These Miscegenic Three: Othello Ikiryō 2018

Lustful darkness, this is the best way to describe Othello. It is one of the latest works from Ikiryo, or better said, from Vincent Dreamhouse. He is the man behind Ikiryo. A multi-talent and a one-man show. Vincent masters a variety of talents. He studied haute couture and is a trained tailor and costume designer. All the costumes visible on his perfume website were made by him, as well as the make-up, hairstyles, background, choreography, and computer animations. He is a writer and creates novels and stories for his fragrances, does the photo series for them, and lovingly handcrafts each packaging. The packaging is almost iconically beautiful to behold. Each bottle and each package is essentially a unique piece and something very personal for the owner. All of his fragrant stories are delivered sealed with a kind of wax seal, which is broken by its new owner. This, I believe, is a very nice ritual that makes the fragrance even more personal.

The word Ikiryo comes from Japanese and is the term for the astral spirit of a living person. An Ikiryo symbolizes the aura or the doppelgänger that every person carries with them and that communicates with other Ikiryos without us being able to hear or know it.

The fragrance
All the fragrance notes in Othello carry the designation "black" at the forefront. Othello is a dark fragrance through and through. It starts with an almost piercing fruity and medicinal presence, which dissipates within seconds. Then it begins to turn dark. The black sloe is the first fragrance note that can be recognized. Initially fruity-fresh, it quickly transforms into a kind of sloe liqueur, accompanied by dark floral notes. In this case, the black dahlia, which reminds me a bit of a slightly sweet orchid with its scent. Othello lingers in this state for quite a while. Then it begins to become spicy and woody.
Black oud in combination with spicy nuances from black pepper gives Othello depth and substance. It should also be mentioned that the oud here merely underscores the woody character and not so much the animalistic one. A warm, resinous black amber ultimately refines Othello and gives it a dark-smoky yet warm facet of bitter-sweet melancholy.

Conclusion
Othello is a romantically obscure fragrance and by no means cheerful and bright in its projection. A perfume that, like its namesake, exudes an alluring melancholy and attraction. He is the dark part of the constellation. The counterpart to this, Desdemona, is the bright part. She is included in the fragrance set along with the "mixing." By the way, all the fragrance notes in Desdemona are kept white. No matter which fragrance you acquire, the two other corresponding fragrances are always included in a smaller rollerball format. So, in a way, you get three fragrances in the set. All can be mixed together or worn individually.

Eccentricity is Vincent Dreamhouse's second name, and God knows, his fragrant stories are eccentric as well. Unusual fragrance notes and artistically bold combinations characterize him. In San Francisco and the rest of America, he is already well-known and highly regarded in the artist scene. By the way, all the female performers on his bottles, packaging, and accompanying photo stories are very well-known burlesque dancers. The performer on the so-called "Pandora Box" of Othello is Vincent Dreamhouse himself as Othello.

"Not fragrances for men, not fragrances for women...but fragrances for a man and fragrances for a woman"
- Vincent Dreamhouse -