Scent
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Scent
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Welcome to the Pepper Hell
The moment when I had this smell on my skin for the first time, I will probably never forget it again. It was one of the first oud scents back then (when I didn't know exactly how it smelled) and I went to this test with a certain lack of need, which I would soon regret.
The scent seems a bit oriental to me at first, which I couldn't really grasp. After a few minutes I meet a force of ink, blackness and burnt rubber. Strangely enough, the durability on the skin wasn't outstanding at all, but I couldn't get it off my clothes anymore. It was just penetrating pepper! The jacket was washed three or four times, then it was off. I encountered this note even more often afterwards, and it triggers a kind of flight reflex in me.
For me personally there was no development, which I always find very unfortunate. The first minutes he changed a bit, afterwards he was completely linear for me. Too bad.
My rating:
Joy: 0 of 30
Quality, depth, vitality: 8 of 30
Shelf life: 9 of 20 (on the skin)
Portability: 0 of 10
Flacon, packaging, presentation: 9 of 10
Total: 26 of 100
The scent seems a bit oriental to me at first, which I couldn't really grasp. After a few minutes I meet a force of ink, blackness and burnt rubber. Strangely enough, the durability on the skin wasn't outstanding at all, but I couldn't get it off my clothes anymore. It was just penetrating pepper! The jacket was washed three or four times, then it was off. I encountered this note even more often afterwards, and it triggers a kind of flight reflex in me.
For me personally there was no development, which I always find very unfortunate. The first minutes he changed a bit, afterwards he was completely linear for me. Too bad.
My rating:
Joy: 0 of 30
Quality, depth, vitality: 8 of 30
Shelf life: 9 of 20 (on the skin)
Portability: 0 of 10
Flacon, packaging, presentation: 9 of 10
Total: 26 of 100
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"Has little amber and no oud, but I still like it!"
... and everything that rhymes is good :) In fact, that's true in this case. As you know, there are many species of "amber" (whether Labdanum-vanilla mixtures, ambergris or other), and here it is clearly the first for me. In short, Amber Oud is for me a very pleasant vanilla fragrance for men, because he has just the right amount of scratchiness to be interesting.
I primarily perceive a slightly woody vanilla, no more, no less. A long time ago I had the need to test Labdanum fragrances, and there were many classics (e.g. MPG Ambre Precieux and the Ultime version), modern fine interpretations (e.g. Diors Mitzah), but also very dark, resinous representatives (e.g. SHL O Hira). In the end, I ended up with the first fragrance I tried in this direction, and that's Kilian's Amber Oud. Not complex, not complicated, not extraordinary, but simple: beautiful. And that's allowed to happen, especially if you test yourself from time to time through various obscure scents that are more works of art than wearable. After all these years, I still like it a lot.
My rating:
Joy: 30 of 30
Quality, depth, vitality: 20 of 30
Shelf life: 17 of 20
Portability: 10 of 10
Flacon, packaging, presentation: 9 of 10
Total: 86 of 100
I primarily perceive a slightly woody vanilla, no more, no less. A long time ago I had the need to test Labdanum fragrances, and there were many classics (e.g. MPG Ambre Precieux and the Ultime version), modern fine interpretations (e.g. Diors Mitzah), but also very dark, resinous representatives (e.g. SHL O Hira). In the end, I ended up with the first fragrance I tried in this direction, and that's Kilian's Amber Oud. Not complex, not complicated, not extraordinary, but simple: beautiful. And that's allowed to happen, especially if you test yourself from time to time through various obscure scents that are more works of art than wearable. After all these years, I still like it a lot.
My rating:
Joy: 30 of 30
Quality, depth, vitality: 20 of 30
Shelf life: 17 of 20
Portability: 10 of 10
Flacon, packaging, presentation: 9 of 10
Total: 86 of 100
2 Comments
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"If he's too strong..."
... once began a famous claim of a cough drop. And I admit it bluntly: Diaghilev is too strong for me. Like most Rojas it starts very massive, opulent and massive. Diaghilev is certainly one of the most characterful Rojas, but although it gets a bit softer in the course of time and loses its initial bulkiness a bit, there is still an angular note that would most likely be described as "cigarety". Despite the slight sweetness he develops in the base, which makes him a little more tolerable for me, one thing was clear to me: this fragrance would wear me, not me. There is always an animalism recognizable, which seems known to me far away from Malbrums "Tigre du Bengale", and there are masses of Bibergeil contained, therefore I guess also on appropriate doses of it in Diaghilev.
That's why I value it more abstractly because of its extreme complexity and less because it's "beautiful". For me personally, it would therefore be unacceptable. But I can fully understand the hymns of praise that the fragrance regularly experiences.
My rating:
Joy: 5 of 30
Quality, depth, vitality: 30 of 30
Shelf life: 20 of 20
Portability: 4 of 10
Flacon, packaging, presentation: 7 of 10
Total: 66 of 100
That's why I value it more abstractly because of its extreme complexity and less because it's "beautiful". For me personally, it would therefore be unacceptable. But I can fully understand the hymns of praise that the fragrance regularly experiences.
My rating:
Joy: 5 of 30
Quality, depth, vitality: 30 of 30
Shelf life: 20 of 20
Portability: 4 of 10
Flacon, packaging, presentation: 7 of 10
Total: 66 of 100
2 Comments
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Part 65485189 of my tobacco scent search...
In the search for "my" tobacco fragrance I have already tested many (too many?) fragrances, primarily higher quality ones, so I honestly would not have tested Molton Brown at all. But when recently their "Tobacco Absolute" was praised so much here in the forum and I walked right past this fragrance shortly afterwards, it was tested. I'd say light and shadow.
Light because the fragrance is beautifully composed. Shadows because, unfortunately, one notices the low costs. He starts with a very nice lemon, which I had not expected so realistically and of course. However, after about 10 minutes a strange sweetness came through, which unfortunately appears extremely flat and gives my initial enthusiasm a small damper. After this returns, there remains a fragrance that I would describe most likely as Tobacco Vanilla without this (for me) much too penetrating sweetness and spice. A relatively herbaceous, only slightly spicy scent remains.
I could imagine that this is one of the most realistic tobacco scents I've tried so far, because it doesn't need a lot of accessories. I am sure that the formula is very good and the fragrance with higher quality ingredients would be much better. The substance fits in any case.
My rating:
Joy: 15 of 30
Quality, depth, vividness: 5 of 30
Shelf life: 7 of 20
Portability: 10 of 10
Flacon, packaging, presentation: 3 of 10
Total: 40 of 100
Light because the fragrance is beautifully composed. Shadows because, unfortunately, one notices the low costs. He starts with a very nice lemon, which I had not expected so realistically and of course. However, after about 10 minutes a strange sweetness came through, which unfortunately appears extremely flat and gives my initial enthusiasm a small damper. After this returns, there remains a fragrance that I would describe most likely as Tobacco Vanilla without this (for me) much too penetrating sweetness and spice. A relatively herbaceous, only slightly spicy scent remains.
I could imagine that this is one of the most realistic tobacco scents I've tried so far, because it doesn't need a lot of accessories. I am sure that the formula is very good and the fragrance with higher quality ingredients would be much better. The substance fits in any case.
My rating:
Joy: 15 of 30
Quality, depth, vividness: 5 of 30
Shelf life: 7 of 20
Portability: 10 of 10
Flacon, packaging, presentation: 3 of 10
Total: 40 of 100
3 Comments
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Finally a good Roja again...
Wow, my first comment :) Maybe a little history about me or my history with ROJA. I almost consider myself a fan of the first hour and knew the brand before it had any shops in Germany. What exactly made me forget. Anyway, you could buy small 2ml atomizers by email on request, which were then sent to you from England. It must have been at the end of 2013 when I tested the first of them: Scandal pour Homme, in the perfume and EdT versions. I chose the EdT version, which I liked much better, because it had more "air" between the notes and this concentration suited me better to a Fougere
A lot of time passed, and at some point the fragrances were no longer only available in England, but also relatively easily in Germany. Until 2015, for example, I almost liked the Rojas on a massive scale, but afterwards I had to accept bitter disappointments. From fragrances that seemed too simple to mass copies of his own fragrances, etc., to the complete strangeness of his portfolio. - somehow Roja seemed to have lost his magic to me. For me, the mass of new publications was at the expense of the quality and effort that could be seen in the earlier works - whether you liked them or not. The old 100ml bottle Scandal pour Homme stayed (beside a few others) but always and reminded me of the "good old" Roja time.
Until I smelled Harrod's pour homme.
Yeah, there it is again. An incredible finesse in small details that you can pay attention to if you want. "Easy to wear, distinguished and the sheer definition of class and understatement. Wow, he can still do it. Well, something already reminds him of another Roja who came onto the market in 2017 in a blue bottle, but he has more of everything. Simply fabulous, from the top note, which combines a perfectly balanced, extremely realistic fruitiness of oranges with the astringency of Hesperides, to the soft, typically Roja complex base. The fragrance never becomes muddy, it always retains its definition and you can see that a master was at work here. It thickens slightly in the course of time, and together with a light acid that balances the emerging sweetness slightly, it results in a fabulous stock.
My rating:
Joy: 30 / 30
Quality, depth, liveliness: 30 / 30
Shelf life: 15 / 20
Portability: 10 / 10
Flacon, packaging, presentation: 8 / 10
Sum: 93 /100
With this rating I don't have many in my database.
A lot of time passed, and at some point the fragrances were no longer only available in England, but also relatively easily in Germany. Until 2015, for example, I almost liked the Rojas on a massive scale, but afterwards I had to accept bitter disappointments. From fragrances that seemed too simple to mass copies of his own fragrances, etc., to the complete strangeness of his portfolio. - somehow Roja seemed to have lost his magic to me. For me, the mass of new publications was at the expense of the quality and effort that could be seen in the earlier works - whether you liked them or not. The old 100ml bottle Scandal pour Homme stayed (beside a few others) but always and reminded me of the "good old" Roja time.
Until I smelled Harrod's pour homme.
Yeah, there it is again. An incredible finesse in small details that you can pay attention to if you want. "Easy to wear, distinguished and the sheer definition of class and understatement. Wow, he can still do it. Well, something already reminds him of another Roja who came onto the market in 2017 in a blue bottle, but he has more of everything. Simply fabulous, from the top note, which combines a perfectly balanced, extremely realistic fruitiness of oranges with the astringency of Hesperides, to the soft, typically Roja complex base. The fragrance never becomes muddy, it always retains its definition and you can see that a master was at work here. It thickens slightly in the course of time, and together with a light acid that balances the emerging sweetness slightly, it results in a fabulous stock.
My rating:
Joy: 30 / 30
Quality, depth, liveliness: 30 / 30
Shelf life: 15 / 20
Portability: 10 / 10
Flacon, packaging, presentation: 8 / 10
Sum: 93 /100
With this rating I don't have many in my database.
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