Binxcat's Purrfect Fragrance

Giorgio Armani – Sì Passione EDP Sì Passione (“Passione”) is a 2017 flanker release from Giorgio Armani.   To be honest, I almost did not try this fragrance as I am admittedly not a fan of the original.   Still, the fact that this is a floral fruity fragrance convinced me otherwise. Passione opens with a bright, sparkling pear that is slightly spiced by pink pepper.   I get the original version’s blackcurrent underpinnings.   It is a familiar berry, yet different.   There is an assertiveness to the opening that belies its fruity floral nomenclature.   Abut an hour into wear, I get a rose and jasmine bouquet.   The rose is a fresh blossoming note with no jammy-ness.   The jasmine is clean and clear without feeling overdone.   The addition of heliotrope at this point in development was an inspired choice.   While I get the typical powdery hints common with the note, I get more of a comforting almond-vanilla.   The counte...

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 ...

Agonist Parfums - Onyx Pearl Onyx Pearl (“Onyx”) is a new oriental woody offering from the Swedish niche perfume house Agonist Parfums.  With Onyx, the brand intends to create a blur of boundaries between male and female and create a “seductive and enchanting” juice suitable for everyone. The fragrance opens with a bold floral oud tinged with a suede-like leather.  The leather and later heliotrope and sandalwood cool the somewhat spicy opening.  There is a clean, almost powdery, feel to the first 2 hours of wear.  At the end of the first couple of hours, in comes a complex patchouli and a resinous amber.  The drydown begins for me at roughly 3 – 4 hours into wear and a light cedar balances the juice.  For me, the cedar re-emphasizes the oud in Onyx.  There is a barely perceptible musk in the drydown, however, the usual intensity of musk is overshadowed by the woody notes. Onyx wears for me for roughly 8 – 9 hours with moderate projection. ...

Alaïa Paris - Alaïa Eau de Parfum Blanche In 2015, the fragrance world welcomed couture designer Azzedine Alaïa with his launch of Alaïa (created by perfumer Marie Salamagne ) .  Last year, Alaïa was joined by a flanker – Alaïa EDP Blanche (“Blanche”).  The original fragrance was a leather whereas Blanche is a floral woody musk.  I was drawn to test Blanche as Alaïa’s couture aesthetic of celebrating the female form, while simultaneously making a woman feel powerful, is very much in line with my own ethos. Traditionally, fragrances are described as having top/head notes, middle/heart notes, and bottom/base notes.  We see a deviation from these descriptives as with Blanche, the notes are further described as impressions.  With the wearing of Blanche it becomes clear that “impressions” could not be more accurate. Like the extolled female form, Blanche feels very curved to me.  The opening is a confident vanilla tinged almond that has a floral fee...

Mugler - Alien Eau Sublime Some of the Mugler fragrances seem to be quite polarizing in the fragrance community at large.  It seems that many have very strong opinions one way or another about each release, myself included.  When I had the opportunity to try this new Alien flanker, I was cautiously optimistic. Eau Sublime (“Sublime”) takes the classic Alien jasmine jammy heaviness and lightens it with solar notes.  The perfumer has significantly softened the opening with this flanker.  Sublime opens as a light, fresh, lemony citrus touched with a soft jasmine and tiare flower.  There is a bright airiness to Sublime that is not present in the original.  As the juice wears, the heliotrope lends a floral vanilla powderiness to the fruity floral.  The heliotrope adds a slight sweetness without coming near the sweetness of Eau Sucree. The drydown mimics the base notes of the original giving us the cashmeran wood and amber.  The florals are...

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...