Mon Nom Est Rouge Majda Bekkali Sculptures Olfactives

Source: Fragrantica

Spiced rose contenders that I've had the good fortune to sample: Mon Nom Est Rouge, Epic Woman by Amouage, Noir Epices by Frederic Malle/ Michel Roudnitska, Paestum Rose by Eau D'Italie and Rose Poivree by The Different Company. 

The Different Company's Rose Poivree was too peppery for my liking with the barest hint of rose, I didn't get any delicious sweaty animal that some other perfume lovers did but there has been some muttering about batches smelling different so maybe I should revisit Rose Poivree. Eau D'Italie's Paestum Rose is a smoothly blended rose with a touch of incense and spices, feminine and beautiful but I'm looking for more than that. Noir Epices from Frederic Malle/Michel Roudnitska is big and dramatic, spiced roses and citruses as if it's always Christmas time and a finalist that made it to my want list when funds allow. Ditto Amouage's Epic Woman, a luxurious spiced rose and heavy incense affair. 

Mon Nom Est Rouge is regularly compared to Epic Woman and while I agree that there are similarities, I mean they are both spiced roses with the same nose behind them but I find Mon Nom Est Rouge to be lighter and highlighting the rose more than in Epic Woman where the rose shares the limelight and sometimes gets pushed back by the incense and spices. Mon Nom Est Rouge starts out very richly spiced( I smell cardamom and ginger very distinctly) and peppery but not as blindingly so as in Rose Poivree, it stays like this for about an hour or so before gradually fading into a smooth sweet rose and woods, the spices a shadow of their former selves ( I smell cinnamon towards the drydown) and the scent bears more resemblance in its drydown to Paestum Rose than Epic Woman. Mon Nom Est Rouge starts with a resounding opening and shows promise but loses its interesting nature to become a lovely but a been-there-done-that ending. I will stick with Epic Woman instead. 

Tendre Est La Nuit Majda Bekkali Sculptures Olfactives

Source: shinycreation.com

I took a quick look at the notes for Tendre Est La Nuit on Fragrantica, realised I haven't smelt quite a number of them and decided not to bother describing things I don't know and work out what I do smell even if it's not what's listed. 

I am strongly reminded of Parfum d`Empire Ambre Russe, likely strongly reminded, don't call me crazy. I dug out my sample of Ambre Russe to compare and I stand by what I say, well minus the vodka opening of Ambre Russe. Calling Tendre Est La Nuit a boozy oriental leather in a nutshell might be overly simplistic but that's the major part of the scent, something I didn't expect by its name but am quite enjoying. 

I smell boozy, syrup-engorged (immortelle maple syrup like) fruit like in Serge Lutens' Arabie but instead of the all-spice mix of Arabie there is pepper, smoky resins and balms which I can't tell apart but together with the pepper gives Tendre Est La Nuit it's oriental genes, a smooth tanned leather like in Anubis from Papillon Artisan Perfumes and a dark earthy patchouli. A thick, concentrated scent that seems to transform from its syrupy start to a dry fine dust over time, almost like musty old books that have been sprayed with the perfume. 

I prefer Tendre Est La Nuit to Ambre Russe for being an easier digestif to swallow, Tendre Est La Nuit imbibes but stops short of heavy drinking, while with Ambre Russe although being wearable art, one still has to be in the right mood to wear it without being worn out by the whole experience. Tendre Est La Nuit is a heavy scent with a big projection so I would be careful with applying this to avoid inducing headaches and/or nausea, but its strength fades out over time so that by the eighth hour it's a pleasant skin scent. P.S: I was putting clothes aside for laundry when I smelt a most gorgeous smoky, sweet and dark patchouli coming from the top I had used when wearing Tendre Est la Nuit more than 24 hours ago. Beautiful!