Ojiim

I ordered a sample of this while they were briefly available and received it today. Based on the notes and description I was intrigued, but not expecting to love it since rose and cumin are hit or miss for me. I still need more time with the sample, but my first impression is very pleasantly surprised. This is a changeling. It starts off with a spicy citrus, with animalic hints laying underneath in the cumin, castoreum, oud, and styrax. As the drydown occurs, the citrus starts to fade out and the deep woodiness and resins come in and mix with the animalics. The rose is quite subtle and is never the main note on my skin. With these notes this could easily become a mess. But John is a very skilled perfumer and they are blended beautifully. The antique notes give this a lot of depth and mystery. It comes across as warm, spicy, and calming. I'm very disappointed my sample just arrived because I missed the limited full bottle release on the 14th. Regardless, I'm thrilled to have been able to try this as it likely won't be around again.

oh my, i love this. it starts out with a definite citron-lemony note, then there's the lovely, clear rose and cumin -- all bedded down on a soft, dusky, slightly animalic, slightly smokey chypre base. the cumin is strong for a bit and then just blends into a whole that settles into a lovely, slightly sweet oud note (think drydown of creed royal oud.) perfect for anyone who likes old-fashioned chypres. this one is not loud or strange, just wonderfully aromatic, round and comfortable. totally up my alley and a late-coming contender for favorite of the year. i've been sniffing my arm all day :-)

I only meant to order a sample of this. But I ended up with a full bottle because Mr. Beibel is a genius and this is a limited “experiment” that becomes a comforting, original-yet-classic animalic deep Rose chypre. Love stuff like Knowing by Este? This is right up your alley. SO GOOD! Ahhhhhhh

Really enjoy the sample I bought at the end of 2020. I regret not buying a full bottle.

Smells like champagne to me. If there such a thing as dark champagne, this would be in that realm. It is rather unusual perfume, and i have never smelled anything like it. Initial blast is strong and a bit chaotic - you get citrus, rose, cumin, a little sandalwood and oud of the Thai type. I was getting paint/varnish accord as well in the opening stage. There is 'fizziness' which i would think comes from combo of rose and palmarossa, which grows stronger and becomes main note. It is backed up by 'brown' notes, first of which is cumin. There is no body odor whatsoever, there is nothing animalic about it. Maybe not the easiest wear, but for sure nothing dangerous. Projection is around 1 foot and longevity is around 8 hours so far on me. For wright now its a keeper.

I really REALLY wanted to like this, mostly because it sounded like an Arabic style composition, and I LOVE so MANY Arabic style perfumes done in a western way (NOT as an oil, but in alcohol). But from the first spray, it just did NOT work for me. Unfortunately, the cumin comes across as acrid, acidic and a little BOish, which is always a risk you run. I enjoy the transition, truth be told, but the overall dynamics and shape-shifting nature are NOT enough to sway me. The animalic elements in the background provide an anchor and grounding, but MOST unfortunately, the entire mix, as a whole, just does not move me. I wish it did (or maybe not -- it sold out within the day), but it's gonna have to be one that I refer back to occasionally. I can see where it's meant to go, it just doesn't work on my skin with my chemistry...