Notes on Fragrances

Spending money on Smells is a new thing for me, but I'm really enjoying learning and smelling more things.

I'm keeping a diary of fragrances at plog.ryliejamesthomas.net, these are some of the standouts and some that means something to me.

Key
Fragrance (with Fragrantica link)	Perfumer	Company	Year released

Jōvan Musk	Murray Moscona	Jōvan	1973
I got this for a present when I was a young fella. I've always liked musky smells. Don't know where it went, can't actually remember what it smelt like. It's super cheap!

Monsieur	Bruno Jovanovic	Frédéric Malle	2015
Smells like a peaty whisky, almost like the ashes of a burned-down deli at the start. Wintery, nighty. Dry incencey, spicey, dark patchouli. Very strong, I usually only spray a little bit, needs to settle before I go somewhere. I like it a lot, and it's what got me interested in fragrances. Feels intimate, not for parties. Really sexy. My fave. Stays strong and dry, musky fullness, old well mainained leather in a smoking room. I wonder what it's be like with a caramely-whisky note…

Tao Dao	?	Diptyque	2013
My partner has a bottle of this, and I like its cedary, sauna smell. Never tried it on myself.

Libre	Anne Flipo, Carlos Benaim	Yves Saint Laurent	2019
I put this on just because it was about and I wanted to wear something when I went for a walk. The initial smell is a bit artificial, but once it settles it has a nice sweetness that I enjoyed smelling on my shirt even the day after.

Wood Infusion	?	Goldfield & Banks	2016
Warm and smooth and a little citrusy, but not heavy. I think I really like patchouli? This is my first time smelling oud, I'm not actually sure which part of the smell it is. Has some of the same qualities I like from Monsieur, but not whisky-y; lighter and friendlier. When it settles it's still sweet (musky), with a very dry smokeyness that hits the back of my throat (is this the oud?). Considering buying this, but there're only 10ml and 100ml bottles… Had another test and really didn't like the drydown. But another on a coll evening after a hot day and loved it again. Bought a 10ml bottle.

Fiero	Chris Maurice	Casamorati / Xerjoff	2010
Fresh, citrus, a little bit of that marine body wash smell but not too bad, later a warm sweetness that's woody and earthy-floral, a little femme and powdery, but still has that sharp freshness. It's nice. Like a nice afternoon outside drinking prosecco smell that settles down elegantly as the sun sets. Not something I would wear often, but I like it. Hopefully I don't have to go to another wedding in my life, but if I did I'd wear this.

Philosykos (EDT?)	Olivia Giacobetti	Diptyque	2016
Smelt lot of things at Mecca today, this was what I went in to specifically try. Put some on my wrists and walked round for a bit. It's a very true-to-life fig tree smell and nothing else. Mostly I smelt leaves, but at times a creaminess and vanillayness that's not really for me. I love the smell of fig leaves, but on their own it's a bit boring in a perfume. If it wasn't so expensive it'd be a really nice hanging out at home smell, I enjoyed it a lot more in that context. There's one of those straightforward Demeter ones that's fig and those are cheap.

Divin'Enfant	Antoine Lie	Etat Libre d'Orange	2006
Felt like putting on something soft for bed. This is very powdery and sugary, kinda like a marshmellow. Fragrantica has coffee, leather, tobacco, tonka notes, but I haven't got them yet(?). I think I'll have nice dreams. Reminds me of that Johnson's Baby Oil.

Powdered Veil	Mathieu Nardin	Miller Harris	2018
Trying another pink powdery one for nighttime/sleeping. I don't quite know how to describe it. Like a sour floralyness, sweet and sugary and powdery, but yeah there's a sourness or citrus somewhere which is really interesting. Oh, I think it's smokiness, there's patchouli in the notes. I keep thinking 'it smells like a bee', but I don't know what that means. Only lasts a few hours. It's getting discontinued so is heavily discounted and very tempting… Ended up buying a bottle. Smelling the diffuser reminds me of musk sticks.

Parisian Musc	Aurelien Guichard	Matière Première	2019
Musky, a little powdery, very green and bitter like dandelion and freshly cut flower stems, gets more figleafy as it dries :) Later it's just vanilla, maybe a little caramel. The dandelion and fig was nice in a musk, just a little disappointed with plain vanilla, but it was pleasant.

Fig Extasy	?	Mancera	2021
Blind bought this because it was figgy and on a big discount. Initially not super keen, pretty sweet, fig fruit, spicey, but it's a bigger smell than other figs I've tried, which I like. Later it has interesting woody smells, almost smokey floralness, warm, fig leaves. Gets smokier actually, bitter tobacco. About as much sandalwood incense as I can take, ie just a hint. Not Summery, more Autumn. Hmm maybe a real hot Summer evening outside would be good actually. fight fire with fire. It's not casual. Fig's still here. Always a fan of a magnetic lid, even if it's covered in tacky gold paint.

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