Recently ordered samples of your brand. Elixir stands out, for sure. Proxima and Antheia also stand out to me. I appreciate and applaud your work and creativity.
I stand fully by your point regarding the "unexplainable" or unjustified value for money on these fragrances...thanks for your ever unwavering honesty . 🙏
I really like Isola Blu (previously known as Oligarch) but as you say it's insanely overpriced in terms of raw materials to price ratio. I rather go with Terre Intense Vetiver or the better Darwin by Fueguia 1833 which even though it's overpriced is a better fragrance IMO.
An interesting point, I'm also a big fan of Fueguia 1833, yes their fragrances are expensive some very expensive but they are all very well formulated and they do use excellent ingredients. They are one of the houses that are overlooked by a lot of the fragrance community.
Unfortunately the brand has been a big letdown for me lately. Not just the new releases (have tried Isola blu, Aoud Extraordinaire- major flops imo) but I think even the older fragrances are not good anymore in the new batches. And it's kinda sad to say that because my favorite perfume ever is actually a Roja, Britannia, which has been discontinued for some years now. My bottle is from 2020 and fortunately I consider it to be of better quality than the recent stuff/batches of other Rojas I have tried in the past. As a side note, the whole thing fell apart for me when I blind bought RDHP15 (not the new one, RDHP20), based actually on a positive review of someone I generally agree with and trust. You can't win them all I guess. Since you 're living in London and the perfume is only exclusive to his haute perfumerie in Harrods, I would love to hear your thoughts on it, if you ever get the chance to smell it. There is just something so synthetic about it that drives me crazy, like, what is everyone else smelling for crying out loud!😅 Cheers!!
I don't live in London, it's about a 5 hour drive south.. I've never smelled RDHP20 - he regularly uses good doses of synthetics, so doesn't surprise me
@@FragranceView Oh I see, my mistake😅 Looks like I'm stuck with the fragrance for now, maybe I'll come around it or manage to sell it. Lesson learned, never to blind buy again super expensive stuff ha!
I own and love Isola Blue (10ml travel bottle), but it's horrifically overpriced. Does Isola Blue smell like a niche version of Terre D'Hermes edt to you? () It does to me. Isola Sol is nice, but yeah, too feminine for me.
I knew about this but never identified the fragrance house itself? I gather it was not Givaudan or other recognisable name whose perfumers are often called upon for this sort of thing. Any info welcomed here, I am just a snoop - thanks.
@@FragranceView I admire at least some of these fragrances, and concede that they're better than any work I am doing at my early stage of perfumery expertise. Just because I won't pay what Roja asks doesn't mean I don't think some of them are good (and some are pedestrian, I know). Thanks - Turin is a great source and obviously I will need to get this book (he has written a few).
I bought samples of these fragrances primarily because I love Ylang Ylang and Sandalwood (Isola Sol) and have to steal that terminology of laughable. Not just the prices but these releases as whole are laughable. I just simply can’t take this house seriously.
I'm surprised by your take on these. Oligarch / Isola Blu smells incredible to my nose and the quality is there. Maybe you're not getting it from the paper strip. Pretty much everyone agrees, although the price is indeed high. Isola Blu is like a better, more interesting version of Basso and we know the price of that. I'm not an expert but have very extensive experience of niche, designer and even your own creations.
Recently ordered samples of your brand. Elixir stands out, for sure. Proxima and Antheia also stand out to me. I appreciate and applaud your work and creativity.
appreciate it, thank you
I stand fully by your point regarding the "unexplainable" or unjustified value for money on these fragrances...thanks for your ever unwavering honesty . 🙏
Thanks
I'd rate Roja fragrances similar to John Varvatos. They are ok, but nothing special & usually very poor performance. Worth around £20-£40.
Great info
I really like Isola Blu (previously known as Oligarch) but as you say it's insanely overpriced in terms of raw materials to price ratio.
I rather go with Terre Intense Vetiver or the better Darwin by Fueguia 1833 which even though it's overpriced is a better fragrance IMO.
I agree there are good options for much cheaper
An interesting point, I'm also a big fan of Fueguia 1833, yes their fragrances are expensive some very expensive but they are all very well formulated and they do use excellent ingredients. They are one of the houses that are overlooked by a lot of the fragrance community.
Unfortunately the brand has been a big letdown for me lately. Not just the new releases (have tried Isola blu, Aoud Extraordinaire- major flops imo) but I think even the older fragrances are not good anymore in the new batches. And it's kinda sad to say that because my favorite perfume ever is actually a Roja, Britannia, which has been discontinued for some years now. My bottle is from 2020 and fortunately I consider it to be of better quality than the recent stuff/batches of other Rojas I have tried in the past.
As a side note, the whole thing fell apart for me when I blind bought RDHP15 (not the new one, RDHP20), based actually on a positive review of someone I generally agree with and trust. You can't win them all I guess. Since you 're living in London and the perfume is only exclusive to his haute perfumerie in Harrods, I would love to hear your thoughts on it, if you ever get the chance to smell it. There is just something so synthetic about it that drives me crazy, like, what is everyone else smelling for crying out loud!😅 Cheers!!
I don't live in London, it's about a 5 hour drive south.. I've never smelled RDHP20 - he regularly uses good doses of synthetics, so doesn't surprise me
@@FragranceView Oh I see, my mistake😅 Looks like I'm stuck with the fragrance for now, maybe I'll come around it or manage to sell it. Lesson learned, never to blind buy again super expensive stuff ha!
Perfumer that made these most of been very expensive if he charges 400 euros for 50 ml
😂
I own and love Isola Blue (10ml travel bottle), but it's horrifically overpriced. Does Isola Blue smell like a niche version of Terre D'Hermes edt to you? () It does to me. Isola Sol is nice, but yeah, too feminine for me.
There are overlaps yes,
Roja still done by that random fragrance company that's always done them, right?
yeah Roger Dove is not the perfumer, he uses a fragrance house to create them based on his brief - fragrances are fine, just over priced..
I knew about this but never identified the fragrance house itself? I gather it was not Givaudan or other recognisable name whose perfumers are often called upon for this sort of thing. Any info welcomed here, I am just a snoop - thanks.
@@fhoeflich According to Luca Turin in his book, he says they're compounded by Argeville.
@@FragranceView I admire at least some of these fragrances, and concede that they're better than any work I am doing at my early stage of perfumery expertise. Just because I won't pay what Roja asks doesn't mean I don't think some of them are good (and some are pedestrian, I know).
Thanks - Turin is a great source and obviously I will need to get this book (he has written a few).
Royally ripped 💪 I've been called that on more than one occasion. 😂 HooWaaaa🏋♂
I bought samples of these fragrances primarily because I love Ylang Ylang and Sandalwood (Isola Sol) and have to steal that terminology of laughable.
Not just the prices but these releases as whole are laughable. I just simply can’t take this house seriously.
I'm surprised by your take on these. Oligarch / Isola Blu smells incredible to my nose and the quality is there. Maybe you're not getting it from the paper strip. Pretty much everyone agrees, although the price is indeed high. Isola Blu is like a better, more interesting version of Basso and we know the price of that. I'm not an expert but have very extensive experience of niche, designer and even your own creations.
The reviews are from testing on skin, not from paper
Roja is a joke. Acting some kind of exclusivity and sending free bottles of his fragrances to every influencer ever existed 😂😂
You're also paying for Roja Dove's retirement fund LOL.
True!