Have you ever been to a Rituals store? Pity! Yes, because entering one of their shops is like visiting a Turkish Bath & Hammam Spa in Marrakech or Istanbul. The soft lights, the display shelves, the relaxing colours, and the smells transport you to the ancestral rituals of Morocco. And so I let this temptation attract me, and I walked around the shop, browsing products to care for the body and perfume the home, until I found myself in front of the exhibitor of the perfume collection, the Iconic Collection as they call it. They display each essence with the only large 50ml size flanked by its colourful box and surrounded by 15ml travel-size mini bottles. That's all? No, there is more. Next to each perfume is a plate describing the olfactory family and three keynotes, and a small glass bell housing a disc of porous material, a sort of ceramic coin. The disc is used to spray the tester and savour the essence. I know that the verb to savour means to enjoy a food or drink by holding it in your mouth to taste it for a long time and make the sensation more pleasant, but the art of savouring the world with your nose is a unique and indescribable experience. I went through all the tags individually, focusing on the ones whose notes sounded good on my strings. Although at least five had caught my attention, only two were love at first sight. I’m talking about Eau d’Orient and Roi d’Orient. Are you curious to know what sensations these fragrances give me? Read on, and I'll try to interpret them. But before I dive into the fragrances, I want you to know that you can buy two travel-size items for just €25, which is perfect for testing before buying.
To some extent, the scent is even darker than
Oriental Essence - Roi d'Orient with aromatic, dry, resinous, spicy, and smoky subtleties. Eau d'Orient opens with a cold spicy pepper note, besides woody and damp grass hints. It is pretty weird, likable and unlikeable, polarising, with prominent gummy and waxy facets. After a blast of boozy note, I get the smell of a lit candle popping up from my skin, or rather that of burnt wax, and the smoke created when it goes out. The “smell of old churches”, that musty yet perfumed scent that is as much a part of Rome’s allure as the city’s ruins. Not the smoke from the incense, but the smoke from the votive candles.
Slowly, a dark floral accord exudes from the heart. It's not the conventional bouquet, but something floral with dewy and smoky overtones. I imagine I am in a decadent garden. The air smells of damp grass in the early evening, during the autumn sunsets, and just before nightfall; around me is a lot of white-edged Swedish ivy with its incense smell. Wow, what beautiful sensations this perfume gives me!
When the fragrance dries, I get a gummy, mushy, and sweet benzoin-like aura. The waxiness is still present, even if it takes a back seat. The smell of wax that I perceive is not that of the wax produced by bees, with its honeyed aroma. Instead, it is more similar to vegetable stearin waxes or paraffin minerals, like most of the candles we find on the market today.
No matter how hard I try, I cannot match this fragrance with another one more famous or known. It is more suited for an evening scent, so lovely, cosy, and perfect in winter.
That's all for now. I liked this gem and can't wait to try the latest fragrance added to the collection,
L'Essentiel.
I base my opinion and review on a travel bottle I have owned since October 2022.
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