Phool

After the initial shock (strongly bitter petitgrain with slightly rancid jasmine), it freshens up and eventually sweeten into a familiar & pleasant scent that's more akin to orange blossom than their own Orange Blossom lol

TLDR: -1st 30 mins is very urine-like/ammonia pissy jasmine, NOT indolic jasmine -dries down similar to L’Artisan Parfumeur Seville a l’Aube, potentially good replacement for those who can’t get SALA -vintage vibe that gradually goes away/gets more modern as the scent develops -fantastic airy sillage, never STRONG but you can always smell it, if you know what I mean. Also the sillage never gets that pissy note that is there for the first 30 mins when you sniff it up close/directly -definitely and recognizably jasmine yet somehow blends together with the other ingredients to create the illusion of orange blossom and neroli, even though you can still distinguish it as jasmine, especially up close. Really cool and interesting how this perfume manages to achieve such olfactory trickery -very natural smelling like SALA, not synthetic at all -sweetness level exactly like SALA, in other words mild to mild-moderate Full review: Got a sample of this and trying for the first time and my experience is pretty much exactly the same as the reviewer below me. A lot of reviews were saying that despite the notes, this is actually an orange blossom/honeyed orange blossom and petitgrain scent a la Seville a l’aube which I love. Well, the sillage kind of is, and I can see the appeal there and how it may smell good on someone else because of that, but unfortunately up-close the orange blossom illusion falls apart and instead I get pissy jasmine. Jasmine is a very love/hate hit-or-miss note for me because it can either be lush and voluptuous and glorious, I don’t even mind indolic, BUT it can also be screechy-synthetic/too clean in a nauseating dryer sheet way OR a straight up pissy urine-like natural yet still screechy jasmine. This falls into this last category. It’s tough because it really does have a gorgeous sillage like Seville a l’aube with maybe just the tiniest touch of SL fleur d’oranger which entices you closer, but then when you do sniff closer, it punishes you for doing so with pissy diapers and dated, even turned, urinous jasmine perfume. I’ve had this same issue with one of Creed’s jasmines, Jasmal maybe, and a certain Guerlain aqua allegoria (sorry I forgot the name of this too but it’s also similar to the Creed). It’s not indolic like SL a la nuit or lush lust. If that were the case I’d probably love it, or at least not mind. This is specifically urine. It’s just unfortunate that this ruins the gorgeous sillage that this scent has. I’m not surprised that the reviews are so mixed, with reviews of people absolutely hating this contrasted with reports of compliments on this. It makes perfect sense. This is beautiful only from a distance. I would’ve thought that my bottle had started to turn if not for the many other reviews pointing out the same thing. Perhaps this pissy stage won’t last long and leave behind a beautiful drydown, but I don’t see this being a bottle I will buy. I guess it’s about time I hit a dud after a tremendous success steak with blind buys, and thankfully this was only a sample, so really no harm done and I’m glad to have tried it. But I’ll definitely be sticking to Seville a l’aube to satisfy my craving for this type of scent. It’s very similar but so much better! Then again, if you loved Seville a l’aube but can’t find/aren’t willing to hunt it down and pay rather exorbitant prices for it, then you may well find this a worthy replacement. Btw, 30 minutes in and the pissy accord is indeed fading, mercifully. Some scents you just know you won’t be able to simply scrub off and this is definitely one of them lol, so I didn’t even bother and I’m glad it’s mostly evolved past the pissy stage because it’s much more enjoyable and even more like Seville now, I’m getting primarily petitgrain, beeswax, and a jasmine disguised as orange blossom. I seem to sense some neroli as well but I’m not sure if that’s just the petitgrain and/or maybe the tarragon and orange somehow creating the illusion of neroli. I still don’t think this is something I’d buy. Like another reviewer said, this does indeed have something very old fashioned about it, almost like mothballs. Seville doesn’t have this feel to it, but Phool definitely does. It feels like something from a bygone era. Personally I’m not too fond of old fashioned smelling white florals, and while I can appreciate the vintage feel of it, it’s not really for me. If that’s something you like though, then you may love this, and probably Illuminum in general. I got the same effect from their Moroccan Tuberose, but I can tolerate it there because I really love a high quality naturalistic tuberose. As for phool, the way it’s smelling right now I wouldn’t be mad if I got it as a gift, but I don’t think I’d spend the money on it unless it continues to get better and grows on me over time, which is very possible.

There is an immediate zingy aromatic start with the petitgrain, tarragon and lots of jasmine. My skin tends to amp up any musk and it has done so here. I guess this orange is in there somewhere but I cant detect it. Its a pretty linear fragrance and personally not my cup of tea. This is not a pleasant combination of notes.

Testing phool for the first time and I'm going to have to wash it off! The opening is interesting, quite unisex and almost masculine, fresh with the petitgrain coming through strongly with a hint of tarragon. Quite nice and different. However then the jasmine came in and the combination smells like Jasmine with wet nappies, that ammonia stink, not pleasant at all! I absolutely love Jasmine in perfume (and the Jasmine in Illuminum's Tomato Leaf is gorgeous) but in this combination it just smells off and just doesn't work on my skin at all! I can imagine it being lovely on someone with different skin chemistry to me but it's a massive dislike on me!

This is so disgusting on my skin! It smells like wet used towels and rotten flowers. Too bad it lasts forever.