A Midsummer Dream Roja Parfums 2016

A walk through an enchanted garden,a story about fauns and bewitched forest beings.A complex masterpiece created to transport the wearer through a summer night dream,through a flora and fauna marriage,through trees covered in moss and orange blossoms.A fresh floral fragrance designed to look and smell just like a Shakespeare poem,a fairytale with no beginning and no end,A Midsummer Dream aims to uncover the unique mythical universe of Master Roja Dove.

Roja Midsummer Dream is the olfactory equivalent of the urge to disappear into a haunted glade and become local folklore or of how your body isn’t a temple, it’s the moss-encrusted altar where primitive rituals once unfolded. But we are a soft, suburban people, and I think this sense of longing is tempered with the fog of nostalgia for something we’ve never possessed –and quite frankly, might not be equipped to handle. So sure, be the cryptids or feral forest witch you wish to see in the world or become one with your inner family of raccoons, but also remember that you don’t actually like the cold very much, and getting your hands dirty isn’t your idea of a good time, and a dark moonless night where the only sound is that of your own frantic breath, and the invisible scurrying of nocturnal creatures would be better spent dreaming indoors under a downy granny quilt. Roja Midsummer Dream is the best of all these worlds– a gentle elven chypre, an ancient amber that hums like skin warmed by forgotten fires, the faint rust of autumnal spice, and the phantom sting of bitter grapefruit in the golden memory of sun-dappled woods. It's like a gentle ghost story of arboreal elegance told under the soft glow of glittering fairy lights, except, unfortunately, the ambient lighting costs four hundred bucks, and the only ghosts you might encounter are the missing funds in your bank account. All this existential exploration, this whispered communion with the primal self, sounds delightful, but I’m afraid I prefer my delights slightly less expensive. These enchantments are best enjoyed in my dreams, where perhaps money grows on moss-covered trees.

When I moved to Japan some time ago, I learned through research that wearing strong perfumes could be considered disrespectful in certain settings. To adapt, I chose two fragrances for my 6 months journey Creed Aventus and this one.

There isn’t a more evocative, happy, and nostalgic fragrance that takes me back to some of my best memories: a summer in Tokyo.

It’s like a magic potion. The top notes open with zesty citrus and the bright resinous touch of elemi, giving it a sparkling, spicy uplifting feel. Then, the heart brings in soft florals, orris, with an earthy edge grounded and elegant, like the gardens of Japan. Finally, the base notes of warm, powdery woods and musk wrap you up in a velvety embrace that lingers beautifully.

It’s an earthy, powdery masterpiece, a true Midsummer dream. Shakespeare said it best The course of true love never did run smooth but this fragrance might just be the exception. And if you’re after compliments, this one’s a « panty dropper ».

I stumbled upon another Roja fragrance: A Midsummer Dream.

I expected a rather banal, generic summer fragrance. And i have received not much more.

The bottle is flawless, nothing unusual for Roja. But the scent. The scent took me by surprise.

An aldehyde-citrus opening. Quite good, Roja knows how to deduct with opening. A moment later, cardamom enters on a resinous base, accompanied by flowers. Something resinuous looms in the background. After a few minutes, iris begins to emerge.

After a while, the whole thing feels slightly incense-like, although incense isn't in the notes. This is due to the pepper combined with cardamom, rhubarb, and vetiver. It leaves a strongly spicy impression, but still fresh.

Overall: Average. There is something dull in it, lacks a spark of life. I expexted more

I would venture to guess about a year ago, I’d stumbled upon this Roja on a YouTube video. At that time, with the price of Rojas, I paid it no mind, aside from wondering if it had anything to do with A Midsummer Nights Dream. I recall wondering that and immediately being transported back to my youth of high school. Given we read this amid several Shakespeare works, but that having been about 30 years ago, I didn’t recall the work itself, though recall how I felt around that time. Somewhat recently,
I found a “unicorn” fragrance in Royal Crown’s Sultan… so much so, I regretted buying a 50 ml, rather than 100 ml. I decided to buy another 50 ml and while that sat in my online cart for a couple days, I again stumbled upon this fragrance on YouTube. I immediately had that reminiscent feeling again and had to learn more.

The feeling that memory gave me was one of warmth, love, feeling the invigorating feeling of being in a forest. In those younger days I was in love with the idea of being in love and spent a lot of time hiking through local forests, so it very well could be that I’d had very loosely connected memories to that time frame rather than the work itself.

After pondering the price at roughly 180 usd for the 100 ml for a couple days I decided to make the purchase. I must admit as the last 4 or so days passed by, having not tested A Midsummer Dream prior, I was a tad worried and began thinking “what if I finally get a fragrance delivered and I just don’t like it… and it’s one I paid nearly 200 bucks for?” Well it arrived yesterday, and those apprehensive fears were absolutely not realized.

I have found my second unicorn fragrance. My immediate thoughts upon spraying this was “wow, this smells exactly how I feel while trying to recall the play, and only being able to recall how I felt, generally, around that time - the warmth, the peace, calm, and invigorating feeling of being in the forest, and smells like the most well blended love ever!” I additionally thought “what the heck am I going to do with all my fragrances now?” - if I am to be honest, wearing this for several hours yesterday, and again today, makes me feel as though I don’t even want to bother with most of the 325 or so fragrances in my collection.

I typically am not much of a fan of fragrances that are on the greener side of the spectrum. I would consider this to be quite green. However, this is absolutely magical and is an absolute masterpiece and within the top 10 or so fragrances I’ve ever smelled. There have been times where I’ve seen and experienced fragrances that have a massive list of notes and while I’ve come across very few fragrances I didn’t like, more times than not, when there are too many notes, the blends can tend to be messy, lackluster, too heavy or not heavy enough on one or several notes. Now I see… or smell… or both when taking into account the lovely bottle - why it is that some praise Roja Dove. This is a magic potion I wish I could swim in. I want to smell like this, I want every scent to smell like this. This is that magical in my opinion. I can’t stop smelling my arms, it is simply the most amazing fragrance and between this and a couple other new purchases, picking fragrances such that I put them all to use is going to be extraordinarily difficult because I’m going to want to wear this every darn day. Bravo, Roja, bravo!