June poop!

Fragrant poop from my June tests. As usual, no pics, no years, no noses for the shame corner - you don't want details, do you?

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Sì by Giorgio Armani

The opening is the quintessential basics of chain-store chic: fruity-floral galaxolide (that beloved, generic, tasty shampoo feel), a bold aldehydes-driven roundness, creamy musky notes (milky ketones), a light green touch a totally anonym floral bouquet, glossy as a stock archive image of a bunch of flowers. Pleasantly, uselessly dull.

4/10
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Onyx Pearl by Agonist

Onyx Pearl opens with a cozy, transparent, artificial bouquet of woody/velvety aromachemicals, among which probably Iso E, cashmeran, ambroxan, a salty metallic note which may be due to some aldehydes, some synthetic amber, counter-balanced – not that well, to me – by a central note delivering quite a weird and nondescript smell, really dry and rubbery, somehow sticky and terpenic too, sweet-ish and cloying, halfway agarwood and pineapple, if that makes some sense. If that's leather, it's a leather sub-genre I did not knew and I don't really need to explore further, as I find "that" note, or accord, frankly unpleasant and disturbing, not in a good way. As soon as some dissonances vanish away, it all progressively simplifies into something a bit more enjoyable and interesting, that "thing" slowly becomes a more recognizable synthetic leather/suede note, still not exactly pleasant to me (again, a weird rubbery-sweet-salty concoction, just lighter than before), but you feel it's on its way to settle down to something nicer. Which in fact happens after a couple of hours, you basically remain with the plain, but aromatic, silky and sophisticated coziness o Iso E/cashmeran drydown, that kind of woody-suede feel. Overall I find this scent a bit messy and uninspired, which manages to become only barely pleasant thanks to the effortless - but kind of generic and cheap - elegance of the abovementioned aromachemicals. More than "uninspired" I actually don't get its point precisely. Perhaps it's my lack of sensitivity for "avant-garde" scents, but it's a "no" for me.

4,5-5/10

The Infidels EDP by Agonist

Year: 2010
Nose: Fabrice Pellegrin

Rich, thick, interesting texture, still quite delicate and pleasant. It suddendly reminded me (like a "madeleine") of Divine for women, the first fragrance Divine made I think in the early '90s or late '80s. Basically it is an opulent and dense scent in a really classic manner, a fruity graceful chypre rich in flower notes with a heart of dark rose, amber and aromatic woods, really coloured and dynamic, very deep and elegant. A sort of brighter, less somptuous, less decadent but still quite complex version of some Amouage's. However it is not worth the price tag which I've heard is crazy – the Divine I mentioned should be fairly similar but with a far more affordable price. Horrible bottle, by the way (sorry).

7/10

Black Amber EDP by Agonist

Year: 2011
Nose: Fabrice Pellegrin

The "flow of consciousness" of notes I feel at the opening: amber, incense, lavender, linalol, clove, pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, benzoin, pepper, vanilla, aromatic woods (cedar?)... most of them I don't know if are actually there but that is how the opening smells to me. Basically a sweet and spicy amber, with a pleasant, bold opening. It then slowly becomes a bit more green-balsamic as minutes pass, some herbal feel with a mentholated touch – kind of CdG realm. That's a nice transation. You feel the pungent feel of ambroxan on the base, the cedar and the styrax, and also a tiny bit of dry and a bit plastic patchouli – does not smell great, but it is still fine for the purpose. And that linalool insecticide vibe, subtle but persistent from the very beginning. Frankly this overall smells a bit dull to me – the amber/incense/green notes accord is nice, but also a bit confused and... I don't know, not catchy. Pale, perhaps. Anyway, overall this scent is closer to some green incenses CdG's like Sugi or Zagorsk, more than to amber-based scents. Short persistence (too short for me). Nice, but not worth the price tag for me.

6,5-7/10