Year: 2009
Notes: peppermint, mint, rhodinol, geranium, floralzone, cinnamon, anethol, clove, frankincense, styrax, sandalwood, ambroxan, white musks
One was dearly hoping to fall under the spell of Geranium pour Monsieur, especially after Dominique Ropion's masterful Vétiver Extraordinaire, but this is not possible. All the hype about using modern and groundbreaking perfume techniques, and how the concentration of geranium oil would be higher than the tuberose essential oil used in Carnal Flower, simply raised expectations far too high.
It commences with a rather intense, and yet invigorating, accord pairing of mint and peppermint before an array of subtle and synthetic notes make their presence known. The geranium, at this stage, can be detected but its dominance becomes more apparent as time progresses, with the mint accords eventually surrendering their stronghold to the star note. Unfortunately, it all starts to fall apart by the time it progresses further...
Both the mint coupling and geranium have significantly lowered their volume, with hints of cinnamon and clove providing an aromatic twist to the proceedings. Soon afterwards, a boring synthetic musk joins with what's left of the mint and geranium, producing a conventional and boring skin scent. Also, what started out smelling fresh and natural now smells dull and quite synthetic. As for the sandalwood, it remains indiscernible.
Personally, one was expecting something much more compelling than a somewhat limp green aromatic. While it would make an ideal fragrance for the warmer months, its projection and lasting power (especially after the first couple of hours) raises concerns as to how full bottle-worthy it actually is. Unfortunately, one isn't wealthy enough to be frivolous on such an expensive purchase, so one will have to pass.
It commences with a rather intense, and yet invigorating, accord pairing of mint and peppermint before an array of subtle and synthetic notes make their presence known. The geranium, at this stage, can be detected but its dominance becomes more apparent as time progresses, with the mint accords eventually surrendering their stronghold to the star note. Unfortunately, it all starts to fall apart by the time it progresses further...
Both the mint coupling and geranium have significantly lowered their volume, with hints of cinnamon and clove providing an aromatic twist to the proceedings. Soon afterwards, a boring synthetic musk joins with what's left of the mint and geranium, producing a conventional and boring skin scent. Also, what started out smelling fresh and natural now smells dull and quite synthetic. As for the sandalwood, it remains indiscernible.
Personally, one was expecting something much more compelling than a somewhat limp green aromatic. While it would make an ideal fragrance for the warmer months, its projection and lasting power (especially after the first couple of hours) raises concerns as to how full bottle-worthy it actually is. Unfortunately, one isn't wealthy enough to be frivolous on such an expensive purchase, so one will have to pass.
