Vetivers Pt.5 (A Bunch of Suckers)

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

Be A Good Boy: Go to Church. Liturgical Incense Inspired Fragrances Pt.1 (The Classics)

Armani Prive - Bois D'Encens

This is a masterpiece! Dark, gothic, deep and mysterious liturgical incense. Together with  Avignon, this stays at the top of church inspired fragrances and it's surely one of my favourites. It's pungent almost astringent in the opening to turn much more smoother, warmer and earthier during  the drydown. Pepper, some coniferous, vetiver and animalic hints give birth to a multi-faceted incense based composition that while smelling dark and gothic it's incredibly elegant in its minimalistic approach. Not too powerful but definitely remarkable. If you want your incense to stay close to the skin but to result incredibly distinctive at the same time, there's nothing like Bois D'Encens.

The original packaging came in a precious wood bottle and was available as a 50ml EDP at a quite unaffordable price. They now made a "smarter/cheaper" version with a dark glass bottle coming in a 100ml EDP size. Highly recommended!

Rating: 9.5/10

Comme des Garcons Series 3 Incense: Avignon

Avignon is HUGE! One of my favourite scents of all times. The opening is absolutely distinctive with an intense explosion of severe frankincense and myrrh, almost harshing but incredibly fascinating. The catholic church effect is pushed to the limit and persists during the drydown while camomille provides an extra dose of mystery and warmness smoothing the general harshness. Cedarwood and Iso E Super are clearly remarkable throughout but they're never overdone. A meditative scent that surrounds you with its intense warmness and deep resinous allure. As a trendsetter, Avignon became one of the most imitated straight forward incenses of the last 10 years (Heeley's Cardinal, Mark Buxton's Around Midnight, Biehl's MB3, Montale's Full Incense). Another Bertrand Duchafour's masterpiece!



Note: Avignon has a wonderful sillage and an amazing lasting power!



Rating: 9/10

Etro -  Messe De Minuit

Stating to its name I was expecting a dark and mysterious interpretation of the church-y frankincense but all I got was a (no more than) honest spicy citrus-patchouli-honey combo with some incense. The citrus is mainly orange that while blending with cinnamon and honey brings to mind of those bags of potpourrì you receive as a present from you neighbours at christmas. Not completely bad, but absolutely nowhere close to other masterpieces of the same family.



Rating: 6/10

Czech & Speake - Frankincense And Myrrh


The main ingredients, also mentioned in the fragrance's name, are paired to a classic musky/citrusy cologne with a result that while is not particularly outstanding it's still remarkably enjoyable and pleasant. If you're looking for your first frankincense/myrrh composition there're many better options out there, but considering this was originally rleased in 1984 and it's still one of the few citrus-frankincense-myrrh combo on the market, it definitely deserves a good rating. Very Nice.



Rating: 7/10

Gucci Pour Homme I

1999-2003 (perhaps 2004) was the best period for Gucci, Tom Ford was absolutely genius and everything he touched became gold. After that, Frida came in and everything went "black", catastrophic. Gucci Pour Homme I, IMO, was the expression of those creative years when Mr. Ford saved the maison from oblivion. A good composition of spices, liturgical-frankincense and ginger, running on the edge between dullness and uniqueness (basically it's a perfect "product"). It could be not the most original perfume around but it's absolutely pleasant, above the average and kind of a trendsetter in mass market perfumery.This was one of the last good releases from this house, after that we've been filled with monograms and ridiculous fragrances and clothes.



Rating: 8/10

James Heeley - Cardinal

As much as I love liturgic-frankincense fragrances and I never get tired of them, I still find Cardinal to be among the weakest in this genre. It clearly moves in the same direction of Avignon or Montale's Full Incense but it's nowhere close neither to the magnificence of the former nor to the strong lasting power of the latter. Overall smells fine but lasts nothing. Sort of Avignon Eau De Cologne emphasized on the clean-lemony aspect of the biblical resin...



Rating: 6/10