Hanae Mori

By -
This Woody Oriental-Gourmand was released a dozen years ago. Hard to believe it's already been that long ago.

I have read reviews of HM and the complaints of it being overtly sweet. I don't believe this is a cloying fragrance. The opening is a very good citric lavender. There is sweetness apparent from the initial spray, but it's not over the top and the lemon is well executed.

In spite of the listed notes, the floral heart consisting of iris, jasmin, muguet and rose only introduce jasmin on my skin. Normally, I am very aware of iris, lily or rose, but I cannot detect them here. I get a balanced jasmin note that integrates itself with the citrus and lavender. The result is a very nice accord in spite of what I consider the missing florals.

The same thing happens to me with the base accord. I detect the arrival of chocolate and then shortly thereafter a very subtle vanilla along with it. It's not until the extended drydown there is a feint and wispy woody amber. I get no moss, but HM does fine without it.

All things considered, HM is a borderline gourmand with oriental leanings and is pretty damn good. I can see this scent working well in spring and autumn and would smell great on either sex.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Legacy 1912 Titanic Eau de Parfum for Women

By -
Image
Lemon, Orange Blossom, Hyacinth, Rose, Violet. As far as I've read, this fragrance was inspired by a Titanic survivor who was hoping to sell his fragrances in the Big Apple. I happened to run across a nearly full 75ml. bottle last month and purchased it untested. Released as an EDP, what I noticed after multiple wearings was the politeness inherent in the entire composition. The volume seems to be governed regardless of sprays, but perhaps that's a misconception on my part. At any rate, the dispersion is well behaved and mannerly, while smelling feminine and surprisingly good. Legacy is a citric floral that I can see succeeding in warm temperatures. Legacy opens with a sheer accord of citrus and leafy green aspects. The blossom is tuned a bit more assertively than the lemon, but their balances are executed very pleasantly. The combination of Hyacinth and Violet is just as good. The leaf and stem qualities compliment the violet rendition and is soon accented by a demur
Read more

Unpublished Reviews

By -
 I have been meaning to post more here but just have not been able to. I think it is the fear of not coming close to what Dave did here. I will have to cross that bridge soon. In the meantime, please enjoy these last few reviews that Dave was working on. They were written in 2021. Some were posted and then taken off the blog. These are the reviews of the Yellowstone Parfums line. I heard about this line in 2021. The smell description and artwork reminded me of Dave. I thought he was the person behind it and so I got a sample set.  It turned out that, while he was not the nose behind it, he was involved. Helping his friend with this venture. Unfortunately, I don't think the Yellowstone Parfums are in business anymore. 
Read more

Voile Blanc by Traveller Limited

By -
Image
Cedarwood, Frankincense, Leather, Musk, Thyme, Voile Blanc is yet another Arabian style sample sent to me, courtesy of CoutureGuru. As his review attests, it is distributed in a different fashion than your conventional "houses". Just the fact that a merchant can have a quality, duty-free scent created and marketed to a target audience is impressive. Too bad it isn't readily available through the normal means of purchase as Voile Blanc is well done and "adjusted" to suit palettes other than local. I say that because the west, as a whole, seems to favor "subtle yet substantial" over ostentatious. The opening of Voile Blanc is a leathery presentation accented with Incense and Woods. It's vibrant without being startling and you can tell in the first few minutes that this will come in with a smooth landing. There's nothing complicated here as the intro continues on its way until volume and presence dissipate enough to signal heart, then base
Read more