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Sisley Eau d’Ikar ~ fragrance review

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Sisley Eau d'Ikar

I’m still playing catch-up with last year’s fragrance releases. (Who am I kidding, I’ll never catch up with 2011 releases, or 2010’s…on and on.) Sisley launched its first men’s perfume last autumn: Eau d’Ikar (a fragrance containing lots of mastic), and I’m just getting around to sampling it.

In addition to mastic, Eau d’Ikar includes fragrance notes of lemon, bergamot, bitter orange, carrot seed, iris, jasmine, herbs and spices, tea, amber, cistus labdanum, sandalwood and vetiver.

Eau d’Ikar opens fresh and lemony, and it reminds me of “original” Monsieur Balmain with its warm and balmy citrus aromas. Next up is a strange — and strangely addictive — accord of orange, mastic, iris and a spicy green/herbal note…

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Arquiste Flor y Canto & Anima Dulcis ~ fragrance reviews

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The perfume line Arquiste is the brainchild of Mexican architect/designer Carlos Huber (a k a Nate Berkus’s boyfriend); the name “Arquiste” represents the ideas (ideals?) of “architecture,” “history” and “art” and the perfumes in the collection reference historical moments, from the meeting of Louis XIV of France and María Teresa of Spain in 1660 (the fragrances Fleur de Louis and Infanta en Flor) to Alexander Pushkin’s death-by-dueling in 1837 (Aleksandr).

I decided to tackle the two ‘Mexican’ fragrances in the line first, because Mexico and I go way back (and have always had a happy relationship)…

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Ben Sherman by Ben Sherman ~ fragrance review

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Ben Sherman fragrance

Good things come in small packages, so goes the old saying, and, using the new Ben Sherman men’s fragrance as an example, I say good things come in ugly packages, too. I think the Ben Sherman bottle is the most unsightly perfume bottle of last year; it looks like a cubist choo-choo made out of cheap, lightweight plastic.

Though the bottle is beyond Avon-Ugly, Ben Sherman, the fragrance, is one of my favorite men’s mainstream releases of last year. The perfume features notes of tangerine, bergamot, lemon, lime, mint, cardamom, nutmeg, incense, patchouli, cedar, vanilla musk, vetiver, hay, coffee and amber.

Ben Sherman starts off with cardamom-flavored coffee…

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Eau de Tommi Sooni I & II ~ fragrance reviews

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Eau de Tommi Sooni I & II

Australian perfume company Tommi Sooni produces four fragrances (two new perfumes will debut in 2012). I just got around to trying the complete Tommi Sooni line; for now, I’ll skip the two feminine fragrances( Jinx and Tarantella) and concentrate on the unisex Eaux de Toilette – Eau de Tommi Sooni I & II.

EAU DE TOMMI SOONI I

(oak moss, huon pine, sandalwood, jonquil, metallic rose, cigar accord, lime, lemon leaves, bergamot)

Eau de Tommi Sooni I opens with notes of moss and original Listerine(R) (the huon pine?) Next up are lime and green leaf notes with a touch of jonquil. I’ll attribute Eau I’s faint (and fleeting) smokiness to the “cigar accord” (I don’t smell a “realistic” tobacco note). Eau de Tommi Sooni I is a refreshing, invigorating perfume that wears down to an interesting accord of “dry” floral tea, mint, clove and wood (perhaps this approximates the smell of huon pine?) Using another horticultural “reference,” I’ll say the overall aroma of Eau I reminds me of the scent of the headache tree. Don’t let the name fool you: I like the intense, spicy scent of the tree’s leaves…

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Erik Kormann Eau de Frohliche ~ fragrance review

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pugs

Over the past several weeks, I’ve needed some “merry water,” and when I saw a bottle of Erik Kormann Eau de Fröhliche (fröhliche is German for “merry”), I smiled: the bottle features an image of one of the merriest creatures on earth — a pug.

Kormann is owner of a soap shop in Berlin (1000 & 1 Seife) and Eau de Fröhliche is his first fragrance. Eau de Fröhliche’s featured aroma is frankincense, but frankincense presented in a way that’s new to me, and unexpectedly fun. (I don’t know about you, but when I smell frankincense I rarely feel “lighthearted.”)

Apart from frankincense, Eau de Fröhliche contains raspberry and other fruit notes, cardamom, iris, dark chocolate, vanilla/tonka, tolu balsam, patchouli and rosewood. Prop up your feet and relax: Eau de Fröhliche takes its time in segueing from one phase of development to the next…

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