Frohlocke

This fragrance carries a hint of dystopia. The beginning is smoky. Smoldering forest floor is accompanied by dry leather and becomes a bit more agreeable over time. Extremely minimalist yet still encompassing and unique. It gives off something untouchable. It best suits monochrome avant-garde fashion with a lot of asymmetry and without gender. One must live and love this scent to wear it. Unfortunately, I only love it, but that's okay.

*Spray* A fresh, wonderfully natural note of freshly squeezed lemons wafts around me. Paired with spicy juniper and cardamom, I am immediately reminded of London Dry Gin flowing into a glass filled with lemons and a crystal-clear ice cube, mixing with them and slowly cooling down. After a while, a bar spoon of rose liqueur joins in, exuding its enchanting aroma for hours. Freshly brewed tonic water forms the final ingredient. It gently quenches the icy cocktail with a hint of woody warmth, providing a rosy-spicy finish.

In the order that the ingredients flow into the flavored long drink, they would also be felt on the tongue or in the perfume on the skin. First, spicy gin and lemon, followed by the rose. The finish is dominated by the enticing bitterness of lemon peel and quinine bark (the base of the tonic water), which can be found in the perfume as a slightly woody base note.

That the fragrance is by Jean-Claude Ellena did not surprise me at all. I only knew that the gardens of Hermès come from his nose. The progression and especially the floral note of Voyage absolutely remind me of Un Jardin sur le Toit. However, due to the spice in the top note and the somewhat woody-bitter base, I find Voyage a bit more masculine and feel much more comfortable in it :)

For me, the fragrance only fits in spring and summer, but during that time it has the potential to be a signature scent. I find the bottle top-notch, and since I bought it in a gift set (which confusingly was cheaper than the bottle alone), I am also pleased to have a tiny 5ml travel splash.

The fragrance lasts forever on me, enveloping me for the first 2 hours and is still noticeable the next morning. The overall impression is world-class for me.

Berlin, Thursday night. Sound from towering speakers, sweat from thousands of pores of dance enthusiasts, smoke from rebellious indoor smokers, and flickering lights in all colors numb the senses. Yet the blurred reality is interrupted by an olfactory shimmer of light, a bright green mist that sweeps through the room and promises a sea of fresh fruit and delicate flowers. The wearer reveals herself through her movements, accompanied by the scent, and later also reveals to me the name of the fragrance. Since then, I can’t help but notice it whenever someone wears this scent. A desire manifests within me to bite into the person, as I find Hermès' rooftop garden so delicious. A bit too feminine for me to wear myself, I bloom all the more when I perceive it once again. Wonderful from spring to late summer and beyond, as far as I’m concerned!

The difference to Nile Garden is, in my opinion, significant. At least from the first impression - unfortunately, I couldn’t compare the two scents over a longer period.

This is my first Oud fragrance. After I had the chance to smell all the scent corks at Harry Lehmann, this one, along with 8 others, made it to the shortlist, and after a few mediocre blending experiments, this Oud was meant to complement my "collection," which until then only consisted of Platinum Egoiste, with a distinctly darker scent.

Scent:
I find Oud to be progressive, very harmonious, and almost light for so much wood and spices. Wearable by all generations, but for me, it’s clearly an evening candidate. I am quite picky, which also explains the size of my collection, but I gladly and confidently wear this one around my neck due to its quality. However, for 9 or 10 points, I miss the extraordinary or that certain something to completely blow me away.

Sillage / Longevity:
I have no idea how far it really reaches, but after 2 sprays (chest, throat), I feel like I’m in an Oud cloud. Even after an hour. After two hours. After 12 hours. This scent lasts on me a true eternity. It practically haunts me! Either my nose is playing tricks on me, or I can still smell a faint hint of Lehmann's Oud even now, freshly showered and 20 hours later.

It must have been around 2009 when I, just a little older than the fragrance itself, set out to finally get myself my first proper scent. The image of the turquoise one seemed too old-fashioned to me, so I headed to the large green department store chain with its similarly endless assortment. I didn't know exactly what I wanted - I just knew it had to fit. It should be quirky, not too mainstream, so BOSS Bottled was out, as a buddy already had that one. That narrowed it down to 999 out of 1000 possibilities.

And then it began. I went, as one does when completely clueless, by name and bottle. "Oh, Pi by Givenchy, cool name, pompous bottle, I do like math," I sprayed briefly, then quickly set it aside. "Gucci, sounds exclusive..." *spray*, "aha... hmm, well, maybe another time."

Damn, a saleswoman spots me: "Can I help you?" - "There's no helping me," my nose replies, completely bewildered by the 20 scents I've already sprayed.

I continue to work my way through the shelves. Dior, Armani, Joop, back to Dior, Calvin Klein - all end up on scent strips, only to be hidden unimpressed somewhere between the shelves because the trash cans are once again too sparsely distributed.

Suddenly, I find myself in the Chanel corner. "Egoiste," I read, "Ha, a perfume for only children, they MUST mean me!" Minimalist bottle. Uncolored. No frills. No curly script. Angular. Masculine. My interest in the two variants was piqued. "Platinum," I read on one, the noblest of all noble metals. Who needs gold when you can have platinum? Quickly searched for a new test strip, ripped the cap off the bottle, *spray*, *sniff*... WOW - something completely novel rose to my nose. Something I couldn't categorize at all. Is it floral? Spicy? Woody? All at once? It was as if I had discovered a completely new color on the color wheel. I was instantly captivated. I received the fragrance for Christmas.

I still can't categorize the scent to this day, and that's exactly what I like about it. My nose is still relatively young, but already accustomed to numerous spirit tastings, and I fancy that I can distinguish a variety of smells. "Spicy-fresh" actually describes it quite well, but I haven't found any real similarity to any other perfume since then. Salespeople to whom I later held the scent while searching for something new and similar were similarly puzzled and surprised by the fragrance. As mentioned by others, it doesn't come on too strong, is overall restrained, yet infinitely elegant and unique. For all those who get bored quickly.