10/27/2022
Elysium
816 Reviews
Elysium
Helpful Review
2
King of the Desert: The Arabian Horse
It has more of a feminine scent; it smells more masculine than feminine. How often should we hear these genres associated? Perfume exists to be worn by people. And it is precisely in the deeply personal aspect, relating to the perception of perfume, that the attempt to catalog it within a well-defined genre represents an improper way to deal with it. One should approach perfume with the purity and innocence of a child. This is because the desire to discover sensations for oneself appeals to one's soul rather than to reason. People wear perfumes, so everyone should be allowed to choose one based on the sensations that the perfume transmits in contact with their skin. Rather than considering their gender, this should be done.
For one thing, there is no animal smell of Arabian horses despite those magnificent creatures that inspired the perfumer. An artistic scent with a bold mothballing, resinous, dark, leathery and oriental feel. Arabians perfume greets me with a rich blend of herbs and spices, such as creeping red thyme and velvety lavender blended with cardamom and mint. It is slightly camphor with a mothball tinge, perhaps from rose petals and red thyme leaves that I don’t think I smelled in nature. Opening is an overdose of herbs. Most often, thyme and cardamom are used as supporting notes. But here they come straight to the fore, dragging a hesitant lavender with them. It is an unusual opening with that acute herbaceous green enhanced by bitter cardamom and supported by faint lavender.
When the aromatic face fades, the rose grows and takes the stage. The rose is a fairy, clean, sexy rose, neither too sweet nor too dirty, which plays with other companions and does not come straight into your face. Sure, there is, but it doesn’t scream like other major notes, and definitely not like other Montale rose fragrances. It may be due to my chemistry, but the camphor tinge persists and lingers for quite a while.
Later, patchouli, vetiver and oud come into play. It turns out that the fragrance smells different from the beginning and becomes darker and more earthy, really earthy. All the notes I have mentioned so far have not disappeared. They simply moved into the back seat, still participating and contributing to the overall aroma. I don’t get any leathery facets until the scent dries. On me, leather is more like velvety suede. Leather and oud resins combine to offer a slightly animalic accord, not overwhelming or dirty, but with just the right amount of darkness. Although, as with the rose, the oud is mellow and not as medicinal or Middle Eastern in style. Arabians cologne is an oriental fragrance, but it is not an ordinary rose-oud alloy. I guess the addition of vetiver and patchouli softens the otherwise too heavy odor of oud. What remains on the skin, and on the fabric, is a musky and salty accord. Although the moss eventually expands and takes over, a kind of manly musky veil is perceptible from the start. This makes sense, as the colony is an homage to the thoroughbred horse.
To conclude, the fragrance is excellent, non-offensive, non-binding, and wearable. It is loud at first, but slowly loses its power and turns into a skin-friendly scent. Both rose and oud are not key players, but only non-protagonists who support other notes. The performances are not what we know of Montale, but I don’t care, because I like the scent, even if it sticks to my skin. It’s a dark autumn colony, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll appreciate Arabians during the colder months, both in the evening and at night.
I base the review on a bottle I have owned since October 2022.
-Elysium
For one thing, there is no animal smell of Arabian horses despite those magnificent creatures that inspired the perfumer. An artistic scent with a bold mothballing, resinous, dark, leathery and oriental feel. Arabians perfume greets me with a rich blend of herbs and spices, such as creeping red thyme and velvety lavender blended with cardamom and mint. It is slightly camphor with a mothball tinge, perhaps from rose petals and red thyme leaves that I don’t think I smelled in nature. Opening is an overdose of herbs. Most often, thyme and cardamom are used as supporting notes. But here they come straight to the fore, dragging a hesitant lavender with them. It is an unusual opening with that acute herbaceous green enhanced by bitter cardamom and supported by faint lavender.
When the aromatic face fades, the rose grows and takes the stage. The rose is a fairy, clean, sexy rose, neither too sweet nor too dirty, which plays with other companions and does not come straight into your face. Sure, there is, but it doesn’t scream like other major notes, and definitely not like other Montale rose fragrances. It may be due to my chemistry, but the camphor tinge persists and lingers for quite a while.
Later, patchouli, vetiver and oud come into play. It turns out that the fragrance smells different from the beginning and becomes darker and more earthy, really earthy. All the notes I have mentioned so far have not disappeared. They simply moved into the back seat, still participating and contributing to the overall aroma. I don’t get any leathery facets until the scent dries. On me, leather is more like velvety suede. Leather and oud resins combine to offer a slightly animalic accord, not overwhelming or dirty, but with just the right amount of darkness. Although, as with the rose, the oud is mellow and not as medicinal or Middle Eastern in style. Arabians cologne is an oriental fragrance, but it is not an ordinary rose-oud alloy. I guess the addition of vetiver and patchouli softens the otherwise too heavy odor of oud. What remains on the skin, and on the fabric, is a musky and salty accord. Although the moss eventually expands and takes over, a kind of manly musky veil is perceptible from the start. This makes sense, as the colony is an homage to the thoroughbred horse.
To conclude, the fragrance is excellent, non-offensive, non-binding, and wearable. It is loud at first, but slowly loses its power and turns into a skin-friendly scent. Both rose and oud are not key players, but only non-protagonists who support other notes. The performances are not what we know of Montale, but I don’t care, because I like the scent, even if it sticks to my skin. It’s a dark autumn colony, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll appreciate Arabians during the colder months, both in the evening and at night.
I base the review on a bottle I have owned since October 2022.
-Elysium