My first brand discovery, Gallivant Perfume
Hi guys and welcome to my first fragrance review, a British fragrance house called Gallivant Perfume, an indie niche house based in London. The person behind the company is Nick Steward, who works with perfumers based in France and Venice. The brand uses vegan ingredients, and famous cities inspire the perfumes from around the world, including, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brooklyn, Istanbul, London, Tel Aviv and Tokyo.
https://www.gallivant-perfumes.com
My wife pinched my perfume list before Christmas and was super generous, buying the discovery set and a full bottle of Tokyo for me! She chose to purchase from the brand due to the ethical nature and the use of natural ingredients. As you can see, I have made a dent on the samples, and I am familiar with the fragrances. Here are my thoughts on Brooklyn, Istanbul, London and Tel Aviv from the discovery set.
Brooklyn launched in 2017
Perfumer: - Giorgia Navarra
Top notes: - Bergamot, squeezed lemon and orange juice. Incense, cardamom, fresh air and ozonic notes. Mid notes: - Magnolia, orris root and transparent flowers. Base notes: - Musks, white woods, benzoin, amber
Notes I detect: - Bergamot, lemon, orange, magnolia, musk and amber
What’s going on in my nose: - I get a zesty fizzy, sherbet lemony smell in the opening, which reminded me of the sherbet lemon lollipops, which I used to enjoy when I was younger. It also reminded me of lemon bath bombs which my wife has used in the past. I then start to detect some florals and sweetness, with some citrus peeking in the background. As the fragrance dries down, I then begin to detect the musks and amber, which to me gives the fragrance a darker tone contrasting from the bright opening.
Performance: - Brooklyn had a decent projection for the first hour before wearing closer to my skin. Longevity is up to 7 hours.
Final thoughts: - It’s been a roller-coaster experience wearing Brooklyn. When I first tried it, I did not enjoy the fragrance. After a few more wearing’s, I started to appreciate the scent more. I then wore it again two weeks ago during the warmer spring weather here in the UK, and I did not enjoy the dry down of the fragrance, I guess I enjoyed it more when it was a bit cooler. It’s a pleasant fragrance but not one I would go for, thumb down.
Istanbul launched in 2017
Perfumer: – Karine Chevallier
Top notes: - Bergamot, cardamom, red thyme. Mid notes: - Lavender absolute, Egyptian geranium essence, patchouli heart, sweet myrrh (opoponax) essence. Base notes: - Sandalwood, vanilla, tonka bean, amber, musks
Notes I detect: - Bergamot, cardamom, red thyme, lavender, patchouli, vanilla, tonka bean, musks, sandalwood and amber
What’s going on in my nose: - I get an intense opening of citrus from the bergamot, which calms down revealing a sweet coffee-like feel from the cardamom and hints of spice from the red thyme. I then start to detect lavender and patchouli from the middle notes. The base is sweet, creamy and comforting with the vanilla, tonka bean, sandalwood, musks and amber rising from my skin.
Performance: - The performance on my skin was excellent, with a projection of 2 hours and 8 hours of longevity.
Final Thoughts: - Istanbul is one of my favourite fragrances from Gallivant. My wife and mother-in-law enjoyed it on my skin. A pleasant scent bubble of goodness surrounded me, during my walk on the seafront, just after Christmas. Istanbul is fascinating with notes that I love. I will look to purchase a full bottle soon. Great work by Karine, thumbs up from me!
London launched in 2017
Perfumer: – Karine Chevallier
Top notes: - Cucumber, violet leaves. Mid notes: - Rose de Mai absolute, rose oil, orris root. Base notes: - Leather, sandalwood, patchouli, cedarwood.
Notes I detect: - Cucumber, violet leaves, rose and leather.
What’s going on in my nose: - London starts with an intense burst of sweetness from the violet leaves, which quickly calms down and freshens up with the cucumber. I then detect a sweet rose mixing in with the leather.
Performance: – Moderate projection of 1 hour with 7 hours of longevity.
Final Thoughts: - London starts of quite intense and calms down in the opening; after that, I can only really detect rose and leather. The scent does not excite me like Istanbul, but it’s not bad, though. I will have to give it a thumb down I am afraid.
Tel Aviv launched in 2017
Perfumer: - Karine Chevallier
Top Notes: - Clementine, bergamot, blackcurrant bud. Mid notes: - Jasmine sambac absolute, Comoros’ ylang-ylang, rose oil, freesia. Base notes: - Sandalwood, musks, deer’s tongue (liatrix) absolute, benzoin
Notes I detect: - Clementine, bergamot, blackcurrant, rose, musks and sandalwood
What’s going on in my nose: - Tel Aviv opens with citrus notes which seems to remind me of Ski yoghurt (I know random!). I started to remember fighting for the peach or strawberry pack with my sister growing up. I then start getting floral notes, and when the fragrance starts to dry, I notice the musks, sandalwood.
Performance: - The performance was o.k., an hour of projection on my skin and 5 hours of longevity.
Final Thoughts: - Tel Aviv is my least favourite from the discovery pack. I wore this on three occasions, and I still could not get on with the citrus, yoghurt and floral combination and the performance was o.k. on my skin, a thumb down too.
My overall thoughts on Gallivant Perfume
I have had a positive experience of exploring the brand. The fragrances I have tried are unique, exciting, and I had fun spraying them on my skin. The scent that stood out to me was Istanbul. Brooklyn and London were not bad, but never grabbing my full interest and Tel Aviv was not my cup of tea.
I do have a full bottle of Tokyo and Spoiler Alert! I like it a lot. I will do a review of Tokyo, including showing the presentation. I will also look out for Amsterdam and Berlin and try these out in the future, a couple of my favourite fragrance reviewers on YouTube Chris from #fragmental and Sebastian #smelling great reviews have praised these two fragrances.
I like Gallivants theme on basing their fragrances on exploring famous cities. I also really appreciated the natural ingredients, how they are blended and the ethical nature of the brand. Gallivant perfume are worth checking out if you are a beginner like me getting into indie niche perfume. I am also happy with the price point of their fragrances, £65 for 30ml. The bottle sizes are perfect for me, I am someone who has several perfumes already and would struggle to utilise a 100ml bottle, plus it’s an ideal travel size.
Please leave any comments below on what you think of my discovery set review, including your favourites from the house.
Thanks again for finding me and stopping by, I appreciate it! Let me know of any under the radar niche and indie niche brands worth checking out. Please check my Instagram page; I will be posting my scent of the day and previews of what I will be reviewing next. Look out for the next review, Kingdom Scotland, a Scottish niche house.
