V for Women

The scents is too complicated, for me it's hard to tell which note is which. At the beginning, I get something cold balsamic. The (supposedly) oak moss reeks of a extremely inky wet tobacco leaves note, as if someone forgotten their cigarette in a moist basement. The noticeable indole manifest the presence of white flowers--I can't tell which, but I'm sure it doesn't have even a slightest hint of sweetness. After the inky oak moss tide calms down, a woody patchouli land gradually reveals itself. I'd say the base fairly warm and sweet, not cloying for sure. I then sprayed it on a testing paper profusely. On paper it's somewhat more pleasant. The wet tobacco is not so intrusive, I get something cold and deep, as if I was walking under the shade of a 100 years tree. After half a day, only the base left on the testing paper: its a balanced warm scent, with patchouli and labdanum and etc.

Ok, the description provided by the brand in the write up is totally misleading. They make it sound almost like a super classical feminine, white flowers, wedding fragrance with a little bit of lavender and camomile to "masculine" it up a tiny bit. Wrong! I bought an unboxed tester and even with several layers of bubble wrap and the cap tightly on, this sucker was projecting leather and oakmoss like a monster. There is a really peppery start, with very smokey leather, cold, dank oakmoss with a spicy bite kind of like cinnamon or clove for 40 minutes after which it starts getting softened by a little honey. Don't really smell any discernible fruits or berries or even flowers although it does really soften up to a spicy smokey skin scent. It's a like for me, I really have to be in a somber mood to enjoy this.

Dead ringer for Maja Myrurgia soap, which my mother was obsessed with in the eighties.

Clive Christian V is a patchouli-chypre. One approach to make up for the lost moss at the heart of the classical chypre is to overdose the patchouli. It's an approach that's been done before the IFRA ever sank their claws into oakmoss. Witness the undisputed champion Clinique Aromatics Elixir. It's simple, really. The cost/quality imbalance in perfumery is laid bare. Consider the following list of the same idea done better and costing much less: Clinique Aromatics Elixir Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Chérie Aramis A 900 Histoire de Parfum Noir Patchouli État Libre d'Orange l'Après-Midi d’une Faune Le Labo Ylang 49 (well, somewhat less.) Of course, as none of the above smell like Aromatics Elixir sprayed into a pissy diaper, they all have a leg up on Clive Christian V. I'm beginning to regret all the times I said how odd it is that no one's ever really followed in the footsteps of Aromatics Elixir---that nobody’s really tried to imitate it. Bad imitation on my wrist, I'll watch my tongue in the future.

This fragrance is high quality, and you can detect that right away. I got a sample, and realized I had to use it all up because it is packaged so different. Anyways, to my nose and on me, it's for night, dark fragrance. I can see a man wearing this and it totally working on him. I like my fragrance to be more feminine. I would not purchase this. Glad I only got a sample. It's a cold day today, and it's a winter fragrance or chilly night fragrance. Quality all the way. Very creamy and rich, but heavy dark and deep. Like the poem, the woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have miles to go before I sleep.