WHAT I SMELL: Fanfare opens with an inviting bergamot and a very Lemon Pledge-like lemon that shines bright then retreats quickly to make way for some soft and demure florals. Fanfare is welcoming right from first spritz and I like the fact that it’s so approachable. After short time, hints of herbs seem to come up from below the citrus and florals. But in short order again, the herbal makes way for a buttery and creamy swath of juniper which is quite unexpected as juniper is typically in the sharper and dryer vein. But the cream ends quite quickly and a dry and smoky vetiver joins the juniper and becomes front and center which turns the perfume to the more masculine. Here the perfume melds juniper, vetiver and a vanilla’d musk to create a very handsome and sexy perfume that is very easy to like.
From the Thameen London website:
A Cologne Elixir inspired by the Flower Market at Covent Garden which has been immortalised by George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion.
Created by perfumer Bruno Jovanovic, Fanfare is a melodic fantasy with a touch of impertinence exuding the spirit of contemporary British aesthetic.
It opens with a beguiling watery floral and citrus accord, which slowly becomes darker as the structure evolves and becomes more daring with the vermouth accord. Finally, the noble woods bring this dark depth to the structure of the fragrance.
Top Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Neroli, Flower Market Accord
Heart Notes: Rosemary, Vermouth, Juniper Berry
Base Notes: Musk, Patchouli, Vetiver
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: The quintessential English pub…from day to night.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE FANFARE: welcoming, interesting, handsome
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT FANFARE: CaFleureBon, Perfume Posse, I Fragrance
BOTTOM LINE: Fanfare is labeled as a Cologne Elixir. I have to say that it feels heftier than your typical cologne and that’s a good thing. There’s a lot to love with Fanfare and I for one will create some fanfare myself for this fantastic perfume.
- Bone Rating: 4.5 out of possible 5 bones
- Scent: Citrus Aromatic
- Nose: Bruno Jovanovic
- Classification: Unisex, but leans masculine
- Expense: $295 for 100 ml Cologne Elixir
* Sample provided by Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary.
WHAT I SMELL: Purple Suede opens with a dry and warm sweet and smoky leathered lavender that is soon met with a pronounced suede. It’s inviting and wonderfully soft in tone and texture. The perfume moderates the leather with the lavender as if the leather contains a powder from a lavender sachet. This powdery mixture is muted and surprisingly dreamlike like for a leather perfume. But of course as soon as I write about how soft and muted it is, Purple Suede begins to turn to the more robust with an undercurrent of peppered oud that begins to push itself in from beneath. The leather begins to sharpen, and to me, turns from the unisex to the more masculine with a deep and increasingly heavy presence with a nod to the funky with the addition of civet. Thankfully after awhile the leather comes back into play, but it never returns to the soft and muted suede that I liked at the beginning of the journey.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Little John, played by Alan Hale Sr. in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). A nice enough fella with a good demeanor, but who might need to clean up just a bit.
WHAT I SMELL: Royal Sapphire opens with an invitingly sweet combination of bergamot and mandarin that quickly begins to warm and infuse itself with the biggest, most full bodied jasmine. It’s heady, it’s intoxicating and it’s almost bubblegum sweet. I might be turned off by that, but the finish of the mandarin and orange blossom seems to hold back the surprising boldness of it all. Now all I have to do is to wait and see if it begins to retreat…and after some time it begins to. After a short while, the jasmine begins to even out and a very subtle, flattened grey amber begins to lift towards the florals from below. As such, the sweetened boldness turns more towards the cashmere. At this point the perfume begins to soften and become a bit fuzzy with just a hint of powder. And ever so quietly, the perfume begins its journey to the pretty as some patchouli brings a lightly sweetened finish to the now muted jasmine and the dried and powdery woods. Don’t get me wrong, Royal Sapphire never really quiets to a point that it becomes mild and meek, instead it remains quite bold throughout it’s life. Royal Sapphire cannot be called a shrinking violet.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Royal Sapphire is less like sapphire jewelry and more like a cozy and comfortable sapphire colored throw.
The Scented Hound 