Binxcat's Purrfect Fragrance

Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle - Musc Ravageur Parfum Spray Frederic Malle’s Musc Ravageur (“Musc”) is one of those fragrances I thought I had tried but had not.   For the life of me, I can’t explain why I missed this!   Released in 2000, it is an oriental (amber oriental) fragrance.   On me, Musc opens with a complex, spicy, slightly sweet, dirty patchouli.   It is heady and intoxicating.   There are dripping notes of amber; rich and syrupy.   A light floral peeks out from the background as a creamy vanilla clove seems to melt effortlessly into the accord. As Musc wears, its raw sensual aspects continue to delight.   The musk in the fragrance joins with the patchouli and creates a carnal sensory explosion.   There is an animalic fearlessness to Musc’s wear.   The drydown of Musc is warm and comforting.   Woody notes slide into Musc with a touch of darkness.   To the end, Musc continues to come to life with an irre...

Parfums de Marly – Pegasus Following the tradition of naming their fragrances after winning thoroughbred horses, Pegasus (launched in 2011) is named after a winning 18 th century stallion.   You may also be familiar with the name Pegasus as the mythological God of all horses.   Pegasus is an oriental fougere.   The fragrance opens with a slightly sweet bergamot and heliotrope blend.   While these notes would tend to lead someone to believe this is a sweeter floral, it is not.   Within fifteen minutes, I get a large dose of bitter almond and cumin.   The bitter almond and cumin add a very spicy, somewhat hot and sweaty feel to the opening.   There is a sharpness to the bitter almond.   Yet even with the addition of these notes, the scent retains a moderate powdery feel to it. As Pegasus wears, I get the fougere traditional lavender.   The note is clear and classic to the genre.   There is just a light touch of jasmine that ...

Juliette Has a Gun - Lady Vengeance Everyone comes to fragrance with certain preferences.  For me, chypre florals are usually not fragrances I prefer.  I wanted to fully disclose this before I begin my review so you understand the perspective I subconsciously may have approached this juice. Lady Vengeance was inspired by a modern version of Shakespeare – per the ads – “rock meets romance”.  It opens with a loud rose and over the top dark patchouli.  It is a very intense opening that I can see being off-putting for some.  Perhaps it’s that rock and roll vibe? But bear with it about an hour or so and the notes really start to settle down and take shape.  A light and delicate lavender arrives (sometimes a tough note for me and the main reason chypre florals in general can be tough fragrances for me to enjoy).  The lavender is soft and quite lovely.  The rose and patchouli have also softened at this point in wear and they are also joined ...

Houbigant Parfums Paris - Cologne Intense “The transportative Cologne Intense fragrance honors the alluring originator composed in 1709 by Jean Marie Farina, an impeccable Italian perfumer who'd settled in Cologne and founded a proprietary perfume factory the same year. Named in veneration of his western German city of adoption, his aqua mirabilis masterpiece became an international paragon coveted by titled European nobility, royals and courtesans. The "Water of Cologne" was ferried into France's regal courts by Louis XV's royal French soldiers and officers stationed in Cologne during the Seven Years' War.” Cologne Intense is labeled as a citrus aromatic.  As such, I was expecting a traditional citrus aromatic.  The opening is supposed to be “Evocative of a clean, fresh, sunny spring morning after a passing shower”.  I did not find this to be true.  Instead, while I do detect notes of bergamot, neroli, and petigrain, these notes do not appear until l...

Gallagher Fragrances - Evergreen Dream EDP Today I am testing the newest release from Gallagher Fragrances – Evergreen Dream.  This juice is a fougere and does follow the more traditional formulation model of the fragrance category but finishes quite differently. This fragrance opens with a slightly bitter yet fresh, green aromatic.  I clearly get the scent of evergreen trees.  The opening is strong and surrounds you in the wonderful aroma of being in a lush green forest.  About an hour in, the lavender appears.  Lavender is a note that I struggle with; I think it’s one of those notes that people tend to be polarized on.  The lavender in this juice is bold but it has been tempered with a rich birch tar, wood note, and pine resin.  The accompanying notes add a warmth to the lavender making it more, and in my opinion more universally wearable, than the individual note.  After roughly another hour, the base notes enter and the juice begins i...

Besame Cosmetics -  Decades of Fragrance: 1930 I purchased this as a blind buy with a Besame Cosmetics order.  I liked the sound of the notes and the rollerball (only way available) was cheap enough it was worth the risk.  This was a stellar purchase!  It's an amazing replica of a vintage 1930s scent.   1930 opens with spicy fruity notes; the mandarin, cinnamon, and clarysage play well together with the mandarin and cinnamon being the most prominent of the three.  You can quickly smell the wafts of tobacco which is more of a cigarette tobacco than say a green tobacco, a pipe tobacco, or a cigar tobacco.  The florals are quite light in this juice with the lavender staying pretty much in the background.  1930 is rounded out with a slightly sweet woody musk.  The vanilla is not present as an independent note but instead give a gentle sweetness to the cedar and musk.  The totality of the notes and their presentation takes the wearer...

January Scent Project - Eiderantler Eiderantler is an aromatic fougere.  So, like all fougeres it follows a certain note development.  That said, what John Biebel has done with Eiderantler is taken the stogy old fougeres and given it a modern feel. Fougeres and I rarely see eye to eye.  I confess, I’m not a huge fan of lavender.  In Eiderantler, however, the lavender blends so seamlessly with the greens that it becomes more than the sum of its parts.  At its opening, I get a beautiful lavender tinged green leaf.  The note soars like leaves turning upward toward the sun.  I get a balanced sweet woodiness from the champa leaf mellowed by the pink pepper.  The ivy in Eiderantler is fresh and green and almost reminds me that fresh green smell of new growth branches.  The lavender continues its journey through this fragrance with the addition of lavandin yet it never becomes overpowering.  Elemi and vetiver bring a subtle citrus to the p...

Parfums de Marly: Sedbury Have you ever been excited about receiving unknown samples with your fragrance purchase? And have you ever looked at one of those "mystery" samples and turned into a toddler inside your head? Ok, so yes, I'm admitting it. That's exactly what happened when I realized I received this sample . I'm talking full bore toddler. Whining inside my head - "But I hate chypre florals"... Now rolling on the floor and thrashing about..."Lavender? No, no, no, no, no!" Sigh. But being the good open minded sport that I am (LOL), I decided to give Sedbury a try anyway. (I want to note here that Sedbury is named after the eighteenth century thoroughbred horse of the same name. Sedbury was said to have been, "described as a horse of exquisite beauty, fine shape and form, Sedbury was said to be the best of his size in his day." I admit to find it a little baffling that a fragrance described as being "a decidedly floral,...

DedCool:  05 "Spring". Spring is my second trial out of my DedCool sampler. Normally since I'm an "organized" kind of person, I would test the samples in numerical order, however, it was suggested to me to try 05 Spring, next. At first glance, Spring seems to be created with notes that typically can be challenging for some. For me personally, lavender, incense, and moss are among those I consider challenging. For me, each of those notes can be easily overdone and overwhelm a fragrance. Spring is a glorious ode to the awakenings of life in Spring. It's a clever balance that speaks to the lovely wafts of flowers beginning to bloom in a rich and fertile earth. The spices, which could have easily been overdone, are balanced in such a way that they bring you a feeling of the warm sun with its rays reaching down to bring back life to a sleepy world. The base notes help to create a platform from which the notes rise into the air. Spring follows the brand for...