War and Peace Part II

When you eventually arrive at a brand like Areej Le Dore, you know you've reached the pinnacle, epitome, zenith, whatever word you want to use, in the fragrance journey. Does this mean you can only go downhill from here? In terms of ingredient usage, probably. Maybe there is, was or will be some other obscure brand utilizing ingredients from King Tut's tomb, who knows, but you really can't find any other brands that uses real deer musk along with actual fossilized amber (that was distilled back in 1906) from any brand that I could ever come across. Does this mean the journey ends? Not at all, it's not always about the special nature of the ingredients but how they are utilized. A novice perfumer can use the best, most unique ingredients available and still fall flat compared to an expert perfumer using synthetics/cheap quality ingredients. War & Peace II is a fragrance I didn't like the first time I smelled it. My nose was not accustomed to such ingredients before and it came off smelling of urine, feces and mothballs. But as time went on and I smelled it more over the course of a few days, the powdery, leathery and smoky qualities emerged and no longer could I contain myself and not smell as if some sort of junkie. This fragrance has a unique power that I've never experienced before. The fragrance on first smell, comes off slightly metallic, ancient & leathery. The metallic touch fades soon and out comes the musk and orris. They compliment each other extremely well, and you must enjoy a powdery musk to love this fragrance. As it dries, hours into the fragrance, vetiver does start taking hold and being quite noticeable even amongst the powdery musk. It has a very old-world, vintage smell to it, obviously harkening back to the days when perfumery was art and not enslaved to organizational standards. I would say this leans old-school masculine, like a powdery men's fragrance, not necessarily barbershop, but in the vein of brands that would be showcased in a barbershop. If you like those kinds of fragrance, you just might be obsessed with this offering as I am. In terms of longevity/projection, I am stunted on this one. Initially I felt the fragrance was loud and lasted forever, but I believe due to the complete natural materials used, my sense of smell changed a lot with this one in particular. Longevity is quite long, albeit not as long as a fragrance that utilizes a traditional oriental base of amber (accord). This fragrance also quiets down very quickly on the skin, but as I said this could be an anosmia situation and may be a lot louder than expected to others who are smelling it. Versatility of this is in the eye (or nose) of the beholder for this one. I think it can be used any season due to the natural materials used and molecules will evolve depending on weather. In terms of it being offensive to others, there is a high probability because even for me I found it offensive the first time I smelled it. The drydown I doubt would offend anyone though. Due to the composition, everyone's experience with it may vary, and most likely even my experience will vary over time as different notes show themselves. This is mainly a review of spending a few days with a small dab sample. Overall this is a brand that I think everyone who has a true passion for fragrances should experience. You'll gain knowledge on notes that you would not likely find elsewhere, and true expertise of a perfumer at his craft.

Update: It's late July 2026. I haven't worn it for a while. I think of it as a cold weather frag, but it's fine in Summer. Just wanted to say how classic this smells. I'm really liking the smokiness. Beautiful bleding of ambergris iris and the leathery animalics. I sold my Cuirtis leather. It was too harsh. This is softer and more rounded. A keeper for sure. If your a novice, it may be too much for you, as some have said. First spray/ first impression: First impression, dark beast, woods, oak moss, resins, leather. Classic chypre/ Oriental. Medieval, gothic. Beautiful, deep. An old, dark musty library filled with old books, yep. Great fragrances have contrasting themes: MFK, Lumiere Noire, light and dark. Guerlain Lupin Dandy, wet and dry. The review here before mine, she calls it evil. Well, "war" is evil. There is violence, death, and often hate. But thank goodness this has a brighter side as well. There is a great contrast in this fragrance. War and Peace, apptly described. The opening is dark, brooding. Then comes the light and peace. - Being, sweet Oris root musk, and rose accord. The rose is subtle and always in an accord with the darker woody elements. It never stands out as a rose fragrance. So this maybe gender neutral, but I would say leaning masculine. The heart fragrance accord of this fragrance War and Peace is; primarily a natural deer musk and a non powdery Oris root accord, for me. Enveloped by the darker elements. The Oris root note does not smell at all like the floral note, Iris. This primary theme of the fragrance makes it a unique Russian Adam creation. There are, old classic vintage vibes in this fragrance. The natural deer musk/ Oris/ amber chips accord makes it uniquely enjoyable. The only thing I didn't quite like so much, the synthetic civet is like in vintage Kouros. The civet does not stand out as much as in vintage Kouros, but at times, almost. Natural animalic notes are not always sensual. The natural deer musk Adam uses, is a natural, creamy, soft scent. The synthetic civet does make it sensual, as was the intent with YSL Kouros. So a little minus for me. And a caution for blind buyers. I've gotten to the dry-down. It is still very anamalic. It is a challenging fragrance for me now. But I think I will aquire more of a liking for it. In the dry down the Guerlain like vanilla becomes prominent. Russian Adam just announced his new series of anamalic fragrances, based on the inspiration of War and Peace. Adam has called War and Peace his most challenging fragrance. 7 hour in now, the intensity is not letting up with one spray. It's more strong and lasting than any oil I have. It's smoother now, more dark woods and castorium. The civet is gladly less noticable. The war is over, the end is peaceful. PS: I wore it today, a few weeks after first wearing. I'm just getting the old musty library vibe now. Very transportive. The papyrus pages have soured from centuries of time. I could be in the library of a medieval monestary. Rating: 10/10 God bless. Ephesians 2:8.

War and Peace Part II from Areej le Dore. Not a perfume, but rather a time machine. Much like its sibling and my other favorite from the 5th collection, Antiquity. These two are irreplaceable for me, and depending on the mood, either could rank as the number one ALD composition ever and certainly among my favorite perfumes to date. War and Peace is an example of heavy, dark, and boundary-pushing perfumery where the artistic vision is taken to the extreme while making use of amazing ingredients and expert craftsmanship. The perfume is composed only of heavy base materials, therefore, don't hold your breath for those sparkling citruses and aldehydes in the opening or the delicate heart notes. It goes straight to the meat and potatoes. It's not even worth breaking down this perfume because, with War and Peace, it's ALL ABOUT the overall accord. It should be patented as the "War and Peace" accord. The medieval menu. How does this accord smell? The opening is powdery, a tinge ashy, and fleeting. I like describing it as a "gunpowder accord". After the initial burst clears off, the sweet, smoky leather kicks in, backed up by creamy orris, sweet patchouli, gloriously smoky fossil amber, and a shy rose trying to compete with the big boys. The more it settles down the skin, the more the animalics and the amber fossil come forth. The civet growls louder and louder, accompanied by the musk, the castoreum, and the ambergris, ultimately dominating among them. It lasts forever, as expected, converging toward this animal-hide-like leather accord with the glowing, smoky, sweet amber fossil always holding tight to the animalic core. It brings forth images of places and things I've experienced in real life or imagine would smell like this. Old Medieval castle halls and chambers, a hunter's trophy room full of animal skins hanging from the walls, old antique shops or apothecaries. Dark, old world, unsettling. A compelling composition that defies the norms of perfumery. You wear this in public at your own risk. I never had the guts to spray it more than twice while around people. I'm planning on doing a social experiment at a future metal concert. I'm sure it'll blend in just fine. IG:@memory.of.scents

I blind bought a bottle recently on eBay for a reasonable price (reasonable relative to what Antiquity is now selling for!) and was pleased to find out it was even better than expected. It is a dark brooding fragrance, yet laced with layers of olfactory poetry few fragrances can match. It starts off like some kind of Roja Pierre de Velay or Amouage creation, a dry soapy leathery animal floral, which to me is the most challenging part of the fragrance. It quickly transitions to a gunpowder vibe with wafts of rose and iris and thereupon evolves slowly in the typical lava-like fashion of ALD fragrances. As it morphs it becomes slightly sweet, but also gives off a kind of coconut macaroon vibe, not peachy coconut, which would be a mistake here, but a bakers coconut, which adds a kind of earthy sweetness at the bass. It continues to give flashes of powder, florals, gun smoke, and a kind of old library vibe, which brings to mind Gothic fantasies. In this regard it becomes almost romantic, with a lingering dark passion lurking in the corners. At this stage it makes me think of Nick Cave in his first band The Birthday Party, Bauhaus, or Robert Smith from The Cure - it would be a perfect signature scent for a sophisticated Goth dandy! You only need 2 sprays (I used one on each neck) and it radiates well over an arms length all day long. I am relatively new to ALD, but have quickly amassed a big collection, so cannot yet state where it fits into the hierarchy and how it compares to the new collection. Each ALD fragrance (even the lighter ones like Aquilaria Blossom) is like a poem or novel and needs time to appreciate and reflect before coming to a conclusion. This is why I find the shotgun rankings of the new Musk collection here a bit premature. All in all an amazing cent and I can't believe the quality to price ratio - even a deal at elevated prices (within reason) when you compare to fragrances like Roja's PDLN line.

W&P II is my latest ALD purchase and I had just a full wear of it: It opens up with a golden amber note followed by the animalic accord where I get mostly musk and the smoky Castoreum that conjures a leather vibe. Soon a non-dated powdery "museum/library" accord rises along a very dark rose that I believe to be the Ruh Ghulab which softens the animalics just a bit. This combination lasts for pretty much the whole +20 hours of the fragrance and I could detect vetiver by the end. I expected Oudh Infini level of challenge to wear this one but the amber and rose tames the animalic notes enough to make it lovely enough for temperatures sub 20oC. Not war nor peace but love!