Honiara

Honiara is one of the three newest releases from Fort & Manle, a sweet, fresh, citrus/floral blend involving vanilla, juniper, citruses, oakmoss, patchouli, and frangipani. As with most of the line, it’s balanced without being too overpowering in any one respect. I find that it has subtle and agreeable qualities, also, a pleasant intersection of a few different categories. The fragrance seems intended to conjure and island setting, and the experience of wearing it as a bit transporting. As with All the Queen’s Men, another new release, there is a bit of a nectar-like quality to it, but while ATQM pivots to spices, resins, and dried fruits, Honiara gravitates towards fresh fruits and florals. Its performance is somewhat worse than ATQM, but still at least moderate, I’d say, which makes for a tougher sell at the price point. Still, the scent is lovely, somewhat unique, and well put together, on par with ATQM in terms of scent quality and utility. Honiara, like every fragrance in the current lineup, is priced at $250 for 50ml, in EDP concentration, and is sold in the US by Luckyscent and Tigerlily. 8 out of 10

Honiara starts with a delicious tropical vibe, featuring citrus, melon, vanilla, musky tropical flowers and barely perceptible coconut that gives a lactonic and almost savory feel to it. It has a really unique feeling, it’s not like other fragrances that share some of these notes and fit into the solar category. Those seem simple and are usually sweet, and while Honiara has sweetness it also has a complex silky feel that’s addictive. After a while bergamot comes to the foreground and the fragrance takes on a freshie air, with evergreens popping up, although there’s still a tropical silky density in the background. This feels like something you’d smell at an incredibly expensive and exclusive resort for billionaires. It’s done with such class and restraint, and that’s really my only complaint. I used almost all of a 2 ml sample to experience it and still had to huff a bit. It’s elusive. And doesn’t last very long. Which in some ways makes it even more attractive. I’m tempted to get a large decant now with a spray nozzle so I can really luxuriate in this.

I've either smelt this before in another scent, or, it smells like something I've come across before -- either way, it is alluring, pleasant and definitely worth trialling out. What you get is a citrus-melon combo, with tropical frangi/plumeria rounding it out. There is a bit of a carbonated beverage aspect to this, a little bit like Japanese lemonade (ramune), but I'm not sure if that is 100% accurate. It's mostly top, here, and whilst that works, for the most part, it is lacking in a little bit of base and depth -- it feels like an elevated version of a mainstream scent. The mainstream scent would have a LOT fewer moving parts and a whole lot less dynamic movement, but still kind of similar. That's what I get from this one. It's definitely worth trialling out, but not something I usually go for...

I've been racking my brain trying to figure out where I've smelled this before...it reminds me of a very particular air freshener used in NYC taxis! Except this is some high quality stuff. Very sweet and heady, smells like some delicious tropical dessert. Unisex, leaning fem. I would want to devour whoever I smelled this on. Initial blast is vanilla, melon, citrus, and frangipani. Once it mellows out, it gets more of an aquatic vibe and some pine peeks through in the background. Poor longevity as with most of this house. Good and (for me) nostalgic, but definitely not worth the $250.

Pleasant slightly aquatic chypre which Is designed as an evocation to the islands of the Pacific. The perfume has a brief opening with citruses and slight traces of pine and juniper. The heart is frangipani, melon and vanilla. The perfume settles on a base of oakmoss, slight ambergris, patchouli and ozonic notes. The unisex scent has moderate projection and longevity. Overall this is a muted gentle fragrance suited for summer wear and for those who like light scents. Enjoy!

I could smell every single note on the (unusually composed) pyramid. The idea behind this seems to be to evoke a South Seas island, but never having been to one I could not say if this does or does not. Even so, this does smell pleasingly out of the ordinary (although I am sure the chypre structure helps "ground" it). The dominant notes for me were melon and frangipani, and, once it settles down a little, patchouli and vanilla. Sweet, refreshing, and ozonic.

Testing my sample; a tropical take on an aquatic chypre, opens citrussy and a touch spicy, becomes greener and muskier as it settles on my skin in a manner not unlike seawater, balanced with some sweet from the melon and frangipani. This is best suited in warm weather only, I think the fruity notes would shine better.

The notes mentioned here included so many that I love, I eagerly awaited my sample tube. The first few wafts smelled only like buttered toast. After a few minutes, I smelled a rather strong, but not harsh or unpleasant, radiant ambery-vanilla cloud which wrapped around me. Unlike some other reviewers here, I found this scent rather long lasting. I'm guessing this will be a popular fragrance for most people. Strangely, I smelled nothing that smells anything like a green or a chypre character. The melon is lightly there but it's juxtaposition as a thin veil over a full blown sweet oriental base strikes me as odd. I'm aware of many different facets to this juice. It won't be my cup of tea, exactly, but it doesn't smell cheap or boring. It's worth trying, for sure.

A fresh scent with a very distinctive marine humidity rather than a typical salty ocean breeze. It smells like the damp air of the sea that lingers on clothes, warm, slightly citrusy, and atmospheric. Interesting and well-crafted, but the humid marine effect makes it feel more realistic than traditionally pleasant. More like seaside air clinging to fabric than a clean beach fragrance.

Wow! This is smooth, creamy, and truly hard to pin down. I blind bought Honiara and was pleasantly surprised by just how incredibly wearable it is. This scent is so enveloping, radiating a cozy tropical sweetness balanced by lush, dense green undertones. (Like freshly crushed grass in the hand) If you’re someone who believes in the idea of a brand’s olfactory “DNA,” then yes—Honiara unmistakably carries the signature Rasei Fort touch. However, compared to something for example like Amber Absolutely—a brilliant fragrance but often a challenging wear for me—Honiara feels far more approachable. If I had to choose between the two, my hand would reach for Honiara eight times out of ten. On my skin, the performance is excellent among the best in my entire collection. And more importantly, it’s incredibly likable to those around you. I’ve received countless compliments and curious questions about what I’m wearing, Honiara is one of those rare scents that manages to be both distinctive and crowdpleasing. I wholeheartedly recommend Honiara to anyone who appreciates artisanal, unconventional fragrances that manage to be both intriguing and effortlessly wearable.

I have had the Discovery set for a while, and love the scents, but they all seemed to fade to the same thing on me. I usually test in the crook of my arm, then wear them full on if they do ok. I had not gotten around to this set yet. Today I did .... Initial spray is a burst of citrus and spice plus something else that seemed like amber, but not really sweet. All good! Later on the scent faded a bit and I got what I think is the ambergris and what smelled like grapefruit peels to me. I really do not pick up any vanilla. I can make out a little pine and oak moss. Though the grapefruit and ambergris by far are the stronger scents. On the final dry down it became very subtle. I could still smell the citrus peels, but I also got some dry amber and wood. This lasted about 6 hours, which is pretty average for me.

Opens citrusy and did kind of remind me of the pacific islands. It’s sweet, salty oceanic and dirty as in earthy. There’s a melon frangipani stronger hue. It’s unique beautifully balanced and losses the citrus in the dry down. Did not last long on my skin then again nothing ever does.

notes order, found in instagram Top Notes: Citruses , Melon , Bergamot Middle Notes: Ambergris , Frangipani , Juniper, Pine Base Notes: Vanilla, Oakmoss , Patchouli

I wanted to like this, all I smelled was a urinal cake.

Looking for a bottle of this. PM me!