An exotic scented journey awaits . . . . Travel to Indonesia. Samarinda begins with top notes of sweet orange, cardamom and pink peppercorn. A heart of carnation, heliotrope, rose, orange blossom and Sumatran coffee give way to a sweet scotch leather layover fortified by rum ether, jasmine rice, vanilla oakwood and roasted seashell.
Samarinda is the latest from Providence Perfume Co, and it’s a spicy oriental unisex fragrance named for the city in Borneo. When I reviewed Providence Perfume’s last fragrance, Branch & Vine, I noted that they were one of my favorite indie natural brands but that I didn’t like everything they made. Samarinda now joins Branch & Vine in the ‘yes’ column, and yes, it lives up to its “exotic journey” billing.
The opening is juicy and bright, but already rich and peppery-spicy, and it warms quickly — you can tell you’re in oriental territory within seconds…