Eau de Parfum

Perfume Review: Ganymede & Ganymede Extrait by Marc-Antoine Barrois

I always wondered whether the noses and minds behind classic fragrances such as Shalimar, Nº5, Poison, Opium, CK One etc. had any inkling that these creations would be considered as masterpieces. Did they know they were making history at the time? Or was it years later that the classic status was bestowed upon them? If so, how quickly did this happen? I think the answer varies but the moniker of classic is something that is most often awarded in hindsight and it really is the test of time that is the true decider.

We can, I think, see fragrance history in the making and it’s easy to point to a number of creations over the last decade or so that have quickly become modern classics. These are scents that have broached entirely new olfactory ground and have become hugely popular because they smell so entirely unique. I’m talking about fragrances such as Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s fiery marine Baccarat Rouge 540, Le Labo’s crystalline woody Santal 33, and of course, Marc Antoine Barrois’ spacially ethereal Ganymede.

Ganymede comes from a creative partnership between couturier Marc-Antoine Barrois and perfumer Quentin Bisch. They speak of their kinship as part of this creative synergy and how it has helped translate Marc-Antoine’s emotions and imaginations into olfactory art. Ganymede is described as a fantasy, one inspired by the moon of Jupiter and the Trojan prince from which the satellite takes its name. That all may sound a little bit abstract, but Ganymede is an abstract, cerebral fragrance that presents an entirely new olfactory experience. Is it destined to be a classic? Well, I think the answer to that is incredibly simple: it already is.

In this review I’m sniffing Ganymede in both its Eau de Parfum and Extrait concentrations. Two perfumes born from the same creative spark but with completely different points of view.

Let’s Sniff!

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Perfume Review: Infleurno by Eau de Boujee

Infleurno is the latest fragrance from Eau de Boujee (formerly ‘Boujee Bougies’), a British fragrance house that creates bold, high-quality perfumes with exciting and unique concepts. It is loosely based on their Hellflower candle, which was inspired by a terrible sci-fi novel with a fantastic name. They call Infleurno a “pyrotechnic burst of citrus and florals” with a description that channels Persephone, Hades, fruits, embers and demons. If that doesn’t have you intrigued, then I can’t help you, my friend.

I cannot be unbiased about anything created by Nick and Pia of Eau de Boujee because they have been my friends for a long time and I spent a few years working with them at their fragrance house Olfiction, where I specifically worked on one of the Boujee Bougies (Thorny). So I’m not going to try and hide my bias here, but I will say that if I didn’t like this fragrance (or any scent from their brand for that matter), I simply wouldn’t write about it. Make of that what you will. Anyway, disclaimers are boring so let’s move on to the fun stuff, i.e. the review.

Let’s Sniff!

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Perfume Review: Musc Noir For Her by Narciso Rodriguez


There are some brands that have a cohesive olfactory aesthetic – we call this a “house style”. Prada has it, with its sparkling, fizzy iris theme at the core of most of what it does. Hermès used to have it when Jean-Claude Ellena was at the helm, when everything he created felt like a mineral watercolour, painted with delicate strokes (Nagel’s style feels more diverse). Heck, CHANEL has it too, with their flowers, aldehydes and clarity of execution. Narciso Rodriguez is another however, their house style is somewhat more subtle and is reliant on one key theme, which finds itself blurred into the genres of chypre, woody, floral and more: the theme of musks.

We’ve seen many musk-powered fragrances from Narciso, each utilising the materials to create a distinct sense of colour – usually a block, neutral colour. Their latest, Musc Noir, is no exception. It’s technically a flanker to their flagship fragrance For Her (a musky, rosy chypre) however, it feels several flankers removed from the original at this point. Musc Noir was created by Givaudan perfumer Sonia Constant and is seen as a more sensual essay on the darker side of For Her’s musks, whereas Pure Musc, which launched in 2019 (I never got around to reviewing it, but I enjoyed it) celebrates the lighter side. Comparing the two, they really are light and dark, and Musc Noir stands out as a unique entry into the Narciso Rodriguez collection. Let’s sniff!

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On Escentual: What is an Aromatic Fragrance?

In my Escentual this week, I’m continuing my exploration of the fragrance families. The latest stop on the journey is aromatic fragrances. This genre focuses on herbaceous notes and overlaps with the worlds of green and fougere, usually with a drier, more herbal vibe. I’m a big fan of the genre and you can find out all about it (and discover some beautiful aromatic scents) all over at Escentual. Click here to read.

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Perfume Review: Paris-Édimbourg by CHANEL


Let’s talk LES EAUX DE CHANEL. As far as capsule collections go, it is easily one of the most cohesive, elegant and on-brand lines to exist. Inspired by travel and the routes out of Paris Coco Chanel took to places of significance in her life, LES EAUX tell rich olfactory stories in that effortless CHANEL style. There is Deauville, the resort town where Chanel opened her first boutique, translated into a sparkling citrus-chypre with green notes. Then Biarritz, another resort and another boutique, represented in scent form by a refreshing, oceanic muguet. One cannot forget Venise, a city Chanel loved and visited following the death of her lover, Arthur ‘Boy’ Capel – a city imagined in vanilla and silk. Then finally, Riviera, inspired by Chanel’s villa on the Côte d’Azur – society’s hotspot captured in a powdery, solar orange blossom. It’s a great collection and now there’s one more addition…

And that edition is Paris-Édimbourg. Transporting us straight to the Scottish Highlands (via Paris, of course), Paris-Édimbourg tells the story of the refuge and sanctuary Chanel sought in this wild and rugged landscape with the Duke of Westminster, her lover in the early 1900s. The scent itself stands out as a subversive summer scent that relies on aromatic and resinous notes to create an unusual sense of freshness, with a rugged, masculine quality that slots in nicely along the freshness, silkiness, aquaticness (not a word), and powderiness (also not a word) of the current line up. It completes the range quite nicely, if you ask me, which I’m assuming you did, because you’re here reading this review…. Anyway, let’s sniff!

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Reel: Your Scent, Your Strength, Your Style @ Ormonde Jayne

Did you know that you can visit Ormonde Jayne’s boutique in London and personalise a fragrance from their Signature Collection? Well, now you do! The process is actually really cool – you pick your fragrance (from the 15 in the Signature Collection), then the concentration (up to a whopping 50%), followed by the bottle (from 8 beautiful shades). I took a trip to the boutique last week to test out the service and I made a quick Instagram Reel of my experience.

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Perfume Review: Brioni Eau de Parfum by Brioni


Brioni is a brand known for effortless Roman chic and elegant tailoring. It has a certain ease to it. You know, that simple, stylish quality that Italian men just have? That’s Brioni. The brand has had a number of fragrances over the years (all discontinued) and for 2021 they are launching a new signature fragrance: Brioni Eau de Parfum. To create this new signature, Brioni partnered with the Lalique group and worked with Robertet perfumer Michel Almairac (who has his own brand Parle Moi de Parfum), who pieced together a perfume with “few raw materials“. The result is a simple and elegant perfume that feels perfectly on brand.

I’m going to start this review by telling you that Brioni Eau de Parfum, had absolutely no right being this good. Yes, I know that’s a massive spoiler for how this review is going to go, but hey, I can’t always keep you hooked on suspense can I? So often, mainstream masculine fragrances are cheap, dull, derivative, or all of the above, which leads one to approach something like Brioni without much excitement, but let’s just say now that it is absolutely none of those things – in fact, I’d say it was luxurious, satisfying and stylish, and definitely a cut above its contemporaries.

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Perfume Review: Molecule + by Escentric Molecules


I’ve always had an affection for Escentric Molecules as a brand. In particular, I appreciate how they’ve demystified perfume in ways that very few brands have. By offering up single materials alongside perfumes that explore those same materials in traditional compositions, Escentric Molecules (which is the brain child of perfumer Geza Schoen) has gone a long way to educate consumers about what they’re smelling. I like that – I get so tired of the bullshit in perfumery – of the mystery and magic marketed by brands who tell us their fragrances contain rare essences plucked from the butt cheeks of unicorns during a full moon….

Instead of cloak and dagger unicorn-related BS, Escentric Molecules presents something much more honest and authentic. It’s a straight talking brand from a perfumer who absolutely speaks his mind. So yes, it’s a brand I like and one that I find myself reaching for quite often, because not only are their fragrances intriguing (I love Escentric 04, 05 and Molecule 03 and 05, FYI) they’re also incredibly wearable.

If you don’t know the brand, you might still have heard of Molecule 01. This phenomenally successful fragrance, which outsells most fragrances in any store it is stocked, is simply one material diluted in alcohol. That material is Iso E Super, a warm, woody material that adds smoothness and depth when combined with other ingredients. The fact that Iso E Super plays so well with others is the inspiration for Molecule +, a new collection that explores how Iso E Super reacts when paired with another material, specifically a natural ingredient.

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#EscentualScents April Box


With the pandemic, testing fragrances has become much harder. Many of us cannot go to shops to test perfumes (or understandably, we do not want to) and even if we do go into a shop, getting hold of a perfume tester isn’t easy. There are a lot of barriers in the way and at Escentual, we want to make it so much easier for people to explore our range of fragrances. So, enter #EscentualScents – a monthly discovery box that you can purchase to explore the world of fragrance. We are so excited!

April’s box – Fruity – is now on sale.

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