A wincing blast of Ruby Red pink grapefruit out of the bottle that dries down to really lovely peaches sweetened with frangipani.
The musk on the bottom has some heat, a peppery note with the sandalwood, but with hard edges.
It’s got nice facets, but kind of jumbled–and the middle notes that I love last less than 20 minutes on me.
From Under the Pink.
Safe citrus and berry splash with flowers–nice dry woodsy peony, in a clean and non-alluring way–but it’s loud. Big invasive sillage that takes over the clothes, like when you switch fabric softeners and can’t get used to the new smell, but even longer lasting.
This one feels like an afterthought, as if it were put out for bottle collectors.
Neon Hitch is also loud and kind of invasive, but is absolutely alluring and by no means an afterthought.
Unisex, because air has no gender, and water is aromantic.
The ambroxan shifts back and forth between cedar, amber and lemon all day long.
Icy clean, yet interesting.
This one would be a lovely cool splash in the summer, but sharp as knives in the winter.
Some more Air:
Soapy with creamy magnolia flowers and ubiquitous church congregation white musk.
A little headache inducing, but the brief driftwood note is kind of interesting.
Eric Clapton and John Meyer covering J.J. Coles’s Magnolia–
Petrified forest.
The cedar and amber make for a very stony accord, and the nutmeg takes it even earthier, though in a refined, almost preserved, way. (And it does last forever, a few inches above the skin.)
It’s not very exciting, but would pair well with a men’s blue suit.
Some more woodsy blues–
Lollia #88.
(Part of the Poetic License Collection.)
The top notes of cassis and patchouli are fun for a minute, but then it turns sulky with sour sandalwood on the bottom.
Lasts a couple hours on the skin.
Another one by Margot Elena that would make a good quality candle, but seems cheap on the skin.
This Night is so much more fun:
Orange pith and herbs, and quick.
Opens sharp and citrusy with woody ginger. Softens with some jasmine and a breath of amber, then vetiver lingers on the bottom for a few seconds.
Definitely a cologne–it’s gone in a hot second and for the cost, 4711’s Acqua Colonias might be a better deal.
Here’s some more oranges.
The shy little sister of Diorissimo.
Opens with an Earl Grey tea splash that gets lost in a huge green not-quite-blooming-yet flower garden–a bit of jasmine and blushing rosebuds–for an hour.
Big starchy oakmoss dries up the bottom a foot off the skin and stays there most of the day.
It’s nice, but doesn’t say much.
This oddball song was a huge hit in France in 1972, the same year Diorella came out.
Grandma’s bath salts (which also had a fern on the bottle, I think–)
Opens with harsh herbal lime and pine pitch, then softens down to nice wet crushed bracken and soap suds.
Stays close to the body all day, and leaves green smelling stains on the clothes.
I’d enjoy this on a guy–the alpha male who scrubs up clean.
Here’s more of the same color.
Peachy aldehydes that morph into peppery spice–cinnamon and clove, balsam and patchouli–then fade to incense over dry powdery rose.
This one was first released in 1953–Joan Crawford wore it.
It’s got a great slinky, film noir, dark-silhouette-framed-in-smoke feel, the woman who talks softly but commands all your attention until she’s done with you.
This one came out the same year.
kira a. gold 