I’m not often conflicted and I always try to realize the lines between my personal tastes and what is objectively well-done, but LiTA, by Antonio Gardoni for Bogue, a more temperate, restrained, femininized version of the pretty bowlderizing, over-the-top, wildly in-your-face T-Rex for Zoologist, made that difficult.
LiTa, by Antonio Gradoni for Bogue
I hadn’t planned on writing about Areej Le Doré‘s new, upcoming Grandenia here, but this is such a complex fragrance that I couldn’t do it justice or convey its character and numerous twists properly via simplified text presented as screenshots on Twitter. It’s also a fragrance that, completely unexpectedly, made me think of how Serge Lutens approached white florals several decades ago and his then-revolutionary goal of turning their traditional or quotidian presentations on their head by avoiding Fracas-style, singular floralcy and by playing with dark elements that were traditionally the preserve of “masculine” fragrances. I see the same sort of mission and objective here, albeit taken to extremes.
But this only pertains to one of Grandenia’s many stages. Subsequent twists and turns unexpectedly took me into territory firmly dominated by non-floral, dark, masculine-skewing fragrances like SHL 777’s Oud 777 and Naomi Goodsir’s Bois d’Ascese before moving on again. In essence, Grandenia morphs across a wide spectrum and it’s not easy to explain how it transforms — from a sweet, bright, white floral gardenia bridal bouquet to a sepia-stained, gender-fluid gardenia-jasmine oriental in the same universe as Serge Lutens’ Une Voix Noire before becoming a dark masculine in the style of Bois d’Ascese and Oud 777, then twisting into further unrelated creatures (some with unexpected, unlisted tobacco and booze aromas) and finally ending up similar to War & Peace (I)‘s drydown— on Twitter, even in a 13 screenshots of text. So, let’s begin.
Smoke #6 by Stefan Bonazzi. (Website link embedded within photo.)
Areej Le Doré has just launched its fourth series of fragrances. There are four new parfums: Koh-i-Noor, Malik Al Taif, Oud Luwak, and Baikal Gris. Today, I’ll provide you with information on the scents, their notes, any relevant raw material information or perfume techniques that may have been used, packaging changes, price reductions, the sample situation, shipping changes, and retail information. I’ll include mini reviews for the fragrances and end by briefly covering the new sinking-grade oud incense offering.
Photos: Areej Le Doré. Collage: my own.
Tyrannosaurus Rex marks the pairing of two popular figures in the niche world: Victor Wong‘s Zoologist brand and Antonio Gardoni, the celebrated perfumer. Together, they sought to create a “gargantuan” fragrance that was not only worthy of the T-Rex associations but also one which they specifically wanted to evoke the smoky, dark, hot, and fiery Cretaceous period in which he lived, a time where ferocious beasts ripped apart delicate florals amidst dark woods set alight by smoldering flames.
Zoologist in its regular and special edition packaging. Photos from Zoologist’s website. Collage, my own.