Ready to join me at the Cigar Bar?đA little background to kick us off: Max Philip is a French niche house, new and already widely regarded in Europe; now available in the States. The houseâs opening collection offers beautifully crafted fragrances that are extremely appealing and versatile. As sometimes with a starting niche range, these lovely scents saw the house play slightly on the safe side (not at all a critique; I own and love several).
Max Philip Cigar Bar eau de parfum
Max Philip now debuts their Signature Collection and again, they knock it out of the park. Perhaps with a more daring swing!
Without further ado, I give you⌠Cigar Bar. A lovely pivot in perfumery, this fragrance is an unabashed celebration of tobacco. Itâs dark, itâs deep, itâs rich. Boozy facets, from the whiskey accord, further deepen the allure.
The house authors even more creative signatures with the inclusion of vanilla, subtle musk, and a powdery sandalwood in the base. (No bergamot, no honey, and no apologies.)
Cigar Bar lasts the day on skin, with a moderate projection and sillage. It is a unisex fragrance, that leans into a masculine energy for me. Perfectly composed for fall and winter.
I expect that the lovely Antique (a scrumptious boozy cinnamon extravaganza) will be the most popular from the Signature Collection. However, time will tell if Cigar Bar may draw a cult following all its own. It certainly shows the craftmanship of the house off to perfection. Bold, brave and bravo to Max Philip!
The US launch sees a nice sale on, and TS22 saves an additional 10% off as the đon top. Thank you to the Max Philip team for my Cigar Bar. Its artistry is equal parts admired and applauded.
Today letâs review the highly anticipated (at least by yours truly) new fall 2022 fragrance release from Burberry: the Her Elixir eau de parfum!
Burberry Her Elixir
Notes: đStrawberry, blackberry, jasmine accord, vanilla, amber, and sandalwood
The original Burberry Her eau de parfum was nosed by the master #franciskurkdjian and this new Elixir is a collaborative effort from JerĂ´me de Marino and MaĂŻa Lernout.
I experience a more âopaqueâ version as the bottle implies of the original Her DNA: a creamy strawberry milkshake with a tart juicy tang from the blackberry. The tanginess for me is the most exciting nuance, and adds that âsomething somethingâ of interest to an otherwise very sweet fragrance. I get almost none of the âairinessâ of the original Her, maybe a hint, but overall this is a more milky sort of fragrance, through the creamy sandalwood drydown. The original is akin to a pink translucent stained glass and the Elixir is less ethereal, more milkshake-esque, and sweeter.
The Elixir lasts well on me and is a moderate-to-soft leaning fragrance. Burberry describes this as âbold,â and I am not sure I would agree. Itâs lovely, romantic, and for me, an easy reach. Office appropriate, absolutely and also perfect for cuddling. Bold, hm. Groundbreaking, box burning, worthy of endless conversation? Not necessarily and not everything needs to be, for me to be happy. A bit overly sweet, and slightly synthetic? I do not disagree, however, what can I say: for what it is, I enjoy it! The original is still my favorite, however, I am reaching for the Elixir as well.
If you struggle with lactonic scents pulling sour or synthetic on your skin, note that this could be a rocky ride. A safe bet however for something lovely that you will reach for often, if you enjoy the DNA? I think so; certainly one worth a sniff so you can decide for yourself!
The release of Raw Gold in 2020 saw fragrance lovers come alight. Now, THOMAS DE MONACO is back with another fragrance, this time focused on the heart: EAU COEUR.
Saffron, osmanthus, magnolia oil, rose maroc, pink pepper, tonka bean, oakwood, musk, and ambroxan are the listed notes for this extrait de parfum. The opening is a riotous outpouring of scentsations: the osmanthus especially moves through different phases, including a leathery one. The house describes this as a “feral” experience in the opening and it is truly taking you through the wilderness of an opening heart!
The drydown offers the most exquisite stone fruit fragrance; between a peach and an apricot, as the main character, so photorealistic you can almost sense the fruit’s pit, with ambroxan also starring. Rose is in the mixture yet I would not call this a prominently “rose” fragrance. Saffron and musk are softly subtle and sensual.
The longevity is beyond phenomenal; I woke up the next day and could still smell this exquisite scent on my wrist. Truly, a heart-alighting luxurious niche experience! Bravo!
Save 10% off with coupon code TERRIE10 at luckyscent.com. Thank you to Luckyscent for this lovely fragrance!
Tom Ford Lost Cherry is to my mind becoming the Aventus of the cherry fragrance genre. Each new cherry fragrance is compared to that juggernaut of boozy cherry deliciousness.
Now I will say that while I own Tom Ford Lost Cherry, it is not my personal favorite. Do I like it? Yes. Do I love it? I experience an enjoyable scent profile with significant projection and longevity issues. I do not love beast mode fragrances generally, however, nor do I want to pay $225 for a 30ml that I can smell for the first 30 minutes to an hour, then can only detect if I put my nose to it. Regardless of some personal ambivalence around Lost Cherry, it does seem the fragrance to beat in this corner of the perfume world.
Max Philip Cherry fragrance
When I received Cherry, by the new French niche house Max Philip, for review, my curiosity was certainly high. Reading the note structure it seemed this would be a close competitor to Lost Cherry and it undoubtedly is, however there are key differences. I also should note that Max Philip is an original fragrance company and is not presenting this as a Tom Ford Lost Cherry dupe or clone.
Max Philip’s Cherry offers a bright, juicy, tart cherry, with a supporting cast of bitter almond, booze, rose, plum, patchouli, vetiver, etc. There is a gorgeous tanginess in the mix, that smells just incredible and uplifting.
Longevity is quite good: Cherry sticks around for the day on me, which I am impressed by. Projection is my personal favorite: it’s present, if someone is close to you, they may detect it, however it does not take up every inch of air in the room. Cherry lands perfectly in that pleasant middle ground of taking up a bit of space, discretely, without potentially inflicting olfactive offenses on innocent passerby.
I find in Cherry a lovely year-round gourmand cherry option, thanks to the bright sort of feeling it imparts. I would say there are a lot of similarities to Lost Cherry, however also key differences. I find this more tangy, maybe a smidge less boozy, a little less syrupy sweet, and quite cheering. This is a touch more tart than Lost Cherry so I want to highlight that if you seek a sweet syrupy cherry; you do get that here, with a tart dimension added. I personally do enjoy this one more and while not a “cheapie,” the bottle contains a large amount (100 ml) at a gentler price tag.
Max Philip graciously included samples of some of their other fragrances with Cherry, including Mango, Brown, Grey, and Black, and having had the opportunity to test those as well, I am quite impressed with the house overall. I find the scent profiles to be lovely, quality across the ones I tried, and I see these as exceptionally well-done fragrances that would appeal to many people. All of these fragrances are “easy wear,” versatile, great for many situations.
I am also impressed by how well the scent descriptions on the house’s website are written: I found that the captions for each perfume I tried quite accurately depicted the experience.
All in all, Cherry is a major win in my book and I am delighted to see Max Philip’s fragrances now available in North America.
UPDATE: I love Max Philip fragrances so much that I now have an affiliate code: TS22 saves 10% off. This discount is good on top of the 50% off launch sale, for a total of 60% off. Free shipping and samples included. The house just unveiled their Signature Collection which is astonishingly beautiful and on top of that, fairly priced–as with the regular line, you get 100ml bottles containing beautiful fragrances made in France. Go check them out and see what I’m on about!
TERRIE 