Epices

OMG! Fragrantica finally listed this really cool and inexpensive, albeit hard to come by brand. Epices is the fragrance that got me started on this wonderful obsession called perfumes. I tried this out at Merz's Apothecary in Chicago (they carry pretty much the entire line) and fell madly in love with this particular scent. I had stopped wearing perfume for quite some time because nothing I had been seeing in the stores really did anything for me. I always wore perfumes in the 80s & 90s but then throughout the 00s I didn't have much because most frags were a little too screechy and fruity for me. I started looking at the different perfumes Outremere had and sniffed this one. I went mad for it. It's a very classic glamorous scent, like ones originally developed in the 20s or 30s and the packaging matches that idea. Epices as a scent is somewhat aldehydic with some florals like lavendar and tons of spices. Maybe some people would call this type of frag "old ladyish", well okay, that's fine; there are plenty of candy/sugary/fruity fragrances to chose from. Because Epices was such an old-fashioned type of scent I decided to look around for perfumes that were actually old and found many to be wonderful; no matter how many scents I try and love I think this one will always hold a special place for me.

I'm in agreement with gtabasso. This has an almost fizzy, juicy mandarin orange opening. Warm, spicy cloves follow, but these top notes are short-lived. The drydown is made up of carnation, myrrh, sandalwood, with a subtle bitter wood note in the base. You'd think it would feel heavy, but it's actually quite light for an amber. Imagine the modern formulation of Tabu coming in a cologne concentration, with a lot more emphasis on the top notes and a much thinner base. Mandarin orange + woody ambery cologne. That's the best way I can describe what to expect from this perfume. Natural smelling. Inexpensive. One of the only colognes I wear. Very glad to have it. Now I'm tempted to try out others from Outremer. FYI: the atomizers on these bottles are good and emit a fine mist, I was surprised.

One of their best. Strong and longer lasting. An odd bird. Unlike any other oriental. Not vanilla. Not typical cinnamon. Not amber. This has orange in the top briefly with some holiday spice but then quickly the cola myrrh note takes over but keeps from being too sweet by some bitter underlying note like a galbanum or artemisia. There also is a heavy dose of sandalwood. Very woody. Cola smashed with sandalwood and something bitter underlying. I really like it. Unique. Affordable.

197 I don’t know if I got a bad bottle, but it was weak and terrible smelling. Dusty chemicals and alcohol! Don’t know what everyone else was smelling, but it was a terrible blind buy. Fortunately cheap, but not even reusable for bathroom spray. Into the garbage! 6/10- Edit-a bit better after it settled, but still have to spray a lot to get the scent. Better as closet freshener. Better on husbands skin. Great in summer. Unfortunately I don’t spray my skin with fragrances. Would not repurchase.

To me it smells like sandalwood, incense, cola, and clove. A somewhat sweet but not overpowering scent.