HS3

I recently placed an order with Zahras (horrible website, but fabulous service and products!) – a bottle of Amouage’s newest attar, Al Mas, some oud wood, some bakhoor, and a big gaudy burner. It arrived relatively quickly considering it literally went halfway around the world from Bahrain to here. It was packed well, and a nice collection of samples was included.

I bought the Al Mas unsmelled, but had high hopes for it. I was not disappointed! It’s definitely Amouage through and through, but it’s unlike their other offerings. I’ve heard reference to it smelling similar to Montale’s Red Aoud and though it’s by no means the same, I could say that if you love Red Aoud, you’d probably love this too. It has all the wonderful roses, frankincense, and oud you’d want to find, but it has a great, bright oud top note that has almost a tart, fruity characteristic to it. It’s quite unisex as well – I couldn’t see anyone having difficulty wearing it. There’s a nice dose of what seems like an earthy musk that carries through and ties everything together nicely.

The drydown is very good as well – its woody structure comes to the front and that oud opening dies back revealing a sandalwood, musk, and amber base. Being an oil though, the evolution of the scent can develop over many hours, making it that much more intriguing. There are some notes that come out in the development that remind me of something else, but I can’t put my finger on it right now. I’ll have to update when it finally comes to me.

The packaging is incredible too – surprisingly much nicer than I’d expected. It’s a gorgeously veneered box with a deep red wood, with purple (how’s that for royal!) felt lining, and a great weight in the hand. I stuck a picture of it next to a bottle of Homage at the bottom here to show how much larger the box is, along with the variation in color (it’s actually much deeper in color than it seems in the photo).

UPDATE notes: a little later, I’m getting what seems like water note – odd. Not aquatic in the usual sense, but a light air of water. A tiny hint of furniture polish too, but in a good way if that makes sense.

I actually got this back when I ordered the Douce Amere, but it was shipped from the Beverly Hills Barneys and I never got around to getting pictures uploaded here. It  was a bit frustrating as I’d ordered a 50ml bottle, but the Beverly Hills store decided they would take it upon themselves to send (and charge me for, of course), a 100ml bottle. My SA at the Vegas Barney’s was more than happy to exchange, but at that point the amount of different vs the time it would take to sort it out wasn’t worth the hassle. I guess Barneys Beverly Hills is 1-0 on me . The way we’re trucking through Ofresia (incredible scent), it’ll get used so no harm.

Here are some shots of the bottle and box. Simple, solid, comfortable, and well-made. If you’re new to the smell of fig, it is a perfect scent to open your mind to the fragrance. Having said that though, I’m sure you’ll find your way right back to it after exploring other fig scents and realizing it’s the best of them. It’s not just the fruit of the tree, but rather stalk to stem. If you ever douse yourself in it, you’ll understand – an overdose gives you a lusciously succulent green stalk, crushed between your fingers, only later sweetened by the tart and sweet fruit. It has fascinating development and will certainly keep your nose planted into it wondering where it will take you next. It is, without a doubt, a full-on fig tree experience.

Another fabulous one that I really enjoy is Miller Harris Figue Amere. I recommend giving them both a test. I’ve tried plenty of other fig centric scents that really play up the other notes, but these two put the most emphasis on the lead character.

Wow. I love Ulrich Lang Nightscape.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I first sampled it, but reading reviews about its icy patchouli, I had to try it. At first sample, it had to be mine. I’ll try to keep this quick and simple.

Patchouli lovers – you need to try it. It’s not like head shop patchouli, but rather a smooth, crisp, woodsy patchouli. I can totally buy into their marketing; a man out on the town, dressed in great jeans, a dark cotton blazer, a white button down, and an air of confidence. It dries into this gorgeously sleek leather/musk/amber with just a gentle touch of citrus to give a tart, bright element. By the way, if you like this, you might like Montale Pure Gold. And if you like Pure Gold, you might like Chanel Coromandel. Nightscape smells nothing like Coromandel, but just saying… if you like one, etc.

Have some pics – great bottle, with a nice feel in the hand. The cap is a let down as it’s just molded plastic, but without a considerable price hike, there’s not much else they could do with it.

There you go! A gorgeous scent and a great bottle. Check it out – Nightscape by Ulrich Lang.

I’d never heard of Odin before, being from small-town Washington, DC and Orlando as of late. Apparently, it looks to be a trendy store in NYC that stocks emerging designers, along with various other high-end stuff and also a newly released EDT line. It goes to show how far a good marketing plan can go for you when a small clothing retailer can release a set of EDTs and get them carried by stores like luckyscent and the like.

The bottles and packaging look gorgeous, though I haven’t actually seen one in person. I recently got the three of them as samples from luckyscent, and have been sampling them from time to time. Nomad is the one I’m sampling right now, and I really do like it. It opens a bit more “perfumey” than you’d expect, probably from a number of synthetic musks and florals. It settles into a creamy, sweetened heliotrope, with a sandalwood/vanilla undertone and the ever-present synthetic musk ringing along.

I could see myself owning and wearing this one though. It seems like a perfume scent that wouldn’t offend, but wouldn’t be boring or run of the mill either.