Roja Dove Great Britain

A dominant theme of Leather takes center stage in this creation” — so reads the official description for Great Britain, a luxury parfum from Roja Dove that was released late last year. It’s also supposedly a chypre, according to the company’s classification, and a leather enhanced by labdanum amber and animalic notes like castoreum and civet. The descriptions had led me to anticipate something in the vein of Roja Dove’s Fetish or his fantastic M for Puredistance. My experience turned out to be quite different.

Great Britain via Fragrantica.

Great Britain via Fragrantica.

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Six from La Via Del Profumo

Today, we’ll look at six fragrances from AbdesSalaam Attar of La Via del Profumo in styles ranging from ambered oud to a green fougère, incensey-woody florals, a boozy, chocolate leather oriental, and a salty, vetiver-laden, woody, spicy oriental. They are: Amber Oud, Lake Blossom, African Night, Sensemilla, Cuoio dei Dolci, and Sea Wood. I’ll look at each one in turn, trying to keep things as short and succinct as I can.

AbdesSalaam's logo, based on his own calligraphy. Photo: my own.

AbdesSalaam’s logo, based on his own calligraphy. Photo: my own.

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Tom Ford Vert d’Encens

Source: feelgrafix.com

Source: feelgrafix.com

Tom Ford explores new territory with his Vert d’Encens, transporting you to forest landscapes where mighty pines and fragrant fir trees drop their aromatic pine needles and sweet sap over a leafy greenness. Yet, there is a twist: smoky incense, heliotrope vanilla, and dusty, dark chocolate are layered within, resulting in one of the more interesting and appealing Tom Ford releases in a while. In fact, I found its opening to be so appealing that I pondered buying Vert d’Encens for myself. It’s the first time that a Tom Ford fragrance has tempted me in a number of years.

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Moresque Parfum Al Andalus & Aristoqrati

Moresque fragrances via vk.com.

Moresque fragrances via vk.com.

Moresque Parfum is a relatively new Italian niche brand that was launched in 2015. Inspired by Moorish art, architecture, and the splendour of their dynasties, the company says it wants to imbue Arabic perfumery with “Italian design, fineness and taste,” as well as a “‘Made in Italy’ excellence[.]” Moresque has three different lines, the Black, White, and Art Collections, which are comprised in total of seven fragrances, each in eau de parfum concentration. Three of them also come in matching attar (concentrated perfume oils) strength which Moresque labels as “Esprit de Parfum.” All the fragrances were created by Andrea Thero Casotti.

Today, I’ll look at two of the eau de parfums: Al Andalus from The Black Collection and Aristoqrati from The Art Collection. I confess, I didn’t have high hopes going in because my past experiences with European interpretations of Arabic perfumery hasn’t impressed me much, but I was pleasantly surprised by Al Andalus, a woody spiced composition centered around ginger that bore tobacco-like tonalities, and a nice dose of amber and resins as well. Aristoqrati, though, was a generic disappointment that not only left me cold but so bored that I could barely summon up the interest to sniff my arm.

Source: dubaiprnetwork.com

Source: dubaiprnetwork.com

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