Il Mondo di Odore

The very best wishes from all of us at Il Mondo !!! Here's hoping nothing but good things come to pass for all our readers in 2012.

I wanted to review Amouage's Reflection Man dead last for the year of 2011. It seemed only fitting since it is a time to look back upon a year that has passed us by so quickly. There's plenty to reflect on for all of us. I'm just not completely convinced a fragrance can accomplish a task as sobering as that. It may help the mood along however, so let's see if Amouage has succeeded in nudging me along this road.......or if, in the process, I turn into a pillar of salt. I sampled Reflection Man on and off for the past month or so. There was just "something" sticking in my craw about it that I still cannot put my finger on. What I did conclude is that there are periods in the wearings that I am reminded ( strongly ) of Pascal Morabito's Avec Amour.  Pascal's "With Love" has floral components with similarities not only in aroma, but texture as well. Reflection Man leans slightly rouge on me. Missing is the customary incense note that ...

This particular masculine has been around for a little over 20 years. Naturally, there's wheelbarrows full of reviews on it. I figure to throw my opinion into the ring as well. It's about time I finally added a review for this classic. Make no mistake, it is a classic. New York is along the lines of Pour Monsieur, Egoiste and Heritage. It has its own identity and aroma, but the construction is similar to those I've just mentioned. The name "New York" can only be appropriate if describing the sophisticated simplicity that's inherent in this fragrance. From beginning to end, there's no surprises except the fact that you smell like a refined gentleman. The citric opening of De Nicolai's New York is a Bergamot-Lemon with just enough clove woven into the fabric. The citrus accord hangs around for a very respectable amount of time and possesses a denseness not normally found in openings with these notes. There's other spices in New York o...

Apparently über-kühl German designer Karl Lagerfeld loves geometry and music, in addition to fashion, and his launch of the Kapsule trio—a set of three unisex perfumes designed to be worn separately or mixed together according to the wearer's liking—is a multidimensional tribute to all of Karl's loves simultaneously. Since these perfumes are sold separately, they can and should, it seems to me, be initially evaluated as stand-alone fragrances. How do they measure up next to similar perfumes in their respective categories? KAPSULE LIGHT (2008) Subtle or boring? Well, it's all a matter of personal values, I suppose. To my nose,  Kapsule Light is without question a subtle, slightly masculine-leaning cologne. The dominant cedarish quality is, I gather, imparted by iso-E-super? Karl's not the kind to show all his cards, so there probably is a lot more going on than the officially listed notes suggest. In any case, the principal spicey notes in this compo...

This particular release is described as an Eau de Parfum ( Colonia Maxima. ) The very first thing I noticed upon applying PonteVecchio was that it indeed smells like a cologne the initial 5 minutes or so. To be honest, I'm not a fan of colognes. It's simply a preference and nothing more. Once I noticed this was a "Colonia Maxima" on the LS site, I decided to purchase a sample out of curiosity. After wearing this, I'm not sure this is a maximized anything. The sillage is very close to the skin, but I will say that PonteVecchio does transcend the "cologne" vibe beyond the top accord more than a conventional cologne would. Do I like it? I'm stuck between liking it somewhat and "meh". I find nothing striking or special about it. It smells pleasant enough, but for a full bottle purchase, we all need to love something about what we are smelling. After all, we are the ones stuck wearing it for hours. If you are anything like me, I wear scent...

It's not every day that niche lover Joe Petruccijc and mainstream maniac Redneck Perfumisto speak highly of the same scent - much less buy bottles of it. If that's not reason enough to pay attention to this scent, then let me begin by drawing comparisons to Tom Ford and the oudier Bond no. 9 scents.  And your good buddy R.P. will make a further admission, folks.  Of the multitude of frags that magically appeared under Red's Christmas tree this year, Kerosene's R'oud Elements is the one that he opened up and wore on Christmas day. There are already some nice reviews of this fragrance on  Basenotes , the + Q Perfume Blog , and Memory of Scent .  There is even an interview with the creator, Kerosene , on the + Q Perfume Blog link.  But let me give you the quickie tour of the history and smell of this scent, so you can decide for yourself whether to investigate further. Kerosene is a core member of the YouTube men's fragrance gang - but he has always been an ...

Here's wishing everyone a very, merry Christmas and that the desires of your hearts come to pass. May all enjoy the blessings of being with family and friends. Peace from us at Il Mondo di Odore.

I enjoy stumbling upon houses that manage to release some consistent fragrances. This particular house has a certain style and feel to its creations and I admit to liking their constructions. Citizen Queen ( on my skin ) is about leathery rose and iris. This is the opening and it's substantial. There's also a labdanum in the mix, but it seems content to let the aforementioned trio have the spotlight and assist from the shadows. Immortelle is also listed and I was expecting it to become dominant at some point. That note does have a habit of usurping compositions, but not in Citizen Queen. Instead, it seems to soften the complexion of the scent and truly is well executed. After 10 minutes, the iris starts to become passively powdery. It stays that way for the duration of the wearings and the totality of Citizen Queen is the leathery rose with contributions from iris and subtle amber. I find that Citizen Queen and Cuir Ottoman are DISTANTLY related and if I had to choose w...

Before sampling Bond No.9 Hamptons, I read some of the reviews instead of reviewing, then reading other opinions. I guess it's the approaching Holidays, stress and whatnot that has me doing everything ass backwards lately. I'll be fine after some valium and a Bud Lite. Now, I have been having a difficult time the last week or so reviewing ANYTHING. Nothing seems to have "clarity" to my nose and it's not because I have a cold. Physically, I am fine, so I attribute this distracted and detached state to the time of year. The very first thing I noticed upon applying Hamptons was that it has a peripheral latex note. It's that rubber glove aroma floating above everything else. I know that smell well. I was a Chef for years and while no longer willing to manage kitchens, I still work in one. Gloves are as visible in kitchens as the food and utensils themselves. After peeling off a set of disposable latex gloves, there's a certain smell that accompanies that a...

Le Labo recently launched a series of new limited edition perfumes (edps) in collaboration with Anthropologie, an eclectic purveyor of women's clothing and curiosities, including a smattering of niche perfumes. Having been very impressed with the small number of Le Labo perfumes I had already tried, I decided to check out three members of this special series (there are five all together), which for some unknown reason are priced drastically lower than the regular Le Labo perfumes, commanding a mere $62 for each 2oz bottle! Interestingly enough, upon receipt of my package, I discovered that the label on the front of these bottles reads, “From the Makers of Le Labo,” thus vaguely suggesting that it is not really Le Labo perfume. Still, the bottles are made of hefty brown pharmaceutical glass with thick bottoms, and the caps are painted heavy metal (not chintzy plastic), so the overall feeling is substantial and inspires confidence in the quality of the product. Unfortunately, th...

Wall Street? Really? A Boardroom type masculine would be more name-appropriate, but then again, this is New York we're tawkin about. At any rate, the boardroom is the last thing Wall Street resembles. If I had just eaten a vegetarian meal ( sans the onions ) and was walking along a pier on the waterfront with a slight breeze blowing, this scent would be coordinated with my environment. Bond No.9 has the notes listed as : Sea kale, Cucumber, Lavender, Ambergris and Vetiver. Wall Street is part Ozonic, Aquatic and Vegetarian. The cucumber note isn't what I would call an accurate rendition, but it does embody a juicy, watery aspect. The "Sea Kale" is Lord knows what and that too doesn't really matter. It does have somewhat of a marine aroma. I can't claim that this fragrance has a "fishy" smell like some claim, but there is periodic hints of it during the wearings. I honestly don't know what the concept was when they developed this or if the...

The listed notes for Acqua di Parma's Mirto di Panarea are : Myrtle, Bergamot, Calabrian lemon, Orange, Basil Jasmin, Rose, Green of Lilac and Blackcurrant Lentisc, Juniper, Cedarwood and Amber What I immediately noticed is that Mirto di Panarea wears a bit like the body sprays from Bath and Body Works. I occasionally use a misting spray called Woodland from them and Mirto is very similar in its feel. Mirto is listed as an EDT. As I wear this scent, I keep thinking I'm smelling a soapy lavender accord underneath the spice and wood. As you can see, it's not listed, yet I smell it and it's pleasant. The opening is nice and unoffensive. All the citric notes are a bit muddled, but they are recognizable as a citrus accord with a deft touch from basil. The projection is appropriate as is Mirto's lack of denseness. It has breathing ability, which is what you want in a fragrance of this genre. Even the floral, spice and woody tones of Mirto aren't clear cut a...

I had to wear this a few times in order to get it. The opening kept throwing me off as to what exactly I was smelling. I wore it the first time without analyzing it, then subsequent wearings forced me to concentrate. The opening of L'Homme de Coeur is slightly alcoholic with some herbal-woody tones to it. It's not herbaceous in the conventional sense, but it's there alongside the wood. Only a moment or two later, a musk integrates itself into the accord and this is what was causing me to focus. It wasn't until 5 minutes into the wearing that it dawned on me that angelica was the reason for not only the herbal tone but the musk. I cannot say that this rendition of Angelica is a very good one. I use Fendi Uomo as my measuring stick, which may or may not be fair, but that's life. The implementation in L'Homme is fair at best. The problem I have with this fragrance ( overall )  is that I get minimal projection, fullness or longevity out of it. With EDP's, I ...

This house releases fragrances that do not get any exposure from visual promotion or word of mouth. i Profumi has its own style and comes off ( to me ) as a hybrid of old school and modern. They certainly don't attempt to be current since they claim to use very old recipes. The house is definitely worth sampling since there are some interesting fragrances in their lineup. Now, I could be wrong about the lack of exposure, but here in the States I never hear of it nor do I see anything pertaining to past and present releases. That's too bad because after sampling enough of these, I feel this house would appeal to a certain percentage of wearers. Mirra is very uncomplicated like quite a few others in their line. The bottom line is that it's a woody oriental. I say that only because of the vanilla base. Mirra opens with a slightly balsamic woodiness and the only real transition I get is when the vanilla starts to assert itself after 5 minutes. We have Olibanum, Myrrh, Woody...

It seems I have ( unintentionally ) been sampling some orange heavy hitters as of late. While it's true that I prefer scents of this category in the warmer months, I surely don't mind sampling them in what I consider "out of season". My sampling of the house of Mecheri has been intentional however. Mecheri fragrances have a house "touch" instead of a house note. I always considered Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier to have that going for them as well, but Mecheri seems to be more consistent with the way their fragrances flow. Sanguine is not an over-the-top orange scent. It's an integrated orange fragrance that just so happens to have orange as the lead note. Once again, the volume is low but full. The releases follow this pattern and it seems they are made to accommodate current tolerances. On me, Sanguine is very simplistic. A soft orange overlaid on an even softer woody-floral accord. There's also a musk lurking in the background, helping to give ...

The reviews for Bond No.9 cover the entire spectrum of hatred to love. I fall in the middle and since I like orange, Little Italy was a pleasant and very linear wear. There's nothing spectacular here and because of the price point of the house, it makes for a difficult decision when trying to decide on Little Italy. The sillage and longevity are average and I have no complaints about them. This fragrance is all about Orange. I have tried others from Bond No.9 that featured the orange note, but not like this. I wouldn't go as far as saying this is a  one note wonder, but it's close. The rendition of orange used here is subjective to the wearer. Real orange? Orange candy? Popsicle orange? Synthetic orange? You read the reviews and get numerous opinions and descriptions. Personally, I don't care what "type" of orange is being implemented as long as I enjoy wearing it because it smells good. Little Italy accomplishes this. It's not great and the price tr...

The terms "smooth as butter" or "melts in your mouth" came to mind when I finally got to wear Micallef's Yellow Sea. This fragrance has real presence without projecting a cloud of sillage. It's actually perfect because of this attribute and is akin to the way Chanel's Coromandel wears on my skin. When someone comes into your personal space, you had better believe they are going to know you are wearing something.....and that something is pretty damn good. This parfum has excellent longevity and THAT is at odds with the reviews I have read. Two sprays are still going strong 5 hours later. LS has the notes listed as : Bergamot, Lemon, Patchouli, White Cedar, Incense, Amber, Castoreum and Benzoin. Yellow Sea opens with a blend of citrus, a subtle patchouli and even less incense. I get these immediately and it's a supple rendition. The incense gradually builds momentum, never getting loud, but becoming more noticeable. The citric accord is commendab...

POISON (1985) I knew a woman many years ago who wore Poison , and that alone was enough to deter me from ever allowing the aptly named substance to come in contact with my skin. But one bright and sunny day, as a part of my ongoing quest for truth through and in perfume, I decided that I would take up the legendary elixir. Could I, in good conscience, continue on in such a state of ignorance even decades after the perfume's launch? I humbly asked myself. No, the time had arrived, at last, to set my prejudices to one side and finally put Poison to the direct test, by wearing it myself. Was it not possible, after all, that my negative perception of the perfume was mere projection stemming from my negative impression of the woman who wore it, perhaps too heavily applied? It is true that she wore too much make up as well, what became abundantly clear the fated morning when I bumped into her before she had spent what must have been the two hours of her daily ritual in painstaking...