Solovey

As a lifelong fan of violet mints, I knew I had to give this one a try when I saw the notes. On first spray, I thought, "Oh, no, I've made a terrible mistake." The powder is strong and almost overwhelming for the first ten minutes, as others have noticed; I wouldn't throw this on before catching the bus. After some time to bloom on the skin, it settles down into something more nuanced. The blackcurrant is a brilliant and much-needed addition, giving a acidity that balances out the powder. The base notes are beautifully blended. I think the mixture of tobacco and coffee and the sort of animalistic bite that blackcurrant can give off can read as a light musk, which is delightful. It's blended to be a nighttime scent, but there's also something that reads to me as brightness. Or maybe the desire for brightness. Mood: Dogs running around the moon. Fogbanks and treelines. Where do your boundaries lie? Tenor clef. Narcissus skimming the surface of a lake. Soft noises in the snow. Refraction. A meteor shower. "Desire is full of endless distances." French press with a hole in the mesh. The keyhole of a door. The night before the solstice. Mail not delivered.

as opposed to the other fantôme fragrances i've tested so far, i really wish the top notes would linger more here. there's a bloom of lovely violets, which fade to a whisper almost instantly, to leave us with a nice woody-coffee (heavy on the coffee), berry-tart middle. violets are tricky in perfumery because, chemically speaking, ionones do not want to stick around, but i really wish their bold initial appearance could be sustained more here. but what is there is actually really nice. i'm generally not the greatest fan of berry scents, but that fruitiness goes well with the coffee without becoming cloying. the woodiness takes on a medicinal herb cabinet quality over time, with tobacco and what i assume is the labdanum note becoming more prominent. i still get a lot of roasted coffee beans throughout, which i do love. i can see myself reaching for it in autumn. the drydown is a little reminiscent of lolita lempicka, but i actually think i prefer this.

This smells exactly like chowards violet mint candies. Nostalgic, powdery, floral, sweet. I like this one more than I thought I would, as I don’t love tobacco. It’s a bit strong for me, though. The violet definitely dominates and I got a huge whiff of coffee right after I sprayed it which was really nice, but it pretty much completely disappeared.

I enjoyed this even if it was short while it lasted, I got the coffee and violets very strongly, but they sadly faded quickly. Other than that, much like vassago I don't really have much to say about it, it's just a good fragrance, and I suggest this one

this fragrance gave me whiplash tbh. in the first ten minutes it was so powdery and i for one normally don’t think that perfumes labeled as ‘powdery’ are but this was INSANE. then it got juicy for like 5 minutes and even seemed a little brown sugary to me. but i wish it had retained that for longer and was stronger. lastly it was just oud and smelled beeswaxy to me. it wasn’t unpleasant or unenjoyable it just smelled like it was there. edit: it’s been a few weeks since i reviewed this and i think i just had to let it sit. it’s so much juicier and altogether more wearable.