Independent Perfumer

Maria Candida Gentile: Flight of the Bumblebee Series 2014

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Post by Portia

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Hello Niche Nerds,

One of the names that is revered yet rarely spoken of on blogs or FaceBook is Maria Candida Gentile. Whenever I post her soft focus incense and woods creation Exultat as my SOTD it gets a round of applause and people always note how much they love her work and then it’s back to radio silence. Sideris is the crowd pleaser that is most often referred to and though I’ve had these decants here for a while they had become lost in the crowd. During a week of Shop My Samples recently, where I tried to use up or rediscover unloved samples & decants, they popped into my hand and I card spritzed the three of them. They seem like they need a closer look, you can have a first on skin experience with me today, come on….

Maria Candida Gentile

Flight of the Bumblebee Series 2014

Kitrea Maria Candida Gentile FragranticaFragrantica

Kitrea by Maria Candida Gentile

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Honey, lemon and bergamot
Heart: Fruity notes
Base: Amber, beeswax

Cool citrus, sparkling and bittersweet. Like home made lemonade. Kitrea even has that sticky feeling you get on a hot afternoon when you’ve drunk too much fizzy. Imagine if a Guerlain Aqua Allegoria had a backbone and thorns, that’s how Kitrea wears for me. It smells grapefruit-esque and a tiny little but pissy but with a warm, calming, grounding base of animalic amber. This is by far the most Idie smelling of the three.

Leucò Maria Candida Gentile FragranticaFragrantica

Leccò by Maria Candida Gentile

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Honey, labdanum
Heart: Lily, tuberose
Base: Siam benzoin, pepper, beeswax

Leccò opens a little hair spray and greenery, it’s weird, awkward, like the notes are attacking each other and don’t quite want to be in the same fragrance. I think it’s the lily against the pepper . Interestingly after about 2 minutes it segues into a dreamy, smooth, plush fragrance, quite retro feeling but done with sharp modernity. The feeling is like walking through a large, well manicured garden in the drizzling rain but you are rugged up cozy and warm. Funnily I am reminded of tomato leaves and compost with this creamy underlay. Intriguing but weird.

Syconium Maria Candida Gentile fragranticaFragrantica

Syconium by Maria Candida Gentile

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Honey, milk
Heart: Fig
Base: Sandalwood, beeswax

Honey and milk open as resinous woods, if you told me this was frankincense or labdanum I’d agree. Not the sweet or feral honey that niche often presents Syconium is sweet warm honey milk before bed. Restful, comforting and calming, the fruit comes across as a little sugared porridge. Totally wearable, unchallenging and it smells great.  After a while Syconium becomes a sheer skin scent, like a layer of gossamer glamour over my own scent. Very nice.

From Maria Candida Gentile site: In the music piece “Flight of the bumblebee” by Nikolaj Andreevic Rimskij-Korsakov the main character is magically transformed into an insect in order to reach, unseen, his father the king and declare that the news of his death were not true. It is a flight that expresses the desire to live and opens the door to hope for a brighter future. This collection of three new perfumes takes its name from that flight and shows the bumblebee as a bearer of a message.

Further reading: Colognoisseur
Maria Candida Gentile has €32/15ml or €14/7ml

Do any of these read tempting to you? Do you like any of Maria Candida Gentile’s work?
Portia xx

 

NEW!!! Civet by Shelly Waddington for Zoologist Perfumes 2016

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Post by Robert Herrmann

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Hey there Indie and Niche Nerds,

News of a new release by Victor Wong’s Zoologist Perfumes is ALWAYS cause for celebration. More so this time as the release is scheduled for New Years Eve day, Dec. 31st, 2016. So break out the confetti and champagne, because Zoologist has hit it out of the park yet again.

Hot on the heels of Bat (2015 Art & Olfaction award winner- Independent Perfume category), and most recently the stunning Nightingale and Macaque, Zoologist returns to continue the theme of popular animal musks started with Beaver (2014/ reformulated 2016) with this latest release. It’s called Civet.

Civet by Zoologist Perfumes 2016

Civet by Shelly Waddington

Civet ZooligistZoologist

Zoologist gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Black Pepper, Lemon, Orange, Spices, Tarragon
Heart: Carnation, Frangipani, Heliotrope, Hyacinth, Linden-blossom, Tuberose, Ylang
Base: Balsams, Civet*, Coffee, Incense, Labdanum, Musks*, Oakmoss, Resins, Russian Leather*, Vanilla, Vetiver, Woods

*Synthetic notes, Zoologist does not use animal products.

Authored by Shelly Waddington, award-winning creator of En Voyage Perfumes and Zoologists earlier 2015 release Hummingbird, Civet is a glorious musky woody floral, that brings to mind vintage French perfumes from the 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. Shelly Waddington is an olfactive storyteller of the first degree, her perfumes always take me on a journey, and Shelly does vintage scents extremely well (Zelda, Fiore Di Bellagio among many others). Civet is absolutely no exception!

This is Josephine Baker running out the stage door after a performance on her way to a small hidden Parisian Boite to continue the night with dancing and cocktails and a bevy of admirers men and women both, vying for her attention. Her fur stole is flying behind her, and she is still slightly sweaty from the show, but covered in a sexy, sultry perfume which doesn’t mask the skin-smell of sweat, just makes it all the more alluring and enticing.

civet-zooligist-evan-p-cordes-josephine-baker-by-lola-dupre-flickrFlickr

Floral, feral and in-your-face gorgeous, this is the scent that will end up perfuming crumpled sheets in a bedroom, and staying on the skin of a lover who will spend the day drinking endless demitasse of espresso trying to erase the mental fog of the night before, hoping for a future assignation. The scent of coffee with its slightly chocolate and bitter aroma rises from the small cup and mixes with the smell coming off his skin and clothing, reminding him of the previous nights love making…languid, hot, and absolutely unforgettable.

Bravo Shelly, and bravo Zoologist Perfumes!

Civet will be available December 31st 2016 from the Zoologist website, and you’ll find a list of stockists there as well.

(Civet Photo Zoologist Perfumes, copyright 2016)

giveaway kbaird

Civet by Zoologist Perfumes GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 11 ml Civet by Zoologist travel spray
(It will be sent as soon as Civet is bottled, yes we are THAT far ahead)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us what you liked about this review, or if you have any favorite Zoologist perfumes?

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Monday 31st October 2016 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Friday 4th November 2016 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit

Salome by Liz Moores for Papillon Artisan Perfumes 2015

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Post by Erica Golding

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Warmest fragrant greetings to you all!

Tonight, I am luxuriating in an addictive perfume that I actually did not care for upon first impression. Have you ever given a scent a second chance, trying to unlock its mysteries and nuances? I am so thrilled that I didn’t give up on:

Salome by Papillon Artisan Perfumes 2015

Salome by Liz Moores

salome-papillon-artisan-perfumes-fragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bitter orange, bergamot
Heart: Turkish rose, orange blossom, tobacco, carnation, jasmine, hyrax
Base: Styrax, vanilla, hay, patchouli, oakmoss, cumin, birch, castoreum

Let’s just put it out there: Salome is a cumin-saturated, purring, sexually charged explosion! The cumin dominates with amplified intensity on my skin, accented by the animalic musks, creating a panting, sweaty body odor accord that’s definitely not safe for work on me. 😉

This growling feral opening delayed me from even skin testing my gorgeous giant decant, which was a gift from my goddess Barbara. I would unscrew the sprayer and sniff the tubing, considering swiping a drop for a skin test, and couldn’t even will myself that far! Where was the jasmine, or orange blossom, or bergamot? All I could sense was the cumin, but as an adventurous soul, I was surprised that I was wimping out.

So one evening, I just said, screw it. Let’s go! Onto my wrists she went. Admittedly, the first skin test confused me. The cumin and the furry animalics still roared, but underneath I could also sense a dazzlingly gorgeous perfume – a classic bouquet of tender blossoms, with oakmoss and the distinctive vintage tone of a bygone era.

I almost gave up after that first test. But then I couldn’t stop coming back to the decant just to sniff the sprayer. I started wearing it on occasion as an evening scent after my child went to bed. Slowly, my addiction to the entirety of this masterpiece began to blossom. It wasn’t long before my craving became an obsession. Now, I can’t get enough!

The cumin truly does ignite on my skin, and Salome is too daring and sexual for me to consider wearing it casually. However, I am deeply enamored with its dirty, prowling sensuality as a private indulgence. If you love Bogue Maai and Absolue Pour Le Soir, this is one step further – if you dare!

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Bonkers About Perfume
LuckyScent has $160/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/0.5ml

Have you ever become obsessed with a perfume that didn’t work for you at first?

Love, light, and scented hugs,
-Erica

The Art and Olfaction Awards 2017: Submissions Open

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Post by Portia

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Heya All,

Basically I cut and pasted with only a few deviations from the Press release. Exciting nonetheless.
Portia x

The Art and Olfaction Awards 2017

Submissions Open

the-art-and-olfaction-awards-2017

The fourth annual Art and Olfaction Awards events will take place in Europe: Twenty-five shortlisted perfumes and projects will be flagged at Esxence in Milan (March 2017), and we will announce the five winners in a public ceremony in Berlin, on May 6, 2017.

Submissions for the awards are open to independent and artisan perfume brands, and experimental practitioners with scent from all countries. Submissions open on October 5th, 2016 at 9am (PST) and close on November 28th, 2016 at 11:59pm (PST).
In addition to this, we have expanded our panel of expert judges to better represent the global community we serve.

2017’s judges include:
Michael Edwards (UK/Australia), Luca Turin (Greece), Christophe Laudamiel (USA), Annick Le Guérer (France), Katie Puckrik (England), Mandy Aftel (USA), Sarah Horowitz-Thran (USA), Andy Tauer (Switzerland), Helder Suffenplan (Germany), Denyse Beaulieu (France), Mark Behnke (USA), Matthias Janke (Germany), Steven Gontarski (USA), Antonio Gardoni (Italy), Ashley Eden Kessler (USA), Bruno Fazzolari (USA), Dana El Masri (Canada), Harald Lubner (Germany), Sherri Sebastian (USA), Yvettra Grantham (USA), Ashraf Osman (Switzerland), Caro Verbeek (The Netherlands), Kaya Sorhaindo (Germany/USA), Kóan Jeff Baysa (USA), Matthias Tabert (USA), Simon Niedenthal (Sweden), with several more to be announced.

Learn more at Art and Olfaction Awards

DSH Perfumes: Fleuriste and Deco Diamonds

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Post by Portia

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Hey Fumie family,

This was supposed to be a post about DSH Perfumes newest release Chinchilla. It’s a fabulous reimagining of the grand palace hotel style clientele’s fragrances. Sexy, cozy and full. I’ve been wearing my sample on & off over the week and it’s gorgeous, there was exactly enough left to do my review but do you think I can find the bloody sample? NO! GRRR! Hopefully it will turn up and I can finish my review another time……

So, I have had these two babies in mind to review. They are not Dawn’s newest but they are definitely worth a sniff.

ALSO….. Dawn wrote me: I’ve also been working on a new website overhaul for months and it’s now ramping up as I want to have it complete by the end of October if at all possible.)  So my Autumn launches are coming a bit late while I work on the site stuff, too.  With the new site, though, international order will be possible for almost all of the scents ( in voile format). Woo hoo! Anyway, Chinchilla, Axis Mundi, and Souvenir de Malmaison are all coming…..

DSH Perfumes: Fleuriste 2015

fleuriste-dsh_perfumesDSH Perfumes

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Bergamot, carnation, jasmine, green leaves, spicy notes, ambergris

Sharp green broken leaves with a spicy clove-heavy carnation opens Fleuriste. The broken leaves are mixed with fresh cut twiggy ends of branches, it’s that particular green smell of cutting camellias for the house, bitter and dry like the first sip of cold, unsugared black tea. If you like your fragrances super green, if CHANEL No 19 feels like a soft pussy and Futur by Robert Piguet smells too pretty then this could be the green for you.

Fleuriste is a dry, dark green that only slowly softens and expands during its late heart and through the dry down. Never losing it’s crisp cool spiciness but softening and yielding to the warmth of your skin it becomes more approachable and even at the last gasp cozy.  Fleuriste is a joy to wear and so far removed from anything available in stores, dawn constantly reminds me why we need independent perfumers, this is where the fun is in fragrance nowadays.

DSH Perfumes: Deco Diamonds 2014

deco-diamonds-dsh-perfumesDSH Perfumes

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Hyrax, aldehydes, ambergris, Australian sandalwood, oakmoss, civet, galbanum, gardenia, jasmine, honeysuckle, neroli, lily-of-the-valley, peach, jasmine sambac, tuberose

Aldehydes and galbanum create a plush and creamy opening that smells rich, warm and thick. The white flowers sparkle around the perimeter softly until the completely engulf the green. I am reminded of vintage VC&A First parfum in Deco Diamonds thrilling intensity. Underneath the glamorous shimmering is a resting big cat, the Cartier panther.

Through the heart Deco Diamonds becomes sheer and radiant, still fully fragrant but there is air between the notes, they become filled with luminous light that lifts the whole scent. I can’t pick notes at this point, it’s a creamy white floral but diffuse, like smelling the dry down of some of the big 1980s blockbuster chypre perfumes the next morning on a scarf. A whisper of luxurious living, magic.

DSH Perfumes has both these beauties from $6

Which one sounds like something you might like to try?
Portia xx

NEW!! Cuir Mojito by Daniel Barros 2016

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Post by Portia

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Hello Independent Perfumery Lovers,

I have a mate, Daniel Barros. Recently he launched a line of fragrances al centred on famous drinks and giving them a twist, a new lease of fragrant life. He sent me some to try and I’m pretty excited to be introducing them to you all. I am slowly making my way through them but one that already has particularly caught my attention for its weirdness and interesting scent life is todays fragrance….

Cuir Mojito by Daniel Barros 2016

cuir-mojito-daniel-barros-fragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lime, mint, rum, saffron, grass
Heart: Lily-of-the-valley, violet, geranium, patchouli
Base: Oakmoss, leather, cashmeran, geranium, musk

Two things I love in fragrance are mint and leather. The only fragrance I have that addresses the two of them together is Black Rosette by Strange Invisible Perfumes. There are a few similarities here but Daniel has created something far less metallic & alien and infinitely more comfortable to wear.

My nose misses most of the notes in Cuir Mojito and i’m unsure whether it’s me or that the fragrance is so well blended that the notes are all morphing into the scent. Creating it but not showcasing themselves. Lime and mint are in your face noticeable immediately ands so are the saffron and leather. I think I can pick the spice of geranium and coolness of violet leaf and now and then I notice flashes of patchouli….

cuir-mojito-daniel-barros-pixabayPDI

If you like your fragrance smooth and department store safe then you will probably be a little overwhelmed by Cuir Mojito. It’s big, abrasive, in your face and independent feeling. It takes chances and doesn’t follow current trends. Above that even is that it feels fun, a bit naughty, slightly over the top and very carefree. Just like a Mojito makes me feel if I order it before dinner.

Cuir Mojito dries down to a very happy reminder of one of my favourite leathers Knize Ten, not the same but similar. I can still smell soft buttery leather wafts hours and hours later.

cuir-mojito-daniel-barros-hector-garcia-leather-sofa-flickrFlickr

Want some? You can contact Daniel Barros on contato@egoinvitro.com.br

US$45 for a 30 ml bottle and US$65 for a discovery kit with 4 x 9 ml small bottles

I hope you get to try some of Daniels fragrances,
Portia xx

 

Memento Mori by Mandy Aftel for Aftelier Perfumes 2016

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Post by Portia

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Dear APJ Reader,

Do you ever put fragrance on your skin with no knowledge or expectation of what it will be? With some of my independent perfumer friends that’s exactly what I do. For the sheer joy of experiencing the scent without prejudice. That can make for some pretty far fetched guesses as to what has gone into a fragrance, and the ideas behind it. It’s also one of the reasons I love doing Live Video Sniffs, you get to come on the ride……. Scott and I spend a few minutes smelling the opening and… well, you’ll see….

Memento Mori by Aftelier Perfumes 2016

Memento Mori by Mandy Aftel

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Butter, orris, floral notes (Phyenylacetic acid)
Heart: Turkish rose, beta ionone (woody violet)
Base: Ambreine (amber), ambergris, antique civet, patchoulyl acetate (patchouli isolate)

From Aftelier: A memento mori is designed to “remind the viewer [or wearer] of their mortality and the shortness and fragility of human life” (Tate Museum). Memento mori jewelry was known for its intimate workmanship, beautiful delicacy and close associations with eternal love and remembrance. Mourning jewelry was a way for the bereaved to hold on to the memory of a loved one who had passed away: a way of saying “gone but not lost” or “sacred to memory.” It brought comfort and consolation and was not morbid or ghoulish, but touching and loving.

Further reading: Now Smell This and A Bottled Rose
Aftelier has samples from $6/0.25ml

Just so you know, while Momento Mori opens outrageously it does soften off considerable within the first hour. It’s indolic/fecal/barley butter gives way to the softest and plushest comfort scent. Like cuddling your partner first thing in the morning before tooth brushing and shower, still lived in and slightly rank but the smell of shared sleep and awakenings.

You’ve done it again Mandy, bravo.
Portia xxx

 

Moon Shadow by Library of Flowers 2013

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Post by Portia

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Hi there APJ,

You know when you’re rummaging around in your samples and you find THE ONE? Your nose explodes, eyes roll back in your head, you take deep lungfuls of fragrant air and nearly sniff the skin off your hand to get more of this magnetic and all encompassing magic into your sensory stations? You get so excited that you immediately start to look for a bottle of this incredible, fabulous, unbelievably amazing fragrance that has just blown your brains out?

Right, so now you know how I felt smelling todays fragrance. Then I went to the Library of Flowers site to buy a bottle and DISCONTINUED!!!! Aaaaaarrgghhhh. Thank goodness Surrender To Chance has more. I’ve just ordered the lAST 5ml they had and it’s not being restocked. You can find it on Amazon though.

Moon Shadow by Library of Flowers 2013

Moon Shadow: Bottled by Margot Ellena

Moon Shadow Library of Flowers FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Waterlily
Heart: Lotus
Base: Jasmine

Library of Flowers is a house produced by Margot Ellena who you may know from Bloom, Lollia, Tokyo Milk & Love and Toast. I don;’t know how she does it but her fragrances are often really good and at excellent prices. I’m not sure exactly what a Botanical Perfume is but my assumption is that they have a high percentage of “natural” ingredients.

Never before have I smelt such a photo realistic jasmine. So real that I was given a stem of fresh cut vine jasmine the night I was wearing Moon Shadow and they were indistinguishable, melding into each other perfectly. I was not the only one to notice how eerily similar they were. As to the waterlily and lotus notes, sorry but I really don’t get any of them. I get a perfect jasmine.

Jasmine Portia 2016

One problem that often happens with jasmine-centric fragrances is that they open with a huge bang and then fade almost instantly to a quiet, safe, discrete wash that bores the fricken socks off me. Here we have a scent that stays pretty powerful for over two hours before softening in projection but still maintaining a good sillage. I also love that I can still smell it hours later, my nose doesn’t get that tired anosmia that so often happens for me with jasmines. It still smells like sticking your head in a fully flowering jasmine vine all the way to losing the scent all together.

Amazon still has a few bottles at around $37/50ml

What has rung your bell so hard that you had to find more lately?
Portia xx

Estate Rosewood EdP by Angela St. John for Solstice Scents 2016

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Post by Erica Golding

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Fragrant greetings to all of you wonderful scent lovers around the world!

Today, my aura is fully saturated with a generous infusion of my new favorite indie masterpiece. Angela has done it again, and her latest Eau de Parfum composition is a complete addiction for me. I can’t get to sleep without wearing it lately, it’s got me mental!

Estate Rosewood EdP by Solstice Scents 2016

Estate Rosewood EdP by Angela St. John

estate-rosewood-edp-by-solstice-scentsSolstice Scents

Solstice Scents gives these featured accords:
Vanilla, tea rose, oak casks, tobacco, woods, bourbon, rosewood, hinoki wood

When Estate Rosewood was released several weeks ago, I ordered a sample and rocked on my heels next to my mailbox until it arrived. (This took about 30 seconds, haha! Solstice Scents still boasts an exceptionally fast turnaround time despite their well-deserved exploding fan base.)

Naughty confession: I tested it immediately, the little glass sprayer still warm from cooking in a hot summer mailbox. I inhaled and – and, well, it was like only being able to see the tail of a comet from your peripheral vision. It was incomplete, narrow, flat, and left me wanting more. Specifically, it made me crave pure Estate Vanilla. I just wanted to fill the void. I tested the next night and it was the same. The woods were nice but too subtle, the tobacco note was a bit minty and high pitched, the vanilla was confined.
I shrugged, put it aside, and decided it was just not my style.

estate-rosewood-edp-by-solstice-scents-pexelsPDI

A few days later, I was on vacation visiting my dear bestie Sammy, my partner in crime for all things fragrance (and otherwise). She was so deeply in love with her Estate Rosewood. I smelled it on her skin, and suddenly – Glory! A harmonious symphony! Rich, balanced, resonant magic! Experiencing this perfume with her fantastic chemistry was a turning point for me. (You should all be jealous, she amps dark notes like you wouldn’t believe!) Let’s also factor in the mail shock that my sample had been exposed to, it really took over a week to recover. Travel conditions like temperature shifts, pressure changes, varied elevations, and physical agitation impacted this perfume significantly. I hadn’t given it enough time to settle.

I quickly drained my sample once I realized it had recovered from the mail. (Duh. Idiot!) Next I scored a full bottle, and I’ve dented the volume 10% in just a few weeks. Really, it’s that good! The first two batches sold out almost instantly. It’s a must-try if you enjoy feeling like a legend.

estate-rosewood-edp-by-solstice-scents-apothecary11

Solstice Scents has $85/60ml and Samples

Do you have a story about wrongly judging a mail-shocked fragrance too soon? Have you ever had the chance to evaluate the effects of skin chemistry on perfume? Let’s chat about it below!

Love and light and scented hugs,
Erica

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils

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Post by Robert Herrmann

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Hi frag Friends! Robert H. here….

I am beyond thrilled to have discovered Abdul Karim Al Faransi (Abbdul Karim the Frenchman) Perfume Oils from Birmingham in the UK! I have always loved the idea of Middle Eastern perfume oils, but often the execution fails to deliver. I have tried a multitude of lines, offered on Amazon, Ebay and Esy, and available at stores like Whole Foods. None have come thru for me and I am more often than not disappointed.

Until now.

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils

Finding Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils is like coming upon a beautiful cool oasis, in a wasteland desert. See, the other brands I’ve tried in the past have all had something in them that skews petrochemical on my skin, usually manifesting as a back note that’s bitter, metallic, headache-inducing, and well…just fake.

Right from the onset you can detect French influence in these AF oils, also their logo is comprised of traditional Arabian swords that form an “A” and an “F”, while also forming the shape of the Eiffel Tower.

Self-described autodidact, owner Anthony Abdul Karim Marmin a young perfumer in his 30’s, is the sole owner and nose. In business since 2013 (1434 on the Islamic calendar), Anthony is mostly self-taught who has “Learned and continues to learn from various books, experiences and meeting with other people involved with perfumery.”

Imperial Desire Abdul Karim Al Faransi OilsAbdul Karim Al Faransi Oils

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils: Imperial Desire

The first oil I’m trying is called “Imperial Desire” and it’s a terrific floral described as:

“….a thick white musk with an innovative style. This creamy and powdery fragrance is an empire of sweetness full of beautiful notes . This soft perfume is suitable for men and women..”

Top: Taif rose, Comoros Ylang, Light fruity notes.
Heart: Violet, Orris, Lily of the valley, Powdery notes.
Base: Musk, Vanilla, Cedar, Amber.

Imperial Desire is creamy in color and swabs on like a viscous thick syrup, leaving a slick on my arm that is gorgeous with a deep scent similar to a vintage french extrait. I don’t get the fruit notes as much as the beautiful rose and ylang. As the oil heats up, the powdery and rooty orris sneaks in, supported by the violet, all resting on a soft musk base shot thru with vanilla and amber.

This scent feels very personal to me, not something to wear if you’re looking for sillage, but profoundly intimate to be enjoyed by you alone and maybe with someone special. It is a lush, sexy bouquet, deep and chewy, not unlike being anointed in a joyous ritual, the evocative scent slowly working deep into your emotions and psyche.

musk-tahara-monoi Abdul Karim Al Faransi OilsAbdul Karim Al Faransi Oils

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils: Musk Tahara Monoi

The second oil I tried is the lovely beach-y scent “Musk Tahara Monoi”, a true “Floramand” (floral gourmand.)

The notes are: Tahitian Monoi, Polynesian Flowers, Tahitian Vanilla, White Lotus, White Musk.

Opening like Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil mixed with a deep caramel sauce, Monoï (Tahitian gardenia or Tiaré steeped in coconut oil) is a beautiful, buttery, and lush smelling oil, and mixed here with vanilla and musk, smells like a floral infused coconut cake. With the same color and viscosity as “Imperial Desire” this oil slathers on like liquid butter and takes you right to a tropical beach, moist and fecund and scented with Polynesian flora. Beautiful stuff!

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils are available on their website
The prices are amazingly reasonable (€10.00 for a 6ml. dab bottle and a flat international shipping rate of €2.50!) and that 6ml. bottle will last quite some time!

Have you tried Faransi oils? What are some Middle Eastern oils you’d recommend?