Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Misses

Typically I write reviews about perfumes I love and avoid discussing those I find disappointing. I decided to be more balanced and let it all hang out – by every so often writing quick blurbs on some I find complete misses.

Big Disappointments

Tokyo Milk, Poe’s Tobacco
Notes: tobacco, tea leaves, amberwood and autumn apple.
I had high hopes for this. There’s very little tobacco. It’s mostly a sweet mishmash of apple and unidentifiable florals – sweet one’s – like hyacinth and car air freshener.

Tokyo Milk, Lapsang Su Chong
Notes: winter moss, asuka rose, sandalwood and black currant.
Again, high hopes – completely disappointed. This doesn’t smell like tea much at all. It starts off smelling like a generic mens cologne then dries down to a cheap smelling moss. I haven’t tried any other Tokyo Milk perfumes and given the two I’ve purchased I won’t be trying others.

Ineke After My Own Heart
Notes: bergamot, raspberry, crisp green foliage, lilac, sandalwood.
Lovely bottle, box and marketing, however, the juice is not high quality. If you are looking for a lilac fragrance just save your pennies for Frederic Malle En Passant or perhaps find the long discontinued Jean Patou Vacances. After My Own Heart smells like generic lilac air freshener. Headache inducing artificial cloying disaster.

Ineke Evening Edged in Gold
Notes: gold osmanthus, plum, angel’s trumpet, saffron, cinnamon, midnight candy, leather and woods.
I should have known when I read “midnight candy” listed among the notes. Evening Edged in Gold is not a nice osmanthus perfume but instead an overly sweet lollipop dunked in scotch. Bleck.

Not Bad but Not My Thing

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Secrete Datura
Secrete Datura is mentioned often on the perfume blogs and fora so I thought I’d give it a try. I expected something along the lines of Serge Lutens Datura Noir. Secrete Datura is not an indolic, tropical rendition of the datura flower but instead a very soapy concoction. I mean soapy – like Ivory or Dove soap. Now, I might like this if I had been looking for a soapy fragrance…but I wasn’t. In time I might decide I like Secrete Datura, but I need to get over the soapy shock.

L’Artisan Fleur de Liane
This is simply a matter of personal taste. Surely Fleur de Liane is a high quality fragrance just one that isn’t to my liking. Fleur de Liane is green and watery. I visualize a pond with water lilies – like Claude Monet’s Water Lily painting. There’s a lot of algae and moss in this pond.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Abigail!
Ah, I'm still trying to figure out what is "soapy," when soap comes in so many varieties. I just happened to try Secrete Datura for the first time today. I got weird floral, which eventually mellowed and improved to a vanilla-ish fuzziness. It wasn't Dove though. My 1.5 ml will be plenty enough! I've tried a bunch of Tokyo Milks (most simultaneously though) and wasn't impressed. Tried Gin Rosewater later and it was kind of fun... but if you have to say "kind of," it must not be that fun!
Laura (aka flemishpainter)

Tania said...

Hmmm - well I guess that saves me a trip to Fortnum & Mason! (Where Tokyo Milk is sold in London).

As for Ineke - yup. I have some samples of those two and Derring-Do (generic cheapy-smelling men's cologne, IMO). Not impressed. I just do not get why Liberty kicked out Mona Di Orio, and kept Ineke.

Marko said...

Abigail -

Although I totally appreciate where you're coming from, I think hearing a perfume reviewer's DISlikes is equally as important as hearing what really turns them on (in the fragrance world, that is....). I like reading what you have to say - both good AND bad - about what's out there and what I might never get a chance to experience personally.

Regarding Tokyo Milk......I've been wondering about theses for quite sometime. I'll still try them (next time I'm in or around an Anthropology), but I won't expect too much....

Thank you for sharing,

Marko

Tara said...

Ha..."Lots of algae" that's great. Thanks for reviewing your misses..It was fun.

Violaine said...

hi!
I have received by mail a "blind scent date" if i may say :0
but i was really disapointed.
The perfume, MOROCCO by Saravel is a whisper of a spicy note, a ghost in the bottle...and not pleasant at all, maybe the juice turned.
Snif. Misses are no fun.
Have a nice WeekEnd too !
V