1 Million Elixir, richer than ever before, for thrilling sensations.  The hand-picked ingredients, Turkish Damascena rose, osmanthus and wild grown tonka beans, undoubtedly make this masterpiece composition stand out by the extreme quality of its raw materials. Deeply sensual, liquorous davana vibrates with the power of smooth woods and black vanilla seeds. Supreme sensuality meets absolute long-lasting power.

Elixir opens up with a crisp apple note up top. It’s not massively strong or candy-like, but that note will help lend this one some fruitiness. Beyond the apple, you get contributions of ‘fruitiness’ from the davana, osmanthus, and the Damascena rose.

Each of those notes adds something akin to a fruit smell, without actually being fruits themselves. They also seem to give Elixir almost an amber-like aroma underneath. Not sure which note or combination is doing that here.

Davana up top gives this one a drier woodsy/herbal/fruity smell, that will fade away rather quickly.

What I do notice from the start and throughout is the vanilla note. Well, really vanilla and tonka bean, but the latter will get stronger later on in the development of this scent. Up top, you’re getting much more vanilla.

Nuit d’Issey is what I’d call a safe scent, but it’s done so well that it’s worth trying on that basis alone. It has all the hallmarks of a classical masculine fragrance (or the Western masculine, since the other half of the world doesn’t find the gender division in perfumery so compelling). Its dry woody accord is folded into soft leather and sweetened enough with cooked apple notes to make the fragrance approachable and easy-going. If the idea is to find a new daytime fragrance, Nuit d’Issey will fit the bill. It’s thoroughly boardroom acceptable, but it’s far from dull.

That being said, the Nuit part of the name is a stretch. So is the marketing story of dark woods and leather. Nuit d’Issey is fairly bright, with a juicy grapefruit and black pepper opening. Musk and dry amber run throughout the composition, rising up from the bottom like the blobs in a lava lamp. The finish is suave, with an earthy accent of patchouli.