War And Peace

War and Peace II opens with what I've been calling a "museum" accord. It smells old and ancient, but oddly indistinct. Theres a sort of tattered, worn, papery facet, as well as an almost dusty slightly mineralic accord, fossil-like. The opening truly does carry itself with a richly baroque austere sort of seriousness. It is the antithesis of anything playful and it feels out-of-time. It also immediately reminded me of Laxmi Dhoop incense, which I adore. I imagine this is what the inside of the pyramids probably smell of, if one was to light some laxmi dhoop. As it moves into the heart the notes become a little easier to differentiate and the smattering of animalic accords take center stage. Certainly musk, and this is about as jaw-droppingly beautiful of a musk that I've ever put my nose on. Civet also comes through loud and clear to me. Castoreum I have a tougher time identifying, but It does have a sort of slightly smoky, pleasantly "greasy" leathery texture that I can associate with Yatagan and a few other Castoreum-centric scents. Likewise, the floral component comes into view, most prominently to me is the Rose, although I imagine the Orris is essential in providing some lighter, ethereally wispy contrast to this otherwise tar-like and pitch black blend. The drydown takes ages to arrive, wearing this is a complete journey. The amount of subtle evolutions War and Peace goes through throughout the course of a day is almost inconceivable. Add to that it's seemingly reactive nature to environmental conditions and this is quite the living animal of a fragrance. Ultimately in the far, far drydown, the rose, civet and musk seem to dominate, and somehow, confusingly, through all the turmoil and roller-coaster ups and downs of War and Peace, it lands daintily in the garden of Amouage Gold. Nearly identical to me, although deeper, and more animalic. Truly, and I often find myself wasting high praise on other, more novel and cheaply thrilling scents, this is perfumery as art. There is storytelling going on here, it almost feels cheap to translate the scent experience to words. It's been a while since I've tested something this dedicated to art over fashion. Of course the caveat there is, don't expect to immediately love this or to bathe in compliments while wearing. It's akin to something like an art house film translated to fragrance, most people will find it pretentious and offputting, and you wouldn't throw it on in the background during a party, but deeply rewarding if given the right environment with the right people. Exemplary.

At the start I get a blast of fresh civet which is quickly followed by rose, incense and powder. After this there is this very strange scent accord that smells like a old Victorian house that has not been lived in for a hundred years would smell like. Or if you like the smell of a old musty smelling museum full of ancient antiquity's. After about thirty minutes this fades away and you are left with the rose and powder which starts to feel animalic. You can smell the deer musk as it announces it's presence but it is kept in check by the rose and powder. As time goes by the musk becomes more pronounced and then starts to get leathery. This is where the castoreum comes into play. So you have a scent that is rosey, musky and leathery with a slight incense like amber. Now well into the drydown after many hours you can smell a very lovely sweet ambery musky ambergris accord with a animalic tinge. This eventually turns into golden incense amber with animalic hints. Now the longevity lasts all day but the projection is well below average. This one stays quite close to, more of a personal scent for you to enjoy than anything that others will pick up on unless they are close to you. The ingredients are top notch and it does smell good if you like rosey slightly powdery musky incense tinged animalics. Though I think the first 30 minutes with that old museum like scent accord is the most challenging. I think that scent accord will be very polarizing and will put a lot of people off the scent. I like it and I think this with it's natural ingredient's will mature and get better with age.

YOU ARE NOT READY!!!... No one is ready for this. Even Russian Adam himself was not sure to release it. This has no mercy. It is dark, animalic, rough and with the potential to stick harmfully into your brain. If you are the kind of person that uses Leather Oud (Dior) splash as an aftershave, if you think Salome (Papillon) is the best go option for a beach day with the family, Maai (Bogue) it's just beautiful flowers, and Oudh Infini (Dusita) is what you use to go to bed, you may like this... This to me smells like an Old Kingdom Thrown... made of wood and leather. Vintage vibe surrounded by animalic tones with a hint of orris root and dark earthy vetiver. It could have also the reminiscence of some roses that died long time ago. Polarizing perfume for you and for others. You may like it, but I doubt others would appreciate it. Expect comments like: "you smell like an abandon warehouse" or "cat pee over your grandmother's Sunday dress"... Estrange enough, I do enjoy this kind of "observations", so to me this is a bonus. The only really negative thing about this perfume, that gets me angry, is the craziness around this brand, that force you to blind buy them if you are willing to own some of Adam's last offerings... I bought the sample set for nothing... Unacceptable!!! Uniqueness: high Scent: ?/10 (I really cannot rate it. I like much more how you feel wearing it, than the aroma itself...) Performance: high Would I buy it: Yes (I am luckily enough to own it) Would I buy it again: Yes (waiting for Part II)

War and Peace is a masterpiece, i even start to rhyme when i think of it :D So what is this perfume? This is what niche should be. Hype created? Not at all. Adams fans are looking for unique creations, and they get what they want. Shocking, dense, unique, long lasting, natural, very artistic, dark as dark perfumes should be. If you need ur blue de chanel or Office by jeremy with HQ ingredients, i suggest Bortnikoff. His style is civilized, Adam - RAW. Perfume itself doesnt really break down by notes, it creates an aura that goes in stages, and on me, there are only 2. 1) Powdery, musky, very ancient in feel amber, that has sweet, smoky, rubbery, hyrax type of smell. Its gothic, churchy aura is amazing. I have never smelled anything like this before. This stage makes me think of black velvet, or chinchilla coat. Summer night at the roof of your own castle, on the bed full of fur and velvet pillows. 2) after a few hours of 1st stage, as powder mellows down and smokiness dissipates, this is where Adams special accord from castoreum, civet ambergris and, i want to say moss, step in to the game as main player, and this is how perfume stays till the end. It is sensual, old school vibe is very calming. Longevity is about 12 hours, and i am pleased with this, since i have foreverhungryskin. Silage is not enormous, but you can always feel the presence. Max sprays would be 2 for me, and it hugs me nicely, stays with me throughout. No notes are out of place, all natural, very pleased i am an owner of this beauty.

War and Peace is an amazing unique composition that has gathered me more compliments than any other offering made by Russian Adam. He is truly a master in this one. I haven't smelled anything quite like this from any other house and neither have the people who have smelled it. I'm totally surprised by what has been created. This screams NICHE quality and anyone who knows quality ingredients will be impressed by Russian Adam. War and Peace is no exception. The scent is a rich and opulent musk followed by a soft creamy and ambery accord that sets in all throughout the background along with taif rose petals . War and Peace rounds out with the castoreum and civit leaving you with a unique composition that has people wondering if they have ever smelled this before. This is a perfect cozy night in scent by the fireplace. It's a challenging, polarizing and bold scent. Not for the faint of heart. Once you smell it though you will understand how and why it is so captivating. Amazing work! Compliments 10/10 Sillage 10/10 Scent 10/10 Uniqueness 10/10 Longevity 10/10

Areej le Doré's War and Peace II has just arrived. It's the 17th of July, at 14:53. I'm in the 5-10 minute mark. It's a kick in the head! Uber animalic and dusty ambery, almost smoky. The castoreum comes like a slap with leather gloves. There is something sweet lurking around. I'll come back later to write about the heart and the base (if I survive this nuclear assault by Russian Adam). --- It ́s 20:33, almost 6 hours in. The smoky aspect is gone, the orris root gives some "fur" - if you know what I mean - to WaP and it becomes less dusty and the castoreum/leather facet with an upfront patchouli is now noticeable. Beautiful experience. There's something that - maybe - is gonna remind some folks of Leather Oud. To me, to my nose, that's a clear parallel. Such a personal experience. Wearing it near other people is like being naked in public. War and Peace II is brute, raw and transcendental. 10/10

I have the War and Peace II, The opening is inky, dark, and smokey, kinda reminiscent of Laudano Nero and Black Afgano. In the dry down though, all the animals busting out of the zoo to play, 8hr in and they're still playing peekaboo. I'm getting great longevity from this one, about 10+hr easily, arm length projection and average sillage. 2 sprays is all it takes for me to enjoy this wild beast. You can do 5 to 6 sprays to enforce social distancing, hit this shit with 10 to 12 sprays and you'll be clearing out the entire block. Backup bottle worthy, and please do NOT support all the scumbags selling these stuff twice to three times the retail price on ebay few months down the road.

Areej le dore is a love it or hate it house for most, it seems. I am definitely a fan. To my nose it smells like I walked onto a battle field set near a field of roses. I get gunpowder, fire, sweat, chocolate, soil, leather, steel, and the magical Taif Rose. The sweet musk and ambergris add to the peaceful aspect as well. This is Yin-Yang in a bottle.

The opening takes you back to what it was like in nepoleonic times of leather, gunpowder. It then changes to smooth floral yet with dark animalistic sexiness. Think gothic old libraries and museums within this artistic masterpiece of perfumery. Has to be smelled to be believe, the art of perfumery doesn't get better than Areej Le Doré, awesome.

Its so so amazing. I simply love this parfum. Its sweet, powdery, ambery and musky. I mean you just spray it on and get into another zone altogether. It truly smells ancient, regal and heavenly. Gets me relaxed. It somehow reminds me of my childhood. Feel like getting another bottle!

Smells like an ashtray in a dog kennel mixed with grandma’s old rose perfume. The perfect club scent for a sociopath.

Onw word says it all, "masterpiece" . I own both 1 & 2 and they are among the most treasured in my collection.

Beautiful - reminds me of a combination of Imaginary Authors Bull's Blood, Muscs Koublai Khan, and Chergui.

Very dark, very smoky, musky, slightly powdery, 100% masculine, leathery, and aggressive. If you want a fragrance to put you in an aggressive or melancholy mood, this is it! At the same time, it is extremely intriguing, I would suggest this for personal enjoyment only, definitely not office-safe. I got a lot of burnt charcoal-like smell, musk, leather, and civet in the opening stages. Adam said that the rose was added to give it the "Peace" element, but the other notes are sooo dark, all I get is the "WAR" side. You get hints of a very metallic rose in the dry-down. Longevity was very good, on clothes, it will last for days. Projection was moderate after the initial blasts. Overall, I did not get the hype around this one, Adam has definitely made better fragrances. It will be a polarising fragrance, either "War" for them or "Peace". A re-release of this is due at the end of the year due to the high demand, mostly from people who know little about fragrances.

Anyone know what gives the scent of gunpowder in this? It’s not listed, but it’s definitely there.

This perfume smells very much like Ajmals musk al ghazal ltd edition attar!

Anyone who rode in a taxi pre mid 2000's could tell you that the drivers used to openly smoke cigarettes with you in the vehicle (SHOCKING NOW I KNOW!!!) I even shared a spliff with some of them sometimes. Anywho...reminiscing about those ashtrays on wheels, the ford Orion Ghia, furry dice and beaded seat covers, basically imagine the stale, musty odour in that vehicle, cigarettes and a million punters bums in various drunken states....well that is what War & Peace smells like. (I think Siberian Summer gave me that vibe too) Thank god for smoking bans, general standards and UBER because taxi's used to be fucking awful and if I hadn't of been a smoker myself at the time I likely would've been more bothered by them. This is an olfactively interesting endevour, the materials are clearly of great quality and contain interesting facets but overall, the perfume is a disappointment and I can't view it any other way. As thick, and long lived as the tome itself, War and Peace is an epic oud fragrance with a character like no other, but not really in a positive sense.Smells musty and old, not even barnyard or fecal just a bit stale. It's deeply faceted though and you can wallow in it's dark, dingy corridors finding odorous nuggets of interest if you're so inclined. W&P is very much of olfactory/historical interest, but has no place in my wardrobe. I don't really get much of the rose, it's muted and kinda dead, geraniol heavy rose (which I usually love) but perhaps in this instance a bit of jammy, sweetness would've been a welcome lift for what is a very dark, dusty affair. Atomically strong and long lasting but doesn't develop very much on me, although I'm somewhat charmed by it from a morbid fascination sense. Now... I only have a small quantity, purchasing the sample set and thankfully not blind buying Antiquity which I was considering doing. So I don't have a vast amount of wearing under my belt and perhaps this fragrance is one that needs to be worn several times to truly understand and if you want to dismiss my 'review' as a naive account from an unexperienced nose then that's cool, and I concede that you could indeed be right?

A musky rosy amber that has benefitted tremendously from the limited edition hoopla and is now in its second edition. The perfume opens with patchouli, orris and the central amber. It moves to the brief rose heart before settling on a bed of musk, ambergris, castoreum, vetiver and oakmoss. By no means amongst the perfumers best compositions, this will appeal to those into powdery and amber based scents. It is not a bad scent by any means, but there is nothing innovative or earth shattering in it to justify this frenzy. Unisex scent with moderate to strong sillage and good longevity. Enjoy!

I just bought the no2 version of this on a blind buy and happy i did. It reminds me of a darker, more seductive Brut.....(Dirty Brut). Powdery Oakmoss, but instead of the fresh clean powder you get with Brut, War and Peace 2 sends out a smokey medicinal bite with a complimentary dark and musky incense that drys down to a powdery bliss with a touch of ambergris and leather to really bring it out If you love the powder of Brut but want something a bit more close and dirty then chances you will love this too. Drys down to a close to the skin powder sweetness but still retains its strength up close.....it is a concentrated perfume so not much is needed at all. I would call this a mans perfume but the powder sweetness is something that i personally love and have no problems wearing......could be layered once the initial top notes dissipate. I just managed to swipe a bottle of the original to compare and i will update this to add my thoughts on that once i have it. Edit, right off the bat i notice that the first is more heavy on the musk and there is less oakmoss.....it smells more dirty and I think i do prefer the second....it smells more refined than the first, and the notes are more visable and not hidden by the musk.

I recently reviewed Esnar’s Tigerlust and I could use War and Peace as an example of what happens when you have a perfume with the same superb quality of materials but more controlled & nuanced experience with them and blending. W & P honors the exquisite roses not smother all the beautiful character out of them. These roses bloom and are able to distinguish & express themselves and the musks instead of completely dominating the roses complements them, making use of the natural indoles instead of being blinded by olfactory light you have highlights. Granted this is no light perfume. It is a solid juxtaposition of beautiful rose against beautiful musk and the two might be too much for some with a dose of rich buttery rooty orris. It is a scent I like to wear sparingly with appreciation- especially really noticing and taking in the extra fine rose absolutes. War and Peace is a must try for fans of rose or animalic musk.

عطر انيمالك جلدي قوي جدا ، المسك طاغ عليه، بالإمكان شم نوتة الورد مع التركيز قليلا، نعم عطر معقد وليس للاستخدام اليومي-ربما لمناسبة ليلية كلاسيكية - وليس بالضرورة ان يلقى استحسان الناس من حولك لأن هكذا عطور اختفت من زمن بعيد ولم تعد مألوفة ... فوحان قوي ، و ثبات رائع ، ينصح بتجربتة قبل الشراء كذا يوم وخاصة ب الاجواء الباردة لرؤية اداءة وتقلبات النوتات فيه.... n animalic perfume ,very strong leather scent, the musk overwhelms it, it is possible to smell the rose note with a little focus, yes a complex fragrance and not for daily use - perhaps for a classic night occasion - and it is not necessarily that people around you like it because such perfumes disappeared long time ago and ppl are no longer familiar. . It is strong, and has great stability. It is recommended to try it before buying such a day, especially in cold climates, to see the performance and fluctuations of the notes in it ....

I return again to review and extend as I was at war with myself at first if I really enjoyed this musk bomb. I gave myself multiple wearings I before I retreated from the onslaught of what I perceived as just a battering of arrows up my nose from endless battalions of musk... it felt like it would not end it . Then the dawn of a new mornin, the sun rising I smelled as it a peace offering through all the trials bouquets of Taif and Damask Roses - comforting. & suddenly the musk became peaceful and in harmony. War and Peace -the perfume I found can be a state of mind depending on the olfactory mood. And depending if you are at peace, at war, or centered you may experience one side more than the other- if you’re lucky you will get a balance of the Orris Roses and Musk. If you’re very very lucky you’ll be lucky to get a bottle or sample at all to try it.

When I smell this perfume all I think of is “this stuff ain’t playing around”. Seriously ... whoa. When you spray it you dive head first into darkness not knowing what’s down there. Multi animalics going on, nuttiness, smoke, leather, rough textures flying all over the place. Vintage amazing ness! It feels dark brown and furry, like someone set fire to a room full of real fur coats in protest. Then usher in the soft notes, how they break through the chaos is beyond me? *shoulder shrug emoji* haha. Whispers of handbags (probably owned by the people whose coats just got burned) seem to glimmer behind a riot. Amazing, not sure where I would ever wear this outside of my home but I will see.

I thought I’d finished my 6mls ages ago. But looking through all the samples I have I realised I’ve a tiny bit left. And the liquid has turned into what can only be described as a maple syrup consistency. So I put a tiny bit on my finger and rubbed into my next. Bearing in mind it must be the equivalent of a tenth of a single spray. And it’s aged beautifully. The oud and rose are now the main stars of the show and are both vying for supremacy. One second it’s oud then the next rose. Absolutely stunning. Just wish sellers weren’t asking stupid amounts and I’d definitely buy a bottle.

This comes across like a very beautiful cloud of soapy muskiness to me. I don't think this is a beastly animalic or dark at all and is actually quite bright and clean. I do like the smell of this but I personally wouldn't buy a bottle of it, partly because of the real deer musk but mainly after smelling it because I don't think it is particularly unique if I'm honest. I can see why others like this a lot though, the rose lingering on the edge of the musk is really nice.

This is how a Ferrari burned tire should smell in a race mixed with the leather seats of a newly purchased Porsche. A lot of smoke. I can't imagine someone wearing this. Personally it causes me a headache. Not for me. Neverthless, the quality of the ingredients is in the top 10, as expected for an Areej fragance. But my love is for Antiquity.

Oh my goodness! How will I wear anything else? I’ve only got 6mls of this masterpiece so will have to use sparingly until W&P 2 is released. Nothing else left to say... speechless!

Boom! Boom! Boom! I hear the cannons blasting over the distant hills. Smells like a topless Sean Bean quaffing a rum after a skirmish with Napeoleon's army...seeeexxxyyy!!

Nutty buttery leather; Totally get the similarity to Cuir de Russie. I have version II alongside sample of original. II has tad more darkness and little less nuttiness.

Scent: 10/10 Quality: 10/10 Originality: 9/10 Sillage: 10/10 Projection: 9/10 Longevity: 10/10 Price VS Size: 9/10