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Spicy, leathery gingerbread at the outset that swiftly turns into a very potent dark rose. This gradually diminishes, turns slighty medicinal in the drydown, then there's a soft, pleasant incense to round it off.
This is a perfectly acceptable scent, and that intense rose core is very striking, but overall that's not enough to make this creation particularly noteworthy, pleasant though it is.
ELdO's Spice Must Flow is less of Frank Herbert's space spice and more a hybrid of late-90's English pop group members Posh Spice and Ginger Spice. It's a lone, lush, rose, cool and fragrant, and mysteriously blooming in the dry, hot sands where only the prickliest, most pungent, and peppery spices survive. I don't think there's any citrus listed in the notes but there's a mild, sour zing when you first spritz that gives the impression of brightness, and a beautiful cardamom incense note at the dry down that lends a shadowy balance. I would actually call this a rose for people who think they don't like roses rather than a gateway to Arrakis for denizens of Spice World. Wait...what were we talking about?
Amazing warm incensy rose. Has that slightly plasticity ELDO note to my nose, but that goes quickly.
The jammy rose is just beautiful. The incense is vibrant and warming.
I get a little dankness of oud, but maybe that's a reminder of something like Ombrè Nomad.
Spice Must Flow is a fantastic fragrance combining warm spices like ginger, cinnamon, cardemom with a leathery sensual rose and incense. EdlO makes another fragrance which stands away from the trends, yes it is a rose scentered unisex scent, but it is softer, less loud and oud heavy. It is complex, yet simple and absolutly refined. And unisex without going a bit one way or the other. It can be worn by a gorgeous woman in a red dress and a man in jeans, a linnen shirt and a suède jacket. It‘s more about: does this scent suit you? or not?
I really love it because of this, it tells the story of the silk roads, I imagine the bazaars of Istanbul meeting the refined bars of Venice, the harsh warm desert meeting civilization with fragrant buildings, opulence and beauty. But i too give in to the whole Dune-thing, yes I can imagine the Arakis of the Freamen smell like this. but that’s all too the imagination of the wearer and the one who interacts with Him/her/them.
overall i think this is a triumph of Mathilde Bijaoui. EdlO strikes again as a fragrance house that doesn’t need to live by trends, but sets the road. SMF has a medium to soft sillage, a medium projection and a 10h longevity. Which is perfect for everyday wear or just an evening/night.