OIer Extrait De Parfum

Javanese patchouli? Turkish rose AND red rose oil? Ylang-ylang in the middle? Undercurrents of a sweetness from some juicy raspberry that only comes out in the drydown? Oh yes. This is a bit of me. I have two Maison Origines and they are a bit of a slept-on brand still finding their way amongst the monster houses but doing everything right to my mind, and more importantly, to my nose. 01ER, their first fragrance, is a fairly masculine hit at first gasp. The patchouli and vetiver are what strikes you first and it starts more formal than were expecting. The drydown is a floral affair with the roses and jasmine coming through after the heavy beginning and adding a lightness that makes this so versatile. When the fruit starts coming through in earnest, just after the florals, you get this lovely underlying fresh and sweetness from a fragrance that doesnt start out sweet or fresh at all. I’ve always enjoyed fragrances with non-linear dry downs and this is a real doozy. I can liken it to a thundery sky full of drama and atmosphere lightening as the clouds start to part and the sun comes through. That isnt to suggest the opening is hard or challenging. It isnt. I loved it from first sniff. But it is masculine, dark, ambery and powerful and - at first - is a big call for an office or casual wear. Once the drydown starts in earnest it lightens up and the freshness comes through it all from top to bottom like shafts of golden sunlight. There isnt an ozonic accord in this but I do get a bit of that from how fresh and bright the middle is, furthering the thunderstorm metaphor. It becomes extremely unisex and easy to wear for an office or casual day which is very impressive considering the thunder and lightning of the opening. There is just the teeniest, tiniest hint of vanilla in there as well to take it perhaps (astonishingly) even leaning slightly feminine to some. I could imagine a suited and booted female lawyer wearing this and kicking ass just as well as I could imagine myself doing the same. I was very taken with 018ER from Maison Origine, which I reviewed quite recently and found the tenderness and refinement of the drydown and balance extremely well done and if anything, this is even better. These guys/girls are doing great and wonderful things with perfumery. It isnt breaking much in the way of new ground or trying to shock, but I get what they are about. Classy, Arabian-style heavy, big hitting complement magnet fragrances with quite serious and expansive lists of accords, blended with a masterful touch and superlative balance, using top notch artisanal ingredients and with really impressive performance and sillage. This all delivered in a very refined, very classy package that doesn’t scream or shout but rightly puts the emphasis on the class and sophistication of what is in the bottle. Their creator/founder and their perfumers prefer to remain anonymous but I do feel there is an Arabic or Middle Eastern influence here which I love. It isnt cheap (nor should it be) but it is very, very solid niche perfumery and I am absolutely here for it. So. 01ER is very impressive, and if you haven’t got your nose on this or any of the others from them, I’d recommend you do so. Next up for me are 08ER (saffron, orange, floral notes over a woody base) which is and Rawdah (bergamot, osmanthus and patchouli) which I’ll be buying in the new year hopefully. Really looking forward to reviewing these two. I’m also going to investigate whether they’ve done an oud yet as I have a feeling it will be a showstopper as I feel like their style is suited to working with oud. Very much looking forward to finding out more about Maison Origine and reviewing more of their work in the new year. Scent - 9/10 Sillage - 8/10 Drydown - 10/10 Bottle/packaging - 7/10 Performance - 8/10 42/50