Category Archives: Perfume Review

Areej Le Doré Aquilaria Blossom

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Aquilaria Blossom is a collaboration between two of the top masters of oud fragrances and oud distillation, Russian Adam of Areej Le Doré (“ALD”) and Taha Syed of Agar Aura. It is a much lighter, more resinous, less oud-y, more amber-scentric fragrance (on my skin) than many of the things that I’ve tried from either brilliant auteur. That makes it a more approachable, easy-to-wear, and versatile scent in many ways, even if it comes across as more simplistic, linear, and less operatic in character on an olfactory level. I enjoyed it, particularly during its cozy, snuggalicious drydown phase.

Agar Aura and Areej Le Dore Aquilaria Blossom in the 30 ml and 10 ml bottles. Photo: Russian Adam.

Areej Le Dore & Agar Aura Aquilaria Blossom 30 ml bottle. Photo: Russian Adam.

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Ensar Oud Santal Sultan (Parfum)

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The original Santal Sultan oil stole my heart and was my Holy Grail sandalwood scent. Heck, as far as I was concerned, it was THE Unicorn sandalwood that nothing else came close to in terms of notes, smell, opulence, smoothness, or quality.

My total adoration of Ensar’s Santal Sultan oil was no small thing; a long-time reader teasingly called me a “Sandalwood Snob” almost a decade ago and that moniker is so true that I adopted the name for myself. (I’m still waiting on those “Sandalwood Snob” t-shirts that were promised to me, “Hajasuuri.”) Whether it was an Amouage santal attar or something from Tom Ford, Rising Phoenix, or Killian, nothing was the perfect fit for my personal tastes or impressed me much.

Nothing until Ensar Oud’s (original) Santal Sultan oil.

And now he’s made a sprayable pure parfum version of it!

Ensar Oud Eo Santal Sultan parfum. Photo: my own.

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Agar Aura Al-Jazzab

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Roses and oud are a combination tried a million-fold before, but Agar Aura sought to surpass all prior standards with Al-Jazzab, an extrait described as having even more indulgent, extravagant, wildly sumptuous roses than even Layali, his parfum that stunned me blind despite my not being keen on roses in perfumery.

Arctic volcanic eruption in Iceland by the phenomenal “Garðar Ólafs Photography,” one of my fav. landscape photographers. (Link to his FB account embedded within photo, but he’s also on Twitter where he offers NFTs of his photos.)

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Chanel Le Lion (Les Exclusifs)

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Le Lion de Chanel is the latest addition to Chanel‘s high-end Exclusifs collection and a fragrance that I loved from the start, so much so that I bought the largest bottle possible soon after my second test. Today, I’ll share a broad scent overview of Le Lion, macro and micro olfactory descriptions, and scent comparisons to other fragrances.

Le Lion de Chanel. Photo: my own.

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