Boozy, smoky tobacco made for date nights
I blind bought Fan Your Flames purely because of the name, so yes, I still fall for good marketing. It paid off. The scent is boozy, dark and mysterious, built on tobacco and woods.
The opening pairs a boozy rum with a little sweetness from the coconut and tonka, and the tobacco gives it a smoky edge. The boozy side is what makes it sexy and surprisingly approachable. In the drydown the oakmoss and patchouli bring out an earthy side, and the tobacco keeps it firmly on the masculine side.
Performance is excellent. I tested it while it was raining here in the Philippines and got about four hours of projection, six hours of a scent bubble around two feet, more than eight hours on skin and over 24 hours on clothes.
This is an amazing date-night and special-occasion scent. I would not wear it to the office because it is fairly strong, dark and mysterious, so save it for intimate moments. It is not the easiest fragrance to wear, but with this kind of performance I will keep reaching for it in this climate. I even ended up with two bottles after accidentally ordering it twice, and I am not complaining. Highly recommended.
A bold, elegant woody that fills the whole room
Bois Impérial is by Quentin Bisch, one of my top three perfumers. I came to it backwards: I first owned Attacks by Assaf, which is inspired by it, liked it enough to want the original, and finally got it. The packaging is simple and eco-friendly, which I appreciate, and it takes nothing away from it being a niche fragrance.
On a strip it is sexy and masculine, but still unisex, and women who like woody fragrances should try it. Akigalawood is the star here and makes this one of the most elegant woody fragrances I know. I can barely detect the grapefruit. It is mostly a fresh woody scent, with basil and pepper on top and vetiver, patchouli and Ambrofix underneath.
Next to Attacks, the original is better blended and a touch more woody than citrus. Attacks feels a little airier, while Bois Impérial is more rounded, bold and loud. After about an hour on skin I left the room and came back, and it had filled the studio and the living room. I could smell it two doors away, and that was in an air-conditioned space.
It is fresh enough to wear at any time of day, and in a hot, humid climate I can see it working as a signature scent. It is quickly working its way into my top 10.
Earthy and medicinal at first, creamy and elegant later
Interlude Man came out in 2012, so I wanted to see how it holds up more than a decade later in the hot, humid climate of the Philippines. The bottle is the simplest Amouage I own. Not bad, just plainer than the others.
The opening is challenging. It is earthy, nutty, woody and incense-like, and definitely not mass-appealing. In my opinion no Amouage is a safe blind buy, and this one sits at the top of that list. Retailers like to call it the Blue Beast, but to me it reads brown and grounded rather than blue.
The oregano is what makes it difficult for me. Some people read oregano as savoury and culinary, but here in the Philippines it is used in a lot of herbal medicine, so to me it smells medicinal. It is not offensive, though. With the frankincense, myrrh, patchouli, sandalwood and agarwood underneath there is so much depth, and the bergamot barely shows up beyond a touch of sweetness at the start.
The drydown is where it won me over. On a strip sprayed two hours earlier it had become much more elegant: still earthy, but the sweetness is amplified and the nuttiness turns almost creamy. I would keep it for special occasions and date nights. Unisex on paper, but it leans heavily masculine.
