The Path

An incense-y freshy-ish thing, with what my nose interprets as a turpentine-y thing. It's interesting to me how the incense aspect, almost a frankincense, can come across as a clean-type frag, not being a fan (at all) of freshys...the mass-appeal blue frags, calone bombs, citrus bombs, ambroxin laundry bombs, etc, all those found at the typical department store counter endorsed by celebrities, sharp, metallic, headache-inducers...this makes for a great alternative because it has both the thickness of the incense vibe, but with a woody backbone that can translate into a fresh/clean gig. The really cool part is in the far-drydown; I spray my samples on paper plates, kinda dousing them, and leave them in my office for a day to a week to see how they start, develop and dry down. The end point, a couple days later, gives a thick, rich, distinct and delish oud, perhaps with a tinge of sandalwood if my nose is developed enough to detect it. But the oud is pronounced. It reminded me of the backbone of the ultra-synthetic (but attention-grabbing-pleasing) 24 Gold, if I recall the name correctly. I tried that many years ago and struggled with it because I was new to ouds, including synthetic oud, and I'm a huge naturals fan, so I always gravitate first to naturals, which this line is (and have tried others and am happy with all of them). So that oud a few days later was an absolutely lovely surprise. It's that thick, sweet, unique oud that people new to oud can get fixated on. Not dirty, not animalic, at all. Just that rich sorta sweetness unique to oud. Middle age male reviewer. Been into frags my whole life, but began taking them seriously around 2015, and dived into it fully at that time. I was fortunate to discover among the best synthetic ouds at the time, I suppose out of sheer coincidence, and had some middle eastern reviewers confirm for me that those frags were the best examples of oud that were available affordably on the commercial market at the time, 24 gold among them, with it's added vanilla. This has it, but is the real thing. I've introduced others to oud, that are not huge frag fans, and it's among the very rare scents that really grabs people and stops them; it's still pretty foreign to most westerners. So any naturals artists using it is a huge bonus. And, I didn't look up the notes to this *until* I detected that oud, and then confirmed it in the note breakdown. Oud is just a magical scent to me. I'm one of those who are indeed very drawn to it. We don't really get it pronounced until the very last of the drydown here, but, if you do know it's there ahead of time, you will be able to detect it throughout the evolution of the frag. It's another great one from this house, very happy with what she's putting out. Liking a great deal 80% of what I've tried so far, the only exceptions being one or two that were a bit too "dirty/animalic" for me (tho she doesn't use animal ingredients, fyi...there are of course natural raw materials that can have their own funk.). I enjoy exploring that "funk" to an extent, just to experience and expand my nose's palate, but I'd never wear any of those. Too stinky. Anyway, I'd rate this highly, good stuff, I guess I'm the first review for it as well. Imo, well worth checking out if you'd like to explore a natural that fits into an incense-freshy with a thick/rich/sweet oud backbone and drydown. Cheers!

The path takes you through fresh, dreamy woodlands. This is winter's answer to a midnight summer's dream. Subtle and refined, Path is a take on a variance of fresh brush-greenery and woods. Vetiver, fir and brush topped off with elemi and styrax. This fragrance is quite nice, but it deteriorates quickly in that it doesn't maintain its verver as it wears. Path takes a turn toward a common soapy, fresh/clean scent with the lush green opening relegated to the background. 👎 Still quite good.