MAAI
Bogue Profumo (2014)

Maai opens with mentholated tuberose and smoked ham. Fascinating but not pleasant, this phase lasts for over an hour before settling into a nice floral animalic. The artistry and quality of ingredients are apparent. I am glad to have tried it but did not blossom with my skin chemistry apparently.

Note: unfortunately what I sampled is the reformulation. I wish i could have experienced the first iteration which is what created such a response from people.

A great bold old fashioned fragrance, but a recent bottle smelled less of oakmoss and more feminine. I prefer my older sample. The current example reminds me of Salome papillon.

Dancing closely with a lithe, muscular man, who knew how to make every movement guided and sensual, lightly touching his cheek against mine, under the deco glass and metal roof of a turn of the century dance hall in the Caribbean. One could easily mistake the suspension of time in that absolutely nurtured, followed, tender alignment of movement for a coup de foudre, quickening against the throbbing of the music, the warming of our skin. The dance partner's clean, comforting scent, with vivid, almost sour elements of green, and an edge of civety, incensey musk, makes you lean closer to his neck. You don't need to dance at all, he dances to make your latent rhythm come to life. But this is too close. The gleam of his eyes looking questioningly into yours is both hypnotic and alarming. You need to breathe. You laugh, and slow, and thank him as you break away from that masterful, graceful embrace. I couldn't believe, on sniffing Maai on a test strip, that one of the most intimate if fleeting moments of my life was unfurling like a film from the notes.

MAAI is a perfume I had to date many times before falling for it. Hard. Not because it's challenging, not at all. But because throughout the years, it has suffered so many variations from batch to batch that one could easily decide to collect and purchase every single iteration, as to me, they are all different and tell a different story. There is not one MAAI perfume. There is a story about this idea of a perfume called MAAI. It is an ongoing story that keeps unfolding, and trust me, it has traveled a long way to be where it is now.

The original iteration makes me think of French Budoirs, vintage green chypres, and old-school glamour. I would classify it as a Green-Floral Chypre. It opens up with a blast of icy green aldehydes and camphorous clouds. The heart unveils white florals with tuberose leading the way. It exploits the green facets of the flower. The base is loaded with civet and plenty of moss.

The second iteration, I only have a sample of, and I believe it's the standard bottle with a grey light cap. It follows the same structure as the original, yet I get a more prominent soapiness in the heart, and the civet in the base is significantly toned down.

The latest version has the same bottle design as the previous one, but the cap is dark grey. Here, the perfume takes a significant turn from a green floral chypre toward a full-on Oriental perfume that makes me think of a Harem. The green, icy opening is replaced by a smoky cloud of resins where florals seem to melt and turn into a stream of desire. I detect an increased usage of woods like cedar and vetiver while the civet is now overshadowed by leathery, sweet, and smoky castoreum that Antonio has proven time and time again not only that he loves but that he also knows how to use well. The moss, the florals, and the greens are all swallowed by this heavy flow of glowing, warm resins. Vintage Bal à Versailles comes to mind with modern MAAI. That being said, I love both directions. The original as well as the latest iteration. They are my favorites. The in-between version is just a bit too shy for my tastes. They are worth owning as they are different. I might prefer the current version overall due to my love for Oriental compositions. Yet it is hard to beat the original MAAI when thinking of great modern chypres, as not many can rival its grandeur.

MAAI. A story about French boudoirs, icy florals, piercing green shades and velvety mosses, Oriental Harems, Frankincense smoke, warm thick resins, and of course, LOADS of animalics. And the story goes on.

IG:@memory.of.scents

I got a sample of this about 8 years ago and have tested it again. This just stinks. And not in a good way. Dior Leather Oud is one of two scents I would consider signature scents while most think it's too dirty. I can't imagine wanting to smell like this. The best thing I can say is that Maai is what Kouros should have been.

It greets me with a fresh labdanum, which is underscored by a peachy fruitiness and a smooth and bright incense, that is neither haughty nor ceremonious - reminding me of the sun-filled moments in the majestic brightness of Uppsala'a Cathedral. An ylang-ylang develops into another main player; it is trim and neither rich nor creamy. A lot of the brightness is due to backbone of sparkling aldehydes that permeate the whole.

A more floral phase is develops a bit later, with a strong green and light-filled tuberose very notable; this is not very waxy, only has a slightly resinous touch, and presents ass less creamy again that other versions of it in other olfactory products. A green jasmine as well as a rose note are joining in, with the rose a bit nonspecific on me; the jasmine grows into a more significant contributor to the mix.

Spicier components of this creation include a mildly crisp castoreum, which pairs with a nice and gently edgy high-quality oakmoss, which starts out timidly, but then develops to full glory only many hours later, and then with a slightly civety undercurrent. Hints of a slightly leathery undertone transiently appear, but is is a sandalwood that gradually makes itself known in the mix and that adds a woody feeling to the whole. By now the resinous aroma expresses nigh-campherous characteristics at times, and it becomes stronger towards the end instilling a bit more sweetness in the final stages. These stages are not neatly separated, but they merge into one another over time.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection, and eight hours of longevity on my skin.

This is an unusual scent for warm autumn days in its unconventional combination of various disparate aspects of the perfumer's tool kit. It is spicy and has lots of incense, but it is bright too; it uses florals but also animalic touches - and it is quite original in blending and structuring. On the downside some of its components are a tad generic, and in the wave of numerous ingredients cannot full develop their characteristics or are overwhelmed by others - the rose especially on me - but some of very good quality. Overall 3.75/5