Il Mondo di Odore

Musk, Neroli, Gardenia, Water Lily, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Cedar. First, allow me to thank my good friend and talented reviewer sherapop for her extremely generous sample package that arrived in my mailbox !!! One of the fragrances she included was Belle du Soir. By looking at the listed notes and the name of the fragrance, you would be correct in ASSUMING that Belle du Soir would be a citric-floral scent with a foundation of lightly implemented wood and earth tones. Oh, how wrong you would be !!! No sooner this hit my skin, I almost sprinted to my wardrobe cabinet and grabbed Santos by Cartier for comparison. I can safely say that Belle du Soir is Santos for Women. I am literally in awe of the similarities. I have had Santos in my drobe for years and the sandalwood, cedar and patchouli triumvirate are dead ringers for one another. Belle du Soir is for the no nonsense woman. This fragrance is more of a woody chypre than anything and the emphasis being put upon the word wood...

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...

I recently received a sample of this from a generous basenoter and was glad since the only other Le Labo I can recall sampling was Rose 31. I have also been looking to add an Oud fragrance to my wardrobe for awhile now and I can't seem to find "the one" just yet. I have a few front runners, but nothing definitive. Oud 27 is very straightforward and linear on my skin and even the listed accords are simplistic. LS has Atlas Cedar, Incense, Patchouli, Saffron and Gaiac Wood. The opening combination of Saffron and Gaiac isn't exactly a blissful union, but within 10 minutes they find a way to blend more successfully. It opens with a bit of skankiness from the saffron as it intermingles with the cedar/incense duo. I've heard others regard this as fecal, but I don't get a feces aroma. I do, however, get a Johnson&Johnson band-aid note from the combination of cedar, saffron and gaiac. It's a tad weird and in spite of it not being unpleasant, it's a dea...

Le Labo Patchouli 24 vs. Comme des Garcons Luxe: Patchouli Patchouli 24 goes on smelling less of patchouli and more of smoke. This particular version of the surprisingly numerous birch-tar bonfire genre smells strongly to my nose of the charcoal people use to the BBQ with, but thankfully, Le Labo saves us the roasting meat ( yes, that's a nod to you, Lonestar Memories ). There's a petrochemical edge, here, too, as though you can still smell the gasoline used to set it on fire. The drydown, however, leads to something much more pleasant. The patchouli finally comes out from hiding, and it's a soft, cushion-like thing given a pleasant, lightly smoky edge. The longevity is less than I expect from a patchouli, but decent, and the same goes for the sillage. Luxe: Patchouli is another beast entirely. The top notes are very pleasantly peppery and smoky, but very brief, as almost immediately the immortelle leaps forward and dominates the blend through the heart notes....

Rose #31 is an Eau de Parfum concentration, yet I don't find it has the projection of your garden variety EDP. It's sillage and longevity is acceptable however, but price point must be a deciding factor for a scent that is $2 plus per ml. With that said, Rose #31 is a masculine version that opens with rose, a hint of cumin, pepper, clove and nutmeg. These accompanying spices are well proportioned and only accent the rose note. I am a fan of rose and have a proclivity for the dark variety. This particular rose is shades lighter, but very good and very masculine. The scent transitions smoothly into a woody accord and I get a nutty vetiver note in the background which is very pleasing. A wispy green floats in and out precursing a soft amber. I cannot perceive the listed oud and I am grateful for that. If it is in fact in there, it's buried fairly deep and I find Rose #31 does not need a prominent oud note to succeed. The rest of the players are more than enough to make thi...