Binxcat's Purrfect Fragrance

Philosophy - Pure Grace: Nude Rose Nude Rose is the newest release from the Philosophy Pure Grace line.   This floral woody musk launched in 2017.   Based on the fragrance name, I anticipated that the fragrance would feel and wear like a pure rose scent with a musk underpinning.   While I do get rose and musk in the wear, I do not feel that it’s a true rose musk fragrance. Unlike the previous release from Philosophy – Ballet Rose which opens as a sparkling fruity floral rose, Nude Rose opens with a green-leaning white floral blend.   The rose in the floral accord is on the subtle side and does not come across as either a blooming or jammy rose.   Instead, it’s perhaps a soft whiff of a rose petal in passing.   The floral accord itself is quite bold. About 15 to 20 minutes into wear, the green floral takes on a soapy quality.   It’s somewhat like a floral laundry detergent or fabric softener and, assuming you like those scents, would be so...

Atelier Cologne - Oud Saphir Released in 2015, Atelier Cologne’s Oud Saphir (“Oud”) has been described as an oriental woody fragrance.   But (spoilers) Oud wears more like a woody fruity floral on me. I am a big fan of fragrance that tells a story.   In the case of Oud, Atelier Cologne sets us up with an image of the kind of person who would wear this fragrance, “Her decision was irreversible. She would not continue living a life by others’ rules. To see his deep sapphire blue eyes and feel the calm of his voice again were the only things that mattered now. With him she finally felt ready to write her own history.”   This is a person who has decided to be the master of their own destiny.   It is a person who is self-assured and goes boldly forward into the reality they create for themselves.   And, as also evidenced by the notes and wear of the fragrance, this is a person who has decided to create their own joy. Oud opens with a delightful slightly...

Alexandria Fragrances - Cacao Dreams I was fortunate enough to win a giveaway from this fragrance brand.   In my package, the perfumer also included samples.   Cacao Dreams was one of the samples. Aptly named, Cacao Dreams is the stuff gourmand chocolate dreams are made of.     An original creation by the brand, Cacao Dreams is a fairly linear fragrance that celebrates the best that is chocolate.   You’ve heard me say it before, chocolate can often go very wrong in a fragrance.   If mixed incorrectly, it can pull almost like plastic.   If overdone (in my opinion) it can become cloying.    Neither is the case with Cacao Dreams. The fragrance opens as something akin to a vanilla cocoa powder blend.   It has elements similar to a delicious hot chocolate but without quite becoming sticky and dense like a hot chocolate.   The notes seem to float in a delicate chocolate waft.   If you’ve ever been to the Hershey Chocola...

Creed - Love in White Love in White is an oriental floral and, in my opinion, a celebration of fresh florals.   While orange zest appears as a top note, I don’t get the orange in the opening.   What I do get is a bursting, blooming bouquet of iris, daffodils, and magnolia blossoms.   The iris and daffodil are more prominent and the magnolia seems to round out the floral accord.   The florals seem to settle a bit fifteen minutes into wear and take on an almost powdery floral feel.   It isn’t until roughly 30 minutes into wear that I get a slightly astringic, citric orange zest.   As Love in White continues to wear I begin to get hints of jasmine.   What I find interesting is that while Creed’s website does not list jasmine as a note, Fragrantica does.   At the two hour mark, Love in White has moved from a moderate projection fragrance to a light projection one.   It is now that a milky vanilla and tonka bean begin to create a lig...

Perfumology – Grange Grange is the follow-up fragrance to Perfumology’s first release, Blyss.   Grange is not a flanker to Blyss, which was created as a love letter to the creator’s wife, but instead embodies something entirely different; that of fragrance as memory. This citrus wood scent is named and inspired by childhood near the Grange Estate.   (You can read more about the Estate here:   http://bit.ly/2F8EX8R ).   The Estate sits on a hillside just above Cobbs Creek in Havertown, Pennsylvania.   It is here that the childhood memories were first created. Grange opens with a zesty lime and juicy orange.   These notes are almost effervescent.   There is a sense of movement that I get from the sparkling quality.   The opening seems to emulate the trickling of the water in Cobb’s Creek over the creek bed on it’s way to pass through the Heinz National Wildlife       Refuge to it’s destination in the Delaware River Water...

January Scent Project - Treebuoy Parfum Oil When I heard that perfumer John Biebel had added another fragrance to his lineup, it piqued my interest.   Currently available as an exclusive with Avé Parfum and later available on the January Scent Project website, Treebuoy (2018) is an oriental woody fragrance offering. It’s no secret that I am a fan of Biebel as a perfumer.   An artist in addition to a perfumer, his approach to fragrance is that of an artist (this is not to say that I don’t respect perfumery as an art form in itself).   It’s one thing to create a beautiful fragrance and quite another to create a beautiful fragrance which also tells a story or shares a journey or perspective; I find Biebel’s scents to fall into the second category. With Treebuoy, Biebel tells us the story of a dense conifer forest.   Like any good storyteller, Biebel makes us a part of the story; this is a personal journey.   I get the rich balsam fir with it’s deep, r...

Juliette Has a Gun - Sunny Side Up Sunny Side Up (“Sunny”) is a floral woody musk offering from the think-outside-the-box brand Juliette Has a Gun.   Released in 2017, the perfumer, Romano Ricci seeks to emulate the warmth and effect of midday sun against the skin. Typically, I’m a Fall/Winter person.   I adore the changing of the leaves in the Fall and Winter’s peaceful silence.   Somehow today as an icy blanket covered my corner of the world, I was looking for something to break from the chill.   As life is full of ironies, I thought the choice of a “sunny” fragrance would provide a little fragrance humor as well as a respite from the grasp of the cold. Sunny opens with a creamy accord of a floral sandalwood.   The sandalwood is prominent and lush; almost milky.   About an hour into wear I begin to get a semi-sweet coconut vanilla.   The vanilla prevents the coconut from becoming a “suntan lotion” note; instead, the fragrance shifts int...

Parfums de Marly Paris - Meliora Meliora, launched in 2013, is said to be a floral green fragrance, however on me it wears as a fresh fruity floral.  On initial sniff, I get a lusciously juicy fruit blend.  The blend is filled with crushed red berry and black current that drips with fruity sweetness.  Just when I begin to think this fragrance will be simply a fruit-filled one, in comes a floral blend. At that fifteen minute mark when the florals mix with the fruits, the florals lift up the fruits from being a fruity simple syrup type accord.  While I’m aware that several florals comprise the notes, I cannot readily identify one over another in Meliora.  Is this rose?  Is it lily?  I can’t really say.  It feels more like quickly sniffing a bouquet at a flower stand in the city; you know you’ve smelled flowers but the smell was not singular.  Thirty minutes into wear the fruity floral takes on a creaminess.  As the fruits ...

Kiss My Sass - The Poet I’ve decided to take a bit of poetic license (pun intended) with this review. The Poet sits alone in his room.  The scent of his plummy lightly sweetened pipe tobacco floats through the air.  The smell is deep and contemplative yet touched with a hint of caramel.  He wonders whether his muse will be with him today. As he reaches for his black tea, the steam rises up and joins the tobacco swirling and turning in an intimate dance.  He gazes at her portrait hanging on the wall.  He remembers that lovely Spring day they spent together picking blackberries growing wild.  He remembers laying side by side on that blanket bathed in the warm sun; her skin glistening like cream against the soft ground.  As he turns back to reality, his writing desk calls to him with it’s richly resinous woody voice.  It is a complex voice that is tinged with his wishes and dreams.  Full of wonder and spice.  And yet – he’s...

Mancera Paris - Choco Violette EDP Choco Violette (“CV”) is an oriental vanilla offering released in 2016 from Montale.  With its wear on me, it easily slips into the gourmand category. CV opens with a puff of cocoa powder and candy.  The cocoa powder is rich and intense and I can almost feel it on my tongue.  It’s very much as if you’ve opened a jar of a gourmet powder to create a luscious hot cocoa.  The candy note is very reminiscent of a candy necklace or parma violet candies so popular in the UK. After the first initial opening impressions, the cocoa powder note seems to fade back.  In comes an equally delicious orange-bergamot blend.  The floral is stronger than the citrus; which lays back and seems to simply add more sweetness to the perfume.  Underneath this note, I get a hint of hazelnut.  The buttery nut note adds richness to the fragrance.  About an hour and a half into wear, I get a creamy vanilla.  Again, the va...