Do not be troubled by the ominous title of this post. It is all good. I liked one of the last two mods so much, I believe we are now not simply on the right track but actually well on the way along the track towards the happy ending. The mod I am talking about is R5/Q. I suppose I should mention R5/R as well, just so it doesn’t feel completely left out. It is a great leather scent, a little smoky, a little salty. If all I wanted was leather and nothing but leather, it would have been wonderful. But I envision something more for my Holy Grail, with leather certainly being a prominent element, but still just one of many elements.

R5/Q, on the other hand, has the complexity and depth I am looking for. It starts on my skin with a sweet-n-spicy accord, which features a pronounced fruity undertone. Not sparkly-pink fruits, which I hate, but over-ripe, dark, exotic fruits oozing honeyed nectar. This spicy-fruity accord reminds me very much of that in Fendi Asja. In fact, R5/Q’s beginning seems to me to be a little too similar to Asja, and maybe just a tad too fruity for my taste. The middle stage is creamy and vaguely floral; about two thirds into the scent’s development a leather note appears. At first it is a rough, smoky, take-no-prisoners leather, but slowly it begins to soften and turns into the most delicate of calf skins or maybe even suede. Because of the “fruits”, the smell of which is still lingering even at the later stage, the mod at this point reminds me quite a lot of Serge Lutens Daim Blond, which is one of my most favorite scents of all time, but again, I would like a little less similarity. I am sure that if we toned down “the fruits”, the similarity would disappear.

To sum it up, what I want to be done to Holy Grail now is for the “fruits” or whatever it is that I perceive as “fruits” in its top notes to be taken down a notch or two. I also would love for the scent to have a stronger floral accord in its heart. Something languid, exotic and creamy, to compliment the general warm feeling of the composition. Perhaps we could try gardenia? Gardenia and leather…does it not sound wonderful to you? It does to me! As for the leather note, I think it is just perfect as it is now, not too smoky and forceful but not too wimpy either. So – less fruits, much more flowers, no change to the leather, and…we will be done!

Image source, mythinglinks.org, echonews.com