Purple Rain

When you’ve got access to the most exquisite aromatics on Earth, making perfume can drive you up the wall.

It’s a constant game of holding back – you could use that vintage jasmine extract and add Purple Kinam to it. It would smell out of this world, and no other perfume on the market would come close to matching it for the sheer quality of ingredients…

But it’s not a marketable ‘product’. You’d end up with only a sample or two you’d keep and maybe whip out to let close friends smell what most of humanity is missing out on. 

But a curious thing happened.

Instead of people just chasing brand names, fragheads have begun to look past marketing claims and superlatives. They’ve started to realize that every time they read about the ‘rarest ingredients’, they have a right to question that claim because those ‘precious’ aromatics being peddled bear little resemblance to what they’ve smelled neat – ‘oud’ being the most obvious example. Not only have you learned more, but your nose has also become more refined (snobbish, perhaps?) in the process.

None of us have smelled perfume like this until a few patrons suspended their intellects and got me to hang up my senses as well. Even with bespoke perfumes, which perfumer will put Oriscent oud oils on the table? Who will give you access to orris root from a hundred years ago to use along with a decades-old jasmine extract that only exists because it was locked up all these years in the Sultan’s treasury?

This is a new step in perfumery, where perfumer and perfume lover team up to not only create a perfume together but also give each other a full-access pass to indulge to their noses’ content. 

That’s how Purple Rain was born. What started out as a request to add Purple Kinam to Iris Ghalia, quickly turned into a reformulation of Iris Ghalia itself. The rose components got swapped out for Royal Ta’ifi, the jasmine sambac got replaced with the Sultan’s oldie…

You know all the ‘Royal’ this and Royal that… ‘Royal’ Malinau, ‘Royal’ Assam, etc. 

The word ‘Royal’ has become…… cliche is an understatement. The word has become a joke, through overuse, by folks who have zero claim to it. And zero right to use it.

Purple Rain contains genuine Royal ingredients. Not ingredients made for a king, but ingredients made by a king for a king.

If I could showcase a semi-bespoke edition of Iris Ghalia made exclusively for the Sultan himself, this is what I would have sprayed him with. 

You could easily see how any other house would charge in the thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars for a fragrance of such provenance. Semi-bespoke perfumes with little to show inside the bottle have, and do, sell for fantastic amounts. So, imagine access to aromatics that make your head spin, and the chance to use them without discretion…

The patron that inspired this collaboration opted for a spray edition of Purple Rain, which means a few attar bottles’ worth went into his. While available as a semi-bespoke perfume (contact us for more details), I wanted to make this fragrance more accessible, so I decided to offer it in pure concentration. This not only gives everyone the Iris Ghalia attar they’ve been dreaming of – but a cranked-up, kinamified rendition to boot.

Purple Rain isn’t just an incredible semi-B: It’s an exchange and vision shared between myself and fellow perfume lovers that was impossible to be realized until now. And now, that collaboration is yours to share in. The purplest drops of narcotic kinamic nectar brought to life, bottled, and now available to anyone who’s wondered what it must be like to go overboard…

Customer Reviews:

The most unique and incredible iris accord I’ve ever experienced.

—David C. / USA

There is something so addicting to this buttery floral note, which I believe is the iris, accompanied by the oud-y base.

— Masrour B. / USA

Purple rain may be one of the thickest juiciest of them all.

—Mathew S. / USA

Iris Ghalia to the max. Love the bite.

—Andrew G. / USA

Simply gorgeous use of florals that truly gives you the smell of its namesake.

—Kelley C. / USA

Purple explosion!!
Purple Rain attar came in today. Couldn’t help but swipe it. The volume on this one is turned up full blast. Iris, Rose, and Purple Kinam all in your face. Just in time for an extra fragrant Friday tomorrow. Ensar Oud has really put on a show with this one. I’m not very good at giving full reviews, what I will say about this is the Iris and Rose are beast mode and are dancing in the purple rain.

—Abu Naeem A. / USA

Purple florals with a fruity, sweet accord in a dusty/powdery texture. Top Ensar attar. Beautiful.

—Terence L. / Australia

A beautiful Rose, Jasmine, Floral infused, jungle laced attar.

—Arfan I. / UK

It is Iris done on another level. I may have to add the PP to my collection as well.

it is definitely not just a beast mode Iris Ghalia (which I have a bottle of). There is something that is adding a touch of lovely sweetness compared to Iris Ghalia. There is a beautiful subtle citrus note that I assume is coming from the Royal Ta’ifi and it works so beautifully with the iris. I don’t know what Purple Kinam oil smells like, but there is an amazing depth and smoothness in the base. I love Iris Ghalia PP, but I think that I am going to love this one even more.

—Greg B. / USA

Sparkling Musk meets powdery Iris and meditative Kinam. Calming yet exciting.

—Marvin G. / Germany

I have found the holy grail. I love it. It’s so sexy.

—Danial D. / USA

Received a sample drop of this purple beauty today with an order and a was … mind blown!

—Acainc M. / Canada

SOTD. Purple Rain Attar:

Note from a Customer

SOTD. Purple Rain Attar.

I’ve now given this a few days of use, and it continues to impress me with every wearing. While there are obviously many from this house that I’ve grown to love, this is probably in my top 3, and may continue to climb with additional wearing. How much did I like it? Enough to also buy the PP (which I can’t wait to get my hands on to compare with and layer).

The name of this semi-b is a fitting one. While I find it to be more “blue” than “purple”…. I can certainly comprise on it being a bluer hue of purple. The blue lotus, jasmine, and iris are the stars, especially in the beginning. That first 20-30 minutes IS my favorite opening of any of the EO potions thus far. These beautiful florals sit upon the gentle elegance of the purple kinam. Let me be clear, this is not an oud dominant fragrance, at least to me. The oud doesn’t punch you like white kinam, and it’s not as strong as it is in qi nan ghalia. But, it’s definitely there, as evidenced by a thickness in the base, and the light but noticeable mind-altering effect that’s present.

My intial concern – I don’t want to use “complaint” here, as it’s not wise to “complain” about something you really enjoy even though we must recognize our flaws – was longevity. As an attar, it’s unsurprising that the initial blast of florals quickly dies down to a personal scent bubble and, largely, a skin scent. In a few wearings, I noticed, or thought I had noticed, that after 7-8 hours, one really had to search to still find this gentle beauty.

Note, I said INITIAL concern. While it still doesn’t project out to the world, I have found that my longevity concern isn’t with the attar, it’s with me. How do I know? The last time I wore this, I had an evening workout, showed, and gave this a swipe on my arms and a couple of drops on a t-shirt. Wore the shirt for a few hours before bed and took it off before sleep. Two days later, I picked up that same t-shirt and wore it to workout in. As soon as I put it on, all of those sensations of a fresh swipe hit. It was still there! One better? Yesterday I went to wash the shirt in the laundry. Picked it up, now 4-5 days since initial swipe, and it was still there. Not as strong, but definitely noticeable. The only thing I can come up with is that this combo, that I find so lovely, apparently makes me nose blind after a few hours of exposure. That was a shock to me.

Not to sexualize this hobby, but by way of metaphor: purple rain is the intelligent, quiet, beautiful girl. She’s gorgeous without being pretentious. She isn’t going to scream and tell you how great she is. However, if you really take the time to talk to her, you’re quickly going to appreciate her inner beauty.

—Kelly C. / USA