Winter of 99 by Kerosene

 

This is the consequence, if you don't have spare time for your hobby.
Dried up samples! In the short snippets of time, when I do have a spare moment, I buy too many samples. Cut to when I don't have time to try them (for over half a year, if not more) and they dry up.

I cannot throw them away, so this review is just for sh*ts and giggles. No respectable fragrance enthusiast would consider this a fair review!

Anyhow, I found two Kerosene samples. Followed and Winter of 99. If you saw my post on stories, you would have seen that Followed looks unscathed, whereas Winter of 99 has dried down to one-quarter of what the juice should be.

This oughta be good...

Woods, molasses, nutmeg and vanilla. Sounds absolutely divine! Even though it's spring, today is a cold and rainy day, so the scent is perfect.

From the atomizer, it reminds me a lot of Sweetly Known by Kerosene.
Sweet, spicy and with notes of cardamom. 

Suspiciously similar to Sweetly Known, but as soon as Winter of 99 starts to dry down, the woodiness appears. It is a warm and comforting scent of woods, spices and molasses. Juuust a tint of nutmeg. Absolutely gorgeous. Yes, I own By the Fireplace, Memoirs of a Trespasser, Sweetly Known, and Lune Feline, which all dance in the same realm (but are oh-so different), however, Winter of 99 would have its own place in my collection without of doubt.
Why? Because I don't have a woody and spicy vanilla fragrance with the depth and character of nutmeg! The more it settles onto my skin, the more it becomes darker, richer and more dry. The sweetness is there to soften the scent, but it is by far a woody and spicy fragrance.

Cozied up in a cabin with the fireplace going, a cup of spiced black coffee in hand, and a snow blizzard outside.

Notes taken from Parfumo.

Woods Molasses Nutmeg Vanilla

Rose by Sense Dubai

 

So, I fell off the bandwagon again, didn't I...

Well, let's just not address it anymore and just focus on the times that I'm back!
Today I saw a porcelain bowl filled with samples of fragrances I have already tried, reviewed and some that haven't yet been touched. I tried to separate them for future reviews and one sample was a sight for sore eyes.

Rose by Sense Dubai.
Why, you ask? Because yeeeears ago, when I went to Sense Dubai, to buy Taj by Yas Perfumes, I got to try Rose. My initial reaction was "no thank you", because at that time, I hated rose fragrances. Now, I own a fair few rose-heavy fragrances. How?
Because I tried Rose by Sense Dubai and fell in love with quality rose oil.

Rose by Sense Dubai cannot be found on Parfumo, and I only visit Fragrantica in these cases. However, Rose isn't there either, so here are the notes from the horses mouth:

Top notes? Rose.
Middle notes? Rose.
Base notes? You guessed it, rose.

Now imagine this. It's late 90's or early 00's. You are young (if you are a 90's kid like me). You enter a beauty shop that doesn't exist anymore in 2025. The store sells anything from creams, soaps, loofahs and body mists. You see the classic themes, lilac, vanilla, and... rose.
You avoid the lilac products (because "yuck"), vanilla is delicious as always, and the rose?
Yes, it's dated, but Rose by Sense Dubai is the essence of a classic rose. It's a mix of Damascene, Bulgarian, and rose from Taif. Floral, elegant, classic. Made from the highest quality oils.

Unfortunately, my sample has gotten a little old. I can smell it. But I have a vivid memory of what it was. Due to the quality, it still has it's charm and effect.
One thing I've learned about Middle Eastern fragrances is that they are not made for Danish climate. For hot Polish summers? Yes, most definitely. My Taj from Yas is nothing compared to how it smells in the Polish summer heat, when I bought it. I dare to say that Taj, in +30 degree city heat, is the sexiest fragrance I own. Dominating, but non-invasive. Confident, but not arrogant. The same goes for any sample I have from Sense Dubai when trying it back home - it is just not the same.

Unfortunately, Rose also falls flat, but its quality roars even in Danish weather. 

Fleur Narcotique by Ex Nihilo

First off, can you believe that this is the first Ex Nihilo perfume that I'm trying?
No, me neither.

I am just grabing samples at this point, because I'm afraid I'm going to fall off if I plan too much.
Though I left the fragcommunity for a while hating florals, I must say that over the last year, I have added quite a few floral fragrances to my collection.

True to myself, I am still weary every time I have to test a floral fragrance. So let's give this one a go.

First impression makes me yearn for summer.
Fleur Narcotique is anything but a heavy floral. The first whiff reveals a juicy, fresh fruitiness on the verge of being juvenile. Matter of fact, it is juvenile. Lychee, peach like that of gummie bears, bitter rind from a citrus fruit. Fleur Narcotique is honestly not that heavy on the florals. It is far more fruity, but has the ever so slight notes of green from blooming plants. After dry down, I find it very pleasant, but I wouldn't want to have it in my collection, because it isn't that special.

It's a fun and flirty scent, and I will definitely have it with me on vacation. However, it is a scent that I'll probably forget before long.
I added Sundrunk from Imaginary Authors to my collection some months back, and I have to say that two are quite similar. Sundrunk is heavier and sweeter, and I must say that the lightness of Fleur Narcotique is more appealing...

Main accords

Floral

Fruity

Fresh

Sweet

Citrus

Fragrance Pyramid

 Top Notes

Lychee Peach Bergamot

 Heart Notes

Orange blossom Jasmine Peony

 Base Notes

Musk Woody notes Moss

Cow by Zoologist

Considering that I've had my samples for ages, I actually don't know whether I'm meeting the real "Cow" or not.

The fragrance doesn't seem rancid, so let's give it a go.

Cow is quite mild for a Zoologist fragrance and actually very wearable. It is green, fresh and has just the slightest sweetness in the background making it something else, but a green freshy.

The sweetness gives the scent more of a creaminess, which is quite nice.

However, I am not blown away. My nose will probably be rusty for the next couple of reviews from the long hiatus, but Cow smells like this:

At the opening a milkiness appears that is anything but cloying. Instead of smelling like that of condensed milk, I sense a thirst-quenching scent of a tall, ice cold glass of milk. Sweetened by the smallest spoon of sugar, or even perhaps acacia honey. As soon as the fragrance settles, it turns green. Like spring grass with the frost on it from the night before.

I cannot help but think of Milk from Commodity, but the two are very different. 

Whereas Milk is cloying, Cow is anything but. It is the kindhearted animal on a grassy hill at dawn on a sunny summer's day looking up in joy.

Notes taken from Parfumo.com

Main accords

Green

Floral

Creamy

Fresh

Fruity

Fragrance Pyramid

 Top Notes

Apple Sage

 Heart Notes

Heliotrope Milk Jasmine Lily of the valley Violet

 Base Notes

Cedarwood Musk Vetiver Amber Benzoin

Café Rose by Tom Ford (2023)

From the sampler, it's a beautiful dusty and creamy rose. As soon as I spray it, it is a gorgeous, almost soapy rose too. It is slightly frightening, but I am beginning to love rose fragrances and I've been an adamant hater of rose since youth. The matter of fact is though that I'm not "the youth" anymore. I'm a 34 years old.

My nose has gotten rusty and I do not dare to check when I posted my last review, but I am struggling with identifying notes.

The rose is rosing. I sense a spice undertone of perhaps cardamom and coriander, but it is ever so slight. What I do love, is that the spice undertone grounds the fragrance and makes it woody rather than a floral fragrance.

As I mentioned in my stories, my sample is quite old and I must say that my wrist is itchy, but I would not say that the scent has gone rancid. Not by the slightest.

Bare with me as I find my way back to reviewing fragrances, but my first-hand impression of Café Rose is this:
Entering a classy sphere of mellowed rose accompanied by the grounding notes of spice. Without alluding to anything wild, the spices only make the rose elegant and sophisticated. Beneath slumbers the creaminess and suede softness of sandalwood and frankincense.

Café Rose is absolutely gorgeous.

Notes from Parfumo.com

Bulgarian rose Orpur® Turkish rose Orpur® Coriander Comorian ylang-ylang Frankincense Patchouli Sandalwood Cardamom Coffee CO2