L'Ombre Des Merveilles by Hermès

 

I will pre-preface that I wrote the entire review and it got deleted, so this one isn't as good as the original and I was just not having it before I even started.

I will also preface by saying that this might not be the best season to review L'Ombre Des Merveilles. When I first heard of it, Monika Cioch talked about it around autumn or winter. As far as I recall, she also prefers this scent during the colder months. However, you know my spiel of being behind on reviews and I actually did receive this during winter, but alas, a summertime review it is!

Luckily, after weeks of sun and high temperatures, today is colder and rainy. So L'Ombre Des Merveilles might get a fairer chance. 

I remember when I first swatched this on paper that it smelled like Coca-Cola. Sweet, fizzy and caramelly.

On skin, however, there is the reminiscent note of Cola, but it is mostly the tea note that I get. L'Ombre Des Merveilles is very surprising. It is simple, but it doesn't remind me of anything that I have smelled before. And is perfectly unisex. Nothing is too feminine, nor is it rough around the edges to become masculine. It is somehow delicate even though I doused myself in it. Because my review got deleted, I mostly remember it being stronger with tea and with a note of incense. Now, completely dried off, I get mostly incense with a tea note in the background. The incense is very mild. Its smoothness reminds me of Santal Austral from Matiere Premiere (if I recall correctly), but the tea note just gives it that sourness, that ompf, that compliments the scent perfectly and makes it stand out.

I keep reaching back to my memory of my prior review, but I cannot recall what I wrote and I am losing momentum reviewing L'Ombre Des Merveilles. This bothers me a lot, because I had only good things to say and I had written how the scent evolves during dry down.

What I can add is that even though I thought this would be an autumn and winter fragrance, I can see myself wearing it all year round!

Fleur de Portofino Acqua by Tom Ford

The Tom Ford allure is everlasting to me. No matter how many times I get disappointed, I always give them another chance.

I had the opportunity to choose between many fragrances freely, but among scents like My Way, Sí, Gucci Bloom and so on, I immediately chose Fleur de Portofino Acqua, because, the bottle. End of story. I gave it a sniff and I wasn't overwhelmed, but I found it light and pleasant enough to take it home. If not me, maybe my boyfriend or guests might love to use it.

The fragrance was #gifted to me. So I am immediately aware that I might be more forgiving, but I will try to review it as if I had spent the money myself.

Fleur de Portofino Acqua is a fresh scent, but has a dominating white floral base. It is a greeny citrus at top, rather than being a juicy one. A white floral appears gradually and the fragrance remains more green than fruity, in my opinion. It is very unisex, neither masculine nor feminine. After dry down, the paper strip only holds on to the white floral notes, which I don't hope is the case on my skin. You know my stance on florals.

On skin, Fleur de Portofino Acqua has a cotton candy sweetness that is quite faint. This fragrance is by no means sweet or a gourmand, but my initial thought was that the fragrance had a sweetness like that of sugar. Immediately after drying off, the scent is floral and the citrus is just a memory from the paper strip. Without being heavy, I find the scent a little cloying.

Looking at the notes, I am very disappointed by the missing tangerine, bergamot, lemon, orange... All I get is a mixture of orange blossom, some magnolia, maybe hint of jasmine, acácia and the sweetness from honey. Revisiting the scent straight from the bottle, I do get a juicy lemon, which I would oh-so love to experience on my skin too. On skin, Fleur de Portofino Acqua becomes monotonous and a cloying scent. I think it's because Fleur de Portofino Acqua is a floral - if it was a citrus floral, fruity floral, anything else, but JUST a floral to me, I would have had another experience.

My honest review is that this just isn't my cup of tea. I could see this being someone's staple if you like florals, but to me, I just have to have something in the mix too, to make it work.

The Tom Ford allure prevails, but I am, yet again, disappointed.

Ylang in Gold Nectar Edt Speciale by M. Micallef

 

You still remember me?
I'm back with a new review... And yes, I promised posting reviews from over half a year ago (!), but yet again, fate had other plans for me.

For weeks the weather has been absolutely divine. Sunny and warm. 

Looking out on my balcony, I saw a beautiful shade made by my tomato plants and suddenly I envisioned the gold petals on Ylang in Gold Nectar in that sunlight, so I ran to get it, snapped a photo and thought, it is time to review it too!
Honestly, I have acquired about ten new fragrances since my last review, but I don't feel inspired to do "new in" posts. Bear with me as I find my way back to reviewing fragrances regularly.

The weather screams summer fragrances, which is why I have been reaching for Ylang in Gold Nectar.

Initially, there's a delicate top note that is fresh, citrusy, light hearted and feminine. It is accompanied by some creamy and warm notes from ylang-ylang. Ylang in Gold Nectar is purely a feminine goddess-like fragrance that transports you to a tropical island! Your skin is sunkissed and slightly dewy from the heat. You are wearing a white linen dress walking through a passage with tropical plants and just at the horizon, you see the ocean, blue like you have never believed possible.

I smell hints of sandalwood that only support the fragrance rather than define it. Though Ylang in Gold Nectar is tropical, I oddly do not smell coconuts. It is the warmth, heat and sensuality of Ylang in Gold Nectar that makes it tropical to me.

This perfume is impossible to dislike, but I have to be in the mood to wear it. It is heavy, but not cloying, whereas I usually prefer my sappy fragrances with a lasting note of citrus or something tangy (think lemon in Unknown Pleasures, citruses in Davana & Vanille Bourbon, pineapple in Lamar). Though I rarely layer my fragrances, Ylang in Gold Nectar it perfect to do so, because of how versatile it is. It has a beautiful base and depth that stands on its own, but can also add a divine depth to another fragrance.