Ayutthaya (อยุธยา)

New review, old one sucked, Ayutthaya is one of my favorite of Prin's work, it is such a unique composition, yet it is so clearly made with intention and meaning, Ayutthaya starts with a bright incensey amber and with a beautiful santalwood, jasmine and tea holding it together smoothly in the background. Earthy and resinous facets are prominent throughout, a green bitter earthiness rather than dark and damp, and the resins are warm and balsamic. This perfume for me at least is perfect for every season besides summer. Each note within the composition can be picked out, such specific notes to create this one of a kind esque smell. I just wish it had more juice, a 30ml for the price is a little steep, but I will continually pay the price. I hold this dear, dear to me, wearing this throughout my holiday in Austrailia, being with my Nan, every time I wiff this bottle, I am transported to comfort and joy. Please try this fragrance, even if its not for you, it's worth seeing it's complexities.

I was dancing around it for a year albeit falling in love from the first sniff. It is such a complex and multistructural fragrance it overwhelmes you. But I like a strong woody fragrance, so eventually I gave up.

Warmer and gentler than many a Prin head trip, but with enough of his signature aromatic magic to make it distinctive and worth the journey all the same. Quite a bit of medicinal green from the camphor, papyrus and tea, slight ash of gunpowder, plenty of spicy yet mellow bite from cinnamon, coriander, cumin, nutmeg - all making it very much more complex than your average 'spicy amber' effort from other houses. Nicely rounded resins, and no oud (for once), so the woodsiness of teak, sandalwood and ebony take care of the arboreal business rather more discreetly than others from Mr Lomros. Innocent beginners might still flinch a bit at its eccentricity, but this is not in the same league of "I'm niche, so forget it if you don't understand" as, say, the truly bizarre charisma of Maruyama or Homa. Still more herbalist and strange than Nefer or Akhetaten though. Generally a much more calm and contemplative walk through the jungle than many of the Prissana hikes through the same sort of territory; to my nose maybe closest to Tirtha in choosing a middle path between weird and welcoming. While intricate and offbeat, it's not strange enough to inspire fear - might even be a good place to start exploring the line. My only reason for rating it 'strong strong like' rather than 'love' is the relatively low impact-to-price ratio - it's still worth the money, but quieter and altogether a bit less distinctive as a whole ambiance than some of my other great passions from the house, and its sillage shrinks fast - though, again as so often from Prissana, the drydown lasts aaages and is wonderfully comfortable and fragrant at every stage. Absolutely unisex and feels healthy, centred and individual.

I agree with the “reminds me of” Ma Nishtana. That’s one I let go of and regretted, so when I got this it was interesting that it was basically getting back what I gave up before in a way. It’s a nice fragrance and one that I’ll keep, but I would say that the fact that it’s so similar to Ma Nishtana and that several of Prin’s fragrances are similar to others, that it’s also in a way disappointing. I’m not knocking his talent or overall quality of fragrances; however, I am knocking his habit of having too many similar blends. I feel that if you have a beautiful fragrance that comes together well, it makes more sense to celebrate that and move to another profile to perfect, rather than making more fragrances with the same overall profile. It’s one reason I feel that his Strangers line is so underwhelming, trying to do too many fragrances instead of focusing on making unique and beautiful art. Quality over quantity. Instead of “Well, that didn’t work, I suppose I’ll add this to the affordable line. Now let’s use this formula that worked before and name it something else so that we can have another one that’s more upscale”.

That was the worst scent-induced headache I've had in years, which is a shame because I found the opening quite delightful, if potent. An hour later, it had gone from intriguing and promising to being intrusive, overly "assertive", and really quite lacking in any kind of personal boundaries like the worst kind of colleague you avoid at the water cooler. I quit a work call to go and shower for the 2nd time because I needed to remove as much as possible urgently and put it all behind me, triple bagging the sample and removing it from the house so that future me doesn't forget the consequences and absentmindedly apply a squirt. If you're one of those people who loves scent but who's quite sensitive to certain triggers, then approach with caution! However, if you're not, and you like a bit of intense and robust spice then you may really enjoy it (I enjoyed it quite a lot for about 15 minutes before a crashing headache and a scratchy throat).