AVA LUXE BAKIR: If there’s any one vibe that I get from the Ava Luxe line, it’s one of genuine appreciation for the artistry of perfume and a charming attempt to emulate the masters, whether successful or not, and Bakir seems to be an attempt to follow in the footsteps of the classic orientals — floral, resinous, with spices and woods.
A plethora of scent notes are listed for Bakir, each one as big and bold as the last: geranium, nutmeg, frankincense, cedar, black rose, vanilla, jasmine, patchouli, amber and more, so what you experience with Bakir is a nostalgia trip down the silk trade routes that wound across Asia and the Middle East, filtered through a contemporary sensibility — full and bold but not sluggish, floral and sweet without inducing headaches and/or cavities.
There’s a signature freshness to the opening of Ava Luxe fragrances, a green, almost waxy floral note, and Bakir exhibits this just as much as the Opoponax Intense, Chypre Noir and Incense Rose that I’ve sampled from this line. Perhaps this is what lends the scent its contemporary spin . . . ?
Bakir finishes up on a pronounced cedarwood base.
DAWN SPENCER HURWITZ ASHRAM: less floral and more smoky than the Ava Luxe Bakir. I have to admit that I like it better as it seems more suited for the unisex/masculine temperament.
The body of the fragrance is woodsy, earthy and warm, with the inclusion of the champaca flower as its sole nod toward traditional perfume niceties.
An easily wearable blend of vetiver root, incense resins and smoky woods. Suddenly, I’m like, “Ave Luxe who?”
MILLER HARRIS FEUILLES DE TABAC: it’s unfortunate that I chose to test the Miller Harris Feuilles de Tabac against three very bold, spicy scents because it simply cannot hold its own in such company.
Fueilles de Tabac is light, a bit green and slightly dusty, like a dry tobacco leaf. It has a very natural smell and feel to it, nothing heavy or overdone, and if you’re a fan of minimalist leaning fragrances, then you’ll appreciate Fueilles de Tabac for its close to the skin, barely-there quality.
If you like more complex, layered perfumes, however, then this is one you should probably walk right past.
EX VOTO BROWN (a.k.a. AMBRE PROFOND): an amber fragrance with a nicely-done woodsy character. There’s even some leather and musk that work to counteract the sweetness of the amber so that the fragrance, on the whole, stays in balance.
I’m ordinarily not a fan of ambers, but I like what Ex Voto has accomplished with Ambre Profond — rich, warm and decidedly casual. It’s deeper and darker than the Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Ashram, but also much simpler in its ambitions, sort of an “I’m a lumberjack and I’m okay” scent:
“I never wanted to be a barber anyway . . . “
What you smell when it comes out of the bottle is pretty much what you get right through to the finish, though its smokier, muskier notes do make some advances to the forefront as time passes. Definitely my favorite of the four I tested today, even though it is, you know, still an amber!
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Nathan- While I agree with your note assessment of FdT (esp. your cogent mention of green notes, but ‘green’ as in ‘stalky,’ like in a spicy Loire cab franc), I find it has considerable sillage and development on the skin.
Christopher — I’m afraid that FdT suffered because of the company it was keeping that day. It’s a light, attractive fragrance, but appeared unfortunately thin next to Ashram, Bakir and especially Ambre Profond.
I did not experience the “considerable sillage” you mentioned, but I was very happy the tobacco note was that of a natural tobacco leaf rather than the usual sweetened pipe-tobacco culprit.