Ruh Zadeh & Martine Micallef

The finest violet leaf-centric fragrance I've come across. Most violet scents come off as either too feminine, too powdery, too abrasive, or just simply bad. Not Ruh Zadeh. Jean Claude Astier's signature is written all over this, with its gorgeous leather, smoke, and patchouli collaboration. Here we have violet leaf wrapped in leather surrounded by fine gentle smoke. A combination that produces an intoxicating violet leaf aroma style a la noir. The leather feels almost suede-like and the rest of the composition is sanded down with smooth mossy woods. The scent itself comes across like a niche interpretation of Fahrenheit with a little bit of Grain de Poudre, but darker with much more elegance and sophistication. If I had a word to this describe this scent, it would very well be 'chic'. This, by the way, has absolutely no similarities with Millisime Imperial, nor Osaito. This is a chypre, not an aquatic.

I just receive the mine a day ago and I can say a lot about this fragrances, first, as other people has said on youtube this is not a leather fragrance at all, second it ́s no an aventus vibe neither, in fact this could be more like millesime imperial vibe, to have a better idea this smells like a mix of two of the same house, osaito and eden falls, has the acuatic and florals of osaito and the fruity of eden falls. Duration: at least 1 spray gives more than 5 hours, obviously from strong sillage till skin scent, I will update when I use it more than 1 spray.

RUH opens very mossy, earthy enveloped in a slightly sweet and smooth citrus “spiced” concoction. You then get your violets giving it a slightly powdery feel. All of this in a woody base. What I love about the house of M. Micallef is its smooth blends and smoother transistions. Their bottles also tell a story!

RUH opens very mossy, earthy enveloped in a slightly sweet and smooth citrus “spiced” concoction. You then get your violets giving it a slightly powdery feel. All of this in a woody base.

Ruh Zadeh x Martine Micallef Art Collection 2020 Fragrance opens with a herbaceous blast of sage which pierces through rather vigorously. It smells camphorous, slightly antiseptic and peppery. Sweet tangerine and smooth bergamot gently embrace the sage supported by shavings of nutmeg and crushed star anise. It feels clean, crisp and well assembled. It feels familiar and echoes many mens designer fragrances yet with a twist of its own. Although Ruh Zadeh is a classic spicy fougére as it develops it takes on a distinctly unisex character. The spices and violet meld beautifully with the woody base. I even detect some lavender despite it not being mentioned in the notes. The addition of leather to the warm base of patchouli, powdery musk and cashmere wood rounds it off nicely. The leather is not dark nor smokey but a smooth subdued leather. It feels safe, and sufficiently subtle to be worn in close encounters.

Every year M.Micallef offers a series of limited edition art bottles decorated by a young talent spotted by Martine Micallef during her travels around the world. This year, the collection reveals the encounter between her perfume brand and young Azerbaijani artist Ruh Zadeh over an exclusive unisex spicy fragrance of great elegance. The scent is green-spicy made in a limited edition of 2000 bottles. This beautiful fragrance opens with sparkling notes of star mandarin, orange, anise and bergamot. The heart is nicely articulated around the flowery accord of violet followed by nutmeg and cashmere. Finally, a warm leather-patchouli-moss and musk base gives the final bouquet to this classic but at the same time modern fragrance. Thumbs up for this enchanting and alluring creation! So thankful to have this gem in my little collection.

What I'm getting is a huge locker room vibe, ozonic, herbal, cologne, very masculine in a fresh, just out of the shower kind of way. I have smelled this a few times before for sure, but in a general drugstore, not really getting niche vibes here.