It's a Sniffathon! Part 3 - Profumum, Durbano, Dr. Vranjes & Ajne

Last 8 fragrances. I can do it, I know I can! Here we go… Cassiopea by Dr. Vranjes. Pleasantly candied little floral, in which I mostly smell roses, ylang ylang, some jasmine and something fruity …Slightly rotting plums? Overripe apples? Synthetic cherries? Extremely forgettable. I could wear it everyday for several months (and no, I don’t want to) and then probably would not be able to recognize it. Before I looked at the BeautyHabit site, I imagined that such a scent would cost about $60.00 for 100ml, and I thought I was being generous…it turns out, this insipid concoction goes for the whopping $225.00. That is not even funny. Elettra by Dr. Vranjes. I don’t know who the good Dr. is, and I am not captivated by his scents enough to want to find out, but perhaps he shouldn’t quit his day job just yet. Elettra is marginally better than Cassiopea, but not much so. It is a thick, languid, enveloping, at times overwhelming blend of very sweet myrrh, very sweet amber and very dull-smelling flowers, which may or may not be jasmine. Boring and shockingly overpriced at $225.00 for 100ml. Esperia by Dr. Vranjes is an aquatic fragrance that as such would have been annoying and unwearable were it not so incredibly bland. It has a rather appealing salty and slightly herbal undertone and might even be quite nice worn on a very hot day…but not for $225.00! Rock Crystal by Durbano. The scent really doesn’t bring anything particularly new and original to the incense-woods genre, but it is sophisticated, warm, tranquil and comforting – all the things I expect from my incense fragrances- and, at $105.00 for 100ml, not too outrageously expensive. The incense note here is warm and “substantial”, made thicker and “rounder” by the presence of sandalwood and myrrh (I swear I smell amber too). The spices add an interesting, bright zing to the composition, and all in all Rock Crystal is just a pleasure to wear. One minus- the scent stays extremely close to the skin and has rather poor lasting power. Amethyst by Durbano. With notes of bergamot, pepper, grape, raspberry, incense, palisander wood, jasmine, orris, amber, sandalwood, musk, vanilla, Amethyst is incense made almost delicious. No, not quite gourmand, but the berries and vanilla do add a lovely, mouthwatering little twist to the blend. I think I actually like it even more than the rather solemn Rock Crystal. Those who, like me, are not generally fond of fruits, should not worry, Amethyst is all about incense and woods, but the pleasant, colorful sweetness makes it not just soulful and meditative but also joyful and full of life. $105.00 for 100ml at Luckyscent. Savoir by Ajne. Sous le Vent on steroids. This 3rd eye Chakra balancing, 100 % non-synthetic, pure and ultra-Rare & Precious essential oils and absolutes combining blend was downright scary on me. Incredibly sharp, overwhelmingly herbal at first, it had a strange almost-rotting undertone. As the scent progressed, it softened a little, became warmer, and, by the beginning of the middle stage, turned into the sultry, clover-full…Opium. On the right skin, this strange brew might possibly be quite striking and attractive. I shall pass. $220.00 for 1oz at Ajne.com. Alba by Profumum. “The darkness that covers the wood and the moors of the forest ripped by the golden ray of the sun that filtering into the foliage of secular oaks, recreate an ancient magic of light. It is called the dawn.” It is also called copywriters on drugs, but I digress. I have yet to find a Profumum scent that would impress me to the extent that I won’t mind parting with $195.00 (the cost of a nice “niche” Guerlain, more than a Chanel Exclusif or a bell jar), and Alba is certainly not the scent to make me reach for my credit card. It is a rather unexciting blend of, I believe, heliotrope, amber, woods, and some sort of herbs. It does not evoke moors, oaks, magic or dawn. I am hard pressed to come up with an image it does evoke in my mind. I better wash it off, the scent is so dull, it sucks all creative force out of me. Available at profumum.com. Ambra Aurea by Profumum. Now this is much better. It is not making me race to place an order, simply because I am not a big fan of amber “soliflores”, but the connoisseurs of amber should take notice. Ambra Aurea smells raw and slightly salty, animalic and a little wet and slimy, very…alive somehow, very …organic. This is one of the Profumum scents that is probably worth the $195.00 they are asking for it, as – regardless of what it actually was made of – it feels as if it was in fact made with “100% non-synthetic, pure and ultra-Rare & Precious essential oils and absolutes”. Available at luckyscent.com. And that concludes The Sniffathon. It is over to Tom tomorrow. I need a break.