Panthea Stephane Humbert Lucas 777

The first thing that struck me about this perfume was the name. Panthea, from Greek, meaning “all of the gods”, is a pretty bold name if you ask me. So naturally I was expecting a bold fragrance, something titanic and worthy of the gods, but nope. Nothing like that here. Panthea is unapologetically generic.

It opens with a very mellow citrus, crisp green violets, and iris. Surrounding the iris and violet, I get a big cloud of waxy, soapy aldehydes and what I suspect is calone, with its watery melons and ocean breeze facets. Panthea is very similar in feel to Acqua di Gio Homme, though substituting the barbershop cologne aromatics for violet, iris, and jasmine. I would throw Panthea into the aquatic soapy green floral category. The projection is moderate as is the longevity.

While I do accuse this perfume of being generic, that doesn’t mean it smells bad. Quite the contrary. Panthea actually smells really nice. It’s a definite crowd pleaser with mass market appeal and would probably not offend anyone but there’s nothing unique or anything really memorable about it like many of the houses other offerings are. It could just as easily be a body spray sold at the local pharmacy, scent wise, though the juice itself is obviously of much higher quality than a body spray. But overall it feels unfinished, uninspired, and rushed, as if Lucas was more concerned with pushing out another release on schedule rather than devoting more time into creating something incredible. In his quest to remain relevant and in the spotlight, he compromised his artistry.

While it could definitely be pulled off by both sexes, Panthea leans feminine. The violets and calone really amp up and turn a bit shrill in the heart then sweeten up before dying down into a very anticlimactic clean and powdery musk. I never get any tobacco or tonka though the notes are listed. While I find it pleasant enough, I’m just not compelled to buy a full bottle.  It just doesn’t have the wow factor.  I sure hope Lucas puts more effort into his future releases because this one is suuuuper boring or to use the highbrow adjective currently in vogue, “pedestrian”.

Season: Spring/ Summer

Top: Bergamot, tangerine

Heart: Iris, violet, jasmine

Base: White musk, tobacco, tonka, sandalwood

Oumma Stephane Humbert Lucas 777

Oumma was created during the peak of the Western oud bandwagon and is a very standard, dare I say generic, rose/oud perfume even if it IS incredibly well blended and very smooth, non-abrasive. Oud can be very aggressive and even fecal, hence the phrase “barnyard oud”, but not here. Oumma takes that raw agarwood and sands it down and down further with very fine grit sandpaper until it’s smooth as glass. For what is normally a dirty note, the oud in this composition is about as clean as it gets.

Oumma opens with a synthetic top that’s almost plastic-y but this phase rapidly gives way to a very refined, polished woody oud and heady rose in full bloom. Jasmine adds a sweetness to the mix, while the balsams add the feel of incense. There’s nothing really new about the combination of these notes here. Nothing unique, nothing original. But the fragrance is pretty nonetheless. To me it’s a very gothic/ noir scent, better suited for cooler evenings.

The sillage and projection are fairly low surprisingly. Most oud-centric frags are serious powerhouses, monsters even. But Oumma settles into a skinscent within a few minutes of spraying on. That can be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. It also doesn’t seem to last as long as the others I’ve tried from this house, which is actually pretty odd since oud basenotes are known to last a very long time. Which leaves me to conclude that this is most likely synthetic oud but I have no way of knowing for sure.

Fragrant agarwood beads

Overall, I enjoy the fragrance. It reminds me of Midnight Oud and even Rose Anonyme, though out of the three, I think I’d actually prefer Oumma for its smooth and clean qualites. But for the price and lack of longevity, there really are better rose/ouds available, value-wise. I’m still glad I got to test this one though. I love trying and comparing rose/ouds and though I wished it lasted longer, Oumma is very nice while it lasts.

Season: Fall/Winter

Top: Rose, jasmine

Heart: Peru balsam, tolu balsam

Base: oud, cedar, cyperus

O Hira Stephane Humbert Lucas 777

Though Fragrantica has this listed as straight up ambergris, this is really a labdanum and resin bomb. My last post was somewhat of a rant over these two notes inspired by finding the note pyramid for this fragrance on Fragrantica, what a joke lol.

So it’s all about amber here, but ambergris? I think not. I don’t really get any of that salty marine aroma though I’m sure it must be in there. It HAS to be, because this is incredibly expensive juice. A 50 ml bottle retails over $700 USD!!! Labdanum in itself is not a very expensive nor rare material at all so my only guess is that the price reflects the materials but this is just an assumption. Mr. Lucas could actually be pulling our leg here, bluffing the ambergris note since the actual notes were not divulged. I was actually surprised LuckyScent added it in as a free sample with my purchase to be honest since it costs so much lol.

What I detect most is honeyed labdanum, which is a balsam from the cistus plant, commonly called rock rose. This is dreamy labdanum though as the turpinoids and tar like qualities have been greatly smoothed out and sweetened. I pick up lots of benzoin which adds spicy cinnamon and vanilla nuances to the composition. There’s actually enough cinnamon that it could be its own note here.

This fragrance has a very leathery overall feel to it. It’s dirty but not cumin or civet dirty, but sweaty birch tar dirty. Brand new leather. It’s also a little boozy from honey. It smells like it should be sticky after being sprayed on skin, as concentrated labdanum tincture can be as well as honey. As a side note, at least honey can be washed off with water. Labdanum is not water soluble and if the absolute gets on skin it has to be dissolved with alcohol or some type of spirit but that’s the nature of resins and most balsams.

While I absolutely adore labdanum and this fragrance masterfully showcases the note as there’s no denying its beauty, there’s no way I could justify buying a full bottle since to me, it’s just a labdanum “soliflore” and I could easily mix one up myself from my collection of EOs and absolutes. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I could recreate this fragrance because I can’t or that my little tincture would be as nice as O’ Hira becauseit wouldn’t be. I don’t have all those materials readily available. I’m nota trained perfumer and I’m not THAT arrogant haha. What I AM saying though, is that I could very easily and cheaply tincture some cistus absolute that would satisfy any urge to wear a labdanum soliflore should one arise lol. And I’d still have my $700. Bottom line: yes it’s nice and the bottle is awesome but it’s not worth the asking price IMO. Next.

Season: Fall/Winter
Notes: Who really knows but definitely labdanum lol

Soleil de Jeddah Stephane Humbert Lucas 777

Judging solely on the notes listed on Fragrantica, this isn’t a fragrance I would have fervently sprung for even though I am a huge osmanthus fan. Combining osmanthus with a leather note raised a red flag, because leather notes can be very dirty. But I received samples with my purchase from LuckyScent and man this stuff is GOOD! I will definitely be ordering a full bottle!

Soleil de Jeddah opens with a sweet candied lemon, osmanthus, and ironically intense chamomile accord. I say ironically because chamomile isn’t typically a note that comes to mind when thinking about intense perfume notes, like oud for example. After drydown, the lemon gives way to a delicious vanilla note alongside the osmanthus, and chamomile. Vetiver isn’t listed in the notes but my nose picks it up here nonetheless. It’s a very light vetiver though and gives the composition a very subdued masculine feel, making this frag very unisex, though overall it DOES lean more feminine. The heart is sharply sweet from the osmanthus and vanilla, with moderate projection, so even though it’s sweet, it’s not all in your face. And it’s not sweet so much in the gourmand sort of way but more floral sweet. This stage lasts a long time, but it does seem to me that SHL fragrances have some serious lasting power, which makes it a more justifiable purchase since frags from this house do not come cheap. The base is a softer version of the heart. I never really detect the leather or the ambergris.

Osmanthus bush

Here in the southern US osmanthus, or commonly known here as “tea olive”, is a fairly popular evergreen landscaping shrub. While the flowers are in no way showy or even particularly attractive, the fragrance is incredibly intoxicating. They are potent in the same way that gardenias are, where even a gentle breeze can carry their fragrance on the wind. And even though the plant itself looks like a plain, generic green bush, they are anything but and make beautifully fragrant additions to any garden or landscape. And Soleil de Jeddah is one fragrance that really does justice to this incredibly gorgeous smelling flower. It really amps up the chamomile and gives it a much more heady aroma.

This fragrance is very unique but not completely alien to my nose since I can pick out some of the notes. But it’s surely something you won’t smell on everyone since these notes are not so commonly used like rose and jasmine are, for example.

Jeddah

I’ve never been to Saudi so I cannot really understand the connection between this perfume and the city of Jeddah. My associations are all based on my experience with the notes themselves. But I do know that Jeddah is a huge business hub and basically the gateway to Mecca, so I imagine the people do their best to keep it nice. And if this is what Jeddah sunshine smells like, count me in! Because it gorgeous!

Season: Spring/Summer
Top: Lemon, chamomile, osmanthus
Heart: Iris, ambergris
Base: Vanilla, leather, iris

Ambre Eccentrico Armani Privé

​Ambre Eccentrico is a very warm and spicey unisex vanilla fragrance. Like most of the other prives in the opaque black flacons, AE is a heavier, cold weather fragrance. I could see this being suffocating in the heat, just like all the others from the “black line”.

The main notes I detect are vanilla, tonka, benzoin, and cardamom with an indistinguishable fruity accord sweetening up the composition. It somewhat reminds me of Tom Fords Noir  fragrances in the black striated bottles, only less complex, less sweet, and with a heavy dose of cardamom.

This would be a very cozy scent to wear around the holidays. And while I DO find it too heavy and spicey for the summer, it’s not so overbearing to wear around others, say at holiday parties and such, since the projection is moderate for a black line prive. I emphasize that because others from the collection such as Rose d’Arabie, Oud Royal, and Myrrhe Imperiale are such intense and overbearing powerhouses that I could never recommend them to wear to any casual social gatherings. I see them more as going out, statement fragrances and not office friendly at all.

But Ambre Eccentrico is much easier to wear as it’s more laid back and mellow. Not so much of a powerhouse or “in your face”. While I love the idea of powerhouses, I also think it’s unfair play, and rude even, to assault other noses with them in confined quarters. So while I would very heavily caution against black bottle Armani Prives to wear in social settings, Ambre Eccentrico would be an exception.

This is a big warm cozy hug of a fragrance. And while it IS a thick, syrupy amber, it sits much closer to the skin as the projection is quite low, so it’s much more intimate. Wearing this makes me yearn for snow, sipping a hot coffee in front of a wood burning fire place, and toasting nuts in the fire.

If you are a vanilla  fan, this is definitely one to check out, but keep in mind that it’s spicey, thick and to many gourmand aficionados, this one would be considered to lean masculine though on a grander scale I believe it is a very centered unisex. But delicious nonetheless.

Notes: Amber, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Tonka, Patchouli, Plum, Fruits, Cardamom