Kajal
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The first spray delivers a fruit bowl crash landing, pineapple juice spiked with cardamom pods and coriander seeds creating an oddly savoury-sweet introduction. Bergamot and red berries fizz around the edges whilst apple lends a crisp, almost cider-like quality that prevents the tropical notes from feeling too sun-lounger.
As the fruit recedes, a lush floral bouquet unfurls—roses in stereo, jasmine sambac's creamy indoles weaving through magnolia's lemony petals. The saffron threads everything with a leathery-metallic warmth, whilst tagetes adds that curious green apple skin bitterness that keeps the flowers from going full-throttle romantic.
What remains is a pillowy nest of ambroxan and musk, sweetened generously with toffee vapours and vanilla cream. Cedarwood pencil shavings and a whisper of moss provide the barest suggestion of restraint, though by this stage, Lamar has fully committed to its dessert-adjacent finale.
Lamar is Mark Buxton's unapologetically fruity-floral vision for Kajal, a confectionery explosion that walks the tightrope between sophisticated and saccharine with remarkable assurance. The opening salvo of pineapple and apple—boosted by cardamom's resinous snap and bergamot's effervescence—creates that particular tropical-meets-orchard brightness that could easily veer into air freshener territory, yet Buxton anchors it with enough spice and verdancy to keep things tethered. What's fascinating here is how the coriander seed's almost savoury quality cuts through the fruit compote, creating tension rather than harmony. By the time the heart reveals itself, you're knee-deep in a rose garden that's been liberally spritzed with saffron water—the Bulgarian and Turkish roses blooming with slightly different personalities, the former greener, the latter jammier. The jasmine sambac absolute adds that raunchy, almost overripe indolic quality, whilst tagetes contributes its peculiar green-apple-meets-marigold tang. Then comes the base's comfort zone: a soft-focus haze of ambroxan and musk that Buxton sweetens considerably with toffee and vanilla, the cedarwood providing just enough woody structure to prevent total dessert collapse. This is for those who've made peace with their sweet tooth but still want their florals to maintain some dignity—worn by the person who pairs vintage Dior scarves with trainers, who orders champagne with their McDonald's.
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