KristinaKii

For my birthday, I decided to spoil myself. Like, really spoil. Probably, even some fragrance lovers like myself could call me crazy. I spent more than €200 on 7,5 ml Roja Amber Aoud Absolue Preciéux. Worth every cent, though.

Honestly, this is one of the most beautiful, mature, and refined scents ever. At least, from what I smelled, of course. I don't mean to overhype it, but I have to say that it is hard to think that such a great fragrance exists at all.

This is rose and oud perfume, with a juicy fig and the deepest, most sensual, and powerful amber. Wearing this perfume is a fragrant journey. Opens with a blast of citruses and then gets darker. One after another, layers unfold. Softly sweetened fig flirts with rose de Mai, and you can feel the spicy warmness of amber coming out and the reserved touch of aoud.

If you compare it to the EDP, the scent itself is very similar. However, the wearing experience is something else because it is in a very concentrated form. When spraying this one, it feels as if I am wrapping myself in some sort of luxurious cashmere. It is so soft and gentle, lends on the skin smoothly, and wearing this, feels almost like a royal ritual. And the performance – well, it is way stronger than the EDP. But it is not about the performance; it is about the feeling it gives.

I honestly did not expect to love it. I do not usually like fresh citrusy fragrances, but this one was a very pleasant surprise to me.

It opens with a mouthwatering blast of grapefruit and blood orange. Somehow, it is done so well, it instantly sparks the feeling of happiness. On the skin, it soon becomes powdery, probably because of rarely used carrot note. It also has a woody accord in the base but never gets too dark and stays nicely fresh.

It is a different kind of freshie, that is very enjoyable. The scent is not worn out at all.

Its performance is also good. Projects quite strongly for at least the first two hours. On the skin, it lasts for around 8 hours.

I would say it is completely unisex. Quite versatile as well. Probably, mostly for the spring or summer, but I enjoy it in early autumn as well.

The beautiful scent opens with a blast of airy freshness but in seconds it starts to show its character. Soon enough the oud starts appearing but it never dominates everything else. You just feel it is here.

This fragrance is very strong on ambergris, so for some, it might be a little challenging. It is animalic, but not fecal though. The perfume is very complex and so much is going on here. There is a truffle note listed, together with some white flowers. To me, it smells a lot like a chamomille, and it gets a little brightness to the scent. While sniffing the wrist, sometimes I grab some smokiness, so it doesn't let the flowers take the mainline and make the scent too sweet. This perfume also has a little aquatic quality, slightly salty. It helps to keep the freshness in here, and it is so different than any other aquatic fragrances I've ever smelled.

Talking about the performance, the scent is super strong. A couple of sprays are more than enough, and it lasts for hours. But one thing is that it never gets boring. Smelling this perfume is a journey, and every time you can get something different, find something new. This is true art in a bottle.

Is this my favorite from the house? No, I wouldn't say that, even though it is definitely amazing and a great experience to have.

Douce Insomnie fits very nicely for the autumn mood when it rains all day, and I just want my coffee and a good book.

It is a floral gourmand scent. Beautiful white flowers (and you know I love them) mix with the coffee note. It is slightly lactonic, and at times it smells almost just like my sweetened cappuccino. The base is a little powdery, and the vanilla with sandalwood makes the scent creamy. Like a perfect warm drink.

To me, this perfume reminds me of Black Opium a little bit, so if you are on the team Black Opium, there is a big chance you would enjoy this scent.

It lasts a decent amount of time on the skin and stays beautifully on clothes or hair (I know, one should not perfume the hair, but a few drops accidentally touched it, and I could smell the playful hints of this scent long after it was gone off my skin).

I wanted to try it for too long. Finally, last month, I bought a sample set of the house, and I was over the moon at least having a chance to get my nose on it.

I have to tell you, I loved every single perfume from the collection. All of them are very unique, deep, creative, and take me to places. That is why I want to tell you about them separately.

deadofnight was my first sniff, and it proved to me one more time: never test perfumes on the paper. I know we don’t have enough skin to try many fragrances on at once, but the blotters may ruin the scent for you forever.

I tested this perfume on paper, and it was super oudy animalic. And it stayed on the paper this way. I usually like oud, but this one, I thought, will be too challenging for me to wear. So I was dragging my feet preparing for full wear.

And I am so happy I finally sprayed it on myself.

Yes, the opening is a little challenging. Strong, dark oud bites and stuns. But it takes just a few minutes until it becomes softer as if I trained it. I start smelling light flowers, as if in the early morning when they are still wet from the dew.

I know that dead of night is midnight, but to me, this scent is mostly about the minutes before dawn. They say that it is always darkest before dawn, right? And so, the perfume opens in a very dark way. And then it gets brighter and brighter, as the dawn breaks.

The base is about stunning vanilla with some musk and incenses. There are amber and sandalwood listed as well but I don’t pick them much. Of course, the oud leaves its traces here and there, as long as the scent is alive on my skin. But it is not so angry, and not so challenging as I first thought.