Flowers are for men.

I can't help to talk again about this new trend going on currently, based on "the new man" and the perfumer's interpretation of this new social specimen breaking boundaries in the masculine perfumery world.

I'd lie if I said that from my personal and particular point of view, all this has benefitted me on a certain level because now I could wear socially certain perfumes with confidence when before, I would not dare to do it.

Knowing that most of the masculine new floral perfumes are always based on the same boring concept, (sticky-powdery-definitively feminine), I start to wonder:
Why can I not wear a women's fragrance which actually does smell not even remotely as feminine as for example "Dior Homme" or "Kenzo Power"?
Meanwhile I'm still waiting for "the release", that one which will surprise me pleasantly, but no joy so far.
Iris, petit grain and violet. Is there not anything new under the sun, please?
I am getting to the point where I start to believe that perfumer's creativity is starting to vanish.

Summer is around the corner and I keep looking for the perfect fresh floral.
Being aware of the limited market in Spain,I decided to leave aside prejudices, go girly and try on some "hidden gems" created specifisally for women that, on a male skin, they just smell delightful.

Eau de Fleur de Silk by Kenzo.
An uncomplicated, light delightful fresh, clean floral scent.
Countains bergamot, pink guava, mint leaves,silk flower, cherry, musk, amber.

Black Orchid by Tom Ford.
A dark floral-gourmard scent.
Notes of black truffle, ylang ylang, bergamot, black currant, mandarine, jasmine, gardenia, lotus wood, black orchid, chocolate, patchouli, incense, vetiver, vanilla tears, balsam, sandalwood.

Eau de Fleur de Magnolia by Kenzo.
An uplifting citrus-flowery scent.
Notes of bergamot, citron, heliotrope, spruce, champaca absolute, vetiver, musk.

Eau De Givenchy by Givenchy.
This is a crisp, sheer, simple, almost clean floral, very sparkling and cheerful.
Notes of bergamot, spearmint, tagetes, greens, fruits, honeysuckle, jasmine, lily of the valley, tuberose, rose, cyclamen, orris, musk, cedarwood, sandalwood, and moss.

L'eau par Kenzo by Kenzo.
A gorgeous aquatic-youthful scent. My favourite for years.
Notes of mandarin, frosty water mint, reed, fressia, watermelon seeds, pink pepper, water lily, amarillys, blue cedar and infusion of vanilla pods.

Kingdom by Alexander McQueen.
An impressive oriental.
It has orange, mandarin orange, mint, neroli, bergamot, lemon, carnation, ginger, rhubarb, jasmine, cumin, celery seeds, rose, amber, musk and oakmoss.


Cristalle Eau Verte by Chanel.
It is a really sophisticated, green, young, elegant, not boring, elusive, refreshing scent.
Countains sicilian lemon, bergamot, magnolia, neroli, white flowers and jasmine.

Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker.
A discrete ambery floral tending to the patchouli side. It has resemblances to "Power" by Kenzo.
Countains nectarine and bergamot, rosewood, lavender, apple martini, white daffodil, orchid, white amber, cedar, woody notes, patchouli and white musk.

Aire Loco by Loewe.
It is a fresh, sheer, ozonic white floral-fruity perfume Despite the company.
Notes of bergamot, pink pepper, freesia, cardamom, ozonic accord, jasmin, passion fruit, petitgrain, rockrose, magnolia patchouli and virginian cedar.´


Diorissimo by Dior.
It is a beautiful and classic floral fragrance, based on a fresh, green, animalic and very subtle spicy interpretation of the lily of the valley scent. Great for anytime, anywhere, any season and any age.
Notes of bergamot, lily of the valley, ylang-ylang, lilac, jasmine, amaryllis, boronia, sandalwood and civet.

Diorella by Dior.
A green chypre. Another Dior's classic.
It has lemon, green note, basil, bergamot, melon, honeysuckle, peach, jasmine, rose, carnation, cyclamen, oakmoss, vetiver, musk, patchouli.

Esencia de duende by Jesús del Pozo.
An aquatic fresh yet warm fragrance.
Notes of coriander, mandarin, orange, grapefruit, bergamot, jasmine, hiacynth, lily of the valley, lotus, rose, sandalwood, cedar and mahogany.

Escape a Portofino by Dior.
It is a blindingly bright perfume with a powerful, invigorating citrus accent.
Countains bergamot, lemon verbena, petit grain, orange blossom, juniper berries, cedar, cypress, galbanum, caraway and musk.

A Scent by Issey Miyake.
A very fresh, green and yet elegant floral scent.
It has amalfi lemon, lemon verbena, hyacinth, jasmin, cedar and galbanum.

#3 by Comme des Garçons.
The scent of an alien flower. A real chyphre-woody floral.
Notes of mandarin, magnolia leaf, basil, gingko leaf, blackcurrant leaf, red pepper, angelica, cardamom, mate, freesia, jasmine, champaca flower, cedar, sandalwood, vetiver, patchouli, birch, olibanum, amber.

Kashaya by Kenzo.
A sadly "very hard to find" gorgeous, gentle oriental. Graceful woody, soft yet characteristic perfume for a hunting night.
Notes of tangerine, bergamot, pineapple, anise, orange blossom, jasmine, ylang-ylang, narcissus, tuberose, orchid, hyacinth, rose, lily, carnation, sandalwood, amber, white musk, benzoin and cedar.

Nilang by Lalique.
It is another "hard to find" unique aquatic, bitter-floral-oriental scent with a sensual and gourmand edge.
Countains water jasmine, freesia, water lily and narcissus, blueberry, lotus, sandalwood, amber, musk, vanilla and praline.

Miroir des secrets by Thierry Mugler.
It is a bright, floral aldehyde fragrance.
Countains aldehydes, patchouli and musk.

She Wood by DSQUARED².
A juxtapose betwwen aquatic and woody agaisnt powdery floral notes. Soft, warm and deep. A weird yet enjoyable scent.
Countains lemon, aquatic notes, neroli, jasmine, violet, heliotrope, musk, cedar, vetiver and amber.

Omnia Green Jade by Bvlgari.
A clean, green floral aquatic. This perfume is soft ethereal and refreshing but dries down into as powdery scent.
It has green mandarin, spring water, white peony, pear blossom, jasmine, pistachio, blond wood and musk.

Parfum D'ete by Kenzo.
It is a fresh yet powerful, green floral perfume.
Countains jasmin, hyacinth, lily of the valley and lotus.

Calyx by Prescriptives.
A sensory therapy. Bright and vivacious. Wet, fresh and fruity-herbal elixir.
Notes of bergamot, apricot, passionfruit, mint, orange, cassia, mango, cyclamen, lily, melon, freesia, orris root, jasmine, neroli, marigold, lily of the valley, rose, musk, oakmoss, raspberry and cedar.

Eau des Merveilles by Hermès.
A real masterpiece. Woody, dry, spicy yet zesty and deliciously salty.
It has lemon, orange, elemi, pink pepper, vetiver, oak, cedar, ambergris.

Jasmin et cigarette by ETAT.
Smoky floral. Pity the longevity is so mediocre.
Notes of Jasmin Absolut, tobacco, apricot, tonka, hay, cedar, amber and Musk.

Datura Noir by Serge Lutens.
A dark, mysterioyus floral scent. A tuberose glory.
It eatures coconut, tuberose, tonka bean, almond, lemon blossom, mandarin, orange, musk, chinese osmanthus, heliotrope and myrrh.

Do son by Diptyque.
It is a beautiful white floral fragrance, fresh, natural and enchanting.
It is like finding an abandoned garden, that nobody takes care of.
Notes of african orange flower, rose, tuberose, benzoin, iris and musk.

Anais Anais by Cacharel.
Despiste it is definitively an ultra-feminine fresh, romantic bouquet of flowers, it actually smells damm hot in a male.
Coutains bergamot, transparent orange blossom, lavender, galbanum, black currant, hyacinth, honeysuckle, tuberose, carnation, grenade blossom, iris, yland-ylang, white lily, jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, orris root, leather, sandalowood, amber, patchouli, msuk, oakmoss, vetiver, cedar and incense.

Photo-art courtey of dragoncello64
Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved.

Voyage d'Hermès. Hermès

Perfumer: Jean-Claude Ellena.

Probable notes of (not confirmed yet) citron, bergamot, coriander, ginger, artemisia, cardamom, black pepper, tea, birch, white musk, amber and cedar.


Hermès's new unisex fragrance tries to explore an olfative travelling into an unspecified place.

"Voyage" is a fresh woody-musky scent.
This perfume does not smell like any kind of wood, or flower, or any particular subject, but the unknown itself in its own glory.
The bottle designed by Philippe Mouquet, (internal Hermès designer) is simply beautiful.

"Voyage" starts green and slightly citrus yet dry: citron and soft spices with a generous dose of black pepper, green tea and some ginger too.
An early stage very much alive.

When things calm down, "Voyage" becomes light woody melting with a powerful burst of cardamom and a soft herbal whisper too , in the background.

It develops woody musky, but still pretty green with pale touches of citruses and a soft white flowers touch. It has an aquatic soul without being aquatic; it's more like a sensation of damp, dewy fresh wood scent: a beautiful oceanic breeze blending with cedar.


"Voyage" tends to a masculine side rather than unisex, but I can see women wear it easily as is enough fresh, sexy and sophisticated.

I loved it from the very first sniff. although there is nothing extravagant, it also doesn't smell as cheap or generic as so many recent launches coming from brands that supposedly offer "luxury." scents.
Even though is super ultra expensive for what it really worths.
Projection is nule and the long lasting is more than mediocre; after a couple of hours nothing will remain on your skin.
Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved.

Terre D'Hermes Parfum. Hermes

Perfumer: Jean-Claude Ellena.
Countains orange, shiso, grapefruit, pepper, silex, mineral note, geranium leaves
cedar, oak Moss, vetiver, patchouli, benzoin.

If you are a fan of the Eau de toilette you'll be also of the perfume version.

"Terre d’Hermès Parfum" explores a denser stone-earthy undertones than the original.

In the opening of "Terre D'Hermes Parfum" you'll get the same amount of grapefruit an orange as its predecesor with a minty green twist thanks to the shisho algae.

Cedar notes will increase in the heart of this new perfume, hand to hand with the mineral-woddy-chypre notes.
The principal difference I've noticed between both scents is the mineral accords: while in the EDT this accord was like heated soil, in the perfume version it's more like a heated rock with a particular steamy vapour signature. Very interesting.

The parfum develops gorgeous and longevity is just excepcionally beautiful!.
Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved.

Un jardin après la mousson. Hermés.

Perfumist: Jean Claude Hellena.

Notes of lime, basil, citron, coriander, cardamom, green pepper, ginger flower, water lily, vetiver, amber.

I was wondering yesterday at Paragon Dep. Store here in Bangkok, trying to find substitutes of my summer fragrances, as in Thailand hot and humidity fades away quickly every single subtle scents you can wear.
A sale assistant approach me with this new launch from Hermes.
I really wasn’t aware of the “garden” range from the brand.
So I decided to give it a go, and, I quite like this new one: It’s a spicy, green, damp, citrus aroma that evokes the scent of ginger lemonade, with the tart, peppery smell of lime.


“Un jardin après la mousson” reminds me straight away a calm walk through the spicy market in Kerala, the dewy green of a mediterranean field on spring and the monzonic hard rain period in India, in an anti natural way, that makes me wonder, and I think, this is a great synthetic perfume, well blended.

Here, to my nose, like the older brothers, the water aquatic notes reveal a singularity that goes way beyond it, like a tonic. The main notes are aquatic, with strong hints of lime and water lily flower.


The perfume starts sour and zesty, (instant deja vú of the glorious Lime “Soda” from CDG).
There’s like an aqueous feeling of being in front of a sweet-sour lemonade drink, without the effervescence, but the scent goes green immediately, aromatic and spicy.
Coriander reveals at this stage green but subtle, plus peppery accords with the cardamom note and ginger flower, here ghostly and leaning to the soft spicy too.

The intromission of the water lily in the heart notes is gorgeous.
Soft, calm, a nice different floral note. The whole perfume remains softly spicy yet sour-aromatic, yet aquatic, yet subtle, energetic too.
I can detect a vague aroma of wet soil here, right in the background. I assume is the blend of the ginger flower hand by hand to the green pepper note and vetiver, showing itself like a far away rumour of the olfative image of the wet scent of a garden after rain.

In the base notes the vetiver is soft, (again, as the whole accords), but not in the same line of fresh colognes or sporty fragrances.

Water lily note is rather a feminine accord, but in here, gives a very complex, serious twist to the whole formula. I quite see myself easily wearing this perfume on “calurosas nights”.

At the end, the juice remains in your skin for 4-5 hours, first, intensive, like a glorious cloud around you, but gets subtle after two hours after apply.
Is this kind of scent that keeps coming and go from the sight, and, suddenly, reminds you, that you wear a nice perfume.
Copyright © 2008 . All rigths reserved

Eau des Merveilles. Hermes.

Perfumer: Ralf Schwieger.


Countains: vetiver, oak, cedar, ambergris, lemon, orange, elemi, pink pepper, amber.


I was speaking yesterday on the phone, on my way to the theatre, with one friend of mine from the gorgeous city of Lisbon, who is a highly cologne junkie as me, about some new launches and so, when it pass on my mind the image of eau des Merveilles, knowing his own taste...

This review is dedicated to you, my friend Humberto.

From translucent amber and delicately sweet glow of citrus, to a noticeable ink note and prominent ambergris, this is a perfume of juxtaposition - even the notes are upside down. It decants to the feminine public, but i find it highly unisex (not masculine), because of the lack of floral notes in the pyramid.
It starts as it finishes; rather linear, sweet, but not overly sweet. It's more heady and projectable: it is as though you are sniffing a breeze in the atmosphere, around you, not coming from you. Like the sea breeze.
People talk about this perfume in marine aquatic terms. No, no way. It has prominent, acrid, salty ambergris but has the lack of kelp or ozonic aura.
I swear to God that it has so many similarities with Terre D'Hermes that to me, they're mostly the same fragrance with added salty notes when both fragances dry down.

As I said earlier, the juice starts and finishes lineally, with a ghostly hint of orange in the background combined with nice pepper layers. But the whole perfume centers itself in an oddly nice note of ink melting with the ambergris; a funny note that reminds me the smell of a squid when I wash it before cooking, no joke. It sounds disgusting, but the reality is that it works in the final formula.
The ambergis here is lively, sharp, salty even minerally too; a gorgeous synthetic representation. To those who don’t know what is ambergris, I'll explain:
Ambergris is a solid, waxy material produced in the sperm whale.It's formed in the rectum of the whale by the indigestible parts of the animals on which it feeds (the beaks and cuttlefish of squid, normally).
The ambergris is usually expulsed naturally when the whale dies. When initially released from the whale it is pale white and soft with a strong animalistic smell.
Over a period of some months, through exposure to the elements, the ambergris oxidises and becomes darker in colour, and it loses its unpleasant odour.
Ambergris scent is often described as being musky and having a sweet earthy aroma unlike any other, or a mossy fragrance reminiscent of the damp forest floor with salty hints. Fresh collected ambergris, (which is raw, black and sticky), is rather offensive when sniffed. If you can figure out scented cow excrement, you will be in the right place then. Many people expect ambergris to have a very strong or foul odour, but this is not the case. The strong base animal odour fades as the ambergris cures, as it needs to, actually, to be treated to get the amazing slightly salty scent. However, the white and grey varieties, in particular, possess the subtle, sweet addictive aroma that beachcombing dreams are made of.
Due to demand for ambergris and its high price, replacement components have been used in the fragrance industry and chemically synthesized.The most important of these is "ambrox", which has largely taken its place and is the most widely used ambergris-replacement odorant in perfume manufacture.
I detect after a couple of hours a little close to my skin, a whisper of the dark green elemi herb mixing with cedar, but the main note is still the amazing "ambrox"...

The scent endures for a very generous maximum 6 hours , but the perfume goes more close-to-skin after 3/4 hours. There are more versions such as Elixir des Merveilles" but they are the same as the original but with an increase of ambergris...

Copyright © 2007 . All rigths reserved.

Terre D'Hermes. Hermes.

Perfumist: Jean Claudie Elena.

Countains notes of orange, grapefruit, pepper, flint rock, pink pepper, geranium, patchouli, cedar, vetiver, benzoin.

It represents the smell of the Earth. And It's a fantastic intepretation of It. The best around.

It starts citrusy, sparkling little aquatic, and mildly sweet.

Inmediately, here comes a cascade of different notes that fades, (but not completely) the orange accord, and move the formula in an another dimension much drier: lots of pepper, little of cedar wood, the vetiver root, earthy and vivid and soft patchouli.

All this notes start to blend with the others and the composition starts to get a little softer, while the fantastic mineral note of the flint rock apears.

Flint is a sedimentary rock and consists predominantly of silica, with occasional impurities such as calcite, iron oxides, clay minerals, and the organic remains of marine organisms also made of silica.

At this time you'll get this fascinant-mineralistic note, sometimes even marine, that blends perfectly with the accord of the vetiver root, giving that moody, salty twist at the piramyd. All we know at this stage that this accord is a fantastic, very natural synthetic reinterpretation of mineral odor, (probably added by the Isonomer 24), but what the hake, we all love it!.

A hint of slightly metal too brought with the geranium leaves.

The result is not a deep fragance, as It's much light and ethereal as you can think.

Comparing Terre D'Hermes, wrist to wrist, with Eau des merveilles, I found here,quite a lot of similarities, ( I always found the Merveilles highly unisex), and I could say Terre can be the male version of the marvellous previous perfume.

For sure, both wonderfully well finished.

Copyright © 2007 . All rigths reserved.