Cartier Declaration for Men

Happy New Year! I am back with a Cartier. I was thinking of doing a more unique fragrance as the first for 2013, but after humming and hawing over what that fragrance may be, I decided a Jean-Claude Ellena designed Cartier would have to do. That Smell will be back to normal next week.

Declaration for Men

Declaration for Men

In Bottle: Citrus, sharp orange, no sweetness–but very bitter with an earthy quality and a spicy kick.

Applied: Bitter orange with a blend of birch in the background. I get some spices upfront too and an almost animalic quality that I’m assuming is coming from an ambery leather combination. There’s definitely something that smells a bit “off” about this, but it’s “off” on purpose, like Declaration is trying to tell me to like it or leave it. Anyway, as the scent ages, it gains more woodsiness, takes on a floral bouquet with warm leather and that constant off smell in the background as the spices roll in. It took a long time for Declaration to get anywhere, it has fantastic longevity and projection so if you want something that will stick around all day and don’t mind occasionally getting a whiff of faint uncleanliness then this might be up your alley. As the scent dries down, I get more spices, more vetiver and a smooth leather that rounds things out very nicely.

Extra: Declaration has quite the lengthy list of notes and the complexity it boasts is no surprise for how much stuff is jammed into it. It smells of sophistication and good taste, but at the same time, it warns the fainthearted off with what people call the “sweaty armpit” undercurrent that runs through this scent. Whatever it is, those who brave it might come to love it.

Design: Declaration has a nice enough look. Simple in general with a bit more attention paid to its cap. It’s easy to hold, pleasing to look at with no garish bone on its body.

Fragrance Family: Woodsy Spicy

Notes: Artemisia, caraway, coriander, birch, mandarin orange, bergamot, neroli, bitter orange, iris, ginger, cinnamon, pepper, juniper, orris root, jasmine, cardamom, leather, amber, tea, vetiver, oakmoss, cedar.

I don’t relish much on the off smell in this. If you’ve followed this blog, you’ll note that I tend massively toward the clean so Declaration was a bit of a surprise for me. I appreciate it on the complexity level, but I think I’ll pass.

Reviewed in This Post: Declaration for Men, 2012, Eau de Toilette.


Annick Goutal Ninfeo Mio

Been a while since I’ve done an Annick Goutal fragrance. I actually really miss the often soft, feminine fragrances available in this line.

Ninfeo Mio

Ninfeo Mio

In Bottle: Citrus and herbal. A very fresh interpretation and very green and leafy smelling. Quite nice and really natural. Doesn’t smell like a perfume, but rather like the concept of a dewy citrus leaf.

Applied: Initial flare of tart citrus the orange and lemon in particular are noticeable. They give the opening a bit of a bite–in a good way. After the opening the fragrance takes on a pleasant fresh herb and green leafy scent with a nice woodsy undercurrent. As the scent ages, the greenness dominates and the woods come up a bit more. To me, this is a very refreshing scent. Almost like droplets of water pooling in a forest after a light shower. It’s quite agreeable and very beautiful.

Extra: Ninfeo Mio was released in 201o, was inspired by the gardens in Rome, and is still widely available.

Design: Bottle like most other Annick Goutal fragrances in a ribbed bottle and tied with a ribbon. Annick Goutal bottles are easily reusable in that you can unscrew the sprayer and refill the bottle. The design is nice and elegant, a little vintage and quite lovely.

Fragrance Family: Aromatic Woodsy

Notes: Citron, lemon, petitgrain, bitter orange, galbanum, lavender, lentisque, fig, wood, musk.

This is one of the herbal fragrances that I really like. I’m not a big fan of herbal scents usually but Ninfeo Mio is a lovely scent.

Reviewed in This Post: Ninfeo Mio, 2011, Eau de Parfum.


Cacharel Liberte

Liberte is a beautiful and vastly underrated fragrances. I don’t hear much about this one, but if you can find it, it’s quite a beauty in a girly, sweet scented way.

Liberte

Liberte

In Bottle: Somewhat harsh with the orange scent mixed with a very sweet note. Reminds me a bit of orange marmalade of which I’m not a very big fan of.

Applied: The orange marmalade scent throws me off for a bit and has me a bit worried but it goes away rather quickly. What replaces it is a beautiful crystal clear honey scent with a delicate floral heart. I haven’t smelled mainstream this good in a while. It reminds me a teensy bit of the more complex Aftelier Honey Blossom. Honey Blossom still has this stuff beat in terms of authenticity and complexity, but Liberte has a more delicate scent after its initial wave of citrus jam. If you don’t want to get too complex and if you want something flowery and honey-like then Liberte is a good catch. It’s dry down introduces a bit of spices and vanilla to join in the honeyed florals. There’s a bit of patchouli, but it adds rather that distracts from the rest of the fragrance. Very nicely done!

Extra: Liberte doesn’t seem to be too hard to track down. I’ve found it on at least two discounter sites and for a fairly reasonable price too. Liberte was released in 2007 and composed by Olivier Polge and Domitille Berthier.

Design: Bottle simply in a tall glass flacon. Liberte sports one of the better designs from Cacharel. It’s nice and elegant with a sophisticated look. The bottle itself is easy to hold and use. I couldn’t be happier with the design choice for Liberte.

Fragrance Family: Chypre Oriental

Notes: Bergamot, lemon, orange, bitter orange, mandarin, sugar, freesia, frangipani, gardenia, heliotrope, honey, marmalade, spices, vanilla, patchouli, vetiver.

All in all, I would still pick Aftelier’s Honey Blossom over Liberte, but it all depends on what you want in a fragrance. Liberte is certainly beautiful and shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s miles better than most fragrances that claim to be honey-based.

Reviewed in This Post: Liberte, 2007, Eau de Toilette.


L de Lolita Lempicka

I’m always drawn to this fragrance because of the bottle. It’s a whimsical little mermaid motif with adorable little charms attached. I find the whole thing just adorable and hard to resist.

L de Lolita Lempicka

In Bottle: Warm spicy citrus with a sweet vanilla creaminess creeping around in the background. It’s a bit like a decadent vanilla-scented spice.

Applied: Opens with a flare of citrus where the bitter orange mingles a bit with a sweetness that hovers on up and eventually sends the citrus away in favor of a warmed up spicy scent that hangs out with a vanilla that wafts up in the mid-stage. This is a comforting warm fragrance in the middle, a bit of a strange decision given how the bottle looks but it’s a lovely little journey that reminds me of autumn and bundling up. The vanilla in this fragrance isn’t too sweet that it makes this scent a straight up gourmand. When you reach the base, the spice and vanilla settle into with a clean white musk making this smell a bit more like spicy vanilla soap before everything fades completely.

Extra: L de Lolita Lempicka was composed by Maurice Roucel whose other claims to fame have been for houses like Amouage, Bond No. 9, Frederic Malle, and Guerlain. He was the fellow who composed one of my favorite modern Guerlains, L’Instant.

Design: I adore the bottle and it appeals to me even though I normally shy away from stuff like this. The bottle is reminiscent of the ocean, mermaids, and fantasy. It’s a bit awkward to hold though I tend to forgive it because it makes such a fantastic little conversation piece. If this stuff weren’t filled with awesome smellies I’d be leaving it out just as a decorative objective. It is just beautifully designed though a bit impractical when it comes to being used.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Bitter orange, vanilla, cinnamon, musk, amber, tonka bean.

L de Lolita Lempicka has a small hedge of gourmand but the musk and the mixture of citrus revolving into the spicy vanilla mid-stage doesn’t scream gourmand to me. It is a gloriously done oriental. Even though I wouldn’t call it ‘yummy’, I’d definitely call it fabulous.

Reviewed in This Post: L de Lolita Lempicka, 2009, Eau de Parfum.


Miss Dior Cherie L’Eau

Miss Dior Cherie L’Eau is the green little flanker from 2009. It’s older sister, Miss Dior Cherie was a smash hit when she debut in 2005. I wrote a review of Miss Dior Cherie almost a year ago and proclaimed my amazement at one of the few perfume headaches I’ve ever gotten. And so, enter her flanker.

Miss Dior Cherie L'Eau

In Bottle: Sweet and flowery with a hint of cleanness. It’s like I’m smelling a bar of too-flowery soap.

Applied: So Miss Dior Cherie L’Eau is a little disappointing in the bottle, does she get any better on the skin? Eh, no, not really. She goes on with that sweet florals thing again, there’s a hint of sharpness to this that makes me think fresh and clean like a shower gel or a bar of soap or something. I’ll commend this for being less sweet than Miss Dior Cherie but there’s not much else to it than a very familiar, but very banal shower gel scent. The mid-stage is marked with a squeaky clean sweet floral blend of white flowers and fruits. The dry down is a floral woodsiness with a dash of sharp white musk for good measure.

Extra: Miss Dior Cherie L’Eau has a good thing going for it if you like weaker perfumes that don’t last very long but can still make you wrinkle your nose. This stuff smells nice, and if you like squeaky clean smells and little else, this is a good bet–just don’t expect it to last very long. The longevity seriously sucks.

Design: Miss Dior Cherie L’Eau is bottled in a similar shape to Miss Dior Cherie but with a taller bottle and a frosted glass-looking bow  and cap. It’s still fantastically cute packaging. The juice is also an appeasing shade of yellow-green.

Fragrance Family: Fresh Floral

Notes: Bitter orange, lily, gardenia, woods, musk.

I admit it, I do like this a lot more than Miss Dior Cherie. But the fact that I didn’t get a headache from this probably has something to do with that. In the end though, Miss Dior Cherie L’Eau, is just not special. She smells like a great deal of other things out there and there isn’t much to set her apart. The bottle sure looks cute though!

Reviewed in This Post: Miss Dior Cherie L’Eau, 2009, Eau de Toilette.