It is definitely harder to write about something that you don’t have strong feelings about.  If you either love or hate a fragrance it seems that the words just flow.  As the following scents will be put to rest in my samples box because they don’t invoke love or hate, I thought I would try something different and so some very short reviews.  I’m not sure how helpful they may be, but let’s give it a shot!

HOTHOUSE FLOWER BY INEKE

WHAT I SMELL: Ineke’s Hothouse Flower opens with a burst gardenia and green tea.  The fragrance then blooms into a warmer gardenia with hints of fig.

Hothouse Flower Notes:  Earl Grey Tea, green foliage, cypress, gardenia, galbanum, fig, frankincense, guiaiacwood, musk, corn silk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: very grandmotherly

• Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
• Scent: Floral
• Classification: Feminine
• Expense: $95 for 75ml EdP

SANTALUM SLIVERS BY KEROSENE

WHAT I SMELL: Kerosene’s Santalum Slivers opens with sweet juicy orange, like orange concentrate orange juice.  It then turns to more of an orange/lemon cleaner like composite.

Santalum Slivers notes: vetiver, musk, sandalwood, bergamot, grapefruit, lemon, orange, rose, pepper, hay, cucumber and cedar

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: a very clean house

• Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
• Scent: Citrus Aromatic
• Classification: Unisex
• Expense: $140 for 100ml EdP

GERANIUM POUR MONSIEUR BY FREDERIC MALLE

WHAT I SMELL: Frederic Malle’s Geranium Pour Monsieur opens with a blast of camphoric mint…strong, strong mint.  It’s very powerful and overwhelming at first, almost toxic in its volume.  When it dies down it becomes a bit spicy and warm.  It’s a familiar scent that seems powered through chemicals.

Geranium Pour Monsieur notes: mint absolute, peppermint oil, Chinese geranium oil, rhodinol, anethol and floralozone, CO2 and cloves oil, white musk, ambroxan, sandalwood, resinoid incense and Siamese styrax benzoin

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  classy barbershop tonic

• Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
• Scent: Oriental Floral
• Classification: Masculine
• Expense: $240 for 100ml EdP

BOTTOM LINE:  All of these are semi-interesting compositions that just don’t work for me.  Hothouse Flower is not for men and Geranium Pour Monsieur would not work for most women.  Santalum Slivers is nice, but there is something there that leaves me a little cold, but I do love Kerosene’s artful bottles!