Olfactive Dreams

B leu d e P russe (2024) by Rouhanne Perfumes begins with a zesty orange peel with a lemon note. The reduced intensity of orange peel offers a subtle incense note with some expected astringency. It then reminds me of crushed blood orange leaves, chenpi (aged mandarin orange peel – an oft-used materials in Chinese medicines and incenses). I also get cut-grass, sweet chamomile tea, marigold, hibawood, kunzea, and angelical root type bitter herbaceous smell. The camphoraceous quality also reminds me of the top notes of lavender absolute, and lavandin e/o. There is an almost stylised minty (i.e., cooling) smell and sensation from the start. These are surrounded by a dark blue slightly inky cloud (that later morphs into a fog). However, these are less noticeable on drier skin. After 2-3 mins, the smell reminds me of a dark green and blue oud oils (due to azulene usually found in some A. malaccensis that later becomes green to yellowish through oxidation) from Indo-Malay regions that l...

P ALEMBANG S UMATRA E MERALD (2021) by  Agarwood Indonesia   is distilled from wild Sumatran incense grade chips from  Palembang area  with zero soaking. I wore it  5 times since buying it about 3 weeks ago. Palembang Sumatra Emerald (2021) From the bottle ,  i t is very  camphoric,  spicy, intensely green, and  grassy . I also get   a hint ​​ of ambergris-laced  of green leathery quality . Initially, on skin, it is  quite camphorous, terpenic (slightly), bitter and foresty green, spicy, and piquant .   I t hen get hints of soft hay with a touch of dry museli-like smell. In case someone is wondering, it is not yeasty. I do not get anything scatological .   There is also angelica root, ambrette seed absolute, green tea, neroli, watercress (that peppery smell when we start biting), freshly cut/crushed coriander leaves/stems, and many more. I need to spend more time . After 10 minutes : as soon as the sharp green t...

Tiny Review Musk Lave (ML) opens with soft citruses. In my subsequent wearings (4 so far), I found them to be quite oily in texture – yet very pleasant. I can detect them for 2-3 hours on skin (depending on the temperature and humidity). They provide a soft, medicinal/herbal quality (in lieu with lavender's own) into this composition. Musk Lave (2020) Sample I then immediately get a large dose of orris butter, myrrh, sandalwood, probably benzoin and labdanum combination that has lots of similarities with ‘25 Junos Suhma (2016/17) and Regolith (2017) by Mellifluence Attars – especially with the first one. The herbal lavender, on my skin, appears only as a supporting act where it sweetens things up a bit and contributes later in it’s musk accord, which somewhat makes because lavender absolute have that sweet musky thing which can be exploited with oud and other heavy extracts. During my 1st wearing, I also get a Baikal Gris type ‘tonkafied sandalwood’ vibe with random appearance in t...

Imagine you are invited in Topkapi Palace in Istanbul by Sultan Mehmed II  somewhere around 1470 . You are sitting in the large domed diwan, where some bakhoor (Hindi oud, myrrh, frankincense, and opoponax) has been burning for a long time at low temperature. Long enough that they have turned the air of the room sweet and smoky. You are sipping some Persian saffron-flavoured tea whilst wearing a blend of medicinal Chinese, incensy Cambodian/Vietnamese and resinous Assamese ouds. Smell of dry herbs and spices wafting from Büyük Çarşı. It is autumn and the air is crisp and cold. So when the sun warms up the area, you get all those aroma whilst sitting there enjoying your tea with some dates and other dry fruits. Dewaniya (2017) Dewaniya opens with a big and regal smell of ouds. It smells like a composition of mostly pure aged ouds from different regions - incensy Cambodian/Vietnamese and subdued leather and mildly sweet resinous and incensy Assamese, and bitter and me...

SOMA (2019): An Ode to Gardenia NOT Perfumes Mini Review Johanna Venables initiates SOMA with bitter green galbanum, citrus-like green stems with a big but pleasant dose of sensual gardenia. The gardenia is quite realistic in it - almost as if I am sniffing a freshly bloomed one - one which has not bloomed fully yet, so the green facets of gardenia flower is more prominent than usual. I am thinking of the first day of bloom - when it blooms partially and the weather is not that warm and humid, which tend to accentuate the heady and sensual facets of this flower. So effectively a gardenia with those early green facets and the one that has not released all its creamy and heady facets. Gardenia from Our Rooftop Garden (2018) I also liked how Johanna kept the jasmine (possibly grandiflorum) and tuberose just below gardenia and green vegetal combo smell – used largely to lift the gardenia up and not to overwhelm it with their own unique aroma profiles. But they are c...

Rosa Verdade is a rose festival from  Mellifluence Perfumes   - a one man all-natural perfume brand by Abdullah.  It starts off with a beautiful sparkly green and slightly spicy rose note coming from all those different rose ingredients - assisted by neroli. The neroli is not strong enough to b e indolic, which is a good feature in this composition as it is a very soft rose soliflore to my nose. I suspect it helps to lift the citrus/sparkly facets at initial stage. From the very beginning I also get a rose smell that I tend to get only after the top note subsides - i.e., reduced intensity of sparkly, citrus and green facets of rose. This smell is quite realistic – as if I am smelling rose from the plant in the morning when rose shreds most of its fragrance. RV  is  never too loud, always demure and avuncular. Rosa Verdade (2018): A Demure Rose Soliflore I then get a creamy rose, which to me, is the best part of this attar. It is probably ...