Risqué pour Homme is a great, unique, very finely planned, and perfectly balanced fragrance journey. Risqué starts as a sleek, very classic, almost formally strict chypre scent, evolving into a true floral dandy, a seductive rogue with some unexpected facets, before finally tasting the lusts and sweet vices of the Roja fetish in its base, allowing its frivolous fantasies to run wild.
The top note of Risqué is distinctly citrus-fresh. I smell a strong summer-fresh lemon, a bit of Mediterranean, fruity bergamot, and a rather warm, green-spicy note. Quickly, lavender joins in. The lavender is herbal, green, spicy, and a bit delightfully bitter.
As the citrus freshness fades and darkens a bit, Risqué reminds me of summer-warm, dry, green shrubs growing near the coast in southern France, where one can indulge in youthful coquetry after bathing in the sea. This shrub note slightly reminds me of the bush note in Sous le Vent.
After a while, warm, bright, slightly green cedarwood joins in, rounding off the fragrance pleasantly woody. Up to this point in the fragrance's development, Risqué is a classic, sleek chypre scent for the distinguished gentleman of the old school. One could describe Risqué up to this point as a more masculine, slimmer version of Diaghilev.
Then, for the first time, Risqué changes its character. The formal, almost strict gentleman transforms into a London dandy with a rose in the lapel of his velvet jacket, not averse to reckless grace and a hint of regret. Risqué takes on an elegant, masculine-floral character. Geranium, medium red, fresh and not really dark and profound, and jasmine, white-yellowish, minimally narcotic, spreading a certain 80s groove.
However, Risqué is a true dandy, capable of surprising with unexpected facets. For in the background, a carrot note makes itself known. These are freshly pulled, washed with cold water, orange carrots. This note, though less backgrounded, can also be found in Vetiver pour Homme by Roja. I find this somewhat mischievous, background carrot note immensely beautiful, invigorating, and inspiring.
But Risqué is a truly seductive rogue and can surprise with another facet. For suddenly, a certain seductive sweetness can be discerned. This comes out of nowhere and is suddenly there with all its charm. Peach. Not a whole, full peach note, just the fruity, womanly sweet essence of very ripe peach has been extracted. Surprising and fascinating, yet in no way disturbing the dandyish heart note.
While the dandyish-floral heart is still in bloom, incense slowly makes itself known from the depths. There are some airy little clouds of incense, similar to those in United Arab Emirates by Roja. The incense is cool, black, distinctly dry, and smoky-woody. At the same time, a cardamom note emerges, green, aromatic, fresh, and slightly spicy. Incense and cardamom form a kind of "guardrail" in the further development of the fragrance, within which the following notes glide and pass by.
For the character of Risqué changes once again. Risqué moves towards Vetiver pour Homme by Roja, although the vetiver note is less dominant and defining. Warm oakmoss, somewhat greener and less lichen-like than in Roja's vetiver scent, rich green, masculine vetiver with a leathery facet, as well as bright and warm cedarwood. A pinch of invigorating Roja pepper adds an appealing spiciness.
Towards the base, Risqué changes its character one last time. The dandy now lets his fantasies run wild. Having started as a conservative chypre scent, then becoming a mischievous dandy, Risqué now indulges in its somewhat frivolous desires and cougar-like vices. For Risqué develops towards Fetish pour Homme by Roja. While Fetish is indeed more lustful and leathery, the kinship is clearly detectable.
In the base, Risqué is resinous and warm-spicy with sweet facets. Tonka beans, warm and powdery, as found in Roja's orientals, resinous-ambery and erotic labdanum, slightly animalistic like the glowing female skin of desire. And myrrh, warm and spicy (not sharp or morose like Goutal's Myrrhe). The base differs from Fetish pour Homme in that Risqué retains a chypre-greenish nuance, is not softened by musk, and the hot and wild lustfulness of Fetish is somewhat toned down here.
At this point, I would also like to make a brief reference to the marketing materials from Roja Parfums regarding the packaging of his fragrances. Roja Dove writes that each bottle is as unique as each of his scents. The bottle, made of specially transparent glass, is crafted in France by angelic virgins. The "decoration of pure gold," presumably referring to the side labeling of the bottle, is applied by hand in England (and not in Scotland or even Wales) "in a lengthy," likely interrupted by many tea breaks, "process." The cap is not merely gilded; no, to create the cap, Hephaestus "forges gold particles into metal."
The cap is adorned with fourteen Swarovski crystals, which are placed "by hand in a five-day process" by the Swarovski family in its 15th generation - that’s almost 3 stones per day. The front of each bottle is decorated with a "gold labeling," which is also made in England and is somewhat crookedly applied by hand - very much English. Each bottle is nestled in a handmade box, crafted in England by "award-winning artisans" (Box Oscar? Nobel Prize in Boxology?) "using the highest quality paper types," some of which are "exclusively used for Roja Parfums."
Risqué pour Homme is a very interesting, complex, finely woven, densely interlaced fragrance that surprisingly and excitingly changes its character multiple times. A very finely planned and perfectly balanced fragrance journey from the formal chypre scent to the multifaceted floral dandy, who lets his lascivious fantasies run wild in the drydown.
Ultimately, it was undoubtedly the mysterious, exclusively used paper types by Roja that convinced me to make the purchase, which award-winning English artisans stick around the French-English bottle.
Top Notes 
Lavender
Lemon
Litsea cubeba
Bergamot
Heart Notes 
Peach
Jasmine
Geranium
Base Notes 
Frankincense
Cedarwood
Labdanum
Oakmoss
Pink pepper
Vetiver
Cardamom
Carrot seed
Myrrh
Tonka bean
BertolucciK
BeOrtega
Rieke2021
Achilles
Invein
Yatagan
Cardamon
BlackbirdHH
Jusch1995
StOber
