Roja Dove Goodman’s

Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue. Source: skyscrapercity.com

Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue. Source: skyscrapercity.com

Smoky vetiver and spiced woods lie at the heart of Goodman’s, Roja Dove‘s creation for the New York luxury department store, Bergdorf Goodman. It’s a pure parfum that ostensibly embodies the luxury and sophistication of the men’s section of the store. I must say, I can’t see it — and I’ve lived in New York (twice) and am very familiar with Bergdorf Goodman. Not only does Goodman’s not evoke either the store or “sensual,” luxurious richness for me, but I find it to be a deeply disappointing release by the standards I have for Roja Dove.

Bergdorf Goodman's men store. Photo by Stephen Siegel at  archinect.com

Bergdorf Goodman’s men store. Photo by Stephen Siegel at archinect.com

Goodman’s was released in 2014, along with a parallel version for the women’s section of the store called Bergdorf’s. Both extraits were originally available only from the store itself, but Roja Dove now offers them on his website along with other exclusives like the UAE fragrance that he created solely for the Emirates. Oddly, the colour of the liquid in the Goodman’s bottle he shows on his website is significantly paler than the one shown by Bergdorf Goodman.

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Maison Francis Kurkdjian A La Rose

Mary Antoinette by Vigee Le Brun, circa 1783. Source: moda.ru

Painting by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun. Source: moda.ru

An homage to roses in a scent inspired by a queen — that’s the story behind A La Rose, the latest release from Francis Kurkdjian. He was inspired by Marie-Antoinette‘s love for roses and by her famous portrait by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun. According to details in Luckyscent and Mr. Kurkdjian’s January 2015 interview with Le Figaro, he used 250 Centifolia roses (May or cabbage roses) in the form of an absolute and 150 Bulgarian Damascena roses to create what he imagined to be Marie-Antoinette’s scent when looking at that portrait. He wanted it to be vision of delicacy that was far from spicy but, rather, as soft as the flower’s velvety petals and evocative of a certain “tendresse” (tenderness). He succeeded.

Source: cirkaj.com

Source: cirkaj.com

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Roja Dove Risqué Pour Femme (Creation-R)

Photographer unknown. Source: Pinterest via tempodadelicadeza.com.br/

Photographer unknown. Source: Pinterest.

A rich chypre with wonderful mossy depths, Risqué is a fragrance where you’d do better to just put the name aside and inhale happily. It is a scent from Roja Dove that is officially categorized (and titled) as being “For Women,” but Risqué (hereinafter just “Risque“) is truly unisex, in my opinion, in addition to being far too classical to really warrant such a dangerous name. But it is lovely, thanks to a complex verdancy that is laced with unexpected hyacinths, fresh chamomile petals, civet, and vetiver, along with the usual floral suspects of rose, jasmine, and ylang-ylang. At times, primarily in the opening hour, it bears a strong similarity to Amouage‘s gorgeous Fate Woman, but Risque preceded Fate by a year and is ultimately its own creature. [UPDATE: At the time this review was written, there was only Risqué for Woman, and no parallel version for men had been created. This review is only for Risque Femme, and the title of the post has been amended to reflect that fact.]

Risque in EDP and Extrait bottles. Source: Fragrantica

Risque in EDP and Extrait bottles. Source: Fragrantica

Risque was released in 2012, but is sold in America under the name Creation-R due to legal trademark reasons. It comes in two forms, an Extrait (or Pure Parfum) and an Eau de Parfum. This review is for the Extrait. On his website, Roja Dove indirectly tries to address the disparity between the name and the classical nature of the scent by saying its surface conformity is symbolic of social restraints and something that hides a wilder, sensual heart:

WARM, DRY, FRESH, SWEET, & LEATHERY
“When I created this I thought of how society tells us how we have to behave, think, and act. So I decided to create a perfume that seemed tailored and disciplined – but as it develops it starts to show its overtly sensual base, which gets warmer, darker and more overt with each breath”. – Roja Dove

TOP: Bergamot
HEART: Chamomile, Hyacinth, Jasmine, Rose, Ylang Ylang
BASE: Cedarwood, Civet, Labdanum, Oakmoss, Patchouli, Vetiver.

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Amouage Sunshine (Woman)

Source: commons.wikimedia.org

Source: commons.wikimedia.org

Generic white flowers, tinged with darkness, before their light is blanketed by a solar eclipse of chemical smokiness. That’s one way to see Sunshine, the latest fragrance from Amouage. Or, as Luca Turin put it in his negative One-Star review for Sunshine, a “Chemical Floral” that you should “Avoid.” The other camp consists of those who think the fragrance represents sunshine, joyous brightness, and happiness. I am not one of their number.

Source: elle.ru

Source: elle.ru

Sunshine is the debut fragrance in Amouage’s new Midnight Flower Collection, and is an eau de parfum that CaFleureBon says was created by Sidonie Lancesseur under the direction of Christopher Chong. It was initially released in limited fashion in 2014, primarily in the Middle East and then later in parts of Europe and Australia. On March 2nd, it became available in America and worldwide.

On its website, Amouage describes Sunshine and its notes as follows:

Sunshine for Woman, a magical moment of joy is like a ray of sunshine smiling upon a bouquet of white floral.

Top Notes: Blackcurrant Liquor, Almond, Davana.
Heart Notes: Osmanthus Absolute, Jasmine, Vanilla, Magnolia.
Base Notes: Cade, Patchouli, Blond Tobacco, Papyrus.

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