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Elysium
Helpful Review
7
Young Man Of Exceptional Beauty
I bet British house Penhaligon's named this perfume after the myth of the Greeks, rather than the futuristic character Raoul Endymion of Dan Simmons saga "The Hyperion Cantos." Endymion in Greek mythology is a young man of exceptional beauty. According to legend, Endymion was king of Elis, hunter or shepherd: he was the first king of Elis in Greek Peloponnese and founded the kingdom with Thessaly colonists. When Zeus offered him to choose his fate, Endymion chose immortality and youth in eternal sleep. The history of Endymion varies from one legend to another. However, the most famous is that of his love for Selene, the goddess of the Moon. They say that Selene became the lover of this shepherd from Mount Latmos in Caria and visited him every night during her sleep.
Back to our era. What is Penhaligon's Endymion all about? If you're anything like me, the aroma of espresso coffee, especially that of the early morning, stimulates you as you need to wake up. So I like the note of coffee, even in the fragrances. And I have some colognes that incorporate this note in their pyramid. However, notes like rose, leather, or coumarin pair with coffee, but the dyad of lavender and coffee is almost a novelty for me. In Endymion, the dyad creates such a subtle and distinctive nuance on par with that of the lavender and vanilla found in Caron's Pour Un Homme, so excellent and disruptive to me. Endymion is my second blindly purchased Penhaligon scent, after Agarbathi, and I'm not disappointed at all. Anything pleasant and unfamiliar to the nose makes me enthusiastic.
As soon as I took a hit of Endymion, I couldn't think of anything else. The opening blast with its brilliant citrus accord made of sweet and sour mandarin and powdery bergamot stays on its own for a minute or so, soon followed by a delicate sage, mainly with whiffs of grass, adding a subtle green edge. There are hints of black pepper that add to the richness of the scent. Shortly after that, a refined lavender arrives that adds an aromatic undertone reasonably subtly. It is neither a floral nor medicinal lavender, instead of a hay-like lavender note straight from the leaf needles rather than the flower buds.
Let the initial burst tone down, and a greener and gourmand heart unfold. The green darkness comes from geranium leaves, while toasted coffee beans blend with a lavender thing for offering a light gourmand touch. It doesn't enter gourmand territory or become foody. That beautiful accord gets better and better, and I can't get enough. I like how the coffee note intertwines with the lavender in this.
The scent stays deceptively subtle despite its heavier components. The dry-down adds some spiciness, mainly from creamy nutmeg, a delicate resinous aroma, while the citrus aroma of the opening is retreating. Light vetiver with no earthy character signals a shift to a musky and woody phase. A soft, thin suede, everything but rude, with touch amber, leads into the base, and the resins gradually dominate the rest of the development. There's just a kiss of musk on a broad base of talc, nothing like a lipstick but something like talcum powder, roundish and sweetish kind of leathery powder associated with Fabergé's Brut, and overall it's a pretty different juice indeed. It becomes warmer, cuddly, introverted, and homey.
With its excellent barber notes in the opening, Endymion will most likely turn many people off at first because the best part doesn't come until half an hour later when the juice unfolds with body heat. I get moderate sillage, good projection, and seven hours of longevity on my skin. It is an intriguing scent for the hottest spring days and evenings. Endymion is a perfume recommended for men and women, and it is a very sensual aroma. It's deep but not too overwhelming. It lasts all day, and I got a lot of compliments while wearing it. I don't know why this sequence of notes should be like this, but it's extraordinarily sensual. The composition falls between clean laundry and barbershop. Maybe nothing completely innovative, but still modern and elegant.
I based this review on a 100ml bottle I have owned since April 2021.
-Elysium
Top Notes 
Lavender
Bergamot
Sage
Mandarin orange
Heart Notes 
Coffee absolute
Geranium
Base Notes 
Sandalwood
Black pepper
Cardamom
Leather
Musk
Myrrh
Frankincense
Nutmeg
Vetiver
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