Alexis Dadier: 2 posts

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Smelling and dismissing one new launch after the next, I start to worry that I am becoming jaded. It is even more depressing when it comes to reviewing, because unless a strong emotion stirs me, it is difficult to find inspiration for writing during my morning train ride. I would rather catch up on my sleep. Thankfully, there do exist new fragrances that manage to awake me from my literal and figurative slumber. Since I smelled À Travers le Miroir from the new Thierry Mugler Miroir Miroir collection a couple of months ago, it has been on my mind. Therefore, I decided to return to it for a closer look. …

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Nelly Rodi is a French forecasting agency, focusing on fashion consulting and analysis of fashion trends. For its 20th anniversary, the company commissioned eight perfumes from several noses, providing them with ample budget to exercise their creativity, limited only by the genre. The first set from Scent Factory is oriental, with fragrances in eau de parfum concentration including such traditional notes as cinnamon, saffron, incense, rose and cardamom. Having sampled all eight, I would characterize them as fairly minimalistic takes on an oriental theme, with varying results.  However, as fragrance highlights a particular note, I would imagine that many of them would layer well.

Parfum 1: Incense
Created Alexis Dadier of Mane, Incense is a swirl of sweet spices folded into resinous smooth foil of frankincense. This is my favorite of the first four fragrances, due to its interesting rendition of incense. Although Armani Privé Bois d’Encens stands as unrivaled incense in my mind, Nelly Rodi Incense is a beautiful composition. The pairing of frankincense with nutmeg results in an almost floral chord of carnation petals caught in the wave of resinous sweetness. Supported by dark vanillic notes and cinnamon dusted sandalwood, the composition has a dusky richness that I find very alluring.

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