Svaha

The fiery crackling fire transports you to the golden hour in the desert; it's rising flames colouring the horizon in countless shades of orange; deepest, intense red verging on brown; green and honeyed yellow. SVAHA's opening is all about the vast array of warm, spicy elements; cardamom (one of my absolute favourite notes!) pepper, cinnamon and ginger being the most pronounced - like the mysterious and enchanted embrace of Far East. The comforting, plush and almost ethereal aura of immortelle lingers in a soft cloud hovering over the intricately weaved blanket of spices warming your skin; it's sweetness further deepened by the hints of caramel and aromatic, woody myrrh. Fragrance's exotic spice laden heart takes a shift towards the drydown exposing a wide spectrum of slightly animalic notes. Deep, balsamic, amber hued labdanum is joined by ambrette and hyrax to add the sensual muskiness - so seductive and inviting, it envelops the wearer in its cosy, finest merino wool-like softeness. Tiny wisps of burning embers enhance the warm nature of SVAHA with the unique, smoky aroma of crackling fire. Being a huge lover of spices and warm comforting scents, I was immediately drawn to SVAHA! The creativity behind the composition and interesting blend of ingredients makes it one of my go-to scents for cooler months.

An uncompromisingly weird, delicious-but-dangerous, truly adventurous dive into spice done with a boldness that puts anything else in this limited end of the market to shame. It's a LOT - quite a challenge. Smells like an almost noxiously aromatic ayurvedic full-body rub with scratchy nubbles of itchy seed pods, the goo and grease of ancient traditional medicines, puffs of powdery smoky dust. The overall effect is of a delightful - maybe even sacred? - and deliberately 'mystic' burn from head to toe. It's like nothing else - the perfume equivalent of some fairly gruelling hot yoga sessions. Anyone who flinches from the mildest hint of armpit when cumin sneaks into a scent, or decries 'dirty BO' or 'curry' notes even in massmarket pleasers like L'Artisan's Al Aoud or Kenzo Jungle L'Elephant is going to loathe it. Svaha is in a different league of authenticity again - if those two are Vogue-magazine spice, this one is National Geographic. So amid the natural beauty there are also whiffs and stinks and moments of sourness, sweatiness, fermentation - in other words, REAL LIFE. As with Olympic Orchids Dev Two, this one is about spice in real, rugged, natural form and that can be a rougher, more abrasive sniff than most noses are used to. Johanna Venables doesn't play around at all - the turmeric, pepper and coriander here are toasty and ticklish enough to get you sneezing; throwing some fenugreek (notoriously polarising bully that it is) in there as well seems like tempting fate. Can confirm that there are very definite hints of real goat hair there; as in Prin's Aranyaka, it lends softness but with an unmistakably nearly-reeky caprine edge. Wearers may feel they've suddenly become global explorers, very rich hippies out glamping in Bhutan, or are captaining their own private trade ships from the age of sail. In fact the full-spectrum spiciness of Prin's work is about the only thing I can remember which even comes close to the kitchen challenge here; there's the same thick, dense, teasing, furry animalic undertone and the same incredible array of really raw, take-no-prisoner seasonings dusted all over. Hyrax, ambrette and other shady things fill in some impressively dark and dirty corners in the imaginary spice warehouse. Total effect: a cargo of very very valuable tropical-hardwood sacred antiques from a temple lit by guttering butter lights somewhere in the Himalayas. It's not for beginners and it's going to be polarising. I admire it plenty; love or hate, this undeniably has a great soul. Truly does burn with a deep red glow from within. Doing what you're NOT supposed to do and swiping on skin (oddly) tames its raw edge a bit - but doesn't allow its spice burst to really explode in full colour or last to the best effect. Hangs on far longer (for up to 4-7 days !!!) on fabric, smelling somehow a little 'greener' and more herbal but also richer overall - so I guess maybe the recommendation to use it (like the other NOT 'fumes) on a handkerchief or in some 'scent jewelry' is the right one. Now I don't OWN any handkerchiefs or scent jewellery - and I love to spray - so this mode of consumption is a bit of an obstacle. The price is an even higher hurdle - but this sort of defiantly original artistry is never going to come cheap. And it shouldn't have to. Genuinely, truly startling individual art perfumery ... admirable for being so absolutely true to itself. No easy or easy-going wear; more like a slow and rugged trek to revelation. For the bold, it might just take you places other scents simply can't reach. I give it a deep and reverent bow, for it's a spiritual master with all the energy and thrust and intensity of youth but the wisdom of the ages too. Almost intimidatingly effective.

Smells like a leather bag of spice brought to a market on a hot day to trade. Would probably be stunning in autumn, def a scent for a slight chill in the air.

A very smoky and spicy fragrance. I smell the pepper and cardamom quite clearly, along with something campfire esque. It wasn't the sillage bomb I was expecting it to be, it hung close to my skin and clung to my sweater in a soft cozy way. This would be a perfect warming fragrance for the winter months.

You know the joke about NOT perfumes? They do not exist! There is no (niche) retailer in my region, not even a most obscure one, that has this fragrance in their collection. Can someone get me a goat hair tincture and catch ember in a bottle?