Tiagofml

Manhattan by ROJA Parfums
What a stunner this is!
And I’m not just talking about the presentation which is just beautiful.

This seems to have been tailor made for me.

In one word: Boujee And I mean it.

It manages to be both warm, spicy, rich, enveloping, opulent…
…AND bright, sparkly, aromatic, energetic, classy, elegant.

The opening on this is truly breathtaking to me.
A bright bergamot dancing with coconut and floral nuances with a slice of freshly cut ginger and a couple of basil leaves on top.
In fact - the opening leads you to believe this will be a gourman leaning scent in a similar fashion Ambre Narguile or Nobile's La Danza delle Libellule do, but... Nope!

This develops. A lot!

A few minutes later, the florals give Manhattan a bit more complexity with crisp freshness from Violet, elegance from rose, carnal touches from jasmine and powdery Almondy nuances from heliotrope.

There’s a soft spiciness throughout the whole experience with pink pepper and the ginger. The basil and pine nuances balance it out.

Then comes the rich and opulent base of vanilla, musk, light vegetal tobacco, cinnamon, cloves, benzoin and cedar mainly.

This never gets too sweet, too woody, too crisp. It’s simply put: perfectly balanced to my nose.

In typical ROJA fashion: SPARKLY. And this never gets old to me.

Rich. Complex. Busy. Energetic. Classy. Opulent.
Manhattan. New York.

It just fits me and moves me; and that's more than enough to me.

I was lucky enough to hear from Thibaud himself (who also speaks Portuguese, and 6 other languages ) a wonderful explanation and journey through his creation process and inspiration behind each Maison Crivelli scent.

To me, one of the most interesting collections out there in recent times.
And Ambre ChromatiQue is no exception!

What a beautiful Amber this is. In fact, one of the best I’ve tried so far!

This is a warm, radiant and powerful amber.
It manages to be soft and cozy yet bold and present.

Opens up very spicy and dry with pink pepper and a lot of incense, which almost has a vegetal touch almost leaning towards Labdanum. A wonderful incense it is.

The drydown is much softer in texture. Almost feels like your skin on steroids.

This has a boozy Rum-like nuance from the Davana and peachy impression from Osmanthus.

The base is ultra smooth with Bourbon Vanilla - which almost has in this an olive facet (I know, I know) - and the amber accords playing the major role.

I had the pleasure to experience the isolated raw materials by themselves with Thibaud, and you can really tell has it all and then some.

Oh and as for the performance: this has to be scrubbed off a couple times - I can still smell it almost 24h later now.

This is mainly a fruity, Safron, leather combo.
And a very rich and intoxicating one at that!

This opens up with a little brightness from some ripe citrus giving a fruity feel along with an alluring spiciness from cardamom.

Nothing screechy here. It’s a very very smooth experience from start to finish for me.

The Safron and Leather take charge right from the opening and dominate the drydown with the help of some ambery accords to warm this up.

Without a doubt, one of the best in this DNA that I’ve tried so far.

This does lack originality in my opinion - probably on purpose.
Since it’s very closely related to a couple creations from Uncle Tom: Tuscan and Ombré Leather.

But where it lacks in originality makes up in quality. In my honest opinion, surpasses the quality from its close relatives.

Perfumed by a Master of the craft - Christian Provenzano.

It’s overall a wonderful experience if you like leather - this not being a funky or animalic interpretation, but a rather clean one.

My new statement maker for higher class occasions!

A modern interpretation of a classical structure - The Chypre.

In my opinion a more polished version of the original APEX EDP.

Even though they share the same notes, this Parfum shows more facets and seems to have more time to develop each stage of its very complex composition.

It opens up fruity and efervescent with a melange of bright citrus and an almost ripe pineapple accord.

I get some smoky pops from incense, woods and a leather accord.
There’s a floral undertone from jasmine too, mind you!
A lot of greens as well - this being a green dominant scent: I get a lot of fir and pine-like qualities with hints of Anise and Juniper, which at times from the cap, reminds me of a half gin - half Absinthe concoction.

It does have a super rich base, almost sweet but not quite. This one goes more on a boozy, resinous, leathery and slightly bitter/smoky direction. With the Labdanum being very apparent to me.

This is a bold, loud but very classy and modern interpretation of a Chypre composition.

A head turner in a tuxedo!

A year long passion that finally became a bottle!

I just love this one. I love how it manages to be so cozy and comfortable and yet so sensual and romantic.
I love how it just fits my personality so well.

The cardamom opening with hints of the fig accord is just so alluring. The creamy and warming heart of black tea, vetiver, sandalwood and rich vanilla is just perfection to me.

The slight smoky pops here and there and the softness of the iris just make it oh so interesting.

Feels like they just put my thoughts into a bottle.

Perfect for rainy days or just when you want to smell that damn good.