FRAGRANCE | Vial trial: 6 Thameen EDPs from their Treasure Collection

Thameen is a niche fragrance house from London. Their royal blue, squarish bottles are easy to spot from a counter, an identity consistent with the precious stones from which they draw inspiration. We got a bunch of 2ml samples from their Treasure Collection to try. Each fragrance is named after a precious gemstone or jewel, as provided for in their website.

Amber Room
Named after the chamber at Catherine Palace near St Petersburg lined entirely with amber panels, gold leaf, and mirrors, Amber Room opens with an ambery honeyed sweetness. It's a little boozy, a little sour, and with a wee bit of sharp spice. The scent is warm and leaning on thick. There's rose, too. It's not really fresh but it isn't jammy either, and it becomes a little stronger after a few minutes, beautifully coated with just enough sweetness.

After several minutes, the scent sheds off a bit of the thickness and takes on a mild, powdery turn. The rose relaxes a bit, like it melts into the blend. The drydown, which comes after about an hour, is characterized by light wood, with that ambery sweetness and rose retained, only weakened. The booze, sourness, spiciness, and powdery facets are all gone by now although traces occasionally reappear. It's a long-lasting fragrance, projecting moderately for about 2 to 3 hours before gradually retreating. There's a vanilla-like sweetness I get as a skin scent several hours later. A solid fragrance albeit not entirely unique.

The Hope
The Hope is named after one of the world's largest diamonds. The opening is spicy-sweet and resinous, with a slightly sour, oud-ish note and hints of smokiness far in the background. The spiciness is warm and rounded, with no annoying sharpness to distract you.

Although moderate in its first hour, projection is generally weak that it's hard to detect other notes. Everything relaxes atop some light wood after its first hour. The intensity may be lessened but the sweetness and oud are still there. The scent itself lasts from morning till afternoon, give or take. It may be a lovely fragrance but with the level of performance you get for the price, justifying a full bottle may not be an easy decision.

Regent Leather
Inspired by The Regent Diamond, reputed to be the finest diamond in the world, Regent Leather was made in association with The Rolls Royce Enthusiasts Club. Needless to say, it's a leather fragrance, beautifully sweetened and peppered with a hint of faintly sharp spice. It smells like newly bought leather goods.

Regent Leather is almost linear, the only perceptible change being the brand new leather scent leaving after an hour. It's still a sweet leather scent, though, but it's not dark and smoky like Tom Ford Ombré Leather. Somehow it reminds me instead of Davidoff Leather Blend. The scent itself is long-lasting, a little strong in its first 1 to 2 hours but settles for a mostly moderate projection. Again, nice but not unique.

Green Pearl
This one takes inspiration from the luminous Chinese "pearls" of green fluorite called Yemengzhou. This clean and fresh fragrance starts off with green apple, some citrus, and bitter greens. A small dose of florals is added to balance the scent, which only adds to Green Pearl's light and airy feel. Meanwhile, the green apple grows stronger by the minute, with just a touch of sweetness showing. By comparison, ScentSmith Perfumery's Apple Geranium also has a prominent green apple note but the fragrance is much sweeter.

Later I get some sharpness from the greens and about 30 minutes in, the apple starts retreating, leaving a mildly sharp but predominantly green scent. Overall projection softens in an hour but is easily reignited with a little body heat. To my annoyance, though, the sharpness increases after a few hours, which is likely to be a skin chemistry thing. Longevity is above average.

The Cora
The Cora is the world's largest, yellow, pear-shaped diamond. Its namesake fragrance features an opening that's bordering on heavy, headlined by rose followed almost immediately by a barrage of sweet florals. It's supposedly fresh and bright but the nectary sweetness weighs it all down a bit.

This assault of sweet florals just keeps on coming, which reminds me a bit of church. I reckon it can be cloying if you overspray. The florals finally step back a bit after 1 to 2 hours, with the syrupy sweetness now standing in front of them. It's not the most complex of fragrances but if you dig sweet florals, then The Cora might be worth sampling. It lasts from morning till night and projects moderately for 2 to 3 hours before gradually decreasing in strength, granted of course you don't overspray.

Carved Oud
Carved Oud seems to depart from the collection's style of naming fragrances after precious stones and is instead inspired by a 16-stage ritual for Indian royalty involving perfumes and jewels. The fragrance is a sweet, woody oud that's pleasant and not skanky. It's reminiscent of Tom Ford Oud Wood, only a little sweeter. The woodiness grows a little stronger after a few minutes, revealing some of its dry properties, which still manages to come through despite the sweetness.

It's a fairly linear fragrance but I like it. Carved Oud is not a heavy scent to wear despite the sweetness and having oud in it. It lightens up further after 1 to 2 hours although the scent profile is still very much the same. It performs better than TF Oud Wood, easily lasting from morning till night. And while not a beast, it projects solidly for a good 3 hours or so before it starts to mellow. Definitely worth trying.

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Thameen EDPs from the Treasure Collection range from GBP 110 to GBP 195 (Php 7,100 to Php 12,700.