Eau d'Orient

Have you ever been to a Rituals store? Pity! Yes, because entering one of their shops is like visiting a Turkish Bath & Hammam Spa in Marrakech or Istanbul. The soft lights, the display shelves, the relaxing colours, and the smells transport you to the ancestral rituals of Morocco. And so I let this temptation attract me, and I walked around the shop, browsing products to care for the body and perfume the home, until I found myself in front of the exhibitor of the perfume collection, the Iconic Collection as they call it. They display each essence with the only large 50ml size flanked by its colourful box and surrounded by 15ml travel-size mini bottles. That’s all? No, there is more. Next to each perfume, there is a plate describing the olfactory family and three keynotes, and a small glass bell housing a disc of porous material, a sort of ceramic coin. The disc is used to spray the tester and savour the essence. I know that the verb to savour means to enjoy a food or drink by holding it in your mouth to taste it for a long time and make the sensation more pleasant, but the art of savouring the world with your nose is a unique and indescribable experience. That said, I went through all the tags one by one, focusing on the ones whose notes sounded good on my strings. Although at least five had caught my attention, only two of these were love at first sight. I’m talking about Eau d’Orient and Roi d’Orient. Are you curious to know what sensations these fragrances give me? Read on and I’ll try to interpret them. But, before I dive into the fragrances, I want you to know that you can buy two travel-size items for just €25, which is perfect for testing before buying. To some extent, the scent is even darker than "Oriental Essence - Roi d'Orient | Rituals" with aromatic, dry, resinous, spicy, and smoky subtleties. Eau d’Orient opens with a cold spicy pepper note, besides woody and damp grass hints. It is quite weird, likeable and unlikeable, polarising, with prominent gummy and waxy facets. I get the smell of a lit candle, or rather that of burnt wax, and the smoke that is created when it goes out. Slowly, a dark floral accord exudes from the heart. It’s not the conventional bouquet, but something floral with dewy and smoky overtones. I imagine I am in a decadent garden. The air smells of damp grass in the early evening, during the autumn sunsets, and just before nightfall; around me is a lot of white-edged Swedish ivy with its incense smell. Wow, what beautiful sensations this perfume gives me! I get a resinous, mushy, and sweet benzoin-like aura when the fragrance dries. The waxiness is still present, even if it takes a back seat. I want to clarify that the smell of wax that I perceive is not that of the wax produced by bees, with its honeyed aroma. Instead, it is more similar to that of vegetable stearin waxes or paraffin minerals, like most of the candles we find on the market today. No matter how hard I try, I cannot match this fragrance with another one more famous or known. This is more suited for an evening scent, so nice and cosy, and perfect in winter. That’s all for now. I liked this gem, and can’t wait to try the latest fragrance added to the collection, "L'Essentiel | Rituals". I base my opinion and review on a travel bottle I have owned since October 2022.

An absolute KO!!! Rituals have made the ultimate meditation on an oriental woody fragrance here. The smell is as complex as it is simple...if that makes any sense at all? The biggest note in here for sure is a sweet creamy bed of sandalwood and resin, accented perfected with incense and pepper in the opening. The picture that denotes 'Oriental notes' on here pretty much sums up Elixir d'Orient in one image. A kind of shimmering pool of golden, warm beauty. It starts to evoke hints of orris and leather such is the powdery smoothness and sweet hint of pencil shavings on a bed of amber and vanilla. I know there's plenty of reference points in feminine perfumery for this stuff and I'm sure I wanted to say Dior hypnotic poison but my knowledge of ladies designer stuff is pretty dire. References I'm more comfortable with are things like Donna Karen Fuel for Men and Atelier Cologne Santal Carmin both of which have this sort of vibe. Elixir d'Orient is very gentle natured in the same way, staying close to skin with occasional wafts reminding you just how nice it is. This is soft, sure, this feminine...absolutely and nothing you haven't smelled elsewhere before, but consider for a moment the price, the quality and the CRAZY longevity (I've showered, washed my hands god knows how many times and can still smell it about 20 hours later, albeit incredibly softly) I got from this scent and it's all shaping to be an absolute winning formula. Bravo to Rituals. Update: The longevity on this perfume is simply the most persistent I've experienced of any perfume I can remember anyway. It was nuts! I sprayed 6 sprays on the back of my hand, now hands are usually not a good place as they get washed and used to do stuff more than other parts of the body so I was amazed that this lasted about 3 showers and multiple hand washes per day. I swear I could still smell the faint, warm vanilla from application Thursday afternoon to Sunday! Completely insane! It's a very subtle and slight fragrance even when first applied but lasted really well.

First off, I'd like to say that I'm quite impressed with all Rituals product I've had the chance to encounter. The candles have such unique scents, the bath products are lovely too and the perfumes are a lot better than I would expect them to be, given that they are not a perfume company. The quality is very good, especially for the price, which is fairly reasonable. And the 10 ml bottles are the best thing in the world, they are not even roller-balls and I don't understand why more brands aren't making those. Now the scent itself. To me, this is an epitome of a westernized oriental. I'd go as far as say this was a gourmand, but in a spice-rack, foodey kind of way. I smell pepper and cardamom and herbs, wild thyme, sage, dried grass, some earthy elements, gentle incense and a whole other bunch of similar spices. In contrast, there's a cool minty vibe to it that makes it gorgeous, even on warmer days. For me, this is an all-year-round fragrance. And the colour of the bottle is spot on. It embodies the scent perfectly. Mysterious but womanly, dark but not heavy, dry and spice and refreshing, all at the same time and what's frustrating is that I can't find the words to describe it exactly, but I am head over heels for it. The sillage and longevity are perfect in my book. I get 6 potent hours easily. Over-all, if you get the chance to try it, don't discard it just because it's not that high-end. It's a real gem. Edit: I see the Tom Ford reference too, now that I think about it

Instant love! I feel like the general scent profile of Eau D’Orient sits somewhere between Babycat and Eau Duelle, but thanks to the sandalwood it has a texture more like Scarlet Poppy or Stash Unspoken. It’s definitely sweet.... I’d say that it has vanilla and tonka in the base, maybe even honey and it balances out the powdery and creamy sandalwood with the spices and hint of incense. It honestly couldn’t be more cosy and yummy! I got the mini but it’s not particularly strong or long lasting so after payday I’ll be buying the 50ml because I already know that in mild or cold weather it will be a super easy reach. I think this one needs more hype tbh! I feel like if you enjoy any of the perfumes mentioned above, or Lalique Le Parfum for example, you’d be very happy with this one!

I have the L'eau D'Orient, and apparently, these might be the same fragrance? Not sure though. I sometimes get uncomfortable when people believe my perfume is the smell of a real desert, but I also love gourmands. This one is the perfect level of "gourmandness" for when I feel like that! I mainly get vanilla with a leather touch. It smells so expensive! Almost like vanilla mixed with fancy body oil. I feel like I'm in a nice spa when I wear this. Longevity and sillage are moderate. I often wear it when I don't want to offend anyone sensitive to fragrances but still want to wear a heavier scent.