Oriental Express

Update August 18,15 I have noticed from when this nieche fragrance first came out no one took serious and now a lot more are buying this line. This is a true story, as I was going through the store that carries this line all the associate's were talking about a woman from the Middle East had bought several sets for family back home. I'm able to appreciate this juice being a gorgeously nieche line at a reasonable price comparing it to other's. UPDATE: I finally made the leap to buy this EDP which has a very warm/woodsy/floral with a definite iris note also a sweet tone which my partner enjoy's and wears as well. Out of the Les Exceptions collection...Oriental Express, Chyprissime, Fougere Furieuse, Supra Floral and Over the musk....Oriental Express is the most unisex of all!!! As you spray it on your skin the aroma of vanilla (with a hint of iris), cedar blending with spicy notes makes it an ABSOLUTE SEXY TO WEAR! Both longevity and Silage is VERY HIGH...well past 10hrs on my skin! I ABSOLUTELY❤ this juice making worth buying in my opinion. 10/10 NO REGRETS!!!!! As long as you enjoy this fragrance and it compliment's you it is worth it so I went for. This juice was launched in a major retailer and I was curious to see what this frag was all about. When I first sprayed it on my skin I could smell a real sweet/woodsy/spicy notes. From what I could smell is definitely two major notes..1) floral notes again either iris and or labdanum is possibly as well patchouli being a sweet note. Without a doubt this frag has an ABSOLUTE blast of VANILLA. The base notes from what I could smell is oakmoss and possibly cedar. This fragrance starts with a unique dark mystical allure...after it settles you have a real attractive powdery/cozy frag which is a very high quality aroma. longevity and Silage are both excellent, lasting over 6hrs. Overall thoughts, I noticed the comparison between DH and Valentino which both have iris. I would agree that this frag screams both iris and vanilla making it ABSOLUTELY creamy aroma. Rating..this frag is excellent 9/10

What I thought I expected from something named Oriental Express would have held a closer resemblance to something like Shalimar, but I also can't say that it has been misnamed somehow. What I can tell you straight away though is that this fragrance has absolutely nothing to do with any rendition of Dior Homme or Shalimar (And I have had several concentrations and editions of both). If you're looking for one or the other, you're better off looking someplace else. Oriental Express has its very own and unique character. It opens with a whiff of fresh basil. I think some people don't pick it up over the carrot seed and sandalwood combo, which is the main player in my opinion. In any case this is a very nicely blended fragrance - the notes all melt into each other. And I personally don't find it sweet at all. But there is a definite buttery, creamy powderiness to this fragrance. It's the way that sandalwood and vanilla are balanced with carrot seed. Carrot seeds offer something that may come across as spicy and fresh, especially in the opening with the basil and bring out the woodiness of sandalwood. The vanilla in turn brings out the powderiness of carrot seeds and the creaminess of sandalwood so as it dries down it retains a nice balance between spicy, woody, powdery and creamy aspects. The sillage is quite modest, but the longevity is a positive surprise. It smells like absolutely nothing in the "reminds me of" section, and I have or have had half if not most of those fragrances. Oriental Express is first and foremost powdery, but it also has a slight edge to it that could be thought of as a bitter or green aspect. But it doesn't overpower the composition or make it distinclty green, and definitely not fresh. It's oriental in a way only a Mugler could be.

This seems to be a really polarizing fragrance, just like several other Mugler fragrances, with people saying that it smells like disgusting, overboiled carrot. Wearing this on my skin however, I get a lovely nuance between ambery notes, florals, and an earthy note, which I assume is the carrot wood. This fragrance later dries down to a really nice sweet floral fragrance, with the carrot note gone about 10 hours later. This fragrance lasts about 12 hours and has a powerful sillage. When they bottled the fragrance, they actually pour it out from the fountain and adorn it with a ribbon bearing the name of the fragrance. It's a truly marvellous presentation, and one worth savouring. My only complaint is the price (CAD$ 185) and exclusivity, which is why I took off a mark. 9/10 IMPORTANT: Yes this is a Canadian and Italian exclusive for now*. In Canada, the Les Exceptions line is sold exclusively at the flagship Hudson's Bay stores. For Toronto, that means Eaton Centre and Yorkdale Mall. IDK about other stores, so please call ahead. This fragrance line is also available to Canadian customers/people with a Canada border PO box at thebay.com. If you are outside of Canada/Italy, I would recommend you wait for it to come to your country (if it does) because the price that some people want for decants is absolutely crazy. *Nordstrom recently announced that it would be available in select US stores by 2016.

I ordered a sample off EBay and tested it today, March 6th, so I can use 20% off on Muglerusa.com for friends and family sale. I love it and ordered it! Our winter is over in Arizona it is 78 degrees here. Testing this perfume in heat was useful. Notes for this perfume did not show up on my skin like others experience (I read reviews). This opened powdery with a clean iris scent and stayed that way with hint of vanilla. If I did not know it was by Mugler I would assume it is by Lancôme. It reminds me of Lancôme Lavandes Trianon parfum so if you like that scent you should like this one. In 78 degrees this projects strongly to 6 feet or more leaving a beautiful scent trail that lingers for hours! It has been on 6 hours and is still strong after 1 spray! This was a wonderful blind buy for me and getting it at a 20% discount sweetened the deal!

I think what is meant by carrot "wood" is really the core of the carrot, and maybe it loses something in the English translation (the sheet the salesgirl had was only in French). If you've ever had a big, mature carrot and eaten it à la Bugs Bunny, once you get to the leafy end, the core is unpleasant to eat and has a woody texture! I sprayed this today on my wrist, I would say it smells less of carrot than it does of parsnip, but is not vegetal at all. It reminded me of Christmas dinner, when I make glazed parsnips. This is beyond gorgeous! Such a powdery, woody and sweet vanillic iris (okay, okay, CARROT). It is sublime. In my opinion, the standout of the five. I was a little irked that they don't give out samples of these scents. Well, you CAN get a sample, but you have to buy a full bottle of one to get a sample of another!