Oriza L. Legrand Empire Des Indes

Posted on June 5, 2022 by Kafkaesque

Oriza L. Legrand‘s recent release, Empire des Indes, is an addictive delight with many faces: spicy floriental; gourmand amber; ambered vanilla; ambered opoponax incense; spicy woody amber; smoky, sweet, spicy resinousness; and a few more. There is even a stage where the fragrance smells like spicy vanilla infused with dark, smoky French Roast coffee on my skin. While Empire des Indes skews a little too sweet on occasion for my personal tastes, I would absolutely wear it for myself and I want to buy a bottle some day soon. I loved it.

Oriza L. Legrand Empire des Indes bottle and packaging. Photo: Oriza

Continue reading →

Areej Le Doré Aquilaria Blossom

Posted on May 29, 2022 by Kafkaesque

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.

Continue reading →