New Releases: Areej Le Doré Russian Musk, Russian Oud, Indolis, Walimah & Walimah Attar (+Mini Reviews)

Areej Le Doré and Russian Adam have launched a new series of fragrances, including the long-anticipated upgraded version of his celebrated Siberian Musk. There are five fragrances in total, if one counts the concentrated attar version of one of them as a separate entity which, in my opinion, it really is. The five releases are: Russian Musk, Walimah Parfum, Walimah Attar, Russian Oud, and Indolis. Today, I’ll give you the basic run-down on launch, the scents, their notes, the sample situation, packaging upgrades, and even include mini reviews or pre-reviews for some of the fragrances.

Collage: my own. Photo source: Russian Adam.

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New Releases: Areej Le Doré Atlantic Ambergris, Inverno Russo, Oud Picante & Flux de Fleur

I don’t typically post about new or upcoming launches, but the fantastic debut collection from Areej Le Doré, the limited 100-bottle quantities for the trio, and the speed with which they sold out made me decide to make an exception to my usual rule. This is a brand where the particular circumstances make it worth having advance notice to order samples, having some time to spend getting to know the fragrances, and then deciding if one wants a bottle. Plus, I was once chastised for covering a fantastic Areej Le Doré fragrance soon after it sold out, albeit for completely understandable reasons because it’s frustrating to hear about great scents that come in limited quantities, but I’m not going to make that mistake again, so I’m telling all of you about their launch before I write even a word about them in an actual review.

Collage: my own. Original photos: Areej Le Doré and Russian Adam.

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Major Changes at Serge Lutens

As many of you are undoubtedly aware by now, major changes are sweeping over Serge Lutens. They extend beyond changes to the mere look of bottles or their pricing and entail a whole reshuffling and revamping of the many lines or collections within the brand, thereby signifying a new marketing and business approach by Shiseido which took over the full management of the Serge Lutens brand a year ago. Many of you have already read the news of the specific changes elsewhere, but not everyone follows the same perfume sites or groups, so I thought it was worth a post here on Kafkaesque so that everyone had the chance to buy any old favourites whilst they could before the higher prices kick in.

At the end of this article, I’ll share some thoughts about the possible larger meaning of all this, why I think Shiseido differs from other companies (like L’Oreal or LVHM) that have taken control of perfume houses, why the nature of Shiseido’s relationship with Lutens might be cause for cautious optimism, and, finally, which Lutens fragrances have, in my opinion, have already undergone reformulation prior to the new bottling.

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