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måndag 11 maj 2015

Ramon Monegal - Dubai Next to Me

Picture: Dubai Next to Me
Photo: PR Ramon Monegal (c)
Dubai Next to Me is a limited edition from Barcelona based perfumehouse Ramon Monegal. The fragrance was (at least originally) distributed only in Dubai.

Dubai Next to Me starts peachy, not the atrificial, chemical peach, but an accord which feels quite natural. The coconut is very smooth and also feels natural in style. Soon the peach is offsetted with smooth spices and later in the dry down also smooth, velvety flowernotes appears as also balsamic and a very smooth leather note. The oud is very soft and acts as a deep woody ingredient in the base, not recognizable as a distinct note. Dubai Next to Me, even if consisting of deep and thick notes, appears as somhow refreshing and transparant, there is an almost cold, metallic vibe to it, probably from the combination of rose and some of the spices. The fragrance is very well blended, made of high quality ingredients and it performs as it is fleeting in circles seamless around the accords, Dubai Next to Me seems not to be built in the traditional pyramid structure of accords, to experience this fragrance gives me associations to the Hermès scarf/shawl De la Mer au Ciel with its eternal circles of life.

Picture: Beautiful Hermès De la Mer du au Ciel,
140x140 cm cashmere/silk,
designer Laurence Bourthoumieux
Photo: PR Hermès (c)
Dubai Next to Me is not a traditional, middle eastern perfume, it's a fragrance which is most certainly appreciated in any part of the world and it could be worn in most occasions except for sports. I think this fragrance demands much warmer tempratures than swedish spring (+10 C) to really bloom with its beautiful fruity, floral, spicy notes and I will test it again in the summer heat to confirm that. Silage is very close and longevity is good, for at least a day.

Other fragrances that I come to think of wearing Dubai Next to Me is Naomi Goodsir Or du Serail which is similar in style. Also Aqaba Midnight Sun even if stronger and more flowery, has something in common with Dubai Next to Me in the overall expression.

Rating. 4
Notes: Coconut, peach, melon, saffron, nutmeg, black pepper, jasmine, rose oil, rose absolute, frankinsence, cistus labdanum, oud, sandalwood, cashmeran, spanish leather, tonka, ambraceme absolute

måndag 1 december 2014

Naomi Goodsir - Or du Serail

Picture: The Reception (1873)
Painting by John Frederick Lewis (1805-1875)
Wikipedia commons
Or du Serail is the third fragrance in the perfumelinfe of australian fashiondesigner Naomi Goodsir. Or du Serail is created by the famous nose Bertrand Duchaufour.

Or du Serail starts with a wonderful blast of balsamic, resin notes, supported by cocos and  pickled fruits in boozy, rum-liqueur. This accord are present during the whole dry down but in different strengths in different parts of the fragrance. Soon a balancing almost aromatic note appears and adding some slight spritzy green texture to the fragrance. Combined with the other notes, an accord similar to the smell of almondcake appears for a while. I recognize this accord from Carner Barcelona Rima XI. Then Or du Serail goes on in a darker, fruity-rum phase, with some hardwood, the fizzy herbal green still present but more subdued. In this stege there is something that reminds me of a less spicier Frapin Caravelle Epicée with its woody rum and warmth crossed with  the dark, boosy, woody fruits of Parfum DelRae Bois de Paradise. In the basenotes a light gunpowdernote also appears balancing the boozy fruit, the resins and balsams with some dryness. In the late basenotes, the fruits somehow gets more noticeable again and has a slight flowery twist.
Picture: Or du Serail
Photo: PR Naomi Goodsir (c)
I can think of Or du Serail as suitable as a daytime perfume in the harem as I imagine heavier and much darker elixirs  was used for the night. For most of the public in todays Western World, Or du Serail is sufficiently full and exotic for evening wear, even if Parfumistas easily wears it for daytime during autumn and winter. Or du Serail will be the perfect fragrance for the coming Christmas holidays, despite celebrating at home/away or working. It's a unisex fragrance but IMO it lends a bit more to the feminine side. The sillage is medium and longevity for 24h.

Or du Serail is another oriental-fouerge I have tested lately. It seems as a genre with rising popularity at the moment, see also my reviews of By Kilian Intoxicated and Light My Fire. The aromatic notes in those fragrances makes them lighter, less sweet and probably attract a broder group of potential customer then the classical heavy orientels.

Rating: 4

Notes: Apple, red berries, mango, sweet orange, rum, artemisia, sage, coconut, geranium, ylang-ylang, mate, labdanum, beeswax, honey, tobacco, amber, oak tree, cedar, musk, vanilla

Thanks for Fragrance & Art for the sample to try