Areej Le Doré
Areej Le Doré
73 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The initial spray catches you with brightness—grapefruit's sharp aldehydic sting meets a herbaceous green snap from hemp flower—before something distinctly animalic, almost funky, emerges beneath. It's unsettling in the best way: your first instinct isn't to admire, it's to investigate further.
The dual jasmine bloom unfurls with creamy, nearly indolic character, yet the sandalwood beneath remains deliberately cool and wooden rather than creamy. Ginger and turmeric materialise mid-way through, adding a peppery warmth that makes the florals feel sophisticated rather than romantic, whilst coriander dusts everything with subtle herbal complexity.
Indonesian lime's green tartness persists against a base of earthy patchouli, vetiver, and cedar, with benzoin and vanilla providing only gentle sweetness. The finish is dry, almost mineral, with spice lingering longest—turmeric and ginger refusing to fade, lending the whole composition an almost medicinal, grounded character that lasts without projection.
Forbidden Flower arrives as a deliberate provocation—a fragrance that refuses the sanitised sweetness conventionally expected of florals. The skunk accord in the opening isn't merely a novelty; it functions as a green, almost animalic anchor that prevents the grapefruit and hemp flower from dissolving into cheerful citrus territory. This is flora with attitude, a night garden where things aren't quite pristine.
The heart reveals Areej Le Doré's true intention: a collision between two jasmine varieties—the creamy indolic richness of Sambac wrestling against the cooler, more ethereal night-blooming strain—all suspended in sandalwood that's been treated with unusual restraint. Rather than the typically smooth woody-amber backdrop, here sandalwood performs a tightrope walk, neither creamy nor austere. The accords data confirms this tension: 88% floral density allied with 76% animalic presence creates genuine friction rather than harmony.
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3.5/5 (90)