Azalai

I love oranges. Where I live in Northern California we produce the vast majority of orange fruit in the United States, which means you cannot take a drive anywhere without running into an orange orchard. When the orchards are in bloom the aroma is enough to make your knees buckle underneath you. The flowers are pollinated in the spring months where they will spend the summer and most of the fall producing orange fruit that is typically ready for harvest in the winter. I have many wonderful memories of being bundled up against the fall and winter wind chills, strolling through orange orchards, and finding ripe owaris, Valencias, and bloods bursting with oils and juice. Azalai effortlessly transports me there. Curiously though, Azalai has a lot more to do with acacia than with orange but Hemmendorff is clearly a nose that truly understands how things “smell”. The very obvious orange citrus opening perfectly links to crystalline fruit and a hay-like and floral saffron before going to an acacia accord that is beautifully honeyed and smells of orange blossom. It’s such an effortless, obvious, and beautiful movement. Surrounding these notes are smooth amberic balsams and a creamy lactonic quality that creates supple comfort and a cool dusty feeling. The latter might be the velvione according to the brand’s description, an aromachem I am completely unfamiliar with so I cannot say either way. Floral and citrusy, woody and creamy, pleasantly sweet yet a bit bitter boozy - the balance to this perfume is superb. Azalai is a perfume about smart choices. It strikes as being quite minimalist in that there does not seem to be much to it, but the choices made as to which materials to use are without misstep; as if the formula was created, and then Hemmendorff said “now subtract one material” or asked “which material is unnecessary” - removing anything unnecessary or extra. It is seamless, well thought out, tells a story through good performance, and smells great. Excellent work.

Beguiling bittersweet amber, with arabesques of incense and fruity hookah smoke. My favourite of the Stora Skuggan suite. It’s akin to my favourite Swedish saffron, Byredo’s Black Saffron, but while BlackSaff imagines a sexy nightclub, Azalai imagines a dusky palace from an unplaceable era. This is the first orange I’ve come across that truly reads bloody to me – tart, deep, ruddy. Everything about Azalai feels roseate, like it’s been filtered through stained glass. It’s more candied fruit bazaar than spice market, but the saffron creates a rich, leathery heart and partners beautifully with the blood orange. While the first breath was a bit metallic (maybe that’s where the mint is hiding?) it quickly sunsets into six hours of honeyed dates and apricots. Pure indulgence. No wonder it costs what it does. Mental Snapshot: A hazy, languorous eve at the height of your reign. Your adoring court titters about your dais, while peacocks preen in the half-light and golden-collared tigers loll at your feet. You recline on a tapestry pouf to be handfed peeled grapes by your thralls. “What’s an email?” You ask your seneschal. “Is that like a eunuch?” tl;dr: pure resplendence 🦚🕌

I love this so much. The scent is so good and it changes character several times and all of them are pleasant. The dried fruit notes and incense should really be top notes because I mostly smell them in the opening. As it dries down it gets a smell that shares some similarites with something I smelled from Lush. It is very pleasant. The projection is not large, it is a very safe and mild scent in that sense. It is also very unique 10/10 scent although I suspect i might use up a bottle in no time. It lasts a long time. I am now 7 hours later and I can still smell it although it is a skin scent. If I had a work meeting in a small room I don't think I would bother anyone. It is pleasant and work safe. Maybe it leans a little bit feminine on the drydown. But I sprayed it on my beard and I just been smelling like I just had a pleasant conditioner on it. The opening reminds me of Camel by Zoologist. It is very different, but I think whatever they use as "dried fruits" is probably the same. Someone else here said they could only smell dried fruits in the drydown, but for me it is mostly in the opening. Although it is there all the time.

Okay I have fallen in love with this very quickly today. The notes (especially saffron) are beautiful. But it’s how this has made me feel. After a very long and stressful 10 days or so I’ve felt very calm wearing this. What I love about it is it’s not too loud and in everyone’s face. (Not that I mind crazy spicy perfumes, after all Desert Suave is my signature) (ps this is nothing like Desert Suave) and it’s not a tame perfume. It’s just perfect for a day where you want to smell amazing and enjoy keep smelling your skin. (The amount of times today I’ve just had to get a sniff!!) I am absolutely in love with this and it’s my first from the brand so now I have to get the discovery set. Edit - To say I’ve worn this several times over the past few weeks. This has become my go to if I need something relaxing at night.

Azalai is a heady mix of airy saffron and church incense given levity with a burst of blood orange and sweetened up with dried fruits which give a nod to Thanksgiving and Christmas cake. This would be a great winter warmer for Bon Fire Night, great projection that would cut through the cold dark nights. It starts of bold and firmly unisex but leans further feminine as it dries down. It is reminiscent in its spiced fruitiness of Parfum 1 by Fugazzi, another favourite. This is the first fragrance I have smelled from this house but the combination of notes, coupled with stellar performance has piqued my intrigue in Stora Skuggan.

As the person below me wrote, this was love at first sniff. I smell the orange, saffron, and a sugary sweetness combined with the fruits. It’s just gorgeous. I immediately bought full bottles of this and Thumbsucker, which grew on me. As it dries down the incense and Amber start making their presence known. I do wish that this perfume lasted a bit longer on my skin. However, it’s unique and smells so so good. Definitely worth seeking out samples from this house. While not all were full bottle loves for me, you can smell the artistry from this house. I cannot wait until Azalai arrives!

This is a very sophisticated scent that makes me think of an effortlessly stylish and rich woman with great hair (or man, though it leans unisex to feminine) that arrives to her destination in a chauffered car. You want to hate her for her magnetic presence, but she's so friendly and welcoming you really can't. Main notes or impressions I get - blood orange that gets more bright and juicy as it dries down, saffron, slightly herbal, incensey amber, mint. Despite the incense amber I get, this stays fairly bright and never feels heavy or cloying. Definitely full bottle worthy for me!

WOW. This smells like my grandmothers kitchen as she's making saffron buns with raisins for christmas. A very cozy and warming scent that I wish I knew of sooner. Definitely more saffron than oranges but that doesn't bother me at all. For me this borders into a gourmand territory in some ways, the sweetness of it makes me think of saffron fudge and melted butter. I do not get the medicinal notes at all, just sweet, sexy and spicy goodness. Would definitely buy a whole bottle if I could (so much for being a fragrance nerd in college lol).

This is SO sexy on a man. This is my boyfriend's signature scent and I loveee smelling it on him. Something about it with his body chemistry makes it smell so sweet and warm, like you're nestling your head into a hot biker's neck, dressed head to toe in leather, who just rode his motorcycle through an open field with clear skies. Beautifully deep and sensual without making me feel nauseous. This shines on cold days and nights in, would be suffocating on a hot day.

This perfume starts off with ripe, sweet citrus and a spicy dried fruit paste. It gradually gains sharpness and projects a light incense smoke. I don't know what acacia smells like, but to me this scent reminds me of the smell of slightly moist tobacco leaves, with a little boozy amber. There is a slight rounded sweetness in the base, perhaps it is a famous velvione musk, which is described as smelling the skin of newborn's scalp.

I love love... loved this perfume. Really, it was like I found THE evening scent I was looking for. That ended the day I accidentally smashed a tester in my purse when traveling in like 40 degrees heat, and everything I owned at that time got somehow soaked in this. If anyone here is interested, I can sell or trade almost a full bottle of this, as I cannot smell it anymore, and I wish someone else could be happy they can have it.

this is a beautiful fruity pink red orange warm sunset in a bottle. it reminds me of some lush bathbomb too. it is 2015 tumblr. its a house song - kygo remix. i dont have anything like this in my collection, yet its a familiar scent. i love it. the blood orange is perfeeecttttttttttt. alas i have no idea where i would wear this or when id be in the mood to give off the vibe it does. its a very extroverted smell lol

Azalai, what a beauty. Opens with some sweet fruits, with a warm and cosy but subtle amber. Bit of spices, cardamom. In the dry down it’s a more more smokey incense, it’s the most prominent note but isn’t harsh or attacking. Amber takes a bigger place here, also the saffron comes in. Cardamom remains. Lasts about 9 hours for me, with pretty good projection. A bit steep for 30 ml, but I think it’s worth it. Love it!

Strong dried fruits on top that give plum, apricot, dark berries, etc. Blood orange may be a little lost on my nose in combo with the other fruits. Dry down is very, very rich. Smoke and sap. An animalic musk plus saffron embrace a middle-of-the-nose-bridge spicy sensation, I can see this being where people are picking up some powder. I appreciate the dry down telling a story. Very pleasant on a rainy day.

Azalai takes me on a journey through time and space. It is much more of a feeling, an experience, than a just a scent. It is divine. Mysterious. Spicy and warm. The saffron, dried fruits and amber feel precious and luxurious. It is sort of gourmandish, but in an elegant and... historical way. No contemporary, overly sweet teenage vibe here. I only have s sample, but crave a full bottle.

This was love at first sniff for me, and I can't help myself from smelling it all the time. It's spicy and sweet yet not overpoweringly so in either way, making it fit very well into the unisex category in my opinion. The bottle is gorgeous and they offer refills rather than demanding you to buy a new bottle each time it runs out which should be industry standard at this point.

Absolutely captivating, which is unusual for me since I usually dislike fruity fragrances on myself. Wearing something bright, but warm coloured, feels perfect for our cool summer and early warm fall.

This smells INCREDIBLE. The warmth and the spices are amazing, all I look for in a perfume. I would just say that I smell more the saffron and the amber rather than the oranges.

Super friendly, yet intriguing. Very high quality. Aromatic feel. Beautiful layers. Everyday signature scent for me. Can’t get tired of this. Just so well done.

Like a mysterious and intriguing stranger under the night sky. Definitely a night scent for me. So warm and golden and special. Feels amazing to wear.