A Midsummer Dream

I bought a bottle of this off of ebay in 2016/2017 for a reasonable amount, as I'd desperately wanted to try it with that name! I pictured something more like Vagabond Prince's "Enchanted Forest", which is a masterpiece, as the listed notes of "A Midsummer Dream" evoked a mossy Shakespearean forest with hints of florals and fruit in my mind. And then I smelled it, and it was not that. And I put it to the back of the perfume cupboard without really giving it another chance. But here I am, eight years later, giving it the skin time it deserves and realising that I was wrong. It's a masterpiece. It's just an extremely complex perfume, and I didn't understand it the first time around. Firstly, as some others have noted below, there are definitely notes here not on the profile and the most noticeable one is aldehydes. This is a sparkling, aldehydic scent - and while Enchanted Forest also has aldehydes, this perfume leads with them and they stick with the scent until it disappears (on me, 20+ hours after application!). It's also NOT a linear scent and goes through a transformation with a narrative arc worthy of a Shakespearean play, so if you want the full experience, you need to stick with it. It doesn't finish as it starts. The opening act is very chypre. Lots of green moss, bitter vetiver, citrus, piney elemi, and the aldehydes which make it sparkle but also add a sharp metallic note. It's stepping into a dark, magical forest at night - Lysander and Hermia from A Midsummer Night's Dream, running into the woods to escape the Duke. This sharp opening burns off very quickly, though, as the vanilla and orange blossom begin to develop, adding sweetness to the moss and aldehydes. The middle of the play is still green - a nice balance of dark forest and sweet dream, bound together by the "fairy magic" of the aldehydes. Oberon has woven his spell of love. The notes mix and mingle and stumble about in the mossy woods, all within a cloud of growing sweetness. The drydown is sweeter than the middle stage, and it is beautiful and unique, the happy ending of the play. The final notes achieve a stable harmony, and the wearer gets to enjoy the enduring dream - the perfect "marriage" of aldehydes, vanilla, and moss. The closest perfume I have to it in my collection is the (sadly now discontinued) Imaginary Authors "L'Orchidee Terrible". It has different listed notes, but like "Dream" it is all aldehydes, sweetness (they say honey but there's vanilla there too), and a bit of moss (they list a "satin" note which, like many Imaginary Authors' notes is completely made up nonsense -- it's oakmoss, or some synthetic variant of it). The difference is that "L'Orchidee Terrible" is more linear -- it doesn't evolve in the way that "A Midsummer Dream" does. And it's less polished and subtle -- the metallic/fizz of the aldehydes is much more "in your face" and the sweetness is more floral and strong (I still like it). A Midsummer Dream is a perfect balance of moss-sweet-aldehyde - it doesn't shout, it sings like a Greek chorus, all around you as you go about your day. The aldehydic-chypre-vanilla/amberic is a profile that I love, but that in a collection of 500+ scents, I only have these two that have pulled it off at all. Which is a shame, because it's addictive, beautiful, and fascinating. The final act also lasts forever. I don't think everyone will "get" it, because it's not the straightforward crowdpleaser of, say, Elysium -- but it's very special. True perfume aficionados only! *The bottle I have it the metal cap version. I don't have the crystal cap version to compare scents, but if it has been reformulated, this review is for the original version.

In recent years there's been a lot of media talk about "quiet luxury" among the wealthy, and how they like to wear and purchase things that are beautiful but do not shout out their expensiveness or demand attention. Sometimes very wealthy people will have perfumes especially created for them, and will gravitate to scents that are beautiful and made with the finest ingredients, but which do not call attention to themselves. This niche fragrance from Roja Dove is much like that kind of fragrance (even though it's not a one-of-a-kind creation). It uses beautiful ingredients which it blends exquisitely, but these are not the kind of notes that will scream for attention. The core of this is the lovely piney resin elemi balanced with citrus (grapefruit and bergamot) and another rich resin, benzoin, with oakmoss and vetiver to give it texture and depth. I've been happy all day because of this beautiful long-lasting scent, but I am unwilling to buy a full bottle because of its exceptionally high price tag which puts it beyond my reach. But if I could afford it, this would be something I'd want to buy. UPDATE 12/12/25: I actually bought a full bottle of this--even though I found a Black Friday deal of nearly 50% off from a wholesaler, this is still (by quite a margin) the most expensive bottle of fragrance I've ever bought. But it is so special to me--it opens like a tangy fougére-chypre with the citrus up top (and with all the oakmoss underneath), and then dries down to something more like a spicy fragrance with all the benzoin. This has, as I said earlier, just about the best drydown I've ever experienced, and on me it lasts and lasts. This is not a fragrance for everyone by any means--although I've never smelled anything exactly quite like it, at the same time it seems reminiscent of much older men's fragrances, especially from the 1980s. It's beautifully blended, and smells refined and elegant. It's also superbly versatile: if you like this sort of fragrance (and I realize not everyone does), you could wear it day or night, in almost any season.

Wow, truly! I walked in with no expectations and this took me by storm. What a fantastic scent! Incredibly well blended, the opening is sharp, bright and uplifting with the citrus and elemi piercing through. At first my reaction was "this is a grown up Elysium". I do think A Midsummer Dream it fits that description as a whole. It has the same qualities as Elysium, just a lot more complex and much spicier. This morphs a lot on me, the brightness turns into a spicy cardamom blast and gains a lot of earthiness (the opening and that earthy phase strongly reminds of a fresher, less "venomous" take on Zoologist's King Cobra, which I adore) before it settles into a vetiver woody drydown. Usually I'm not a huge fan of vetiver but here it's quite pleasant, supported by other notes and nowhere near as dry and harsh as Terre D'Hermes (I respect it but I don't like it). In the late drydown, I get a slight bit of powdery sweetness that sits close on skin which got me a compliment, so that's a bonus. Super easy to wear, as a whole. If like Terre D'Hermes or King Cobra if you're looking for a level up on the Elysium DNA, this is worth getting your nose on. I still don't like the man but force is to admit that the more I explore the house, the more I get impressed by the perfumes. Expensive yes but very well pulled off. I'm going to be wearing a lot of this when spring comes. It's less of a winter scent, more spring and fall to me. It might get a bit spicy and overbearing in the summer. I get a good 6-7 hours on skin with decent initial projection for at least 2 hours, which is great for a citrus-forward scent. A very nice surprise.

ɖʀɛǟʍʏ ʝօʊʀռɛʏ ȶօ ɛռƈɦǟռȶɨռɢ ʄօʀɛֆȶ 🌈✨🌫️🏞️ Today June 24th known as Midsummer's Day marks the summer solstice when the earth has maximum tilt towards the sun. Hence it's the day with the longest period of daylight in one year. A perfect timing for me to share a beautiful masterpiece with the same name from ROJA PARFUMS. A Midsummer Dream is a very unique and complex summer fragrance that I still can't fully explain separately for its notes. Perfectly blended ingredients so smooth that comes out as a single olfactory experience for me. This is the only ROJA I find the best to wear in hot summer days. It has the best performance to keep projecting strong when exposed to high heat and sweat. It wears beautifully indoors and even more marvelously outdoors when the scent is carried by the surrounding wind. Wearing this immediately takes me away on a dreamy journey to enchanting forest full of mythical entities 🔮. Lustrous trees shading the entire forest from the sun and strong aroma created by the smells of moss growing everywhere. Variety of the most enchanting flowers that indescribable also mingling here and there. The air is fresh, so pure and clean with sparkling quality. It's like the forest that only exists in the Middle-earth where mythical Elves 🧝inhabit from classical novel Lord of The Rings. I hope Everyone can try and appreciate this fantasy journey provided by A Midsummer Dream. Thank you @rojadove for bringing this magical scent to live ✨ Wishing everyone a wonderful Midsummer's weekend 🌞 #vscentorientreview

At first spritz it smells like some type of whimsical green scenery with bright green mosses, sparking aldehydes, smooth vetiver and a good dose of juicy citrus. I see no mention of orris, but it’s so smooth and velvety it has to be there. I pick up elemi very easily but no patchouli. Benzoin and vanilla make up the backbone, while vetiver is the heart of the whole fragrance. This fragrance is interesting because it takes me to the outdoors, yet it’s so polished and elegant. Overall it’s creamy, woody and enchantingly green. I have no qualms with sillage or longevity. This fragrance lasts the whole day on me, and it drifts up to my nose with just 2 sprays. Such a pleasant, cohesive and balanced scent. Update 10/12/20: I find myself reaching for it often, and that's something I can't say about many fragrances. I am so glad I have a whole bottle of it! It doesn't give me migraines nor smell chemical. I bought it blindly, and I just thought it was ok at first. I honestly didn’t think I would reach for it often, but it has become such an addictive creature to me. Sillage is moderate, and longevity is excellent. Seek bombastic elsewhere. This leaves a luxuriously sweet, mossy, classy cloud around me. And Roja's sprays are The Best, delivering a smooth, ultra-fine mist to the skin.

A Midsummer dream is warm, divine, and playful with a real personality. I love the inspiration behind Shakespeare's a Midsummer Night's Dream. It's warm spicy on my skin, has some gourmand qualities but I wouldn't call it that 100%. It has elements of amber and a chypre. I consider this signature scent worthy, and you could pull it off with the right personality to go with it. Might be a bit playful for the office, but that depends on the former point I made. My only real gripe is I wish it projected a bit more, it's moderate on my skin. It would make for a good date scent and a conversation starter, especially about the inspiration of the fragrance. So far, from what I've sampled: Enigma, Burlington 1819, and A Midsummer Dream are the ones I am wanting a bottle. This might be my favourite fragrance, and can totally pull it off as a signature. I think it leans male more than unisex, but I suggest testing it to make your own distinction. On my skin at least, it's warm spicy, floral, and mossy. I never recommend blind buying niche, at £295 (is on the cheaper side with Roja) you need to test it for yourself. Smell: 9.5/10 Versatility: 8/10 Longevity: 7/10 (7+ Hours) Projection: 7/10 Sillage: 8/10 Sex: Male Price: 7/10 (£295) RATING: 9.25/10

🤔 hmmm.. First hour resembles a Niche version of Bleu de Chanel EDP, but Much Much Much better. After an hour I pick up on the Fougère accord a few have mentioned below. That dissipated within the following hour. This is one of the few fragrances I’ve tried where the grapefruit was Not sticky-sweet cloying.. blended w/ the benzoin it is tamed & deliciously resinous. However there is a slight spicy kick that is Hermes like which I do not enjoy (probably the elemi ). AMSD has so much more to offer over Hermes. It’s quite sexy if you ask me. I wish it was actually powdery like some reviews say, but it’s not! By powdery I don’t mean the orris.. I fucking hate Iris. Very much worth the price if you value QUALITY. Unfortunately the late dry down (3rd hour) is very much a less sharp Terre d’hermes w/ remaining traces of BDC edp. Entering the 4hr mark I begin to get whiffs of vanilla that are like vanilla sugar crystals. Worst part: the spice almost ruins the entire composition for me personally. Best part: definitely the warm Fougère vibe- it gives off an INCREDIBLE lite manly gourmand aroma like caramelizing the sugar on top a brûlée that is to die for 🤤🤤

Like with many Roja's creations, you smell this and right away it reminds you of something you don't remember what! Roger Dove always seems to me the man who might not surprise you by innovation but rather execution/implementation of the fragrance idea. This one is no exception. There are others that are sort of similar but not really: Beloved Man by Amouage, Bois d'Armenie by Guerlain, Myrrhe Impériale by Armani Prive: just to name a few - all of them are from the same category, yet you will find this one to be easier to wear, better blended and with more consistent performance (not too loud but not too skin scent either). The secret behind his success is striking a perfect balance (hard thing to do in perfumery). So if you are looking for a unique niche scent, this one might not be unique enough for you (it is for me though). I know this was inspired by Shakespeare and I can see this in the composition: the use of resins, vanilla and benzoins (for warmth), as well as spices, woods and patchouli for depth... Look, this is hard to beat but you can get a similar scent cheaper... Not better! :)

Opens green and fairy tale like with citrus-freshened and cardamom/pepper spiced mosses and becomes increasingly charming as soft vanilla, gentle musks, earthy orris root, orange blossom and rose nestle into a cocoon woven by gentle woods and vetiver. Benzoin and its little helper elemi conjur up some dreamy mystery and depth. This captures the feeling of a harmonious late-afternoon-into-the-night party in the woods and its outdoorsyness is apparent and the dream-like aesthetic well realised. It is a benign scent and entirely lovely. Nobody gets drunk pulling pranks or doing naughty things at that party. Its bacchanal and debaucherous nemesis, Slumberhouse's Zahd, would only turn up much further into the night - when the children would have long gone to bed. 3 sprays provided 8 hours of life with restrained but sufficient projection and a wonderfully aromatic sillage. Not exactly a bargain at £295 but I was pleasantly surprised that it's for 100ml.

This one I think is the most interesting creation from Roja so far. I have sampled his vetiver, scandal, Elysium, danger, and creation E. When I first took a whiff of this, I immediately thought of the monastery at Saint Joseph Abbey in Covington Louisiana. We would go on hikes there when we were campers. It is where monks go to study to become Catholic priests. I thought it was very cool that the picture in the place that I thought of in my mind when I smell this. It has incense like an old church. I kinda don’t like this, but I kinda really like it. It’s very strange. It definitely has an old vibe though like something vintage, but not a vintage cologne of yesteryear. This is not like his other creations. It’s very different.. I get a little bit of Deepwoods off bug spray too, but it doesn’t really bother me. It smells like an old church, where incense was burned quite often.

One of the best Roja Fragrances, and one of the best Ive ever smelled. Grapefruit, Elemis Resin, Cardamom, Cedar and Iris is what I really get from it. I would describe it as a spring scent, or a scent you can wear on a colder summer night. The scent is a very green mossy, floral and aromatic profile. Very suitable for younger men for me, the scent profile isn't that mature (the notes look like that). I get 7+ hours from this fragrance, and a moderate sillage. I would not blind buy it because of the complex and not mass appealing blend of uncommon notes. You should go and try this for yourself and smell it for yourself. Give it a chance and smell it often. It really smells better and better, the more you smell it. Suitable for the day and the night. Price Perfomance is OK (380€/100ml). All in all one of my favourite fragrances ever made.

This is one of my favourites as it's so versatile, especially in Spring and Autumn, as the blend of notes is just so reminiscent to me of a luscious garden. On warmer days, it's luscious and comforting, and on colder days, there is an icy freshness that cuts through the air. The notes that stand out to me the most are the lemony qualities of the elemi resin, which blend beautifully with subtle dewy rose, lending freshness and lift while not being frail. The oakmoss, orris and patchouli bring dry, woody, slightly smoky and earthy qualities to the piece, grounding it but at the same time providing the signature Roja powderiness. Stylistically, it's a beautiful blend of what feels like a chypre crossed with a fougere. Also should be noted that it has a strong similarity to PdV No.25, which seems woodier and drier.

This is gorgeous. In fact it's everything I have come to like in a perfume. Cool aromatic spice and sharp, fresh fougre notes cushioned by soft resins and sweet vanilla. The cardamom hops out here with all of its lemony minty facets, amplified by a tart grapefruit and camphorous elemi resin. The vetiver, cedar and pink pepper give a dry, prickly woodiness, while rose, oakmoss and orange blossom add a delicate whisp of soap powder. The base is a plush blanket of vanilla and benzoin, with lingering cardamom giving the delicious effect of kulfi ice cream. It is perfectly balanced, ultra refined and perhaps the first truly unisex perfume I've ever encountered. Price point is average for a Roja perfume. About £290 for 100ml. I absolutely think it's worth it. I haven't smelled anything this good in a long time.

Roja's A Midsummers Dream EDP, is in my opinion a masterpiece of chemistry. Every fragrance is appealing to someone and unappealing to another. On a recent trip to Neiman's fragrance department, I spent some time smelling several of Roja's pieces. This one was the one that I could not walk away from. It was the one I wanted to add to my collection. It had the bright citrus that I usually go for mixed with the cardamon and vetiver that I love as well. I had smelled several of the bloggers Roja hitlist choices, but this was the one for me. I loved the subtle softness of it on "My Skin" versus on the card. I kept smelling it over and over again. It lasted for several hours. Well done fragrance!! If these notes are ones you like try it on your skin first before taking the financial plunge.

It does indeed smell like your grandma's furniture. It's right down there with the Vetiver Cologne - interesting smell, nothing impressive, hard to wear, and definitely not worth the price tag. Hard pass. Later edit: I had to change my review, because a very special someone challenged me to sample this fragrance again. What a beautiful and elegant blend, once you learn how to appreciate it! The most beautiful and sexy cardamom that I have ever smelled in a fragrance. It's indeed suitable for an older gentleman because of its dark nature; for the younger folks it's the smell of old money in a very elegant southern european old house. It's quiet and yet commanding power. The accords are extremely well rounded, but that's a general rule for most of Roja's creations. Absolute masterpiece!

At first sniff I too thought Midsummer Dream reminded me of an old man. On further wearing (and owning a bottle) I'm now fully obsessed. Men of pervious decades wore fragrances like this for a reason - they're incredibly debonaire, upscale, and stylish smelling. Midsummer Dream is now my go-to fragrance for fancy events. It pairs so well with a nice, crisp suit. This is how I imagine James Bond smelled (Connery era), or how British high society gentlemen smell on a night out to the theatre. If you're young and all about loud, sweet designers, you won't get this. If you have a few years under your belt you really start to appreciate fragrances like this. It goes without saying the quality is absolutely top notch.

Beautifully fresh, clean and uplifting, the superbly refined, luscious top and middle notes convey a luminescent sparkle that awakens and sharpens the senses. Very complex, I can’t distinguish many separate notes, there are so many and the blending is particularly exquisite. Projection is very good, longevity is moderate, which is pretty good for a composition of this kind. So much more than a barbershop frag or fougere, it’s exquisite, you can really discern the quality is in a class of its own. Very versatile - I can’t imagine an occasion where I wouldn’t want to smell this good! It’s a divinely luxurious invitation to a reverie. You can sense the enchantment. Pure class, this really is next level perfumery.

I don't find any similarities to any TDH but I do know this is made by a master using top quality ingredients. If there was a clone of this you'd definitely tell the OG from it. It is fresh but not like you think, it is not aquatic, sporty or Mediterranean like, it stands in its own realm. Longevity is fantastic for a fresh type fragrance, 7+hrs and people still sense it around you. The ingredients are fleeting, making you crave for them when they disappear and then fall head over heels on the next aroma that crosses your nose. This continues rotating through to the end. This, as with all Roja, is expensive. Save up and purchase this as the only purchase of the year, you'll not be disappointed.

A midsummer dream is definitely not fresh but neither too heavy, it is smooth,mossy and powdery, irisy and resinous with citrusy neuances. As far as the claims that this fragrance is "sour" go it does feel this way in the opening with the citruses and then it settles down alittle bit sweet and powdery with an addion of carrot scent ultimately developing in the drydown into an almlost all vanillic woody scent. As far as projection goes it lacks abit as long as the longevity (but i do suffer from a stuffy noae lol). All in all this fragrance feels very unique to me, very dapper and gentlemanly and i love it. NOT expensive for what it is as a roja,you can definitely smell the quality here

There's something very magical about this fragrance, so the name is appropriate. For me it's a scent that's familiar yet distant, like a nostalgia I didn't know I had. Maybe I smelled a similar fragrance when I was younger, but one thing I do know is that I don't know any fragrances like it. Sure you can say MAYBE TDH parfum, but not really. It's very unique. It's like a really high class talc, not barbershop or anything, but almost royal. It's actually very soft, not in your face, doesn't project hard, and is more of an intimate gentleman type of scent. Definitely one of my favorite from the house and one I do plan on eventually getting a bottle (on discounters of course).