Atelier Cologne - Orange Sanguine & Bois Blonds

I recently received two samples from the Atelier Cologne line, Orange Sanguine and Bois Blonds. The notes for Orange Sanguine include blood orange, bitter orange, jasmine, geranium, amber woods, sandalwood and tonka beans. The opening and heart of Orange Sanguine and pure and uplifting, as realistic orange notes as you are likely to find. I find the smell was like the whole grove - fruit, leaves and blossoms galore. The fragrance is simply constructed and all I detected in addition to the fruits was some light wood notes. Jasmine, Geranium, amber, sandalwood, tonka bean - they all escaped me. Lasting power is average, but for a cologne, albeit a slightly higher concentration I gather, par for the course. I like Orange Sanguine - the opening in particular is gorgeous and perfect for the summer months, and slightly different to the usual citrus suspects to warrant at least sampling. This is perfectly unisex.

The notes for Bois Blonds include neroli, pink pepper, orange flower, incense, light woods, musk and vetiver. I'll be honest with you - this to my nose is a dead ringer for Solo Loewe. I honestly don't think I could tell the two apart were I to wear them side by side. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing. Just that if you happen to own one or the other, then there is no point in trying the other, in my opinion. As I already have a few samples of Solo Loewe, I was disappointed with Bois Blonds. It's essentially a slightly spicy (pink peppercorns - when will these go away?), slightly citrusy (neroli) and lightly woody (who knows) perfume that smells perfectly alright, without really knocking my socks off. It tends more towards the masculine, and anyone who has tried a multitude of men's perfumes with the ubiquitous pink pepper in it, paired with citrus, musk and light woods, will have a fairly good inkling of what to expect. Perhaps this is damning with faint praise. I'll be honest - there are far worse versions of this type of perfume around, but it doesn't show me anything original and had I known what to expect, I would have tried something else from the Atelier line.


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