Amouage: Rose Aqor, Oud Ulya & Vanilla Barka Attars

Rose Aqor, Oud Ulya, and Vanilla Barka are three of six new attars that Amouage has launched recently in an attempt to straddle the richness, glory, popularity, and complexity of its old legends and the increasingly draconian restrictions placed on perfumery in the eight or so years since IFRA forced Amouage to retire its original olfactory beauties. Do the new additions live up to the greatness of old? No. Do they come across as real, authentic attars? Also no, in my opinion. Are they terrible? Well, it depends on which ones you try and your personal tastes. Are they worth the money in question? That answer, like most things involving perfumery, cannot be anything but purely subjective and individual, but I will tell you that I personally have a lot of issues with these new “attars.”

Amouage attars via Amouage’s booklet on them. Photo of the photo: my own.

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Dior Vanilla Diorama (La Collection Privée)

We’ll kick off a series of Dior Privée reviews with Vanilla Diorama, my favourite out of the five relatively recent releases that I’ve tried. Dior rebranded its elite, quasi-niche line in 2018 as “Maison Christian Dior,” discontinued a number of popular entries, and debuted a number of new creations that, I’d argue, evince a new olfactory and stylistic aesthetic. While I pondering whether to do an overview post with my thoughts on Dior’s new look (pun intended), let’s start things by looking at Vanilla Diorama.

Dior Vanilla Diorama. Photo: Dior

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Rising Phoenix Perfumery: Musk Rose, Sicilian Vanilla, Amber Oud & Yeti Ambergris Attars

Source: Rising Phoenix Perfumery, Etsy.

Today, I wanted to take a quick look at four attars, Musk Rose, Sicilian Vanilla, Phoenix Amber Oud, and Yeti Ambergris, from the American indie brand, The Rising Phoenix Perfumery. Each one has something appealing or interesting about it. Musk Rose is a chypre-oriental-musk that was chosen as a finalist at the 2016 Art & Olfaction Awards. It layers several complex attar blends over a truly lovely rose bouquet that blew me away, and I’m saying that as someone with well-known rose issues. Sicilian Vanilla is a delectable, perfectly balanced gourmand-oriental centered on beautifully smoked, oak-barreled Bourbon vanilla with tobacco, singed woods, and nuances of black tea and autumn bonfires. It’s bound to be a hit with anyone who ever wanted a rich, long-lasting, heavy version of Aftelier‘s Vanilla Smoke or a good vanilla-tobacco fragrance. Phoenix Amber Oud attar would appeal to fans of Profumum’s cult classic, Ambra Aurea, thanks to its dark, chewy, mixed amber accord infused with smoke and oud. Finally, Yeti Ambergris attar takes vintage Mysore sandalwood and combines it with a famous piece of ambergris that was featured in the book, Floating Gold.

Collage: my own.

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Atelier des Ors Iris Fauve & Lune Feline

Today, we’ll look at two fragrances from Atelier des Ors, its upcoming, new Iris Fauve, and one of the fragrances it debuted last year, Lune Feline. The first is a floral woody musk centered on iris; the second is an intensely spiced and rather delectable vanilla oriental with a strong gourmand streak. Both fragrances are eau de parfums that were created by Marie Salamagne under the artistic direction of Jean-Philippe Clermont, Atelier des Ors’ founder. So, let’s get straight to it.

Iris Fauve & Lune Feline. Collage: my own. Original Photos: Atelier des Ors.

Iris Fauve & Lune Feline. Collage: my own. Original Photos: Atelier des Ors.

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