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Welcome to the Pepper Hell
The moment I first experienced this scent on my skin is something I will never forget. It was one of the first oud fragrances (when I still didn’t know what that really smelled like), and I approached this test with a certain naivety that I would soon regret.
At first, the scent strikes me as somewhat oriental, something I couldn’t quite grasp. After a few minutes, I am hit with a wave of ink, darkness, and burnt rubber. Strangely, the longevity on my skin was not outstanding at all, but I couldn’t wash it off my clothes. It was just overpowering pepper! The jacket went into the wash three or four times, and eventually, it faded away. I encountered this note again later, and it triggers a kind of flight reflex in me.
For me personally, there was no development, which I always find very disappointing. In the first few minutes, it changes a bit, but after that, it was completely linear for me. What a shame.
My rating:
Joy: 0 out of 30
Quality, depth, liveliness: 8 out of 30
Longevity: 9 out of 20 (on the skin)
Wearability: 0 out of 10
Bottle, packaging, presentation: 9 out of 10
Total: 26 out of 100
At first, the scent strikes me as somewhat oriental, something I couldn’t quite grasp. After a few minutes, I am hit with a wave of ink, darkness, and burnt rubber. Strangely, the longevity on my skin was not outstanding at all, but I couldn’t wash it off my clothes. It was just overpowering pepper! The jacket went into the wash three or four times, and eventually, it faded away. I encountered this note again later, and it triggers a kind of flight reflex in me.
For me personally, there was no development, which I always find very disappointing. In the first few minutes, it changes a bit, but after that, it was completely linear for me. What a shame.
My rating:
Joy: 0 out of 30
Quality, depth, liveliness: 8 out of 30
Longevity: 9 out of 20 (on the skin)
Wearability: 0 out of 10
Bottle, packaging, presentation: 9 out of 10
Total: 26 out of 100
Translated · Show original
"Has little amber and no oud, but I still think it's good!"
... and everything that rhymes is good :) This is actually true in this case. As is well known, there are many types of "amber" (whether Labdanum-vanilla blends, ambergris, or others), and here it is clearly the former for me. In short, Amber Oud is a very pleasant vanilla scent for men, as it brings just the right amount of scratchiness to be interesting.
I primarily perceive a slightly woody vanilla, nothing more, nothing less. Some time ago, I felt the need to test Labdanum scents, and there were many classics (e.g. MPG Ambre Precieux and the Ultime version), modern fine interpretations (e.g. Dior's Mitzah), but also very dark, resinous representatives (e.g. SHL O Hira). Ultimately, I ended up with the first such scent I had tried in this direction, which is Kilian's Amber Oud. Not complex, not complicated, not extraordinary, but simply: beautiful. And that can be the case sometimes, especially when you occasionally test various obscure scents that are more artwork than wearable. After all these years, I still like it.
My rating:
Joy: 30 out of 30
Quality, depth, liveliness: 20 out of 30
Longevity: 17 out of 20
Wearability: 10 out of 10
Bottle, packaging, presentation: 9 out of 10
Total: 86 out of 100
I primarily perceive a slightly woody vanilla, nothing more, nothing less. Some time ago, I felt the need to test Labdanum scents, and there were many classics (e.g. MPG Ambre Precieux and the Ultime version), modern fine interpretations (e.g. Dior's Mitzah), but also very dark, resinous representatives (e.g. SHL O Hira). Ultimately, I ended up with the first such scent I had tried in this direction, which is Kilian's Amber Oud. Not complex, not complicated, not extraordinary, but simply: beautiful. And that can be the case sometimes, especially when you occasionally test various obscure scents that are more artwork than wearable. After all these years, I still like it.
My rating:
Joy: 30 out of 30
Quality, depth, liveliness: 20 out of 30
Longevity: 17 out of 20
Wearability: 10 out of 10
Bottle, packaging, presentation: 9 out of 10
Total: 86 out of 100
3 Comments
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"Is it too strong..."
... began once a famous slogan of a cough drop. And I admit it openly: Diaghilev is too strong for me. Like most Rojas, it starts off very powerful, opulent, and massive. Diaghilev is certainly one of the most characterful Rojas, but although it becomes a bit softer over time and loses some of its initial bulkiness, there remains a sharp note that I would most likely describe as "cigarette-like." Despite the slight sweetness that it develops in the base, making it somewhat more bearable for me, one thing was clear: this fragrance would carry me, not the other way around. There is always an animalic quality recognizable, which reminds me vaguely of Malbrum's "Tigre du Bengale," where masses of castoreum are included, so I also suspect corresponding doses of it in Diaghilev.
Therefore, I appreciate it more abstractly due to its extreme complexity and less because it is "beautiful." Personally, it would be unbearable for me. However, I can fully understand the praise that the fragrance regularly receives.
My rating:
Joy: 5 out of 30
Quality, Depth, Vibrancy: 30 out of 30
Longevity: 20 out of 20
Wearability: 4 out of 10
Bottle, Packaging, Presentation: 7 out of 10
Overall: 66 out of 100
Therefore, I appreciate it more abstractly due to its extreme complexity and less because it is "beautiful." Personally, it would be unbearable for me. However, I can fully understand the praise that the fragrance regularly receives.
My rating:
Joy: 5 out of 30
Quality, Depth, Vibrancy: 30 out of 30
Longevity: 20 out of 20
Wearability: 4 out of 10
Bottle, Packaging, Presentation: 7 out of 10
Overall: 66 out of 100
2 Comments
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Part 65485189 of my tobacco scent search...
In my search for "my" tobacco scent, I have tested many (too many?) fragrances, primarily higher-end ones, so I honestly wouldn't have tested Molton Brown at all. But when their "Tobacco Absolute" was recently praised here in the forum and shortly thereafter I walked right past this scent, I decided to give it a try. I would say: light and shadow.
Light because the scent is really beautifully composed. Shadow because you can unfortunately tell its low cost. It starts with a very nice lemon, which I didn't expect to be so realistic and natural. However, after about 10 minutes, a strange sweetness comes through, which unfortunately feels extremely flat and dampens my initial enthusiasm a bit. Once this subsides, what remains is a scent that I would describe as Tobacco Vanille without that (for me) far too penetrating sweetness and spice. What lingers is a relatively herbal, only slightly spicy scent.
I could imagine that this is one of the most realistic tobacco scents I have tried so far, as it manages without a lot of embellishments. I am sure that the formula is very good and that the scent would be even better with higher-quality ingredients. The substance is definitely there.
My rating:
Joy: 15 out of 30
Quality, depth, liveliness: 5 out of 30
Longevity: 7 out of 20
Wearability: 10 out of 10
Bottle, packaging, presentation: 3 out of 10
Total: 40 out of 100
Light because the scent is really beautifully composed. Shadow because you can unfortunately tell its low cost. It starts with a very nice lemon, which I didn't expect to be so realistic and natural. However, after about 10 minutes, a strange sweetness comes through, which unfortunately feels extremely flat and dampens my initial enthusiasm a bit. Once this subsides, what remains is a scent that I would describe as Tobacco Vanille without that (for me) far too penetrating sweetness and spice. What lingers is a relatively herbal, only slightly spicy scent.
I could imagine that this is one of the most realistic tobacco scents I have tried so far, as it manages without a lot of embellishments. I am sure that the formula is very good and that the scent would be even better with higher-quality ingredients. The substance is definitely there.
My rating:
Joy: 15 out of 30
Quality, depth, liveliness: 5 out of 30
Longevity: 7 out of 20
Wearability: 10 out of 10
Bottle, packaging, presentation: 3 out of 10
Total: 40 out of 100
3 Comments
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FINALLY a good Roja again...
Wow, my first comment :) Perhaps a little backstory about me and my history with ROJA. I consider myself almost a fan from the very beginning and knew the brand before it had any shops in Germany. How exactly, I can't remember anymore. In any case, back then you could request small 2ml atomizers via email, which would then be sent to you from England. This must have been around the end of 2013 when I tested the first one: Scandal pour Homme, in both the parfum and EdT versions. I chose the EdT version at that time, which I liked much better, as it somehow had more "air" between the notes, and this concentration suited me personally better for a fougere.
A lot of time passed, and at some point, the fragrances were not only available in England but also relatively easily in Germany. Until about 2015, I liked the Rojas almost en masse, but afterwards, I had to endure some severe disappointments. From fragrances that seemed completely foreign in the portfolio to being far too simple, to mass-produced copies of his own scents, etc. - somehow Roja seemed to have lost its magic for me. The sheer number of new releases came at the expense of the quality and effort that could be seen in earlier works - whether you liked them or not. The old 100ml bottle of Scandal pour Homme remained (along with a few others) and reminded me of the "good old" Roja times.
Until I smelled Harrods pour Homme.
Yes, there it is again. An incredible finesse in small details that you can pay attention to if you want. "Easy to wear," yet distinguished and the sheer definition of class and understatement. Wow, he can still do it. Well, it does remind me a bit of another Roja that was released in a blue bottle in 2017, but it has more of everything. Simply phenomenal, from the top note that perfectly balances an extremely realistic fruitiness of oranges with the bitterness of hesperidins, to the soft, typically Roja-complex base. The fragrance never becomes muddled; it always retains its definition, and you can tell that a master was at work here. It thickens a bit over time, and together with a slight acidity that balances the emerging sweetness, it results in a phenomenal dry down.
My rating:
Joy: 30 / 30
Quality, depth, liveliness: 30 / 30
Longevity: 15 / 20
Wearability: 10 / 10
Bottle, packaging, presentation: 8 / 10
Total: 93 / 100
With this rating, I don't have many in my database.
A lot of time passed, and at some point, the fragrances were not only available in England but also relatively easily in Germany. Until about 2015, I liked the Rojas almost en masse, but afterwards, I had to endure some severe disappointments. From fragrances that seemed completely foreign in the portfolio to being far too simple, to mass-produced copies of his own scents, etc. - somehow Roja seemed to have lost its magic for me. The sheer number of new releases came at the expense of the quality and effort that could be seen in earlier works - whether you liked them or not. The old 100ml bottle of Scandal pour Homme remained (along with a few others) and reminded me of the "good old" Roja times.
Until I smelled Harrods pour Homme.
Yes, there it is again. An incredible finesse in small details that you can pay attention to if you want. "Easy to wear," yet distinguished and the sheer definition of class and understatement. Wow, he can still do it. Well, it does remind me a bit of another Roja that was released in a blue bottle in 2017, but it has more of everything. Simply phenomenal, from the top note that perfectly balances an extremely realistic fruitiness of oranges with the bitterness of hesperidins, to the soft, typically Roja-complex base. The fragrance never becomes muddled; it always retains its definition, and you can tell that a master was at work here. It thickens a bit over time, and together with a slight acidity that balances the emerging sweetness, it results in a phenomenal dry down.
My rating:
Joy: 30 / 30
Quality, depth, liveliness: 30 / 30
Longevity: 15 / 20
Wearability: 10 / 10
Bottle, packaging, presentation: 8 / 10
Total: 93 / 100
With this rating, I don't have many in my database.
6 Comments
