CB I Hate Perfume Gathering Apples

I remember when I was in an apple binging mood where I wanted to smell like apples all day long. Then something in my mind clicked into place and I started to see–or rather smell–just how synthetic apple notes tended to be. Thus began my apple falling out. Unfortunately for Gathering Apples, it arrived after my infatuation with the note had blown away.

Gathering Apples

In Bottle: Very faint sweet apple scent. It reminds me of juicing my own apples.

Applied: Pretty much what I smelled in the bottle is what I got on my skin. The apple scent is a little plastic but it has a leg up on most of the other apple scents out there in that it’s not quite as sweet. It’s a tad tart, a little bit bitter, rather sugary but it’s about as authentic an apple note is probably going to get–or at least, it’s as authentic an apple note as I’ve smelled. The description for this fragrance claims there a hint of wooden basket in this. Try as hard as I might I can’t get any of the woods to come up, maybe it’s a part of that faintly bitter smell I got? I’m a little bit disappointed in this, but at the same time think it’s an accomplishment when it comes to making a usually very synthetic note like apple a bit more authentic.

Extra: So, if someone wanted to smell like apples would Gathering Apples be a good choice? In my opinion? Yes. If you want a light, more authentic, and a bit of an artistic interpretation of apple then Gathering Apples is fabulous. If you want a completely silly fragrance that’s strong and candied and don’t care if it smells of extremely synthetic apple then anything like DKNY Be Delicious will be good.

Design: You can get Gathering Apples, like most of CB I Hate Perfume fragrances, in two forms. A water sprayable form in a tall glass cylinder. Or an absolute form in a cute glass vial. The design is simple, the concept is simple, but it has a very scientific yet chic aesthetic to it.

Fragrance Family: Fruity

Notes: Apple, woods.

The more I progress in this review the more sold I am on Gathering Apples. I wish it smelled a bit more authentic to my nose. I wish I wasn’t blind to the wood notes that are supposed to be in this. But in the end, it’s the strongest apple fragrance for authenticity that I’ve smelled.

Reviewed in This Post: Gathering Apples, 2010, Eau de Toilette.


CB I Hate Perfume Black March

CB I Hate Perfume (CBIHP) settles in a lovely little center of my heart as that fragrance house that did. In that, it took concepts of memories and did them and did them well. No surprise as the place is headed by Christopher Brosius. The man can make you a perfume that conjures memories you never even knew you had.

Black March

In Bottle: Earthy but fresh, like moist soil after a rainstorm where the electric charge is still lingering in the air and you can still hear thunder rumbling faintly in the distance.

Applied: Poetic opening, very unusual and very welcome to me. I get fresh, wet dirt and a cleanness that dries to scrub the earth but doesn’t quite make it. It’s like I said for the in bottle impression, this smells like the aftermath of a rainstorm. It’s a little crazy how Black March can make me picture so well, a little clearing, some sprouts of grass poking out of the dewy ground. But it doesn’t stop there, as the scent ages and heads into a mid-stage, Black March dries a little, gets a bit more dense and dark like drying soil as the sun peeks out and the faint smell of green leaves and tree trunks arrives. The dry down is much the same, sun-kissed leaves, baking earth, and tree trunks.

Extra: You might be wondering about the name of the fragrance house. This article touches upon it near the beginning.

Design: There’s two types you can get Black March in. A perfume oil that comes in a glass vial with a twist cap that looks very scientific lined up with other CBIHP perfumes. And the type I got which is the fragrance diluted in a water-base. My type  comes in a tall cylindrical glass bottle with few embellishments and the design is better that way. The minimalist artistic approach works well here.

Fragrance Family: Earthy

Notes: Rain drops, leaf buds, wet twigs, tree sap, bark, mossy earth, spring.

I think there’s a lot in CBIHP’s line that might work against people’s desire to wear them as fragrances though many people have many different ideas of what smells good and what constitutes a perfume. If you happen to love a scented candle and wish it was a fragrance too, you wouldn’t be the first one. And then there’s elements in CBIHP’s line that I can’t see myself wearing as a perfume like Black March. It’s beautiful, a fantastic little journey, but I don’t know if I would call it perfume. Which I suppose is what Mr. Brosius might be going for. I can spray this on and relive in a fantastic memory though, and I think that’s worth it.

Reviewed in This Post: Black March, 2010, Eau de Toilette.