Tom Ford - Sahara Noir

Dreams and fantasies, which are which and what is when and why? Mysteries and heart songs, folk tales and memories threaded through my DNA culminate in  kaleidoscopic flashes of brilliance in royal blue and amber, ochre and threads of gold. Royal gifts of sacred spice tempered with memories of loss and longing. Tears and humming and hot sands, whirling and drumming and warm hands. Reflections in polished brass, eyes rimmed in kohl, other eyes burning with intensity, searing my soul. Imprinted.

Balsamic - Amber - Smoky - Warm Spicy - Woody

Sahara Noir is an oriental-woody scent based on incense. Bitter orange, Levantine cypress (known as one of the plants growing in the gardens of the 1001 Arabian Nights) and cistus essence Orpur® (Orpur® are high-quality natural ingredients of extraordinary purity, developed by Givaudan) open the composition. The heart blends frankincence essence Orpur®, cinnamon, cool papyrus extract, rose absolute from Morocco and Egyptian jasmin with honeyed and animalic shades of beeswax from Burma.The base centers around warm amber notes - made of labdanum absolute and ambreinol (an intense natural labdanum fraction), cedar, frankincense resin, benzoin, vanilla, oud and balsams. 

One of my absolute favourite fragrances.

Bond No. 9 - Chinatown

My own private time capsule.  It takes me back to a time when I hung out with these new age hippies. A time of freedom, of liberty when I left my lacklustre marriage and found myself.  It sings to me of long-shadowed afternoons, drinking chai on the porch of a large, ramshackle house that had once been glorious.  Set amongst majestic magnolia, willow, peach and apple trees, meandering gardenias and wisteria creeping wherever they could. Misfits on cushions, strumming guitars, beating bongos and breeze fuelled wind-chimes creating a soundtrack for soaring spirits and lonely hearts. Nag Champa curled it's way through diaphanous curtains to wrap around bare-bronzed shoulders, curtained by patchouli scented tresses and skin musk.  But just inside the window, on a threadbare sofa, with a beaten metal tray of blown-out candles, sits a girl with a book.

~ jojo

White Floral - Warm Spicy - Floral - Woody - Tuberose - Vanilla

Top notes seduce with intoxicating scents of peach blossoms and bergamot. The heart is composed of gardenia, honey and sensual sweet tuberose, peony and orange blossom, while the base is made of patchouli, cedar, warm and soft vanilla, sandalwood, cardamom, and Guiac wood. The perfume is characterized as floriental, which can also be sensed from its very name and the bottle design. 

This is my Signature Scent - I will love it until the day I die <3

Donna Karan - Black Cashmere

Late afternoon fog is closing in, I find myself in a large, dark library in a gothic Victorian mansion. I'm standing by the open fire, a rich, honeyed muscat in hand. On the highly-polished mahogany mantelpiece is a large spray of Chrysanthemums and Carnations peppered with autumnal berries and trailing ivy. There is a slight trace of a subtle incense slithering in silky tendrils from an adjacent room. I feel like I have woken from a long sleep, my awareness is fleeting; a silk scarf, a casket, laughter, a farewell, but nothing lingers, transient, elusive and yet strangely comfortable.  I want to kiss and cry at the same time, I feel consumed and comfortable, and yet that primeval flight or fight is hiding just behind the tapestry.

~ Jojo

Fresh Spicy - Warm Spicy - Woody - Amber - Floral

Spicy notes of saffron, carnation, red and white pepper intertwine with woody notes of patchouli and african sorts of assorted tree.

Personally I don't get much of the incense - it's barely discernible although many reviewers seem to see it as a spicy, incense heavy fragrance.  I guess I love incense heavy and this is not it.  However, I love it. For me it opens with a honeyed blast, almost medicinal - I guess its the amber and saffron and peppers mingling before they retreat a little a few minutes in and the carnation comes to the fore.  I find the carnation (stalks and all) stays front and centre for the longevity of the fragrance from this time on, it's tempered by the patchouli and woods but it's far from spicy or incense like on my skin. It's familiar and yet like nothing else. A classy, mature perfume mostly suited to cooler weather and grown-up events ;)