British niche line Roja Parfums has launched Beguiled, a new fragrance for women.
Beguiled Parfum by Roja Parfums is finished with a Swarovski crystal cap. “For me, a perfumer is a poet or a storyteller, who creates the tangible from the intangible - abstract images that strike at our core. To beguile insinuates so much, it is to have a certain type of power over someone and I felt as though with this word I could create a really powerful and complex perfume.” - Roja Dove.
Roja Parfums Beguiled is available now at Selfridges in the UK, £345 for 50 ml Parfum.
(via selfridges)
[muttering under breath] but what does it smell like, Roja?
Yeah…don’t know why they do this. Same on his facebook page — picture of the bottle, no description at all.
He’s trying to be beguiling
LOL — well duh, why didn’t I think of that???
It’s Roja and Swarovski..should be beguiling enough I guess.
I have only tried one Roja and wasn’t impressed with the quality..it was the lilac one. Malle does a much better one for cheaper…generally not a Malle fan though..but he did do a decent lilac. So hard to find good lilac scents..lilac scents in general
I have smelled so few that I should not comment, but in general I would say that what I smelled seemed to be using good quality materials, but was not my style.
Perhaps I should sniff more but probably won’t get around to it..the lilac had an almost Pacifica lilac accord that I didn’t like..plastic-y some. Perhaps lilac is just hard to reproduce in perfumes in general, idk
I think you’re right. I’ve never smelled a lilac scent that came close to the smell of a fresh lilac bush. (Demeter Lilac has a flash of reality amidst the synthetics but it’s very brief.)
I agree. I love lilacs. Tried Phaedon Rue de Lilas,which wasn’t like lilac at all.
Best lilac I had was Jo Malone White Lilac and Rhubarb. Right on the mark,it smelled like lilacs straight from the tree.
Such a shame it was discontinued.
Highland Lilac of Rochester is nice and they sell samples: https://www.highlandlilac.com/store/viewitem.asp?idProduct=2.
Wisteria can have a little lilac vibe to it. Demeter Wisteria is also nice.
Seen a lot of these in Neiman’s. I guess next time I am in there, I need to stop and test these out. Have no idea what these are like.
I have a set of Roja scents (three 5 ml bottles) and they are the only ones I’ve sampled. They are rather expensive I believe so I have not wanted to try many of them.
I have tried several and liked them, especially Diaghilev. Wish it came in a small bottle. Pretentious marketing, yes, but real old school perfume.
I tested that one as well and liked it. That and Nuwa was which was also a beautiful spicy thing. Old school is right. And they did smell expensive to me.
Fancy princess bottle. Fancy princess price!
A friend happened to have a very generous husband who bought her JAR perfume; I think it’s bed of roses? Now, that’s fancy, fancy perfume at very fancy, fancy price.
Vintage JAR Golconda comes packaged in a crate with dried roses in lieu of packing peanuts / bubble wrap.
I suppose I’m cutting off my nose to spite my face, but even when I visit the other hemisphere, I won’t make the slightest push to try this (or any other RD) perfume. As nozkoz says, the marketing is pretentious, to the point that my sole response is utter irritation. I just want to yell, “Oh, for goodness’ sake, man, you’re not special! You probably put your socks on one at a time like the rest of the human race!” My Grumpy Old Woman reaction has successfully destroyed any curiosity I might have had about the perfume. Also, I think the bottle slightly vulgar– too much bling.
I think maybe I have a way to go before I’m entitled to my Perfumista Club membership card!
Hey, I’m a grumpy crone as well, waterdragon. I have difficulty overlooking some of the marketing on offer, and it could just be that I’m not in the targeted demographic. I’m on the fence regarding marketing vs product, but I’m veering towards ignoring marketing (and therefore the product) that is not interested in engaging everyone. I certainly understand that this probably makes no sense, and is evidence that I’ve succumbed to marketing that does aspire to appealing to my demographic. Perhaps I’m simply pissed off that I’m not in the club and certainly can’t afford anything Roja Dove has to offer. But honestly, sane or not… I’m not interested. This approach feels to me like a fascinating monologue, but the dialogue and interest on the part of the artist are lacking.
Yep, with you all the way. It sounds like silly posturing, and it isn’t an inviting dialogue at all.
Also, now I think about it, surely the name of the perfume should be “Beguiling” not “Beguiled”? ‘cos, as the wearer, would one not wish to exercise “the certain type of power” (Yychh!) rather than have had it exercised on one?
Aaaaand guess who’s been doing too much marking lately?
I agree with your line of reasoning on the name.
I generally ignore the back story but I am always curious enough to at least smell new offerings if they are accessible.
I also meant to add that even if he puts on socks one at a time like the hoi polloi, they are probably made of handspun 24K gold.
Mmmmm. But I bet his feet would still get sweaty on a hot day…
I bought a bottle of Unspoken several years ago before this line got all wrapped up in bling and ego, and I must say, it remains one of my favorites. It’s a floral chypre, with all the heart and soul intact, not one of those awful “modern” chypres-that-aren’t. I do think he uses absolutely top-notch ingredients, although I won’t argue that this justifies the astronomical prices.
The original Nuwa was a cumin bomb – just NO!
The reformulated version was WOW but my wallet said OUCH!
Roja’s personal perfume was sublime, so much so that I considered buying a bottle but my practical side said don’t do it. If it came in a 5 mL decant, well, I may succumb.
I must have smelled the reformulated one and it was pretty WOW. Although it was not something I could imagine wearing around. I felt pretty self conscious when I got on the subway with that heavy hitter.
Oh, Roger Dove! You used to be Mr. Guerlain. Just how far down can you fall.