Hermes Terre D'Hermes EDT
I know, I'm swimming against the stream here!
Great concept, banal / conventional execution. It smells exactly as it's supposed to smell: the mass market version of Bigarade Concentree. A JC Ellena self rip-off!
Vetiver, grapefruit/orange, woody and peppery notes. It honestly smells good, but it's not as groundbreaking as they want us to think. Overloaded with Iso E Super.
A crowdpleaser!
Rating: 6.5-7/10
Montale Vetiver De Sables
A vetiver disaster! A generic, derivative and unrefined fresh composition of absolutely no interest. Hints of vetiver on a loud mahogany base. Vetiver Des Sables moves in a very crowded territory without the ability to stand out. Unneeded.
Rating: 4.5/10
Armani Privè Vetiver Babylone
A sutble creamy vetiver accord surrounded by green notes and a crispy citrus that's quite pleasant but far from being unique and justifying the outrageous price tag. At this prices I expect excellence, sorry. Yet another uninteresting woody-citrus.
Rating: 5/10
Montale Red Vetyver
Let me say that being myself a vetiver freak, after all the fuss I've heard about this fragrance, my expectations while approaching Red Vetyver were maybe too high but, as a matter of fact, I've been disappointed. At the same time I see why this fragrance counts many supporters around.
Red Vetyver shares more than one single similarity with Terre D'Hermes (a fragrance I don't love). While they quite differ in the opening where Red Vetyver adds some extra richness to the simple peppery-citrusy formula of TdH, and shows the unmistakeable Montale's hallmark with some (let's say) gourmandic hints, they become totally alike in the drydown. In this phase they share the same slight harshness, the same vetiver/woods combo, the same allure. I'm pretty sure that If you carefully look at them you'l be able to find more differencies and (maybe) prefer one over the other. Me? I didn't like the cheaper version (TdH) I don't see why I should like the expensier...
Tenacious lasting power and good projection (as usual in Montale's fragrances).
Rating: 6.5/10
Tauer Vetiver Dance
Flowery vetiver with woody/resinous undertones. Interesting (challenging) opening where Tauer shows his incredible mastery in taking the distance from the usual initial accord of many vetivers introducing a weird green-herbaceous element that leans towards a salty/metallic feel, yet the fragrance is not completely satisfying. Powerful, solid and original but I prefer drier compositions when it comes to vetiver.
Rating: 6.5/10
Memo Moon Safari
Alert! Alert! Alert! Designer in disguise...Alert!
Moon Safari was suggested to me as a vetiver prominent composition but all I got is a citrusy EDC type of stuff with an overall generic vibe. Dries down to a sweeter tonka base with a faint vetiver note...Disappointing.
Rating: 3/10
I have experienced a very different appreciation of TdH edt and edp. Although essentially I smell the same thing the edt makes me nervous, fidgety, irritated. The edp feels more quiet.red Vetiver is a step up. It feels more ntaural and this is an adjective rarely attributed to a Montale. But of course I believe that Elena is the Dark Prince of chemicals. Where others see sheer I see chemical.
ReplyDeleteThat's true, the Montale smells somehow more natural but has an overall pretty similar vibe. That being said, I'm not very fond of its smell. As simple as that :)
ReplyDelete