MrGoku

I have smelled all the Erba fragrances from Xerjoff+Sospiro and I have to say, as pure Erba DNA, Magica is the best. I always like to make the following comparison: if Erba Pura is a juicy fruit salad, Erba Pura Magica is a juicy fruit salad with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

It replaces that tart hairspray-like note with a really nice and smooth creaminess that just reminds me of ice cream. It fits perfectly into this DNA and really feels like an enhancement to the composition rather than a true flanker. In addition, it actually has more of a gourmand effect and is more unisex than feminine, as many claim about Erba Pura. In comparison, Erba Gold has something rather rich and slightly tropical in the fruit selection of the basket. Overall, Erba Gold smells a little more sophisticated but not necessarily better. For me, the normal Erba Pura would be a 7.5/10, the Gold an 8.5/10 and the Magica a 9/10. All three very nice but therefore good, better and best.

Roja Dove, real and born Roger Bird, from his fake name to the artificial color in this fragrance and his non-existent career as a real perfumer, has twice as much pretentiousness about his creations as actual high quality.

The color is intended to give the impression of a dark, indie-like, deep and sensual oriental creation, but this only lasts until you test the actual fragrance. This is actually a very typical but still beautiful rose-oud combo, with the small but big problem that it feels like 90% rose and 10% oud, but the fragrance is then called "Aoud" and is darkened with artificial colorants.
This behavior is unpleasant, but unfortunately not atypical for Roja, which is why I personally am not a fan at all, despite some very beautiful creations.
Beautiful bottles but then a lot of kitsch, such as an excessive number of crystals in the lid, which contribute to the often unjustifiably poor price-performance ratio. Beautiful creations but then the overpriced prices and countless listed notes of which you can often hardly smell anything. Good vision, but then Roger Bird, who claims to be a perfumer under the name Roja Dove, although he would have what it takes to be the super creative director of his own house if he didn't work with ghost perfumers instead to sell himself as a master perfumer, because it's easy to see that he knows a thing or two about marketing. But the fact that everyone knows in the end anyway makes it all the more embarrassing.

Just a quick word about the fragrance itself: Rojas Aoud is a very nice RoseRoseRose-Oud fragrance that is sold as an Oud fragrance. The rose-oud combo is known to have a lot going for it. In this case, unfortunately, the sillage is weak anyway, but after a few hours it becomes even weaker and just too skin-deep, at least on my skin.

I expected much more and that contributed to the disappointment. Like many (NOT ALL) of his creations and also his whole image, unfortunately rather pretentious than really convincing.

Roger Bird and his House of Roja could do with a heavy dose of honesty.

As is so often the case, one of Amouage's underrated bangers. Such a shame how this house is dismissed for Jubilation, Interlude and Reflection. Amouage has much more to offer and Epic is a testament to that.

Epic opens sparkling, almost slightly fizzy and at the same time immediately incense-like, resinous, woody and green. It has a cooling freshness, although it actually embodies this dark and resinous Amouage character. I love Epic and can only recommend anyone who has tried it and not loved it to try it several times.

The name, as noble as it may sound and fit the fragrance itself, was unfortunately anything but accurate, at least for Amouage.

This masterpiece was one of the last (many think the very last, but that was Love Mimosa and not Overture) under the direction of Christopher Chong.
Unfortunately, the fragrances that followed were nothing major for Amouage but hopefully for Chong.

What can I say ? Simply an incredible masterpiece. I dismissed it at the beginning as "quite pleasant but not worth buying", I couldn't have been more wrong.
A literal symphony of a woody-spicy fragrance. Rarely have I smelled smoke, caraway, cognac AND animalic notes so clearly and yet so smoothly in harmony. Overture seems so ruthless and yet is incredibly smooth and light on the nose, not in the performance, which is monstrous. It all fits together, note for note, chord for chord, from start to finish.

Many thanks for this creation to Christopher Chong, perfumer Karine Vinchon Spehner and my absolute favorite house, Amouage. 10/10 - On my MUST HAVE list !

I once thought Naxos was the more luxurious version of him. It's actually much more profound than Naxos.

Pure Havane has a deep and aromatic base. Naxos is strong in terms of quality but unfortunately really flat in comparison.

I think it's a shame that these designer fragrances, which at the time still smelled really sneezy, were sold at good prices and are now being discontinued and sold on Ebay at exorbitant prices.

Wonderful fragrance with a warmth and depth that Naxos and no dupe can replicate. I still have an old almost full bottle, luckily.