BPAL testing, the saga continues...
The Venustas series, A Tribute to William Etty and the Elegance of the Human Form.
FEMALE NUDE, THREE QUARTERS LENGTH, BESIDE HER LEFT AN APPLE TREE... mahogany, rosewood, red apple.
A very well blended scent: the mahogany is glorious beneath a drift of apple. It's surprisingly delicate with hints of rose developing as it warms up. There's a freshness here that plays well with the overall woodiness of the scent. Lovely but not enough that I'd reach for it before something else.
MALE NUDE, ARMS UPSTRETCHED... dark musk, linen and red chypre.
I was ready to like this before I opened the decants, and wow, do I! A layered musk blend (I'm betting it's red musk holding the base of the chypre). The linen note gives the spice and wood a clean edge and plays nicely with the top citrus of the chypre (I'm thinking bergamot). Decent throw, incredibly drydown and despite the fact I'm brimming with red musk scents already, I have a soft spot for chypres too, so I'm sorely tempted to get a bottle of this one.
MANILUS HURLED FROM THE ROCK... frankincense, leather accord, sandalwood, Himalayan cedar, nutmeg & violet leaf.
Another scent that's right up my alley. Sharp - almost overpowering - leather over warm resins. Then the leather softens into something well worn and brown, and the woods warm up, making this drier and dustier with the spice of the nutmeg at the center of it all. The cedar grows a bit more prevalent on further drydown, with the violet leaf adding a hint of sweetness and the frankincense keeping it bright. This will age amazingly well. Definitely getting a bottle of this one.
NUDE WOMAN RECLINING... calla lily, honeysuckle, Turkish jasmine, ambrette, galbanum, iris and bourbon vanilla.
Loud, heady floral, opening with a blast of lily and honeysuckle, so much so that I almost didn't skin test this. But the other notes had promise, and it does grow creamier and smoother on dry down. The vanilla is remarkably subdued and I get only faint hints of the jasmine. This is a morpher and the final stage is sweet and creamy with dreamy floral hints, but its a long journey to get there and way too floral for me until then.
FEMALE NUDE, THREE QUARTERS LENGTH, BESIDE HER LEFT AN APPLE TREE... mahogany, rosewood, red apple.
A very well blended scent: the mahogany is glorious beneath a drift of apple. It's surprisingly delicate with hints of rose developing as it warms up. There's a freshness here that plays well with the overall woodiness of the scent. Lovely but not enough that I'd reach for it before something else.
MALE NUDE, ARMS UPSTRETCHED... dark musk, linen and red chypre.
I was ready to like this before I opened the decants, and wow, do I! A layered musk blend (I'm betting it's red musk holding the base of the chypre). The linen note gives the spice and wood a clean edge and plays nicely with the top citrus of the chypre (I'm thinking bergamot). Decent throw, incredibly drydown and despite the fact I'm brimming with red musk scents already, I have a soft spot for chypres too, so I'm sorely tempted to get a bottle of this one.
MANILUS HURLED FROM THE ROCK... frankincense, leather accord, sandalwood, Himalayan cedar, nutmeg & violet leaf.
Another scent that's right up my alley. Sharp - almost overpowering - leather over warm resins. Then the leather softens into something well worn and brown, and the woods warm up, making this drier and dustier with the spice of the nutmeg at the center of it all. The cedar grows a bit more prevalent on further drydown, with the violet leaf adding a hint of sweetness and the frankincense keeping it bright. This will age amazingly well. Definitely getting a bottle of this one.
NUDE WOMAN RECLINING... calla lily, honeysuckle, Turkish jasmine, ambrette, galbanum, iris and bourbon vanilla.
Loud, heady floral, opening with a blast of lily and honeysuckle, so much so that I almost didn't skin test this. But the other notes had promise, and it does grow creamier and smoother on dry down. The vanilla is remarkably subdued and I get only faint hints of the jasmine. This is a morpher and the final stage is sweet and creamy with dreamy floral hints, but its a long journey to get there and way too floral for me until then.