Hedonist Absolute

This smells like old money, east coast. A house on the rocky coast of somewhere like Rhode Island - the kind with large bay windows and wood siding. The husband smokes a tobacco pipe and drinks the finest imported Caribbean rum and the scent of both has landed on his wife's expensive cashmere sweater and mixed with her more feminine, white floral perfume. They're probably going to an art gala that evening. I am nearly certain this is exactly what some 1940s femme fatale would wear - it screams Lauren Bacall to me. This is for a dark, sophisticated woman. Neither of which I am, but I love wearing fragrances that are all about who I want to be and, some days, I want to be the kind of woman who would have married Humphrey Bogart. There is a definite vintage quality that I love so so much. It opens for me with a sweet tobacco note that never fades. It's a bit woody and on the dry-down it's all white wood, dried fruits (somehow the rum note ends up this way), and sweet tobacco. This to me is incredibly well-balanced and well blended. My skin tends to amplify sweets and this is absolutely the case here, but in the best way possible. It definitely makes it lean feminine where, sometimes, these notes might lean masculine. It is a bittersweet type fragrance on my skin - enough bitter notes to not make this in anyway gourmand and to add a spicy quality that originates from the rum and white wood (birch as listed, but for me I can't distinguish which white wood). There is no musk, no powder. Because of that I can just absolutely bathe in it without headache or itchy nose. A fragrance for people, like me, who absolutely detest powdery and powdery floral fragrances and alarmed by how common they are now. I love vanillas, but this does not dry down vanilla for me at all (and I am glad for that - I have enough vanillas and not enough boozy tobaccos). I think this would be perfect for a night time date, an opera...evenings in the winter, especially, but also the fall. Sillage isn't great, so probably needs some extra sprays to be effective (I am a one spray girl most of the time). Definitely a 10/10 for me - this is my wheelhouse and the kind of scent my skin and nose love.

Okay i'll be honest this fragrance seemed a bit weird to me at first but it's growing on me. A floral sweetness mixed with earthy tobacco and rum. It's a tug of war between the saccharine floral scents and the boozy tobacco scents. The weird thing about this fragrance is it opens with strong floral notes, distrinctly feminine but with an undertone of rum and sweet tobacco. As it dries down, the floral notes all but vanish and the rum and tobacco take over, giving it an almost leathery scent. It boldly flips its gender, starting out feminine but transitioning into something more unisex, maybe even a smidge masculine. This is definitely a perfume for a bold and daring woman that doesn't mind a perfume that dips its toes into the savory end of the spectrum as it dries down. Sillage is pretty moderate, roughly arm's length at its peak i'd say but i guess you can always double up if you want better performance. The sillage is interesting in that it's present but just enough to give you a small glimpse of the scent, kind of teases your nose and makes you wonder where the smell is coming from. Lifespan is pretty great. I woke up the next morning and sniffed my arm and still got a noseful of that sweet leathery tobacco skin scent. This one is perfect to spray on skin if you're getting intimate, this drydown is heavenly and the residual skin scent is to die for. I couldn't stop smelling my arm. This fragrance is definitely worth trying out, a very unique and unforgettable one. Just sample it before you take the plunge, i'm sure it's not for everyone. For me this is a signature date night scent.

This is a delicious fragrance. A strong opening of boozy tobacco leaf, a molasses rum further sweetened by the vanilla. The tobacco is not at all ashy, more like a freshly opened pack of cigarettes or pipe tobacco, which brings just the right amount of dryness to balance the sweetness. I don't personally smell the floral notes separately, but I believe they are rounding and softening the overall experience. As it dries down it almost turns leathery. Reading the note list, one would think this is a masculine fragrance, and it could be, but to me it actually leans more feminine. It is dark and seductive, and sweet without being cloying or gourmand. It has a languorous glamour, like a panther in a diamond collar, powerful, sleek, velvety, a little bit aloof but aware that it could eat you alive if it chose to.

I love it so much, I can't decide if I love it more or the same as the original Hedonist. It's much more dry, the tobacco is the show stopper here and omg is it a wonderfully luxurious and sensual tobacco. I mean it just smells like old money to me. This is the kind of fragrance I dream of, it's everything I love in perfume and everything I want to smell like. It's just the right amount of softness and sweetness to not make it feel like a boys club, but it comes pretty close to stepping over that ledge. It's delectable. Absolutely stunning. I wish the bottle was as cute as the original and then I wouldn't hesitate to buy it instantly. 9/10

This is such a beautiful fragrance, the longevity is so good it last at least 8 hours. And the best part is you will make an entire room smell good. I get tons of compliments wearing this. I flirted with buying this fragrance for about 4 years and I am glad I bought this fragrance and also her baby sister. I mean there is nothing out there now that smells like this! I keep thinking maybe something I smelled in the 90"s IDK! But I will say this here is just a beautiful sexy fragrance for year round.