Venus

Going through my Nicheend sample set. Venus, expectedly feminine. Gorgeous, I must say. It hit me hard! It's much too feminine for me to wear but I'm tempted, haha. I don't find it that close to Love Don't be Shy (it has hints at best), this is much closer to PdM's Oriana, only with more diverse florals (and not just Neroli) and without the overbearing whipped cream/marshmallow Oriana has. This is super elegant, sophisticated and will get you noticed. I can't speak for longevity on skin but going by the rest of the house, I'm sure it'll last a good while and perform well. I'd say it's more for cold weather though, it does have quite a bit of sweetness from vanilla. Those afraid of the anise here don't need to worry, I think it's only there to counterbalance the sweetness and ground the formula a bit. It's expensive but considering the price of the Killian and PdM, Venus is not that much more expensive. A stunner for the ladies, for sure.

This is simply outstanding. I was able to test the entire collection at ScentXplore a few weeks ago and this one (other than the unreleased Kepler-51D, which I loved so much a bought the one tester bottle in the US) stood out for me. At first spray, it reminded me of a woman's musk. That scent disappears almost instantly and the creamy tuberose steps forward. I'm not really a tuberose girl but this one does it for me. The vanilla and rose are so well blended with the tuberose, its hard to single either of them out but you can definitely smell them each if you close your eyes and look for them. I will definitely be buying this one next! The bottles and presentation are both top notch. Such a nice brand.

This feels a little too polished and dolled-up for my everyday taste; yet for something named Venus, it’s perfectly on-theme. It’s unabashedly floral (rose and jasmine read most clearly to me), wrapped in warm tonalities. Thankfully the warmth doesn’t turn suffocating, but it’s still pronounced enough to push the scent into a sweet-leaning category. Every now and then I do want a lovable, energetic, distinctly feminine floral, and this fits that mood exactly. If I had to assign it a color, it would be mauve. One of the happiest details here is the anise. It adds a genuinely poetic twist; pulling the composition away from simple prettiness and into something slightly more mysterious. The anise note achieves that effect for me. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a warm-toned floral with this much feminine energy, and this one surprised me in a good way. Tag(s): sweet-leaning, dolled-up, energetic, cheerful, anise, slightly mysterious

I find it interesting that this is white floral that best works in colder weather. It`s mostly tuberose with vanilla and cooled down by rose. Luckily I don`t smell any anise which is a win for me as I don`t make friends with that note usually. Nice sophisticated scent - sure, worth the 280 EUR price - nope.

Starts warm, subtle, and flowery with light sweetness. Very pleasant. Dry down has, to my nose, a tart/bitter note, like rhubarb. That note takes away from making this a FB buy. Doesn't last as long as I'd like either for a $325/100ml bottle.