Reckless Pour Homme

As I’m trying to explore more on Roja Dove creations after I fell in love with the Engima (Creation E) Parfum Cologne version and bought a full bottle of it, I struggled which pour homme I should get. Yes, I prefer the pour homme over the pour femme version because I love unisex or men’s fragrances. I don’t own any women fragrances. I struggled between Engima Pour Homme, Fetish Pour Homme or Reckless Pour Homme. Finally I decided on the Reckless after reading about its notes composition as I thought I already own Engima Parfum Cologne so I shouldn’t get one that has a similar scent (at least not as my first Parfum concentration of Roja and try something new first), and lots of reviews said Fetish is way too masculine. I don’t regret it at all. It is my first chypre fragrance that I own since I thought chypre usually smell more classic and mature while I love scents that are more modern. Lucky this doesn’t disappoint me. The opening does smell very chypre and classic but the dry down is phenomenal. It is still chypre but very cozy. The floral mid notes in this is not prominent at all. Instead, the base notes peak thru and take the main role after since the 1-2 hours dry down of the top notes. The base notes definite overpowering the mid notes especially the cinnamon, black pepper and cardamom, which I love it even better. That makes it more modern and cozy. The only downside of this is the performance. It lasts long about 10 hours but doesn’t project very well, about 1-2 feet and get closer to skin quickly in about 2-3 hours. I know Parfum concentration usually don’t have strong projection and I expected it but still a little lower than my expectations since I found the Engima Parfum Cologne has better performance (both longevity and projection). But I do find that the Reckless Pour Homme has divine quality (even better than the Parfum Cologne) while I thought the Engima Parfum Cologne already has top notch quality. Still became one of my favorites because it is the only chypre and so different in my collection. Definitely 9.5/10

This is one of my top picks for the Roja Dove line. In a nutshell, this is a citrusy, labdanum, powerdy wood scent. Once it's first applied, straight away you will smell lemon and bergamot with a hint of ginger and cinnamon lingering behind it. At the end, cedar, sandalwood and labdanum greet each other which are the prominent base notes giving this scent it's final sweet powdery wood finish. When I first sampled this, my girlfriend said it smelt like Clive Christian X for men. She was spot on! This scent is very similar. I'd say this scent almost has the same identical top notes to CCX. This scent is extremely well blended. It flows so smoothly. The more I smell Roja's collection, the more it reminds me of other scents. It's almost like he's taken well known signature scents and created a remix for it or has tried to reinvent them. Like he's taken oringinal ideas and has changed the way they should be in his world. I won't give Roja an 10/10 for creativity but I'll give him a 10/10 for quality and chemistry. He doesn't paint his own pictures from his own imagination but give him a picture to paint and he'll blow you away with his detailed artistic hand. My advice to the wearer of this scent is apply it when going out and night during the colder months. If you want to smell modern and distinguished then this is a killer choice. People will be intrigued to know more about who you are when you walk by. I see this being worn by guy that can get after it, a guy that doesn't live by the rules and yet, he rules. *Projection 10/10 has a great silage. You'll change the way the room smells *Longevity 9/10 lastest all day but softens a bit *Day time and night time scent *Fall, winter or cool spring day

Roja Dove Reckless is a phenomenal fragrance which is ultra masculine and alpha. This specific scent was sent to me as a mystery sample, and my goal was to try to guess what it was. Well, I failed miserably on my guesses, but I have to say it made me truly dig deep into the juice and break it down according to what I smelled. I came up with the following breakdown; "I get a fresh opening, like citrus up top, and then I get a fresh-floral mid with an oriental background. It's a fresh fragrance with a spicy-heavy backbone." At the end of the day, this stuff is awesome. Once I found out what this fragrance actually was, I wanted to slap myself upside the head. Clive Christian X happens to be one of my favorite fragrances of all time, and I was kicking myself that I couldn't make the connection while smelling the "mystery" sample. X and Reckless are VERY similar. I think what threw me off was the brighter citric opening on Reckless whereas X is much darker. I eventually compared them side-by-side and I found that X is indeed much darker and stronger than Reckless. Reckless has a great freshness to it. It starts off fairly citric and then has a more floral mid than X does. They end up being close to the same, but X is richer, deeper and much more brawny. I have to say I love both. I would go for Reckless for the fresher side of things even though it's not exactly a "fresh" fragrance, but I would go for X if I wanted something bold and burly. Having both would be the best of both worlds.

I was curious to try a few more Roja Doves, Reckless, Scandal and Danger. I made the bad mistake of blind buying Enigma, because of so much hype it was getting as the ultimate Tobacco fragrance. I was blessed to have been able to return it. It virtually had no tobacco to my nose. Reckless is a nice fresh chypre. The more I use my 5 ml, the more I feel very comfortable wearing this. It's very well blended, classic smelling fragrance. It has some very good quality citrus. But like many have said, it smells very familiar, like some other, good old spicy, woody freshies. It's fresher than I thought it would be. It could work even in Summer. The note pyramid here is deceptive, it has Cypress as the strongest note. I think the lemon is strongest. It is something like Creed Spice and Wood, but more old fashioned, classic smelling, and not nearly as good. I have a mostly niche collection, have spent over $200 on a hand full of fragrances. But they need to be special for me to spend that much. Reckless is no where near the value for me. It's like a Penhaligons fragrance, or Zoologist; good, but nothing special. As Sebastion said on his YouTube channel, "Smelling Great", Roja frags have a vintage classic vib, as is true with Reckless. I can recommend a very modern version of this at 1/3 the price, that's more vibrant and pleasant. It's one of my favorites, a fresh lemony, woody frag; it's Byredo "Oud Immortel". Rating 8/10 God bless. John 3:16

An update: The green cypress and laural accord in the open is much nicer than cypress in X. I'm getting a sweet cinnamon and clove as a heart accord. I hadn't worn it for a while. I am surprised how much more I like it now. I picked up the cardamom right away. A favorite spice that's blended here to perfection. Also got the juicy lemon this time. One of the best citrus opening I thought. I realized it's the lemon with bergamot. Lemon is not often used, but great natural here. The open is slightly sweet and juicy. The cypress is green, bright and natural. Nice green cypress with Laurel and artemesia. In the mid, the cypress is very evident, and very realistic high quality cypress. A favorite note. Although the spices come across as softer. I like X in cold Winter days, when the harsher, peppery spices are more welcome. Reckless is better for Springtime. It's creamier in general, because of the florals. I can start to smell it morphing nicely. The spicy accords are changing. Makes for an enjoyable experience. Some great accords: The ginger, cardomom and wormwood accord, gives it a green, slightly bitter zest. The citruses are juicy, cloves and cinnamon add warmth. It's not sweet for sweetness sake. It's there for balance. A great all-arounder, that's not boring either. Rating: 9/10 God bless. Ephesians 2:8.