Radanfor

I blind bought Radanfor by Loumari mostly because I’ve been loving their new bottle collection. I already have three, so between the notes and the beautiful bottle, I figured why not. There aren’t a ton of reviews out there, and the ones I’ve seen all compare it to completely different things. Thought I’d jump in with my take. I don’t usually write reviews, but I’ve owned 400 - 500 bottles over the years, so I have a pretty solid reference point. I’ve heard comparisons to Babycat, Althair, and even Reflection Man. Maybe this is one of those fragrances that acts like a chameleon and changes wildly on different skin, but on me... I do not get those as primary similarities. On me, I get a strong blast of spices right away, lots of pepper and a clear punch of cardamom up top. Then it blends nicely into a full-on incense scent with a sweet backbone. And I mean full-on incense. Not a hint or background note. This is very much in the realm of Encens Suave. Honestly, it even reminds me a bit of Trudon’s Mortel with that peppery incense vibe. Yes, the notes might look similar to Babycat, but they don’t behave the same at all. And it’s not even remotely close to Reflection Man. If anything, you could stretch and compare it to something like a less complex cousin of Outlands, but even that’s a reach. Luckily, I love incense, so this was a really pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting it to be this prominent based on other reviews.

Radanfor is a beautiful fragrance that completely won me over this weekend at ScentFest. Smooth. Classy. Calming. Absolutely gorgeous. 🤩 It opens like a warm, golden embrace, where glowing amber and aromatic cardamom create an inviting sense of comfort from the very first spray. As it evolves, the composition unfolds into a rich, resinous heart. I perceive a warm, buttery orris with a creamy texture and a delicate touch of spice. Juniper adds subtle brightness, while olibanum, myrrh, and vanilla soften the edges, creating a fragrance that feels polished, elegant, and deeply comforting. To me, Radanfor lives in the same emotional world as Encens Suave and Bois d’Argent—melancholic, elegant, atmospheric, and incredibly soothing. It has that quiet ability to wrap you in warmth while remaining refined from beginning to end.

A masterpiece !! Perfectly balanced perfume, dry down is special very good from the Loumari brand as always. After all this is the work of a great master and a big name Julien Rasquinet 🔥🥂✍️

The opening of Radanfor is a disappointment for me ... like a cheap, plastic, metallic imitation of PDM’s Althair (which I also dislike). But ... where a fragrance really counts, in its mid and dry down, Radanfor redeems itself. It evolves nicely ... resinous, balsamic, rich, creamy, spicy and smoky vanilla. Slightly sweet. Overall it is very good, in my opinion. I don’t think Radanfor is blind buy safe, unless you know going in that you want something similar to Althair DNA. And in the end, I think Radanfor is much better than Althair. After several wears, it really grew on me. A Fragrantica score of 4.2 from me.

When I first smelled it, it instantly reminded me of Parfums de Marly's Althaïr. As it develops, it takes on a drier, smokier quality compared to Althaïr, which I really enjoyed. With its warm and cozy vibe, it’s absolutely perfect for autumn and winter, and both its longevity and sillage are excellent. I find the blend to be incredibly harmonious and sophisticated.

Smells incency and resinous heavily. I kinda fw that ngl. Especially after it dries down. Partner didn't like it, but I like the more oriental DNA. It's interesting, without being too challenging. I'm a sucker for Outlands, so spicy resinous perfumes are up my alley. It makes a cat purr.

Very deep, smoky, rich, and resinous. Almost syrupy. Definitely not the vibe for work in the middle of July like I tested it, but would work well at a party at night in the winter.

I'm a fan of Rasquinet, since his Fidelis days. So it's with slight bemusement that I say this Radanfor pyramid looks suspiciously similar to the beloved and bemoaningly now discontinued Nuit d'Issey Polaris. Rasquinet seems to have swapped cypress for iris and moved it from the open to the middle notes. All else looks very familiar. Now, Polaris has achieved grailed status, and for VERY GOOD reason. Because when it debuted nearly anyone with even the slightest knowledge of perfumery quickly recognized that the three maestros of Ropion, Bal and Dong had delivered an ULTRA niche fragrance in an unassuming designer bottle accompanied by such a diabolical short production run that there was no way that the learned among us could deny the golden gift the house of Miyake had blessed the working stiffs of the 99% with- and with a wink and a nod at that- because there was NO PRESS RELEASE or brand wide rollout for it! It was quietly shipped, delivered, stocked, sold out, and then GONE FOREVER! By the time word got out and people got their noses on decants or samples, the bulk of the purposely short run line was gone, gone, gone. Like a thief in the night the house of Miyake had snuck in, tiptoed up to our sleeping heads, placed a vial of nectar below our somnolent noses, let us briefly smell a bit of heaven, and then swiftly and silently exited as stealthily as they had entered. Many of us finally awake and cognizant that we had not been dreaming and that Polaris really was THAT DAMN GOOD were left with nothing but our money in hand, disappointment and ever climbing resale prices on Ebay. Mr. Rasquinet has seemingly sat in quiet observance of all this ennui and discontent for the last 5 years and maybe out of the respect for the late and great Issey Miyake himself, has decided to try to deliver to Miyake's many fans some memorial of perfumery in the bottle of Loumari's Radanfor. We'll see how it plays. Regardless, I extend my applause to Mssr. Rasquinet. They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery and so we can only hope that Ropion, Bal and Dong are actually and indeed flattered. 🍒🍸

Reads like a slightly deviated formula of YSL’s discontinued Velours. Let’s see.