Drseid

*Note: This is a review of the 2012 version of Embers.

Embers opens with a dash of benzoin enhanced moderately sweet, smooth vanilla before gradually transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart, it stays highly linear as the vanilla remains, now joined by faint dull rose and a warm spiced woody-amber accord. During the late dry-down the linearity continues, as the rose vacates, leaving the diminished though still remaining vanilla to couple with the warm spiced woody amber accord through the finish. Projection is above average and longevity average at around 8 hours on skin.

Well, I knew it had to eventually happen... Even the strongest perfumers and/or houses with enough releases have to have a couple that really don't impress, and finally I have sniffed one from TRNP. Embers (2012) is a relatively simplistic warm spiced woody amber perfume at its core. The spice is blended enough to make picking out individual notes difficult, but if the result is as mundane as found here, it really doesn't matter and I gave up trying. While Mysore sandalwood is found in the official note list (at a 7.5% concentration, no less), I'll be darned if I sniffed any. Really the vanilla and spiced woody amber accord are the stars here, and they really are pretty much all there is to it. The perfume actually *does* smell good, but spiced woody-amber perfumes are so abundant that one ponders why they should purchase yet another. The bottom line is the $220 per 30ml bottle Embers is a pleasant but unimpressive addition to the all too crowded woody-amber field, earning a "good" 3 stars out of 5 rating, but an avoid recommendation unless you are planning on layering it with a real Mysore sandalwood soliflore perfume like Mysore Santal by Ethos Grooming Essentials (which I tried doing briefly and enjoyed).

African Leather goes on with a very brief dash of bergamot citrus, with smooth cardamom and cumin warm spice as the focus with just a hint of underlying barnyard oud rising from the base detectable before transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the subtle oud enhanced warm, soft cardamom spice remains in full-force with the cumin remaining early but fading and ultimately replaced as co-star, as soft aromatic woody patchouli and dulled fruit-like floral geranium meld with the cardamom creating an overall focal accord with supporting soft suede-like leather detectable after a couple hours. During the late dry-down the supple leather takes the fore, adding a slightly powdery vanilla-like facet as the warm spice and geranium finally vacate, leaving remnants of the patchouli to add support through the finish. Projection is excellent and longevity outstanding at nearly 24 hours on skin.

African Leather has been on the market for over a handful of years now and I confess it wasn't on my radar when released at all. In fact I probably would have never sought it out believing it to be "just another overpriced niche leather offering" had I not gone to my local perfume shop and had them spray it on a card for me, unsolicited. What I sniffed that day on the card immediately showed there was more to the composition than leather. As a matter of fact, the thing that stood out on the card was an amazing smelling soft, aromatic woody patchouli not wholly unlike the one used in the spectacular Javanese Patchouli by Zegna. Further investigation on skin was necessary, and here we are...

On skin that fabulous smelling woody patchouli is still there, but it meshes with some pretty dense warm cardamom spice and what can best be described as almost "fruity" geranium. The geranium is very different smelling than the normal "green" presentation of the ingredient, with this stuff presenting more warm, smooth and deep to match the spice and woods perfectly. As an aside, it took a few wearings before the officially listed oud could easily be detected... Once I honed in on it (as it is really used sparsely, more as a woody binder to the patchouli and warm spice) it is indeed there and works in subtle support as intended. Those seeking an oud forward perfume should continue past African Leather, as oud is definitely not the focus and detecting it may slip past even the most sensitive of noses with only passing exposure. Speaking of slipping past the wearer with only passing exposure, at first I thought "Where's the Leather?" when wearing the perfume the first time. The soft leather really is faint at best until the wearer gets to the latter part of the heart where it becomes more detectable as support, then during the late dry-down when it is the focal note, showing why it is included in the perfume's name. I don't know if the perfume really conjures up "African Leather" in my mind, but I never was much for perfume imagery anyway - all I can say is the composition smells damn good to me! The bottom line is the $300 per 75ml bottle African Leather may puzzle many early about how what they are smelling fits in with the perfume name, but the perfumer successfully composes a warm spicy/woody concoction early before the "big leather reveal" late, earning it an "excellent" 4 stars out of 5 rating and a strong recommendation to warm spice and supple leather lovers in particular.

Mogra opens with deep, smooth mossy-green lime infused oakmoss as the star with a tinge of tonka bean derived sweetness and yellow-floral non-powdery ylang-ylang support before gradually transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the ylang-ylang infused oakmoss derived green nature remains, adding white floral slightly indolic jasmine to the mix, gradually ceding the focus to moderately aromatic lavender and jasmine-like frangipani and tonka sweetened relatively dry sandalwood rising from the base. During the late dry-down the perfume sheds any remaining greens to leave the remnants of the floral laced aromatic woods to soften and gradually fade through the finish. Projection is very good and longevity average at 7-8 hours on skin.

As my exploration of the TRNP house continues, this week the random sample picked for multiple wearings on skin was Mogra. The thing that captures the wearer's attention early is the considerably strong oakmoss presence. This oakmoss presentation is different than what many 80s powerhouse users may expect, however, as it is softened considerably by the use of what amounts to a candied natural lime accord and multi-colored florals. The lime, mild sweetness and florals all meld perfectly with the oakmoss to reveal a gorgeous green accord that one might find in some early fougere classics. That said, the perfume shifts gears about half way through the heart phase, with the green aspect gradually vacating, allowing the composition to unveil an equally appealing floral woody accord, with tonka bean in the base still providing a hint of sweetness without ever going over-the-top. If there was anything I would have liked improved (apart from my not detecting any of the officially listed three kinds of real Oud) it is the perfume's ho-hum longevity, but as the composition is all-natural I guess that is just par for the course. The bottom line is the $230 per 30ml bottle Mogra is another fine shape-shifting example of what all-natural perfumery is capable of in the hands of a talented perfumer, earning a "very good" to "excellent" 3.5 to 4 stars out of 5 rating and a solid recommendation in particular to lovers of classically structured fougeres.

Prayer goes on with stark coniferous green pine and slightly sharp dry woody cedar before quickly transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the pine vacates, leaving the slightly sharp cedar to now pair with woody frankincense and dry sandalwood rising from the base. During the late dry-down remnants of the cedar, sandalwood and frankincense remain as the composition stays highly linear through the finish, with the dry sandalwood now the sole focus, and the cedar and frankincense providing late support. Projection is very good to excellent, as is longevity at 13-15 hours on skin.

Samples were all out when I went on the hunt to try other incense related compositions from TRNP after being so highly impressed by the first perfume in the incense series I sampled (then bought) - Sanctum, so I took a divine chance on Prayer with a blind buy of a full bottle. Now having worn the perfume several times I can say there is no doubt that like Sanctum, the very different smelling Prayer is another successful composition by natural perfumer Teone Reinthal. It would have been quite the buy indeed had Prayer matched or exceeded Sanctum's surprise success in just about every area save performance metrics, but while Prayer significantly improves on the performance, it lacks the amazing journey Sanctum provides the wearer, instead staying highly linear from nearly start-to-finish, with the pine being the sole short-lived detectable ingredient. When the pine vacates, the perfume despite its relatively lengthy list of published notes is all about natural smelling dry cedar and sandalwood, and woody radiant frankincense, with the three swapping places as focus as time passes. Pretty much about ten minutes in on skin you know what to expect for the rest of the perfume's lengthy but minimal development. Luckily the three key focal notes are all handled extremely well, and in perfect proportions throughout, still leaving the minimalist linear perfume as a successful effort. The bottom line is the $165 per 30ml bottle Prayer may lack the amazing ever-changing journey of its sister incense scent Sanctum, but the "very good" to "excellent" 3.5 to 4 stars out of 5 rated perfume executes its minimalist, linear development extremely well with stellar ingredient quality, earning a solid recommendation to fans of woody incense in particular.

Reflection 45 Man opens with a camphorous lavender and pine-like juniper tandem with very faint underlying bitter-orange neroli support before gradually transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters it early heart the camphorous lavender remains, now joined by musky aromatic angelica and astringent myrrh as co-stars, with dry sandalwood rising from the base in support. During the late dry-down the perfume eschews most of its earlier aromatics, leaving remnants of the dry sandalwood to meld with mild cedar as the new focal duo, with sanitized patchouli support through the finish. Projection is excellent to outstanding, and longevity outstanding at around 20 hours on skin.

Amouage has been all over the map in recent years, with most of its recently prolific output frankly disappointing. Gone are the days where brilliant offerings like Dia Man and Jubilation XXV (not to mention sublime attars) were the types of perfumes one could look forward to when new releases were gradually announced. That said, one of the early days' weakest offerings was Reflection Man. Of all the compositions for Amouage to slightly re-imagine with an extrait concentration it would have probably been near the bottom of my list of wants (or lack thereof as the case may be). Alas, Amouage decided on churning out Reflection 45 Man. While the choice of perfume is unfortunate, I hoped going in to be pleasantly surprised... Now having worn Reflection 45 a few times, I can honestly say that the re-imagining of the previously fresh and pleasant smelling, but wholly forgettable original perfume does add in some wrinkles to the boring formula to distinguish the new release from its predecessor like the focal camphorous lavender and astringent myrrh, but the fresh overall character of the former release still is at "45's" core. Now, the composition is a bit less pleasant smelling, but equally "just good enough" to make the grade and again unimpressive (though admittedly the late woody dry-down smells quite nice). The bottom line is the $500 per 100ml extrait bottle Reflection 45 Man adds a few new wrinkles to the original's benign formula while ratcheting up performance metrics, but alas, like the prior release that kind of smelled good but never merited buying or wearing ever again, "45" gives a similar indifferent feeling until the all too late finish, earning an above average 2.5 to 3 stars out of 5 rating and a neutral recommendation to all except fans of the former release that have an extra $500 to burn.