Down to my last two to review. I've been wearing these for the past few days. Film Noir and Razala. Ayala chose Razala for me based on what I emailed were the notes I liked and the questionnaire that I completed. I chose Film Noir because I liked the sound of the notes.
Film Noir
This perfume is as dark as a Film Noir plot; as dark as a dim-lit alley in Chinatown and musty as the sewer in The Third Man where the ambivalent heroes and heroines find their inevitable death, over and over again. Film Noir is as dark as the soul of the genre's script writers, directors, actors and viewers. In fact, it is so dark that it includes only the darkest base notes: cruelly luscious dark cacao absolute, musty-sweet patchouli and the mysterious bitterness of myrrh.Family: Gourmand, Oriental Ambery, 2007
Film Noir is simply a delicious fragrance. On me it ultimately comes down to a lovely ambery sweet dark chocolate patchouli. This is not your typical gourmand. It is not so sweet it makes your teeth ache. No, this is a sophisticated sweet. One, that if it were a food, would have you thinking you could eat just one, it would be so satisfying, but when no one was looking (or even if they were) you would taste another one, letting it melt on your tongue while you savoured it. Close your eyes, and you are transported. I love fragrances that tell a story.
Razala
Oriental with ambergris, precious florals, agarwood, myrrh and saffronRazala, the perfumer's Arab name, is a passionate, modern love potion. Razala pulsates with vibrant, colourful spices, petals of seductive flowers, precious resins and woods of Arabia. This is also our first perfume to include the scarcest building block: beach-harvested ambergris, creating a sheer veil of smoothness and an underlining raw animalic energy.
Top notes: Blood Orange, Pink Pepper, Saffron Crocuses
Heart notes: Rose, Jasmine, Orange Blossom, Magnolia
Base notes: Ambergris, Myrrh, Patchouli, Oud
I wanted to try Razala for the ambergris (I'm not sure I've ever smelled it...or which of my fragrances it might already be in) and the oud...and the myrrh... I wasn't sure about the orange blossom as usually that doesn't work with me. Looking at the notes tonight, I should not be surprised there are crocuses in it. Ultimately, the scent comes down to a bit of pungency and soft crocus. I always loved those flowers in early spring. They held such promise for the rest of spring. This fragrance is not sweet. It has a bite to it, but a nice one. That bite might be the way orange blossom reacts on me. You might not get a bite at all. This patchouli is not the sweet patchouli. The patchouli and resins start out with a bang, but I don't find them at the end. There I find a bit of tang and the soft crocuses.
Do you wear either of these?
I find her perfumes lush and intriguing. I look forward to experiencing her fragrances in her packaging, which is quite lovely, and to trying more. And since there is an incentive to buy more than one...I look forward to them.
Karin
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh , I LOVE Film Noir, probably the best patchouli I have ever tested. It is as you so lovingly describe it, brava! Very evocative review.
I also liked Razala quite a bit, need to experiment with her a little more.
Ayala makes lovely perfumes, to be sure.
Thanks!
I love Film Noir too. Try it on one wrist and Razala on the other. That way you can see the differences. Interestingly, when I do that, when I compared Razala to another one that I reviewed (I don’t know which one right now as it was early days) it was Razala that intrigued me.
What I like about FN is that it is not heavy, if that makes sense. I have several heavy sweet patchouli’s. This is familiar to me, but different. It works when I want the scent, but not the heaviness.
Her fragrances are lovely. She is very talented to have them flow so smoothly.
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