Melonenwelle

This fragrance simply deserves a review again, because it is one that has truly blown me away in a long time and it just keeps getting better.

For me, you could perhaps see it as Ghalia, maybe also as Rose-Oud, but the scent is much more complex than that.

It starts off slightly sweet due to the mimosa, but then immediately shows smoky notes that come from Hojari frankincense, as far as I know. Along with that, this dark yet light Pontianak oud comes to the forefront right away. All of this is wonderfully supported by the amber, allowing the individual notes to shine through time and again.

Over time, a rather light rose, which does not stand too prominently in the foreground, joins in, and the musk clearly emphasizes it for me.

Later on, the cypress becomes more and more apparent for me, the light sweetness is still present and creates a wonderful interplay with the oud.

Furthermore, I would claim that the fragrance also has a pleasant spiciness. None of the notes feel overloaded; everything is perfectly balanced, as I have only smelled in a few fragrances.
I suspect that every time I spray the fragrance, something new comes to mind; these are the first impressions after wearing it three times.

Thanks to this wonderful collaboration and finally a fragrance that does not just disappear into the monotony like with other artisan brands!

To get straight to the point. Before I ordered this Fiona, I only knew the first version of the original Fionas. I liked it a lot, but it was a bit too stinky-animalic for me in some places, which I mainly attributed to the skunk and castoreum note.

When I saw this version, I knew immediately that I had to have it. So I wrote to James and asked what was possible. I wanted to focus mainly on the musk and ambergris, with civet slightly in the background.

A slight disappointment as he said that more ambergris wouldn't be worthwhile here, as the whole floral notes would overpower it. So I relied on his expertise and concentrated heavily on the musk.

Now to the scent:
It arrived, and what can I say? I was immediately in love with this super sweet yet very noticeable animalic quality. No longer stinky but slightly cool and indeed strongly musk-heavy, but not a pungent musk.
In addition, there are slightly sweet flowers, especially frangipani for me, underlined by tobacco. Simply stunning, and rarely do scents convince me like this.
In the drydown, after about 6-8 hours, the musk tincture remains, which then lasts another 6 hours for me.

If you like Fiona and know which animalic notes you want to highlight more and which can be toned down, then I can only highly recommend this scent; for me, it is truly something special!

To get straight to the point. Yes, for me, this is so far the best Thai Oud I have ever smelled and yes, also the best Oud in general. But now let's talk about this truly wonderful Oud.

My nose can clearly identify it as coming from Thailand. More specifically, it is Wild Oud from the Satun region, which is located far in the south of Thailand and almost borders Malaysia.

The oil starts off sweet, slightly vanilla-like, with a somewhat sticky-resinous quality. The sweetness is soon replaced by light fruity notes, and more resinous notes begin to spread. The Oud becomes lighter, and a slightly mineral aspect emerges. As if the tree had inhaled a lot of ocean air, which now comes to the surface. Beautiful and so very, very rarely smelled.

As this lessens, one can notice minimal smoky notes that have probably been present from the beginning but are so wonderfully woven in that they give the fragrance more depth, which I noticed around the third wearing. The fruity note remains, and the resinous Oud stays as well. It melts on the skin throughout the entire duration and remains very light due to the mineral-oceanic notes. Hard to understand, but somehow it describes the oil perfectly.

If you are into barnyard, dark, smoky, or even leathery Oud, this is not the right place for you. However, there is an Oud oil that is very popular here, priced similarly, and also comes from Thailand.
"Oud Yusuf (Perfume Oil) | Ensar Oud / Oriscent".
Well, what can I say? I first owned the Ensar and loved it. It is a great Oud oil (was). Now, when I compare it to the "Satun 2019 | The Rising Phoenix Perfumery," it feels like a shadow that has already faded. There are worlds between these oils for me, and I must say that since then, I see the Yusuf completely differently and find it way too expensive for what it offers. Fewer facets, less depth, less complexity, and simply much less character. If you love the Yusuf, then get this Oud. Satun is, for me, the Champions League among Thai Oud oils.

Overall, the test from Rising Phoenix has shown me a new world. It has shown that the big houses are not necessarily the best, and there are smaller ones that have impressive quality for a better price than the big ones. I must honestly admit that I am surprised at how little attention this house receives and I am extremely happy that I decided to test a few oils!

Recently, I have become increasingly fascinated by the scent note of jasmine combined with oud, and one thing led to another, so I ordered "Oud de Grand | Feel Oud," "BD | Mallo," and also "Huaxia | Elixir Attar" to try. All of them head in a similar direction yet are so different that I decided to write a review.

The Huaxia starts with a lot of neroli, slightly sweet and gum-like, but that is really in the background. It opens quite spicy with pepper, and over time it becomes increasingly floral due to the jasmine. This jasmine is floral, minimally indolic, and for me, it already has a slightly wilted quality in my mind, which is just my impression. The oud gives the fragrance a pleasant depth, but it is never in the foreground. When I get close to the scent, it always lightly tickles my nose. Ultimately, I would describe it as a floral, slightly sweet oriental. Very wearable, which is not always the case for jasmine.

Next came the Oud de Grand for testing. Here, I expected more oud. However, that is not the case at all. It opens very gum-like, but that fades after 15 minutes. Then the jasmine slowly reveals its more indolic side; it is significantly less floral than in the "Huaxia | Elixir Attar," which, however, appears more floral due to additional floral notes. The Oud de Grand remains pleasant for 2-3 hours without the Thai oud being noticeable. This only becomes apparent towards the end, unfortunately for me, only at the end. More fruity Thai oud would have benefited the fragrance in my opinion, which is why it is generally a bit weaker than the "Huaxia | Elixir Attar" for me, as there is simply too little depth present.

Lastly, there is the "BD | Mallo." I expected animalic jasmine. Is it animalic? Yes. It is not as strong as expected; my girlfriend sees it quite differently. She perceived the animalic aspect quite strongly. Additionally, there is a beautifully floral jasmine here, with very little indole for me. It clearly differs from the other two. The listed oud is also only used for depth and does not take center stage.

Overall, I must say that the fragrances wonderfully showcase the different facets of jasmine, and if you like this scent note, you should definitely test them! I was surprised that in all of them, the oud was rather in the background, but ultimately it made the fragrances all the more intriguing. If I had to rank them, "Huaxia | Elixir Attar" would be just ahead of BD for me. Unfortunately, the Oud de Grand falls a bit short in this test.

To put it directly, for me this is the best of the line.

From the rose often described here, I only catch a brief whiff on a tester; on my skin, it disappears immediately, and rather the lightly green leaves with creamy cedarwood become noticeable. The creaminess probably comes from the milk, which otherwise I can't really smell, but the scent is rather on the sweet side. Over time, it becomes slightly fruity for me, and my girlfriend also recognizes this fruit after about 1 hour on my skin.

The longer it stays on the skin, the lighter it becomes for me, and the musk with a sweet vanilla emerges. Now more in the background, but still easily perceptible, are the green leaves, which have become a bit more floral. The fruitiness has now completely disappeared. After about 6 hours, it is then a minimally green, vanillic scent, which is very creamy for me.

I must say I find it great and cannot understand how it scores significantly worse than the other two, as I always want to smell it and it has a very nice scent progression on my skin.

To add something, when I wore it, both my girlfriend and a friend told me that the scent was powdery. I cannot confirm this from my side, but I have noticed that all White on White scents smell significantly different in the room on a person than close to the skin.