfumes (Andy Tauer; 2013)
I wonder if Andy Tauer has ever smelt the original Fougère Royale. I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Paul Parquet‘s masterpiece quite recently at the Osmothèque in…