L’Occitane 4 Reines

Posted on by

L’Occitane’s fragrances are surprisingly good for a bath and body company. But L’Occitane’s offerings tend to be a bit more complex than stuff at Bath and Body Works. 4 Reines was one of the first fragrances I tried from L’Occitane and it was a very nice, modern rose composition.

4 Reines

4 Reines

In Bottle: Rose, rose, and more rose. There’s a bit of classic rose in this but 4 Reines mostly represents a very competent modern, clean rose.

Applied: Clean, bright, dewy rose that’s very young and very modern. There’s a big difference between a classic rose scent and a modern one. I suppose a review of 4 Reines is as good a place as any. A classic rose to me (or old fashioned rose) has more depth and more density to it. There’s this sense of complexity to it that tends toward a bit of powderiness. A modern rose–like this fragrance–is usually clean, crisp and fresh. It’s youthful and easier to like and a bit watered down but that helps make it easier to wear. I smell modern rose in almost everything these days and classic rose in increasingly smaller and smaller amounts. Anyway, 4 Reines smells like a full on modern rose. A very well done one too.

Extra: 4 Reines, true to its name as a fragrance that contains four rose scents was composed by Karine Dubreuil who also composed Gucci Envy Me and Just Cavalli Her.

Design: A nicely designed square glass bottle that looks pretty unassuming. It has a pretty 80s-esque label on it. The rest of the bottle looks just as unassuming with very frills or thrills. It’s just functional.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Rose, Turkish rose, Moroccan rose, Bulgarian rose.

It’s light, it’s clean, it’s dewy and if you love rose then you’ll love this. There’s little else in the fragrance for it to progress much. If you love a more classical rose, then 4 Reines might not be for you and I may suggest something a bit older like Guerlain’s Nahema.

Reviewed in This Post: 4 Reines, 2010, Eau de Toilette.

Juliette Has A Gun Miss Charming

Posted on by

Miss Charming by Juliette Has A Gun is a lighthearted fruity rose whose priced like a niche fragrance, but smells like a mainstream perfume.

Miss Charming

Miss Charming

In Bottle: Smells like fruity roses. Most notable in the opening is a sweet and slightly sour berry scent followed by a bit of a weak rose note.

Applied: Sweet berries with a hint of tartness layered over a rose note that gets a bit dusty as you continue to wear the fragrance. Miss Charming is very youthful, though she relies a little too much on the fruitiness to get her by. I can’t help but think I’ve smelled this before in a lot of mainstream perfumes. Anyway, Miss Charming continues along a fairly linear track of sweet and rosey and reaches its midstage with a sort of powdered rose scent that reminds me a bit of Lady Vengeance, only Lady Vengeance did the motif a lot better in my opinion. The dry down is a rose and clean musk. Miss Charming lacks the soapiness that I found very pleasant in Lady Vengeance too. Nothing unusual or interesting to be had in the dry down, unfortunately.

Extra: Miss Charming’s angle was to be bright and happy and bubbling. I felt it could have been done a lot better, particularly since the fragrance echoes so many mainstream fragrances while boasting a niche fragrance’s price. Miss Charming was composed by Francis Kurkdjian.

Design: Miss Charming is designed in much the same way as Lady Vengeance. The only major difference to the bottle is the color where Lady Vengeance was black, Miss Charming is white. You can also get Miss Charming in a cool perfume vial encased in a metal bullet-like roll-on. It’s very neat looking.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Litchi, berries, Moroccan rose, musk.

So if someone were to ask me whether I prefer Miss Charming or Lady Vengeance, I’d definitely have to go with Lady Vengeance. It was young, easy to wear, and had a bit more of a personality than Miss Charming. This particular fragrance just didn’t work for me.

Reviewed in This Post: Miss Charming, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Serge Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan

Posted on by

Muscs Koublai Khan is one of those fragrances perfume lovers dare each other to smell because the scent is so animalic and strong that everyone ought to try it at least once.

Muscs Koublai Khan

In Bottle: So I didn’t get much animalic at first but there is something in my initial whiff of this that told me I was in for a ride. There’s something dense in the bottled scent, a bit weird but otherwise the top is green and brown–hard to describe in terms of words but Muscs Koublai Khan smells like this mishmash of complex, dirty ideas.

Applied: Upon application that complex mishmash of ideas comes to a full realization and I’m hit right in the nose with a big civet, business-end first. Now, I’m one of those people who have to get used to the idea of a perfume before I can fully appreciate it and I don’t fully appreciate Jicky for how she smells yet. But she had a temperance with lavender–Muscs Koublai Khan is straight up dirty civet with a fecal smell that I’m having a troubling time getting over. There’s a slight powderiness to this that’s trying to clean it up a little but it’s a bit meek by comparison. It’s funny too, as there’s a layer of flowers behind the poo that my nose is trying to smell instead. Now, Muscs Koublai Khan is not the kind of fragrance you pick up and enjoy the first time for a lot of people. I didn’t expect myself to like this, but I do find it absolutely hilarious as it confuses my nose and keeps me coming back. Each time hoping it’ll transform into something else if I let it age a bit more. I can’t quite comment on anything else but Muscs Koublai Khan smelling dirty, very animalic, with a funny venting of florals like it’s trying to apologize. This is warm, it’s complex, sensual even. But it isn’t for me and I’m not sure I’m going to go out of my way to understand it much more. I already appreciate it for its concept, I think me and Muscs Koublai Khan can leave it at that.

Extra: Muscs Koublai Khan is like perfume that spent a day rolling about at the zoo then bathed itself a bit in flowered water. It’s a strange but alluring mix, very masculine a little off-putting and takes a while to get used to and love but when you do, this stuff really takes off. It just didn’t take off for me.

Design: Bottled like other Serge Lutens fragrances, Muscs Koublai Khan is presented in an unpressuming thin rectangular glass bottle with a tall cap. Minimalist approach appeases me.

Fragrance Family: Dirty

Notes: Vegetal musk, costus root, labdanum, rockrose, grey amber, vanilla, patchouli, ambrette seed, moroccan rose.

Obviously a fragrance for acquired tastes and I haven’t yet acquired such taste. Maybe in a few years, Muscs Koublai Khan, when I’m a little older.

Reviewed in This Post: Muscs Koublai Khan, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Upon application that complex mishmash of ideas comes to a full realization and I’m hit right in the nose with a big civet, business-end first. Now, I’m one of those people who have to get used to the idea of a perfume before I can fully appreciate it and I don’t fully appreciate Jicky for how she smells yet. But she had a temperance with lavender–Muscs Koublai Khan is straight up dirty civet with a fecal smell that I’m having a troubling time getting over. There’s a slight powderiness to this that’s trying to clean it up a little but it’s a bit meek by comparison. It’s funny too, as there’s a layer of flowers behind the poo that my nose is trying to smell instead. Now, Muscs Koublai Khan is not the kind of fragrance you pick up and enjoy the first time for a lot of people. I didn’t expect myself to like this, but I do find it absolutely hilarious as it confuses my nose and keeps me coming back. Each time hoping it’ll transform into something else if I let it age a bit more. I can’t quite comment on anything else but Muscs Koublai Khan smelling dirty, very animalic, with a funny venting of florals like it’s trying to apologize. This is warm, it’s complex, sensual even. But it isn’t for me and I’m not sure I’m going to go out of my way to understand it much more. I already appreciate it for its concept, I think me and Muscs Koublai Khan can leave it at that.