The Calling

I blindly tried the full Phuong Dang range at Barneys in NYC. I'll admit - I know nothing about breaking down the components of a scent. I only know when I really like something. Nothing else in the lineup interested me, but The Calling, oh my god! Incredible fragrance. Strong, yes, especially in the opening, and expensive, but worth every single molecule of it. A thousand people might try it and not get what I get, and I understand. This business is highly subjective. I'm stupidly picky myself. In recent months, I've tried around 100 niche fragrances. The only other ones I like are Baccarat Rouge 540, Layton, and Morning Chess. The Calling might be the greatest of them, a sublime masterpiece in my opinion, and a fragrance I will wear for the rest of my days. Thank you, Bertrand.

To me this is a spicy gourmand; my second favorite from the line and smells rather complex/well-blended, but the chocolate is fleeting, which then leaves a light semi-sweet, spicy, smoky, and aromatic trail after a short time.

This is your 2017 Fusion Sacree Obscur. Not exactly the top cat but let's begin another yarn. Just looking at the note listing, it seems like the only thing missing are hot dogs and tear drips. This is the Mandlebrot Set of fragrances. This opens with a antibacterial soapyness with plenty of astringency. Chocolate Dial soap comes to mind(only in the beginning). This is just as sugary as a margarita rim. Caramel? Check. Cinnamon? Check. Vanilla? Check....and somehow, this is absolutely not a gourmand. That's some real perfume wizardry. You're gonna be dodging rain and catching hail. It's inevitable. Another words, you will encounter notes that are favorable and some unfavorable. Case in point, I loved all of the sweet notes but the clary sage gave me cause for pause. To be honest with you, once it reaches the 30min mark, it's hard to detect singular notes. Overall, I like it. I can do a little something something with this but can someone do a little something something with the pricetag!!!

This smells stingingly synthetic and awfully headache inducing. All I get is an old-guy smell and Ouzo on steroids. Anis, licorice and bit of 4711 mixed together, ugh. Definitely not worth the money. When I saw the price, I was mind-blown. Seriously, 450 dollars for a 100 ml bottle of THIS? Btw, a bit off-topic but I think there's something fishy about this brand. This Phuong Dang claims on her website that she has received a master's degree in fine arts at Goldsmiths in London but then I found out that in an interview with a UAE based blogger she told she has no formal art education. Makes me wonder. In addition, she claims she has "an impressive career as an artist" (quote from her website) but somehow there is very little information about her art when you Google her and funnily enough no art enthusiast has ever heard of her. Anyway, this whole By Phuong Dang perfume brand seems like a hoax. It just all seems so fabricated. But this is just my opinion, of course.