Kasar: Cracked Dusty Brown Leather

Kasar by Teo Cabanel
Leather

When you look at the design bottle and the notes, the fragrance is pretty scary. However, I confirm that the opposite is true. Yes, there is saffron, nutmeg, oud, leather and labdanum and it is an oriental male fragrance but I strangely find it subdued and friendly.

Leather is the most prominent so if you enjoy leather fragrances, you are going to like it. It is not sweet whatsoever but rather spicy and earthy leather. I personally find it very comforting even wearable during warmer months.

But please, note that recently, I have been into these types of earthy leathery scents like Falcon Leather by Matiere Premiere. Kasar is softer, and less in your face which does not necessarily works to your advantage if you want your leather raw, mysterious and attention-grabbing. Kasar is a solid oriental leather scent, but quite frankly, do not settle for less, there is better leather out there.

Encore: Vegetal Vigor with Teo Cabanel’s DNA

Encore by Teo Cabanel
Woody
Marie Schnirer

Encore “Again” is one of the newer releases from Teo Cabanel. It envisions carrot cake and hot milk. If eating carrot cake and drinking hot milk doesn’t sound appetising to you, wait! The fragrance is definitely not a carrot cake in a bottle.

It smells vegetal green and fresh, slightly spicy but not like a carrot dessert. Then the powdery cold iris comes through and the dry-down is cozy with sandalwood and musk. There is no annoying sweetness and the scent is later rather velvety and musky.

I like it. It is not what you expect. I can’t deny its uniqueness. But is it a scent I want to spray again and again as the ad suggests? No! It’s not an addiction but it is a pleasant original creation.

Brazilian Crush Cheirosa ’68: Aquatic Smooth Vanilla

Brazilian Crush Cheirosa ’68 by Sol de Janeiro
Floral Fruity

Brazilian Crush Cheirosa ’68 is a sweet airy vacation scent. It features dragon fruit and litchi which are both tropical aquatic aromas. It is all sweetened and rounded with gourmand vanilla which is sweet and cloudy rather than earthy and dry vanilla that we can see in the niche market.

I do not see a similarity to Baccarat Rouge by MFK or Cloud by Ariana Grande. If anything, then Burberry Her is the closest. However, Cheirosa ’68 is yummier, sweeter and casual in comparison to Burberry Her. Lasting is good, especially considering its low concentration.

The body mist has holiday vibes but is totally different to the scents we normally associate with summer holidays. It is not a solar, edible vanilla perfume with white flowers. It is a subtle and fruity scent with some sweetness added. Cheirosa ’68 is a tropical girl, not the summer goddess we are used to.

Dior Homme Cologne 2022: First Class Lemonade

Dior Homme Cologne 2022 by Dior
Citrus Aromatic
Francois Demachy

We all need a citrus fragrance for summer, right? And we know by now that citrus perfumes are not the best performers. Dior Homme Cologne is a cologne and it lasts and projects like a cologne. So if you are looking for a beast-mode citrus strengthened with molecules, this clean and pure citrus aromatic is not for you. Let’s put it out there.

I do not expect my citrus to last, so I am fine with that. I appreciate the purity and class of this bergamot-grapefruit concoction. It is a male cologne for summer but I do not know a more unisex fragrance on the market. I love to spritz it during a heat wave or when I am tired.

Dior is one of the most expensive designer houses; nonetheless, I still think it is worth the price tag. Do not forget that you can share it with your significant other. I also want to try Eau de Cologne by Chanel which should be going more in the neroli direction.

Eau So Party Victoria’s Secret: Girls Gonna Have Fun

Eau So Party by Victoria’s Secret
Floral Fruity

I am crazy about Victoria’s Secret fragrances, I cannot help it. They are super fun and lighthearted and sometimes you can snatch a good deal if you are not after the new releases. Very Sexy and Pink Sweet & Flirty are my all-time favourites; on the other hand, Bombshell did not wow me. So, there are many hits but a miss here or there too.

Eau So Party is a perfume from 2016. You probably remember this release due to the very flashy and sparkly packaging. The scent is super cute, exactly what you expect from Victoria’s Secret. You get mostly sugar and lime. It smells perfumey, and tropical, if you close both eyes, you sniff lime mojito.

It is Eau So Party somewhere over the rainbow, among palm trees on a beach. Not necessarily a lux resort but a friendly tropical island with kids and locals running around. You wear a chick boho dress and a sun hat. Your flip-flops are used and dirty. The atmosphere is great and love actually is all around.

Citrus and sugar. It is good for what it is. The fragrance does not have a strong base; therefore, longevity and projection are poor as anticipated. But I adore the scent anyway and I always want to have at least one Victoria’s Secret perfume in my collection. If you are a fan like me, and floral fruities are not your enemies, check Eau So Party out.

Prada Paradoxe: Lush Jasmine Touching the Orient

Prada Paradoxe by Prada
Amber Floral
Antoine Maisondieu, Nadege Le Garlantezec, Shyamala Maisondieu

Prada Paradoxe is a new highly expected release from the house of Prada. I love the name Paradoxe and will tell you what I find paradoxical about the fragrance.

It has three dimensions to my nose. The first is notes accumulated around citrus – tangerine, bergamot, orange blossom, neroli – therefore, you sniff this zesty almost bitter fruity aroma. And it is summery and energising!

Then it is all about intoxicating jasmine – you must like opulent jasmine to enjoy it. The last dimension consists of a solid base of sturdy notes like vanilla, amber, white musk and benzoin. The dry-down brings incredibly sweet and warm goodness. It gives the fragrance strength and depth of what would otherwise be an indolic floral.

Prada Paradoxe is effervescent from the citruses and orange flowers yet balsamic, resinous and comforting from the amber base. I am a perfume enthusiast who appreciates orange blossom and neroli but I am not into straight-up amber fragrances. It is paradoxical but amber blended with citruses and jasmine is divine in Prada Paradoxe. It is like a man and a woman, jin and jang, two seemingly opposite characters yet they cannot be without each other.

I am not decided if I am going to rock this scent in hot or cold weather. I think I will wear it in both. The transition periods would be perfect, or even summer nights.

Yeah, you have to put on the skin and let it mix with your chemistry. It is pretty after a while when it sits. Rome was not built in a day and so does this perfume needs time and warmth to develop properly. Once it is there, it projects like crazy. You get your money worth it. I am impressed with this designer release.

Viva La Juicy Noir: A Femme Fatale? No, a Sweet Girl!

Viva La Juicy Noir by Juicy Couture
Floral Fruity Gourmand

Viva La Juicy Noir (2013) is a flanker of the original Viva La Juicy from 2008. They are related yet different enough worth collecting both if you are a Juicy Couture fan.

The Noir version has a hefty dose of wild berries that you can really get in the initial blast. It is a fruitier and happier fragrance than the OG. The praline is missing but the sweetness is very much detectable partially from honeysuckle and gardenia and of course from a caramel and vanilla combo which brings out the gourmand side of the scent.

If you lust after sweet fruity perfumes, particularly with wild berries, you are going to be pleasantly surprised. It is an uplifting playful fragrance that has a sexiness to it. Not necessarily for the night-time, although the name Noir is suggesting savage orgies. I personally prefer this version to the OG or the Gold edition. It is fruitier, juicier and the sweetness is toned down.

Because it is composed around the fruity aspects, do not expect a great performance. It simply does not have the power the yummier Viva La Juiciest have. Some frag heads say Viva La Juicy is our guilty pleasure I say an ideal fragrance for girls and women when you are not going anywhere formal. Plus you can get it heavily discounted.

La Colle Noire: Fearless Rose Supported with Oud

La Colle Noire by Christian Dior
Floral Woody Musk
Francois Demachy

I am really loving the Dior private collection. The fragrances are inspiring, elegant and timeless. La Colle Noire is in fact a small chateau in Southeastern France and the perfume was inspired by this romantic property.

La Colle Noire is a crisp clean rose fragrance with oud. It is mainly about May Rose from Grasse, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. It is a rose fragrance with an edge that has a killer lasting and projection. Yet, the fragrance stays fresh and feminine. If you like Oud Silk Mood, it is a lighter and girlier version of that MFK’s scent.

Once you discover rose-oud fragrance combinations and get used to them, you are hooked. La Colle Noire has class. Has maturity and is dauntless and intoxicating.

Sakura Eau de Parfum: For Cherry Blossom Lunatics

Sakura Eau de Parfum Acqua di Parma
Citrus

Sakura is a fresh citrus floral. You get the most beautiful zesty cherry blossom. The smell is elevated and refined. Although it is a fresh floral, it does not smell overly young or playful whatsoever.

It is one of the best cherry blossom scents I know but the performance is rather bad. The projection is weak and the scent sits very close to the skin. Sakura does not live up to the Eau de Parfum expectations in my opinion. There is no solid base to secure the fragrance lasting. The price is not terrible, so if you love the aroma, you can buy a big bottle and spray extensively like with a body mist.

Cologne Blanche: Clean Fresh Pressed Powder

Cologne Blanche by Dior
Woody Floral Musk
Francis Kurkdjian

Cologne Blanche made by Francis Kurkdjian has been around in Dior’s private collection for a long time. The cologne underwent reformulation and came back in place. Professionals say its comeback is not as glamorous as it used to be and find the new formula slightly underwhelming. I did not smell the original formula and I am very happy with the current state of the fragrance.

When you smell it for the first time, you get the Dior’s private DNA, so typical for their fresh scents. It has the same structure as Gris Dior. It smells different but you can tell they are from the same house. They both have the powdery soapy elegant aspect. Gris Dior is a moody rosy perfume, Cologne Blanche has a clean laundry cotton smell with sweet powdery almond and fresh bergamot. It is lighter and softer than Gris Dior.

I love it. Although it does not stay long and some may argue it does not have much personality, among colognes though I think it is unique and easy to wear. The almond and orange blossom make it stand out among other laundry detergent smells. It is very professional, unisex. A signature for every day. I gifted my bottle to my father because he really liked it and is going to make a bigger dent in it 🙂