Grandenia

Update: I have since purchased Areej Sandalwood fragrance. So now I notice this has a lot of sandalwood and saffron. This takes me on a journey to an old age gone by. As Russian Adam says, it's made with old essences that he found, and in the style of 1930's vintage fragrances. I got this same ancient vibe, when I first smelled Creed Epicea from the 1960's. An old pine, clove and lime accord. Gardenia is a favorite floral along with Lilly of the valley. My mother had a flower shop. So I grew up smelling flowers. A few years ago I was on the hunt for a great gardenia fragrance that was gender neutral. A hard task. Tom Ford Velvet Gardenia was pretty good. This is what I was always looking for in a gardenia fragrance I could wear as a guy. Some say Gardenia fragrances are most always blended with Jasmine. This has a pure realistic gardenia. In the forest of herbs, dry woods and resins, the fleshly gardenia petals are a welcome bright spot! It's not a soliflore. I'm getting a bit of a beeswax note, often paired with gardenia. It is very well blended oriental fragrance, with a prominent gardenia, and touch of jasmine. Russian Adam could have easily drown out the gardenia with the powerful balsamic resins used, oud, frankincense and myrrh. The heavier notes are done with moderate projection. Although overall it is long lasting. All is balanced, and so well blended here. The black ambergris is a real ambergris note. It adds a great creamy animalic touch. True ambergris is a wonderful smell. I know it from Creed fragrances and Bortnikoff's Amber Cologne. The fragrance overall is bright and uplifting, especially for an oriental. Yes, it does smell like a great Guerlain vintage fragrance. Into my top 5 with a 10/10 rating. A note about the ouds here: I don't get any distinct oud, it's in the background. Or hidden in accords with creamy ambergris and white florals. This is also a great fragrance for how much it changes or morphs though it's life. Very good longevity. But not overly loud. In the dry down, after a few hours, it gets powdery. Leaning feminine at this point. All the base notes are together in the dry down. So it's a really nice dry down regardless of the slight powderiness. Rating: 10/10 God bless. John 3:16

How very strange... this is the one I thought I would enjoy the least from the 6th collection, yet it's the one that I enjoy the most. It's a bit lemony fresh and resinous up top, a bit heady from the gardenia accord in the mid, and there's a vague underlying sweetness in the base. This is not your average lemon. The lemon is suuuuper good and smooth, easily the best lemon I've ever encountered in a fragrance. Age has smoothed out all the abrasiveness that can often come with bright citruses. Even the lemon from "Acqua Viva" by "Profumum Roma", which is supposed to be one of the best, pales in comparison. The olibanum is of the more lemony-piney variety (boswellia carterri), and it lingers forever despite being listed a top note. Gardenia isn't as prominent as I was expecting, but it's light, full, smooth, and only slightly clean and indolic. Maybe the best white floral accord I've had the pleasure of smelling. Rosemary is the glue that holds everything together, rounding out the entire composition. Oud is not barnyardy in the slightest, extremely pleasant! In the mid, some skank can be detected up close due to the black ambergris, but in the air it adds nice character and backbone to the fragrance. Tonka bean is barely noticeable, even in the drydown, and its impact is more felt in the form of sweetness than it is smelled. It adds a mild slightly cherry-like sweetness, and the powderiness blends with the patchouli. Patchouli is beautiful, and it seems hard to distiguish entirely from the remaining gardenia accord. The patchouli becomes more and more prominent as the fragrance dries down, eventually becoming the star. The kind of patchouli used in this is similar to the one used in Chanel Coromandel. The notes and accords gently and wonderfully overlap. Masterfully blended. Projects at least moderately for many hours, but the sillage is better than the projection. Remains as a strong skin scent over 12 hours after application from one spray. So the longevity is approaching nuclear. 3 sprays is just right. What an odd collection of notes that somehow manage to work. Very complex without becoming too busy. I'm impressed. My favorite from the house so far. P.S. - DM if you're willing to part with your bottle.

Grandenia I had read that Areej had used vintage accords to put together Grandenia. My collection is about 80% vintage ranging back to 1915. So as a vintage enthusiast, to recognize some vintage components of the past brought back to life in a modern day formulation, is quite a treat. The vintage bergamot/lemon old chypre opening is lovely. Spices such as cinnamon tickle the throat, then the gardenia opens in the heart. Its a muted gardenia like its simmering in oud, incense, resins, aged civet and ambergris. A lot of these musks are aged, so theres a smooth warmth to this fragrance. Its a complicated, rich, thick scent that produces a whole-much like vintage En Avion by Caron if you want to talk about its construction. I also noticed this is better put together and interesting than Antiquity, which I liked, but left me flat. Grandenia isnt a large white floral say like Fracas. I did wish however a larger Gardenia presence, but that would be difficult to do as this is an aged gardenia accord and they tend to start blending into the composition over time. I read a lot of reviews and some got this scent, while others diddnt. I think that is true for this piece. If you are into amazing materials, vintage fragrances with new spin of oud added to the mix, Grandenia is going to work for you. If your the synthetic, candy sweet types this will make you turn tail and run. Its not modern, but it doest have to be. The materials make this a quality scent that last the tests of time.

I have waited to review this fragrance because, well its complicated. It's sour and sweet, and wifey doesn't like it. Myself on the other hand love it. Usually when she doesn't like something I wear like purple hat(which I love as well) I stay away because of the barnyard oud which I can understand why you wouldn't like it. This guy I pull at least once a week. It just smells niche and expensive. It's not one for compliments from the average nose, but if you run into another frag head they will get it. Now for grandenia. It opens potent af, it hits me and I am taken to a garden in Israel, with a market nearby with oud burning and people enjoying honey pastries. Don't know if any of that make sense, but to me it does haha. It lasts forever and others projects well. The base is tamer and people will not be turned off any longer. The oud here is not barnyard but also not western. It sits in the middle. Try it, if you don't like it @ me

Gave it a few wears, really enjoying this perfume. Start of it is silky lemon/vanilla custard, but this stage here is only for a brief moment. Right after first stage, you get a wave of smoke, but not any regular smoke, it is the oud. Similar smell i encountered from burning kyara incense sticks. Why fumigate? Spray some grandenia! Following smoke, as it starts to settle down after about 2-3 hours, base has its grand entrance. I mainly get spicy patchouli sweetened by the resins. At some point i caught myself on a thought that it smells like what people describe as mothballs?....but in reality, i am not sure how mothballs smell - so to me its excellent patchouli with vintage vibes. Longevity is great, projection as well. Easily unisex so let the name not scare you.

I wish I could describe this better - let me start with I adore it. A honeyed lemon opens up to this voluminous ambery white floral Gardenia. Where it gets me, is beyond the "vintage feminine" connotation, it really stands out to me as being something of an oriental fougere. The lemon-rosemary-tonka combination is prominent, and with the accenting notes (Olibanum, oud, Ambergris) not so much driving the composition as much as adding depth and shading to this beautifully creamy concoction. It smells, to me, like a refined, old money shaving foam. A swoon, wearable any time.

Oh my goodness this perfume is the most beautiful of all the collection. I am crazy about it, I bought 3 back up bottles. But this perfume is so super concentrated that a drop is all u need to last u all day so I’m selling just one of my backups. If anyone wants it, message me. First person who wants it, gets it. I’d rather not ship perfumes out of the US, but if u want to pay for shipping, then I’m ok with it. Edit: sold all my back ups. I have just my own bottle.

This my first time sampling Areej le Dore perfume. This is fantastic! Full bodied vintage gardenia/frankincense/woods. With the high concentration of naturals, there is much more going on than the listed notes. Complex, strong sillage but not monster, and great longevity. For my style this is highly wearable (for context I wear Papillon and Rogue out in public). Feels unisex to me.

Vintage perfection. Creamy lemon custard opening, which dries down into an Oud/amber swirl, and. HEAVY dose of patchouli. I don’t get much of the gardenias, so the name threw me off a bit, but this is a complex, spiced amber scent that is an absolute powerhouse of a performer. Patchouli lovers should hoard this underrated gem.

Most beautiful fragrance builts around gardenia and amber.Its like a vintage fragrance from the old days but beautiful indeed.Amber,rosemary and gardenia are prominent.Hope there will be a version 2 one day.

The 3 notes that makes this fragrance unique identity for me, are the myrrh, rosemary and ambergris. These are not as recognizable to most perhaps, as much as the indolic gardenia and the oud.

This is as good as some ACTUAL vintage chypres! The scent has 2 main components—sourness & powderiness—with gardenia merely as a bridge. The powdery base has a lot of spicy, resinous, and musky materials for support, with nothing in particular standing out, giving it the general "dark brown" feel of Orientalism. It's somewhere between Tabu (brighter) & Opium (denser), but with a fuzzy & vegetal filter on top. I admire it greatly; however for my personal taste, it's not as creamy (as some sandalwood based classics), not floral enough (some jasmine would've helped), oudy enough (would've given it a new twist), ambery enough (missing that warm & sticky feel), animalic enough (like a touch of civet), and no moss (although it captures the "feel")...therefore I cannot love it.

I’m having the most underwhelming experience with this. I was expecting so many great things with this, as everyone raves about the brand and (in particular) Grandenia. For me, it’s not the grand exotic powerhouse that I’d hoped. It’s a gentle honey-floral with a Johnson & Johnson’s baby product feel with added soft saffrony musk. There’s a base of patchouli, amber, saffron, myrrh and tonka beans. It’s very softly wearable with great longevity. This is completely fine, but I was expecting something more than crowd-pleasingly okay. I think I’ve been babbling with the blow-your-socks-off scents too much.

GIANT vintage teddy bear! How to pull the old prize won at a funfair shooting out of an Indian chest! It starts with strong citrusy lemon and olibanum, sweet gardenia. It explodes with aromatic spice, rosemary, oud and warms up with an animalic heavy honey amber with a thick vintage patch powder. On my skin the LONG drydown is sweet, dark, soft. For my nose more of a nocturnal, warm, unisex, oriental, long-tailed animal than a large gardenia. For honey lovers.

Heavy vintage style floral chypre that could incite extreme reactions. The perfume has a brief opening of citruses and olibanum before it goes to a dense heart of an aged spicy and indolic gardenia accord. The perfume settles on an equally dense powdery base of patchouli, amber, slight oud, saffron, myrrh and tonka beans. The feminine leaning perfume has tremendous sillage, projection and longevity. While some adventurous perfume lovers may find this very rewarding, there will be many who will find this very heavy scent absolutely impossible to wear in the current age. As a work of art, it is quite lovely and evocative. If you liked Maai or Gardelia by Bogue or Salome by Papillon Artisan there is an excellent chance you will love this one. Enjoy!

This is super dense--like an intense chord played on an ancient piano. I definitely get citrus and frankincense in the open--and the lemony resin works so well with citrus! There is an indolic floral heart. I'm not sure it really screams "gardenia" so much as "ambiguous and intense white floral." The final overriding impression for me is actually patchouli. I think lovers of intriguing "headshoppy" patchoulis would appreciate this. It actually manages to smell both like classical french perfumery and upmarket/offbeat head shop oil. Interesting. Glad to have a sample!

Lots of great insights in earlier reviews! Just want to add that myrrh is awesome, adds a gorgeous sweet mintiness to the late heart & early base. Interestingly, when I opened the box for first time & smelled around the bottle lid, first identifiable note was saffron. Still that's what I smell when I sniff the bottle in the box, yet I don't really detect saffron at all on my skin. ETA: OK after about 2.5 hours, saffron note is peeking through! 😹😹😹 ETA: Late drydown 7+ hours is very nice & subtle, dominated by myrrh & slightly animalic ambergris.

Super rich thick honeyed amber and hints of gardenia. I get the rosemary upon first spray but it fades and turns very resinous and a touch woody - oud but not barny more deep and rich wood. I can see the tabu and opium comparisons but this doesn't smell vintage - more like a rich honey resinous modern take on gardenia. Usually gardenia is screetchy to my nose and a little dated smelling, not here. Really nice. Love the deep colour of the juice too.

For those who love the complexity of cypre this is the masterpiece of Russian Adam. It is unisex, from opening to closing it is a show. Not only the best of the 6 collection, but one of the best of all collections.

Most of the ingredients (smell) used here are the same when I cook, so it just gets me hungry for a juicy steak.