Areej le Doré : The Official Discussion Thread

[Xcaliber6685]

Which composition are you talking about? Everything from the 7th was overloaded with synthetics.

Having a high percentage of synthetics in the majority of these ALD is one of the main reasons why I personally get burned out or get tired of them a lot more frequently and quicker, than most other all-natural compositions.

A superbly blended composition with a beautiful scent profile doesn't always or necessarily translate to captivating, and it doesn't mean they are going to inherently have an addictive and alluring quality. A scent profile can be stunning and interesting, but completely lacks the magnetic aspect that would keep me going back for more.

The entire 6th collection falls into this category, they smelled great and fun for a few weeks but were forgettable afterward, mine were all literally sitting on the shelf collecting dust for over 2 years, until I got rid of all of them except Grandenia, I kept this last one for reference sakes, still haven't worn it in almost 3 years!! This entire collection does not have any alluring and magnetic quality that made me want to revisit them ever again, overall quality is flat and tiring after the initial testing period was over. There was ZERO wow factor for me, none, whatsoever.

This latest collection smells great, OE4 is aesthetically the most beautiful of the bunch, I would certainly try to wear it more frequently than others, W2 is the most complex from the set, SM3 is just as nice as RM2, while RO2 and CO2 are very good for what they are as an Oud soliflore, the entire collection is of very good value and a bargain at the retail price. But none of these have any wow factor for me personally, to date I still have not come across anything from ALD that made me go "holyshit it's fucking amazzzzing....."

With that said, some of these ALD stuff is more suitable as daily wear for me personally, guilty-free dousing from head to toe without much of any restriction, and some of them smell very good, at an approachable price point. EO stuff, they are more of a special treat, too damn expensive to indulge heavily and frequently, both brands have their place in my collection. Believe it or not, I enjoy wearing my $27/100ml Encre Noire Sport and Guerlain Homme L'Eau Boisée just as much in the summer as well. If something smells good to me I'll buy and wear them, I don't discriminate and I'll wear whatever the hell I want regardless of how others feel about them. lol

 

[Xcaliber6685]

Are Areej bottles a lot more limited than Ensar Oud's? EO's limited stuff sells out sometimes but seems like the other stuff stays is stock a lot longer than most of Areej's offerings.

Both are limited to an extent, but EO stuff is significantly more expensive, though some of the experiences I get from EO are never found in ALD or any other houses, they are simply unmatched at any given price point.

I think Ensar just pumps out a lot more juice than RA.

EO pumps out more frequently but in a much smaller batch, from my recollection, most of the EO releases are under 100 bottles.

 

[Dr B1414]

Am I the only one who tried pulling this out?
It works but you have to be careful not to break the wooden case or the glass. Cleaned the glue from inside the case and off the glass, sand dusted the inside of the case a bit, and now I can use the case as a trevel holder, and also pull out the travel to check amount left and replenish when I ran out. The case is unmatched as far as the design goes, whoever, they should have put an inside lining material as they did for the cap in order to prevent contraction/expansion of the wood. Maybe they didn't plan on making these removable.

 

[joe king]

Am I the only one who tried pulling this out?
It works but you have to be careful not to break the wooden case or the glass. Cleaned the glue from inside the case and off the glass, sand dusted the inside of the case a bit, and now I can use the case as a trevel holder, and also pull out the travel to check amount left and replenish when I ran out. The case is unmatched as far as the design goes, whoever, they should have put an inside lining material as they did for the cap in order to prevent contraction/expansion of the wood. Maybe they didn't plan on making these removable.

I didn't think it was possible. Now i want to try. I might get the juice out first , its the only bit i have of chinese oud.

 

[Tigs7]

So after seeing the reviews in Adam’s reels, I decided to buy another bottle of ROII just to furck it up.

The reviews stated that ROI wins in the drydown due to the slightly less awesome oud. Otherwise ROII is darker, less sweet, and more cacao. It’s less about the oud and more about the cacao when compared to OG. Given this info, I figure that I can layer (or straight up mix) ROII with some super chocolatey oud and maybe get a touch closer to OG. For $250, it’s worth a science experiment.

 

[Xcaliber6685]

So after seeing the reviews in Adam’s reels, I decided to buy another bottle of ROII just to furck it up.

The reviews stated that ROI wins in the drydown due to the slightly less awesome oud. Otherwise ROII is darker, less sweet, and more cacao. It’s less about the oud and more about the cacao when compared to OG. Given this info, I figure that I can layer (or straight up mix) ROII with some super chocolatey oud and maybe get a touch closer to OG. For $250, it’s worth a science experiment.

When you want a no-nonsense chocolate bomb, RO2 is as good as it gets, from a purist standpoint this one beats out the Oud Monarch and Rumi as a solitary chocolate bomb IMO. The Hindi Oud in RO2 opening is apparent enough though, and the musk and ambergris are a nice touch as well.

 

[ctboom]

Would anyone be able to compare ROII with Bond-T? I'm fond of the dryness in Bond-T, and the tobacco accord (I realize there is no actual tobacco in that composition). I really shouldn't be thinking of more dark cacao scents bc Bond-T is already a stalwart and I'm sufficiently supplied there, but curious at how close they verge.

 

[JBS1]

Going to wear Oud Zhen today and Oud Zen tomorrow.
Both from decants I got from a fellow basenoter.
Have a great day all.

 

[Tigs7]

When you want a no-nonsense chocolate bomb, RO2 is as good as it gets, from a purist standpoint this one beats out the Oud Monarch and Rumi as a solitary chocolate bomb IMO. The Hindi Oud in RO2 opening is apparent enough though, and the musk and ambergris are a nice touch as well.

Oud Monarch did absolutely nothing for me. In Rumi, I get coffee (tons of it) but no chocolate. Same with AdN, but I was able to boost the chocolate note (wherever it was hiding) by adding an Indian oud to it.

I have an oud oil that is very chocolatey but fades as soon as it hits the drydown so it wouldn’t surprise me if Adam used an oud like that which is why many aren’t sensing the magnified oud all the way through the wear time. Apparently the oud used in ROI was more punchy/in your face. Based on his reports of earlier issues with finding the right oud, I knew this would be the critical aspect of any new version of RO: the oud had to be chocolatey, non barny, but dense/cozy. The tricky thing was always going to be chocolate/cacao vs oud fighting for the main player.

 

[Xcaliber6685]

Oud Monarch did absolutely nothing for me. In Rumi, I get coffee (tons of it) but no chocolate. Same with AdN, but I was able to boost the chocolate note (wherever it was hiding) by adding an Indian oud to it.

I have an oud oil that is very chocolatey but fades as soon as it hits the drydown so it wouldn’t surprise me if Adam used an oud like that which is why many aren’t sensing the magnified oud all the way through the wear time. Apparently the oud used in ROI was more punchy/in your face. Based on his reports of earlier issues with finding the right oud, I knew this would be the critical aspect of any new version of RO: the oud had to be chocolatey, non barny, but dense/cozy.

Oud Monarch is weak sauce in comparison, and RO2 has more cacao and dark chocolate that last throughout the wearing, certainly is creamier and more chocolatey than Rumi where the Rumi came off more like coffee for sure.

There's a good dose of cacao absolute in RO2, it smells very similar to the cacao absolute that I used in some of my own compositions.....

 

[Tigs7]

Oud Monarch is weak sauce in comparison, and RO2 has more cacao and dark chocolate that last throughout the wearing, certainly is creamier and more chocolatey than Rumi where the Rumi came off more like coffee for sure.

There's a good dose of cacao absolute in RO2, it smells very similar to the cacao absolute that I used in some of my own compositions.....

View attachment 451585

Yup, I’m trying to make it more oud focused. For science.

 

[Dothraki]

Having a high percentage of synthetics in the majority of these ALD is one of the main reasons why I personally get burned out or get tired of them a lot more frequently and quicker, than most other all-natural compositions.

A superbly blended composition with a beautiful scent profile doesn't always or necessarily translate to captivating, and it doesn't mean they are going to inherently have an addictive and alluring quality. A scent profile can be stunning and interesting, but completely lacks the magnetic aspect that would keep me going back for more.

The entire 6th collection falls into this category, they smelled great and fun for a few weeks but were forgettable afterward, mine were all literally sitting on the shelf collecting dust for over 2 years, until I got rid of all of them except Grandenia, I kept this last one for reference sakes, still haven't worn it in almost 3 years!! This entire collection does not have any alluring and magnetic quality that made me want to revisit them ever again, overall quality is flat and tiring after the initial testing period was over. There was ZERO wow factor for me, none, whatsoever.

This latest collection smells great, OE4 is aesthetically the most beautiful of the bunch, I would certainly try to wear it more frequently than others, W2 is the most complex from the set, SM3 is just as nice as RM2, while RO2 and CO2 are very good for what they are as an Oud soliflore, the entire collection is of very good value and a bargain at the retail price. But none of these have any wow factor for me personally, to date I still have not come across anything from ALD that made me go "holyshit it's fucking amazzzzing....."

With that said, some of these ALD stuff is more suitable as daily wear for me personally, guilty-free dousing from head to toe without much of any restriction, and some of them smell very good, at an approachable price point. EO stuff, they are more of a special treat, too damn expensive to indulge heavily and frequently, both brands have their place in my collection. Believe it or not, I enjoy wearing my $27/100ml Encre Noire Sport and Guerlain Homme L'Eau Boisée just as much in the summer as well. If something smells good to me I'll buy and wear them, I don't discriminate and I'll wear whatever the hell I want regardless of how others feel about them. lol

That’s why RA is the Willy Wonka of perfume. But also why owning a handful of his stuff covers it all for me. Ensar has some bangers but a lot of bad stuff too. Plus wayyyy overpriced. That kind of money I’d go for Taha’s juice every time. To me the ultimate is still a good oud oil, or even a decent oud oil. Can’t beat a straight up oud. One exception is W&PII which I think is RA’s best work, along with SM 1 & 2. Oud Zhen is amazing too with all that wonderful saffron. But hard to say I like Taha or Ensar over RA… when I want natural smells of the earth I reach for Taha, but when I want crazy imaginative fun creativeness I reach for my ALD. I think the 6th collection was the best he released overall. Really showcased his style.

 

[Scentcrazy]

When you want a no-nonsense chocolate bomb, RO2 is as good as it gets, from a purist standpoint this one beats out the Oud Monarch and Rumi as a solitary chocolate bomb IMO. The Hindi Oud in RO2 opening is apparent enough though, and the musk and ambergris are a nice touch as well.

Yea but....Rumi is soooooo damn strong and pumped with sooo much musk and ambergris

 

[Osny]

That’s why RA is the Willy Wonka of perfume. But also why owning a handful of his stuff covers it all for me. Ensar has some bangers but a lot of bad stuff too. Plus wayyyy overpriced. That kind of money I’d go for Taha’s juice every time. To me the ultimate is still a good oud oil, or even a decent oud oil. Can’t beat a straight up oud. One exception is W&PII which I think is RA’s best work, along with SM 1 & 2. Oud Zhen is amazing too with all that wonderful saffron. But hard to say I like Taha or Ensar over RA… when I want natural smells of the earth I reach for Taha, but when I want crazy imaginative fun creativeness I reach for my ALD. I think the 6th collection was the best he released overall. Really showcased his style.

Is my memory betraying me or W&P II is really really close to EO Iris Ghalia? (Don’t know which version is the Iris Ghalia I have tried, unfortunately).

 

[Dr B1414]

Is my memory betraying me or W&P II is really really close to EO Iris Ghalia? (Don’t know which version is the Iris Ghalia I have tried, unfortunately).

Not even in the same Galaxy🙂.

 

[Osny]

Not even in the same Galaxy🙂.

I find it really hard to say that they are “not even in the same galaxy” since they both are musk + orris based perfumes. Or aren’t they?

 

[Dr B1414]

I find it really hard to say that they are “not even in the same galaxy” since they both are musk + orris based perfumes. Or aren’t they?

If you never tried it, and you speculate looking at a mere note list breakdown, what's so hard to imagine? WP2 is mostly about the Orris in the opening and then it's more about the amber resin, loads of musks, beaver, all the zoo assembled. Iris Ghalia is about the Orris first, then the remainder. It never screams animalic to me, any version, while WP does.

 

[Dr B1414]

Ensar uses only naturals, so the musks in the base and the gris only work as a frame for the rest of the composition, and fixatives. Natural musks hardly come across as in your face animalic, to me at least. Adam uses synthetic civet in WP which is very pungent and noticeable, and also boosts the rest of the musks to amplify them. So it comes across as a more in your face animalic perfume.

 

[Xcaliber6685]

I find it really hard to say that they are “not even in the same galaxy” since they both are musk + orris based perfumes. Or aren’t they?

Personally I couldn't draw any semblance between them, the same way I can't compare cake to pizza even when they both share a common ingredient.....like having flour and a touch of sodium in both.

They smell completely different, cakes and pizzas. 😁

 

[Castingshadows]

Yep I’ll second that there’s zero similarities between WP2 and Iris Ghalia. Not even close. Like at all.