Sashka EDP by Micallef

I believe the Sashka line released by the House of Micallef came about in the late 1990's. I have had no knowledge of them until recently. There are simply too many frags to keep up with and this line escaped me.......until now.

This is one of two masculine Sashka's I recently purchased from Parfum1. Yes......I bought them blind based on reviews and accords......and yes, I still have a horseshoe in my !@# because both are very good and wardrobe worthy. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good............

I am, at this moment, wearing both on each hand and find myself appreciating them equally, in spite of them being completely different one from another. I shall now focus my attention on Sashka ( amber-colored) for the sake of this review. The opening is a concerted blast of lavender and a lemon-mandarin duo. You can smell all three equally and I am pleased to announce that the lavender is extremely well blended and never takes more of the topnote spotlight than it should. This is a clean and transparent lavender sans the soapiness. Ah yes.......my kind of lavender. The interplay with the citrus is also very good and balanced.

As the opening transpires, a note of pepper emerges to give the accord some pop. This signals the heartnotes to spring into action. Well.......spring may be a strong word here....since the nutmeg and very subtle pimento simply slide in nonchalantly to augment the peppery citric theme. I cannot say that I recognize the "pimento" note as such.....but there is something that inserts itself alongside the nutmeg and I deduce that this is Micallef's rendition of Pimento. It actually performs better than quite a few pimento notes I've smelled in other releases, so I'm not complaining.

The base of Patchouli and vetiver are as unencumbered as its predecessors. Spatial enough to differentiate the notes, yet substantial enough to carry the composition. In my opinion, this is well done...aside from smelling really, really good. All in all, Sashka is a winner in my book and for the prices these bottles of EDP are currently selling for.......a complete no brainer. It's a win-win all day long. Big thumbs up from Aromi.

Comments

Oriental Lounge by The Different Company

Bergamot, Curry Leaf, Pepper, Red Rose, Tonka Bean, Labdanum, Satinwood. I suppose the first thing I noticed about Oriental Lounge is that as a man, this is a bit of a stretch to pull off. Since the core of Oriental Lounge is a powdery tonka and amber duo, it really does lean a bit too far feminine for me to wear. However, it would smell just as lovely on a woman and more appropriate as well. I bring this up simply because it's marketed as shared. I was wondering about the curry leaf. Actually, this "note" brought nothing to the table with the exception of possibly enhancing the pepper note just a bit. Even so, the pepper note itself was low key ( at least on me ) and both blended nicely with the citrus opening. From the onset of Oriental Lounge, it's unmistakable that this fragrance is.......well.....an oriental. From other opinions, I read some gripes about longevity, but it lasts on me quite awhile. This fragrance is uncomplicated and without much movemen...

Black Suede by Avon

Nutmeg, Clove, Amber, Musk, Moss, Wood Notes. Yes.........I am reviewing one of the Rodney Dangerfield's of fragrance. Black Suede has been gracing medicine cabinets, for better or worse, since 1980 my friends. If you're expecting me to inform you ( like others may have already ) that Black Suede is a nasty scrubber, you will be disappointed. On the other hand, if you're expecting a glowing review claiming it's a diamond in the rough, you won't hear that from me either. I will say though that Black Suede doesn't deserve the hate it's received and most of that is due to snobbery aimed at Avon products in general. I kid you not when I state that a close relative to this fragrance is Cacharel Pour L'Homme. The array of spice in both ensure comparison, but the "smoother" of the two is Black Suede due to its implementation of Amber. While wearing Black Suede, one can detect a hint of "drugstore". That quality doesn't manife...

Paco Rabanne Pour Homme

I am reviewing the original Paco Rabanne Pour Homme ( circa 1973 ) thanks to a generous basenoter who sent it to me recently in a swap. He also sent me the current formulation in order for me to do a side by side comparison. The side by side resulted in what I had already imagined would be the case. Not that the newer formula is terrible by any means. The original version simply is better by being deeper and a bit more masculine. No......you shouldn't go to ebay searching for the vintage formula and paying stupid prices. It's simply a notch or two better than the current and noticeable by comparing the two in real time. Rabanne Pour Homme opens with a slight shimmer in conjunction with lavender, spices and a subtle woodiness. It's an old school introduction, however a good one. The lavender takes about 5 minutes to raise its volume and evolve into a soapy rendition. I dislike when a boatload of soapy lavender takes over a composition, but here it doesn't go over t...

Il Mondo di Odore

Search This Blog