Royal Parvati
Ava Luxe

Royal Parvati is Jicky (Guerlain) as seen through an indie sandalwood haze. The resemblance to civet-laden Guerlain classics is helped along by (I suspect) either a dollop of black-brown ambergris, with its intimate, halitosis-like funk, or a synthetic civet material. The lime-peel brightness in the opening recreates with eerie accuracy the famous ‘curdled cream’ topnote of both Jicky and Shalimar. In the case of Jicky and Shalimar, it is the meeting of lemon and vanillin that prompts this effect. In Royal Parvati, it is likely the cream of the sandalwood interacting with the silvery, high-toned topnotes of the Peru balsam or orris root. It never fails to amaze me that the complex note interactions that makes a Jicky or a Shalimar so distinctive can be arrived at – whether accidentally or otherwise – by smashing other materials with broadly similar effects into each other at high velocity.

Over time, the filthy ambergris or civet swells up even further, impregnating every fiber of the creamy woods. Royal Parvati eventually settles on the aroma of split logs in an Indian sandalwood forest – humid and milky – but with the crotchy funk of a hot woodsman who has marked his territory by rubbing his nether regions into the grain of the wood. The result is a deeply musky, civety wood scent that gives you all the naughty bits of an unneutered Guerlain without weighing you down in baby powder. In my humble opinion, Royal Parvati is one of the true standouts of indie oil perfumery.

It is immediately apparent that this is a deep, rich & complex wood fragrance. The opening phase is difficult to describe: it's earthy, animalic & bittersweet, somehow both dry & humid, with green facets. It gives the effect of being in the deep undergrowth of a jungle or rainforest, filled with the scents of damp earth & dry wood. After the first hour, there is much more of the lightly spiced sandalwood found in Tom Ford's Santal Blush, & it never turns sweet or creamy, remaining remaining rich, deep & woody right to the far drydown thirteen hours in.
I don't recall ever smelling pure sandalwood oil, but I feel like this is the closest thing to it that I've come across in a fragrance. In a word, it is awesome. It's also firmly unisex, & I can't recommend it highly enough to all you sandalwood lovers out there!

I intensely wanted to love this, but was stopped by a vaguely mushroom-y undertone. I am not sure what note or note combination causes this, but it is not unique to this particular scent! Other people that I talked with about this did not smell it, but your mileage may vary.

I always get this one as a freebie with my orders! It's a buttery soft and musky sandalwood that reminds me of both Santal de Mysore, Muscs Koublai Khan an L'air de rien. It feels animalic and savoury spicy, maybe thanks to the ambergris. That said, it is more plasticky than the musky masterpieces mentioned. Not too plasticky for me to enjoy though, it's still a nice scent. A comfort scent for those who prefer barbecue to sweet desserts.