Pure XS by Paco Rabanne

Photosource: Scent Studio (own copyright)


At some point, I had a sales manager gig where I would drive around the entire country visiting customers. Some of those visits were planned, some were not, and those that were not, usually ended with a whole lot of waiting. One day, whilst waiting, I saw the tacky bottle with a gold snake slithering on it and with an obnoxious name "PURE XS", which could only lead my thoughts to "pure sex".

I took a sniff, because why not, and I was surprised. I had to walk a few steps away to not be in the way for the store's customers, but went straight back to get another hit. Yet another spray. One more. I liked it. I really did.

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I drove home without purchasing the fragrance, because the price tag didn't fit my piss poor paycheck, but I got a sample.
For days I would sniff it, wear it, completely run out of the sample and scour the internet for a good deal.

I found it, but I have forever been suspicious whether it is an original.
Though liking it, I always felt like it didn't smell like the one in the store.

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PURE XS is explosively sweet, feminine, a ridiculously generic designer fragrance, oozing with sappy notes. To my surprise, I don't get popcorn at all and I wish I did, because it sounds like an experience!
Though vanilla is at the top too, I don't get a classic vanilla note, but just something sweet accompanied by the tiniest amount of peach and musk.

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Like with many designer fragrances, I cannot identify the singular notes or accords, rather I'm just able to describe the fragrance as a whole. Sweet, cloying, feminine, ambery.

Reviewing it now, I do not understand how I could almost finish a 80 ml bottle! I think I have about 10 ml left. The fragrance is obnoxiously sweet and nothing I would wear now. After dry down and an hour in, the fragrance is very characteristic yet still impossible to describe in singular notes.
Wearing it now, it is almost headache inducing, but I remember bathing in it back when I used to wear it.

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PURE XS has been on my list of fragrances to review for a long while and I am happy to finally send this fragrance off. 

 

Alien by Mugler

Photosource: Mugler UK

Sweet, somewhat fruity, strong opening with a very realistic jasmine at the end. A floral, once again. How can it be that florals are so popular that every designer fragrance seems be one?

Though Alien by Mugler isn't the worst floral fragrance, yet again, I could really be without. Alas, I have received so many samples and I love to review fragrances and put into words how I experience them, but I am a little tired of all the negative connotations I have been giving lately. I miss all the praise and admiration I used to have when reviewing my favourite houses and I want to go back to those reviews.

I didn't mean to go off on a tangent, least of all should it be whilst reviewing Alien, but here we are.

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After I've been through all the designer fragrances in my collection, I'm done. First off, I'm tired of smelling of scents that I don't like for days just to get a proper impression of them. I love fragrances too much and I prefer to smell of the ones I love. Secondly, because my reviews have gone too negative, haven't they?

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Anywho, Alien is a very realistic jasmine fragrance that I am sure many who appreciate jasmine will like.

I also see that this fragrance has been reformulated, so please bare in mind that I am reviewing the new Alien by Mugler. 

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I must say that a couple of hours later, after sitting in a garden and enjoying some sun rays, my mood has definitely lightened up. And so has Alien on my skin. Ambery, mild, sweet and delicate. Suddenly the jasmine has become less floral and more sweet, like second skin.

I do understand why this is so loved, but I just cannot enjoy the easiness of designer fragrances. Alien by Mugler is a good fragrance, it really is. I can and will recommend it to those who like scents of this nature, but I will gladly pass on what I have left of my sample decanter to someone I know will enjoy it more.

O, Unknown! by Imaginary Authors

Photosource: Gourmandy Andy

Strong, very Imaginary Authors-esque opening. Soon a woody note appears along with a leathery sweetness. The scent becomes more powdery after dry down and a lovely iris appears.

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Unfortunately, I do not get any tea, but a hint of smokeyness instead. I think I have kept my sample for too long, because the fragrance is nothing like I remembered it, and a review I did almost a year ago sounds nothing like what I am experiencing now.

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Though from my dear and favourite house of Imaginary Authors, this one isn't it for me. The smokeyness hints at Memoirs of A Trespasser, but that fragrance is just so much more than O, Unknown! and it fades among kings like Saint Julep and Telegrama.

O, Unknown! is a woody, iris fragrance that is pleasant for what it is. The fragrance leaves a sweet and charming scent close to the skin, but I am missing the classic Imaginary Authors projection and power.

Extatic by Pierre Balmain

Photosource: Scent Studio (own copyright)


Woody, floral and fruity, and just about everything I would expect from a designer fragrance. Extatic by Pierre Balmain bares a fair resemblance to Sí Eclát by Giorgio Armani, especially on paper. 

After dry down, I honestly cannot look past the resemblance when smelling it on paper. On my skin, however, Extatic is much more desirable than was Sí Eclát.
Extatic is rich, sweet and strong, and definitely belongs to the colder days or an evening out. The fragrance is strong on rose and pear, but it also has smooth notes of cashmere and slight leather. Osmanthus makes this fragrance more wearable to me, but it is not a fragrance I care to reach for.

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I must say I am torn whether I like or dislike Extatic, but after some back and forth smelling it on my skin, I must admit that not being repelled by a fragrance isn't a sign of liking it! I have just grown accustomed to disliking the designer fragrances that I have tried and not disliking it almost seems as if it is likable, but that's not the case.

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The fragrance fully developed is just about as any designer fragrance. It is as if they all have the same base accord that only has other top and middles notes added to them, but the essence is the same. The mood the same, the vision the same, the likability the same.

I must say that I am quite underwhelmed and as I have said before, after I'm done reviewing the designer perfume samples I have, I won't be reaching for them anymore.

Vanille Gourmande by Florame

Photosource: Scent Studio (own copyright)

Long ago I was introduced to the natural and organic fragrances from the house of Florame. The fragrances were quite simplistic limited to their raw and natural ingredients. There was of course a rose fragrance, a citrus, a lavender, a verveine, a jasmine and so on. The one that stood out to me was of course Vanille Gourmande. A very realistic and mouth watering vanilla fragrance.

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I have always been a lover of vanilla fragrances and will always gravitate towards fragrances that have this sappy and delicious note in them. However, I have been through a fair few and I can definitely tell which vanilla is wonderfully real and giving the fragrance depth and which is too juvenile or even childish to me.

Vanille Gourmande is a pure vanilla fragrance that almost smells like vanilla with vanilla pods. Though not stated in the composition, I definitely get a lavender top note. It must be the carrot, which in its raw form can be quite aromatic.

Close to the skin, I must say that the balsam gives this fragrance a play dough vibe, which I have never really found before now, when diving deep into the fragrance.

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Though it is an eau de parfum, I must say that the fragrance quickly becomes a close-to-skin only. My reviewing of Vanille Gourmande has taken me by surprise. Since actively buying samples and trying fragrances out of my comfort zone, I haven't been wearing this fragrance for a long while. I remembered it as a natural and delicious vanilla, but upon reviewing it I must say that I am disappointed.

Yes, the vanilla is great in this one, but I cannot get around that play dough note that seems to be at the forefront even after a couple of hours.

I miss the smokiness that the gorgeous Imaginary Authors fragrance has, I miss the incense note of Vanille Insensée or the citrus that is in balance in Davana & Vanille Bourbon. Vanille Gourmande just doesn't cut it after a year of experiencing the wonders of scents.

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What a change a year can make. What once was the most wonderful gourmande vanilla in my opinion has now been neatly packed and made ready to be sold.

By the Fireplace by Maison Martin Margiela

 

Photosource: Scent Studio (own copyright)

Boozy, sweet and woody opening. By the Fireplace is almost like a nostalgic memory of Memoirs of A Trespasser by Imaginary Authors. Though very similar, they are very much different. I remember seeing the Replica collection from Maison Margiela some years ago and going through them all. The light, soapy and floral ones weren't for me. Jazz Club and By the Fireplace were too much for my nose back then, but I was first enamoured by Coffee Break and had to have it in my collection immediately.

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Years have passed, I have completely fallen in love with scents that are smokey and deep, and Memoirs of A Trespasser was the one to creep into my collection and into my heart when discovering the house of Imaginary Authors.

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A while back, I tried By the Fireplace again and I was so taken aback by how much I loved it now, considering my first take years ago.

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By the Fireplace is a sweet, masculine yet unisex fragrance, woody, slightly powdery and a little nutty. It is like sitting next to the fire, but before your clothes get that pungent scent of smoke the next day, like in Blackmail and Broken Theories by Kerosene. By the Fireplace is the warm and woody scent of a fire.

There is a note of vanilla, but not too much, balsam, guaiac wood and a slight note of cloves, this fragrance is absolutely gorgeous! Though very similar to Memoirs of A Trespasser, there is a definite difference. Both smokey and sweet, but they comfort me in entirely different ways.

I will do a one on one review soon, so stay tuned!