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HIRH
10
The Kingdom of too much for me
I have a kind of love-hate relationship with the house of Roja Dove. I am a fan of Roja's marketing and the special attention to elegance and quality. I am also a fan of many of his compositions.
But with the aoud perfumes of the house I have three little problems: Firstly, they are clearly overengineered for me, with a little too many components. The brevity is the spice and I like to know what I smell. I don't like constructs that are hard to grasp in their complexity. I also appreciate perfumes that are intense, even with rough edges. In short: a clear (preferably innovative) concept and room-filling sillage.
Roja corresponds to this with his aoud compositions rather semi-very well. The fragrances are unprecedentedly complex - and they should be! This makes it difficult for me to smell the ingredients. I certainly recognize a currant, a hint of apple and some oud. In the entree even some lime. But: all this together makes up the character of the fragrance felt to not even 40%. There are a lot of other notes that I can't separate out. But it wants to, because I have the feeling that these notes are clearly responsible for the DNA of the fragrance. Then there is - for me - also the difference to fragrances like XerJoff's Alexandria II. They're also more complex than just oud rose lavender. But the fragrance is defined by these three ingridients. And that's the difference to Roja's oud creations, which aren't just defined by the components that just smell out, much remains diffuse. Diffuse not in the effect, but already in the cause. And I think that's a pity. I find it almost as bad that Roja's oud creations are so soft and round. This is undoubtedly what Roja had in mind. But for me, it doesn't fit the animalistic and mysterious character of real oud that I like so much.
I also have a problem with the durability and sillage of Roja's oud creations. I don't know why and I know the many different reports of experience. But I almost have to drown my forearm in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to even notice anything after 10 minutes. I have this problem not only with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but also with less complex aoud scents like amber aoud. On the other hand, I need a splash or even less with Creed's Royal Oud or MFK's Baccarat Rouge Extrait to achieve the same effect. I don't get behind it, but it bothers me. Interestingly enough, I don't have this problem with the fragrances in Roja's Parfum Cologne series. They have durability and sillage to my taste - just as much as the multiple evaluations here.
Conclusion: For the reasons mentioned above I unfortunately cannot make friends with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A beautifully round scent, which loses its attraction for me in its over-complexity. But it is exactly what Roja Dove wanted to deliver. So don't be afraid to try it out if you're attracted to what bothers me. :) Cheers
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Taha
Papiapipii
