A sweeter, easygoing Invictus-style fresh for daily wear
California Blue comes in a simple but elegant blue and chrome bottle, and I could smell the Invictus profile straight from the spray in the air. I first thought of Invictus Aqua, but it is sweeter and less blue than that, so I settled on the original Invictus as its reference. Mykonos is hyped for good reasons, with great packaging and, from what I own, great performance, but this is one of the releases that isn't getting the hype, which made me more curious.
On paper it is fresh, aromatic, inviting and crowd pleasing. It is bright and a little citrusy, but more blue than anything, with a sweetness that gives it a good balance of blue and sweet. The notes I read are lavender, grapefruit, pear and pink salt on top, rhubarb, marine notes and water blossoms in the heart, and moss, softwood and caramel at the base.
It is easy to wear on a daily basis, morning or evening, and I see it as a daily driver for the Philippines. If you already have Hawas Ice, I think California Blue is redundant, but if you want to collect every Mykonos fragrance it is a fine addition. I assume it will perform well, and I had not tested that when I filmed this. My opinion depends on it: if it lasts four to five hours it stays where it is, and longer would make it better.
Fresh mint over earthy chocolate, but I can't place when to wear it
Cocoa Mint is one of two Wren Atelier fragrances launched in 2024 that I opened together. I am not a big chocolate and mint person, and not much of a gourmand person either, so I was a little scared. The sweet gourmands I have tried from the house so far have worked for me, though, so I gave it a chance.
The opening is not a typical gourmand at all. The mint makes it definitely fresh, and then you are hit almost immediately by an earthy, grounded chocolate. It is elegant and sophisticated rather than a dessert, and I don't even like chocolate mint ice cream, but as a fragrance I can get behind this. The notes are mint on top, chocolate, iris and geranium in the heart, and sandalwood, vanilla, costus and musk at the base. It may be the only chocolate fragrance I could wear in the morning, even when it is hot, so I wanted to see how it changed.
After more than an hour the cocoa and mint blended together better and it came out a little lighter. That is where it gets challenging for me, because I can't see an occasion where I would wear it. It does the cocoa mint idea well and it is a good fragrance, but I can't pin down when I would reach for it, especially in the Philippines, so it stays in the middle of the pack for me.
Lovely on paper, but a foul start and short wear on my skin
The Roots 2000 was a leap of faith for me. I trust the house, and I had heard this line can be polarizing, so I wondered if my nose had adapted to Middle Eastern scents. On a test strip it won me over. It is definitely oud, but not the offensive, ultra-aggressive kind. There is fruitiness, sweetness and a floral side, and it is airy rather than face-punching. Four sprays on one strip usually blow me over with this house, and here I only wanted more. It is only 25% oil, which is low for them. I read grapefruit, jasmine and aldehydes on top, then white flowers, lily, rose and saffron, with warm wood, vanilla, incense and Indian oud underneath. After an hour it was woody, non-offensive and airy, and I kind of liked it, which surprised me from such an aggressive house.
Then I wore it on skin as a light bedtime scent. The moment it hit me it smelled genuinely foul. After about ten minutes the smell disappeared and it turned sweet and fine, but I won't wait ten minutes every time I wear a fragrance. The next morning my mom smelled nothing on me, so it did not last eight hours, which surprised me.
This is my lowest rating for any Ahmed Al Maghribi. If you don't mind a rough first ten minutes and a sweet drydown that fades in under eight hours, it might still be your pick.
Airy, aldehydic and mass appealing, in an Ahmed Al Maghribi way
The Beyond 2050 is the future bottle of the trilogy, and it is the odd one out. The first thing I noticed was how oily it is. I caught so much oil on my hands from the atomizer that they felt greasy, and it is 53% oil. The scent is very different from the other two, more designer and very unique, with sweetness, wateriness, an aldehydic edge, some citrus and a little spice. It doesn't scream oud at all. I picked up what I think is patchouli, with some earthiness peeking in.
It is not dark in any way. It is airy, fruity, sweet and a little citrusy, and very mass appealing. The notes confused me a little: mandarin, peach, orange, pear, bergamot and ginger on top, then freesia, sambac jasmine, orange blossom, leather and saffron, with musk, vanilla, rose, ambroxan, cedar and incense at the base. I couldn't find any vanilla at first, and the musk is very subtle. It is a typical designer-niche profile, but done the Ahmed Al Maghribi way. After about an hour it turned a little metallic and musky, with the vanilla finally showing up, and it feels very unisex.
I am equally impressed by this and the Alchemy Lab. It is a very modern approach with subtle oud, an amazing original scent profile, and I would happily wear it in the Philippines any day, any time. I had not done a full wear test yet.
A modern, fruity oud and leather that never shouts
The Alchemy Lab 2025 is the middle bottle of Ahmed Al Maghribi's past, present and future trilogy, and I bought it blind. The bottle design is elegant, and I liked it more than the Roots 2000 next to it. My first sniff was fruity, flowery, leather and oud, in the same modern territory as Oud Maracuja with its fruit, leather and rose, only more subtle. It is a little thick, but nowhere near as thick as Oud Maracuja, and it is not in your face like their other oud fragrances.
The list of notes is long: bergamot, grapefruit, orange, mandarin, juniper, saffron and apple on top, then sambac jasmine, neroli, cardamom, rose, bakhoor and sandalwood, over musk, ambergris, cedar, patchouli, vetiver, a leather accord, cashmeran, Cambodian oud and guaiac wood. That is a lot for an opening, yet it is so well blended that I can't pick out single notes. I get sweet, a little citrus, a little spice, and some saltiness and wateriness. As it dries down it turns more floral, which I like, and after an hour it is still sweet, oudy and rosy, very well blended and sophisticated.
It is a signature-worthy profile for me, and I could see it in my top 30. I would wear it for special occasions and date nights, or around other fragrance lovers. It is 75 ml at 51% oil, so I expect good performance, though I had not done a full wear test when I recorded this.
