Persolaise Review: 50 ml D’Ambiguité from Marlou (2017)
I do love a perfume name that makes me laugh. In much the same way that Etat Libre D’Orange’s Rien always elicits a chuckle – because, in fact, it contains…
I do love a perfume name that makes me laugh. In much the same way that Etat Libre D’Orange’s Rien always elicits a chuckle – because, in fact, it contains…
I’ve long considered Frederic Malle to run as close to a perfect perfume brand as we can get. Staggering compositions. Intelligent marketing. Genuine respect for customers. There’s very little that…
Spend just a few minutes going through some of the world’s most-respected perfume sites, and you’re bound to see countless references to everything from vinyl to velvet. For instance, Neil…
image: Feelunique For my latest Feelunique article, I’ve presented a very simple guide to some of the main fragrance families (ie chypre, oriental, leather et al). If you’d like to…
It’s hard not to succumb to a sense of ennui at the interminable parade of flankers presented to us by mainstream brands these days. But when a company leaves a…
I can’t help but envy Italian men their sense of style. Yes, I know I’m making a generalisation as broad as the shoulders of Michelangelo’s David, but spend a few…
Woah! Don’t ever let me say that mainstream masculine scents can’t be surprising any more. After years of fobbing us off with various editions of the amoeboid dross that is…
The soundbites If Kimonanthe were an item of food, it would be marmalade shot through with slivers of charcoal. If it were a painting, it would be Untitled (Violet, Black,…
The soundbites If Sideshow were a sculpture, it would be David Cerny’s floating hand. If it were an item of clothing, it would be a little girl’s pink party dress,…
The soundbites If Dark Rebel Rider were a wardrobe accessory, it would be a dark grey scarf. If it were a time of day, it would be that moment on…
THIS POST WAS SHORTLISTED IN THE ‘INDEPENDENT – SOUNDBITE’ CATEGORY OF THE 2016/17 UK JASMINE AWARDS The soundbites If Galop D’Hermès were a painting, it would be Two Dancers In…
The soundbites If Solar’1 were a colour, it would be burnished gold. If it were a poem, it would be Ozymandias by P B Shelley. If it were a texture,…
The soundbites If Lonesome Rider were a texture, it would be: dry, raw linen. If it were a colour, it would be: sandy beige. If it were a place, it…
The soundbites If Baptême Du Feu were a piece of music it would be Metamorphosis One by Philip Glass. If it were an image, it would be a bright sari…
Where’s the line between old-school masculines which are too… well… old-school and those which don’t feel out of place in a contemporary setting? Is it somewhere near notions of transparency:…
I haven’t had many opportunities to meet Givaudan‘s Rodrigo Flores-Roux (Neroli Portofino, Anima Dulcis, Oeillet Bengale, amongst several others), but each time our paths have crossed, I’ve bemoaned the fact…
When Karine Bouin’s Peau De Bête pounced on us last year, it elicited a fair number of gasps, with several writers stating they were overwhelmed by its scandalous dosage of…
One man’s tiger is another man’s kitten, so it’s with some hesitation that I type the word ‘animalic’ today. In recent months, it’s been used in relation to a few…
Thierry Wasser has had the thankless task of creating flankers for classics such as Shalimar, L’Heure Bleue and Habit Rouge (could any other perfumery endeavour be more worthy of the…
After a side-step that saw him produce two scents in collaboration with J Crew, Arquiste‘s Carlos Huber returns to his signature range and quells fears that his sensibilities may have…