My Weekly Wear - 20220103

Here’s sharing with you some of my thoughts of the perfumes in my weekly rotation in the first week of the new year.

Dior Balade Sauvage

I’ve observed that fig is not a note that is often described or discussed in perfume reviews and that is a little unfortunate as this fruity/green/leafy note is an intriguing ingredient full of complexities.

It is often recognised by its milky-sweet, creamy facet that is so very comforting but may also be green or bitter green depending on what parts of the fig plant is used. The green and bitter aspects come from the leaf and the sap but this is not very often found.

In my small collection of fig forward fragrances, Dior’s Dune For Men and Ferrari’s Noble Fig are the most fresh and tart as citruses is a common pairing with the fig note.

Things head more to the signature creaminess of fig in Dolce & Gabbana’s Velvet Vetiver, Jovoy’s L'Arbre De La Connaissance and even in the ambery surroundings of Lalique’s full bodied Ombre Noire – but at all times sharing a commonality between themselves.

Balade Sauvage shares all of the distinctiveness of a fig fragrance – rich and decadent, cosily comforting, contentedly relaxed and elegantly assured. Apart from the obvious quality of this Francois Demanchy creation, Balade Sauvage does have an aspect that differentiates it from the rest and that is the slight ozonic nuance that wraps around the creaminess giving the edges a little saltiness. It’s a nice touch.

Al in all, a great fragrance that is high quality and versatile and a great entry point to exploring fig further.

Guerlain Heritage EDT

Harini start dengan yang klasik dari Guerlain. Heritage ni yang EDT bukan EDP. Saya lebih suka yang EDT as I feel fougeres should be lighter and tak pekat. Yang ni hasil tangan Jean-Paul Guerlain dari tahun 1992.

Antara yang last creation dia sebelum dia pass ke Thierry Wasser. Yang ni memang classic fougere dengan adunan lavender, bergamot, lemon and patchouli. Memang rumusan yang banyak digunakan sebelum ni untuk gentlemen fougere, ataupun juga dikenali as a barbershop fragrance.

Ternyata maskulin and ada juga old vibe lah kalau yang menghidu is hidung muda. Tapi yang ni not as old fashioned as say Polo Green atau Paco Rabanne Pour Homme. Namun, memang reference scent for a fougere although dia quite one dimensional. Performance tak de apa nak complain and senang dipakai bila dah biasa dengan scent macam ni.

Creed Tabarome Millesime

Today we set our attention to Creed's turn of the 21st century offering Tabarome. As the name indicates, this is a tobacco forward fragrance that has a nice fresh twist, not just from the citrusy opening of tangerine and bergamot but from the choice of the tobacco itself.

With the choices available over this type of fragrance, Olivier Creed has chosen fresh tobacco leaf over the more pungent dry leaves or the smoky bitterness of tobacco ashes. This choice is ultimately suited to the composition of Tabarome, which portrays itself as a calm, composed, refined, mature, confident and elegant classic gentlemanly wear. All of which alludes to the often-told tale that an earlier iteration of this fragrance was the favourite of Churchill, which is unfortunately not true.

Tabarome is admittedly not one that would easily enamour young noses - for that, D&G's One line, particularly the EDP concentration would do a far better job. And for more mature noses looking for a more realistic tobacco, would do better with Aramis's Havana. But for more character and refinement which grows fonder on the wearer from more wearings, Tabarome is a perfect choice.

Sillage or trail is laughably bad but that's expected given that the composition of the fragrance is of a subdued and understated wear - by analogy you would not want Donald Trump to be playing James Bond.

From the personal perspective of an ex-smoker who has given up cold turkey for close to 18 years now, Tabarome does hit the spot when the tobacco yearning comes about now and then.

Backup bottle worthy for sure.

Lush Pansy

Today turn Lush Pansy pulak. Top notes kalau ikut Fragrantica ialah rosemary dengan orange blossom tapi rosemary nya entah kemana, langsung hidung tak kesan. Maybe dah dicampur dengan orange blossom yang memang ketara, so opening dia fresh citrusy dalam seminit or so.

After that, vanilla mula naik although takde pun dalam official notes. Mungkin rosemary bila diadun dengan orange blossom produce a vanila like scent, tapi saya tak pasti. Saya ni bukanlah peminat vanilla sangat, kalau pilih ice cream atau kek pun tak pernah pilih vanilla, mungkin dah bosan kot. Mesti ada reason for the saying "plain vanilla" kan .

Anyway, although vanilla ni bukan my favourite tapi dalam Pansy ni dia lain sikit and kurang sweet, malah ada unsur unsur amber. Ini yang buatkan Pansy ni interesting for me. I think the labdanum kat base note moderates the sweetness of the vanilla by giving it density and thus less "plain vanilla".

Performance kurang padu sikit. First two to three hours, senang dibau tapi lepas tu dah jadi skin scent. I jenis yang tak kisah sangat performance so long as the scent is good. Kalau bau dia dah tak best, apa guna performance padu giler? Memanjangkan seksa je .

By Kilian Love Don’t Be Shy

LDBS has definitely been elevated in popularity by the association with Rihanna. While that may be a good thing but I think that also takes away a lot of the recognition that LDBS by itself is a wonderfully unique and original perfume irrespective of being tied to the star. In fact, it should be the other way round that the Under My Umbrella singer was attracted by this Kilian because of the distinctiveness of the scent.

And what gorgeous distinctiveness that is. That combination of neroli and orange blossom mashed in a thick luscious candy cane sweetness dripping with syrup is as recognisable as some of the most original fragrances out in the market.

It may not tick all of the boxes of what traditionally stiff purists would rate as a good perfume but I think that if you have the gumption, resourcefulness and resolve to create an original composition, although not for the masses (not necessarily applying to LDBS) you would have my utmost respect and appreciation for your art.

Some say that this smells nothing more than cough syrup and some also say that a certain Gucci smells no different from a famous household disinfectant. I won't disagree but with something as good as LDBS, I yearn for a perpetual tickle in my throat.

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