Vetiver Pour Homme Parfum Cologne

I am going to start off by saying I am not a vetiver fan in general. Something about it is just too harsh for my liking and almost too bold and heavy. I saw the beautiful green bottle and knew I needed to try it regardless. Roja has a proven track record and I knew this "cologne" edition would be a bit lighter than the parfum edition. The parfum editions are simply just, "all business and no play." They are so heavy and strong, they are tough to wear. Anyways, this stuff starts out with a lively citrus and lemon with a steep woody backbone. It's like a shot of lemon with a smokey aftertaste. After about 10 minutes the smoke and woods really starts to take over with the lemon sticking around without letting go. This stuff is crazy smokey and hardcore vetiver which I normally do not like, however, the citrus and lemon help this fragrance so much. It gives this vetiver another dimension. It takes this fragrance from linear to a developing journey. I think the reason I like this so much is the fact that this fragrance changes so much from beginning to end. It starts out very citrusy and woodsy, transforms into a smokey, vetiver beast with a citrus background, and then finishes with a citrus-woody-musky drydown. The drydown is very tame to how it starts out, but it stays masculine and it stays warm. I dislike vetiver but I love the way this is done.

Great vetiver. Green like the beautiful bottle. I think Roja is a bit overrated and this does bear some similarly maybe with grey vetiver which is a great versatile fragrance. The difference is that the vetiver used here smells MILES better than TF Gv. It's like running through a field of real vetiver. The oakmoss used here is also really great. Earthy pungent (but not off-putting) and on the drydown smells almost like green smoke from the vetiver and oakmoss. This is great reference fragrance, a great chypre plant fragrance, and just a great fragrance all around. I feel like Tarzan wearing this juice! 🦧

Slowpainhauer, for a while my opinion was similar to yours, but today it is a house that is probably in my top 5 easily. There are many things to criticize Roja: Lack of originality? a house of expensive clones? Too high pricing policy? Is Roja Dove really the house perfumer? Is he really a perfumer? They are all questions subject to long debates where everyone can have their opinion, and that is fine. But there is something that cannot be denied, and that is that although almost all of their fragrances are reinterpretations of other existing fragrances, their compositions have a superior quality in their raw materials and textures. I think that in the end the price in many cases ends up being good, and Vetiver Parfum Cologne is an example of this since it surpasses other similar vetiver fragrances with which they are usually compared, such as Gray Vetiver by Tom Ford. There can be hatred for many reasons, but not recognizing the quality of its fragrances would be a mistake. Greetings from Buenos Aires.

This is not exactly like Tom Ford Grey Vetiver. They are in the same scent profile wheelhouse, along with Guerlain Vetiver, but are different enough. I'm wearing both right now to compare. Roja Vetiver Parfum Cologne seems to manifest more of the earthy, green, and bitter mossy accords, whereas Grey Vetiver manifests the orange blossom and slight sweetness more. Grey Vetiver seems a bit more sharp and bracing. And, smelling the application point directly, something seems slightly putrid in Roja Vetiver Parfum Cologne. But just slightly. Maybe its somewhere among the celery seeds, galbanum, caraway/cumin, or oakmoss notes, or the way they combine. But just a guess. It doesn't ruin the overall scent in the air though. I tried a sample of Roja Vetiver a few years ago that seems different than this new bottle I have. It seems my impression of it then was as a beautiful variation of the Tom Ford/Guerlain Vetiver profile. It may have been the Parfums version of the Roja Vetiver, but I think I liked it more than this. It's too early for a conclusive judgement, but I'm liking the Grey Vetiver a bit more at this point.

Elysium is a beachy summer fruity bit lighter vetiver and this one is a better spring temperate to slight cold weather vetiver because its stronger, you get a deep green vetiver and the soil beneath it. Its still fresh and sweet though especially in the beginning when the citrus is strong