L’Erbolario Meharees & Le Labo Labdanum 18

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Kafkaesque

People often search for affordable facsimiles or “dupes” of famous fragrances. In the case of Frederic Malle‘s Musc Ravageur, one name that comes up is Meharees from the Italian brand, L’Erbolario Lodi. It’s been called the “Musc Ravageur killer” for a fraction of the price, and it’s also mentioned in the context of Hermès‘ Ambre Narguilé as well. A more expensive niche name that comes up in relation to Musc Ravageur is Le Labo‘s Labdanum 18. I love both Musc Ravageur and a bargain, so I bought Meharees blindly, persuaded by the rave reviews and by the company’s description of camel rides through the Sahara and legendary oases filled with undulating date trees. I thought I’d review it in conjunction with Le Labo’s Labdanum 18 to show how they compare to the Malle.

Photo: George Steinmetz/Corbis. Source: spiegel.de

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LM Parfums Epine Mortelle

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Kafkaesque

All good fragrances tell stories. Epine Mortelle, the latest release from LM Parfums, reads like an elegant fairytale. Imagine yourself walking in the woods. You take a wrong turn, and suddenly find yourself lost in darkness where trees are made from black and fiery Szechuan peppers, and the air is dense with an aromatic greenness that is almost like pine. A hushed silence hangs over everything — heavy, black, green, and thick. Yet, in the distance, a pale, pink light glows like beacon.

Photo: “Dark forest” by VityaR83 on deviantART http://vityar83.deviantart.com/art/dark-forest-299891639

Suddenly, before you know it, you stumbled into a clearing where roses blanket the ground as far as the eye can see. Their petals are made of velvet from pink pepper berries, and their heart billows out sweet, yellow mimosa pollen. Candied violets are sprinkled on top, while their roots grow in earthy soil made from musky cassis (or black currents) and spices. Every part of the magical flowers is blanketed with angelica, a herb that grows green and spicy.

Rose petal meringues. Source: foodandtravel.com

It’s hard to believe you were ever in that haunted forest, especially as the scene before your eyes changes quickly. Before you know it, the roses turn dark and rubied, wafting a fruity sweetness infused with spices. Trees made of violet orris lipstick sprout magically from the ground. As you walk, vines made out of a rich vanilla custard curl around your limbs, as tiny fireflies made of cumin dart around you. Then, as if a good witch waved her wand, everything changes and the spicy, lipstick rose vanishes. Now, you’re suddenly sitting down to have tea with sweet, powdery meringues made of roses and angelica. It’s as though you took a brief walk through Maleficient’s dark forest to suddenly end up at the Snow White’s pastry shop, but all of it is done seamlessly, elegantly, and with great richness.

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2014 In Review: 30 Personal Favorites

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Kafkaesque

Source: designzzz.com

My list of favorite fragrances that I’ve tried this year is quite different from yesterday’s list of the best new releases of 2014. The latter centered largely on scents that I thought were good, very elegant or interesting representations of their genre, regardless of whether they were my personal cup of tea, and they were only things that debuted in 2014. Today’s list is purely about what I really enjoyed and does not consider the date in release at all. So, this time around, there are very few qualifications and caveats, and the vast majority of these fragrances are things that I bought for myself, am thinking about buying, or would love to buy were their price not a consideration.

You will notice that a good number of the fragrances are not complex masterpieces at all, but quite simple in nature. One reason for that is that I love cozy, comfort scents, and they are generally not very nuanced or multifaceted to begin with. Plus, mindlessly simple but really well-done fragrances that combine richness with soothing warmth are, in all honesty, a huge relief to me after a long day where I do nothing but analyse every nuance and change in a scent for hours (upon hours) on end.

Ferdinand Leeke, “The Last Farewell of Wotan and Brunhilde,” (1875). Source: Wikipedia.com

A few other points. As always, I have to repeat my mantra regarding the subjective, personal nature of reviewing in general, and how a list like this is even doubly so. With regard to the rankings, it’s always an utter nightmare, but the Top Ten chosen here are generally quite firm in order. There is a bit more leeway with the next 10 names, as a tiny handful could go up or down one to two places of where they are at the present time. I’m most undecided about the placement of the last 10 which are the most subject to fluctuations in order. One reason why is because perfumistas are a fickle bunch who can change their mind from one month to the next, and I’m no exception. The other reason is that I’ve gone back and forth on a few scents, switching their places repeatedly until I just gave up in the end. So, for now, this is where things are, for the most part. Finally, you will notice that some of my summary descriptions are verbatim from my list of best, new releases of 2014 or from my mid-2014 best or favorites list. My apologies in advance. Covering almost 60 fragrances in two days is rather an exhausting process, so I hope you will forgive me.

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Best New Releases of 2014

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Kafkaesque

Source: 1ms.net

This has been a good year for perfume releases. For all that I sometimes grumble about the generic nature of fragrances put out these days, 2014 actually had a number of scents that really impressed me. Last year, I could not find a full 10 new releases for my list, and refused to simply include things for the sake of round numbers. This year, I have 15 scents that I actually think are good representations of their genre and were done very well, along with a few Honourable Mentions.

Violettes du Czar. Photo: Roberto Greco for Oriza L. Legrand.

As I always emphasize, perfume reviewing is subjective and personal by its very nature, so winnowing fragrances down to some favorites is even more so. My criteria for selection varied. A number of the fragrances were not really for me, personally, for various reasons (a particular note or genre that I struggle with, discreet sillage, or something else), but were chosen nevertheless because something about the particular scent was either interesting, luxurious, evocative, complex and/or, as noted above, an extremely good example of its genre that also happened to be done in a very elegant manner. A handful of perfumes are on the list for the most subjective reason of all: I either bought full bottles for myself, plan to get them, or would love to do so if their price were not a consideration.

Ranking things is an utter nightmare, but the Top Five are firmly placed in accordance with my feelings. The remainder of the scents are ranked within one to three slots, plus or minus, of where they are in my estimation at the present time, though keep in mind that perfumistas are a fickle bunch who can change their mind from one month to the next, and I’m no exception. All of these fragrances were released in 2014. The problem is that some of the names that I would love to have on this list (like SHL 777‘s O Hira and Black Gemstone) technically debuted in very limited fashion in 2013, before being released globally this year. As a result, what I’ve decided to do is to write a separate list of my 30 personal favorites of 2014, things that I’ve covered this year but without regard to their official launch date. I’ll update this post with a link when I do. There is some overlap between the two lists, but not a lot.

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