Kingdom (2003)
by Alexander McQueen

This is the review for EDP version.

I love the mood Kingdom presents, gothic and dark in a powerful way. And I'm amazed that It developes so differently on different people(and on animals too!).

On me, the cumin note is very dirty, extremely animalic. It lasts so long and overwhelms the floral notes totally. I like this animalic feeling, very erotic, full of lust. and I understand why people say it has armpit smell or body odour. yes, sometimes. but it doesn't always smell like that. A friend tried the same EDP version another day, and it turns into a very beautiful froral notes on her. There is the cumin note as well, but much lighter and cleaner than on me. the floral notes are still with the dark feeling, very dense, but totally different.

I also find my cat is crazy for it! When I wear Kingdom, he will keep on licking my wrist. I've tried dozens of perfumes, everytime he just runs away, and this is the only one he likes!

I know Kingdom is on the one-star-trash-list in Mr.Turin's new book. Well, I'm afraid I couldn't agree with him this time, and nor my cat :P

This review is under revision.

I get cumin in the opening in a balanced citrus-like / cumin accord that is different from anything else I’ve smelled before in fragrances: Strong cumin, no doubt, powerful and ingenious and more than a bit Gothic. I enjoy it now, but at first I did not really like the opening (or the fragrance, for that matter). Even when I thought that the accord was disgusting, I understood that, existentially speaking, my opinion of it was irrelevant. I don’t see Kingdom as a like-dislike fragrance; I see it as a statement, as a concept-idea fragrance. I very soon came to the realization that what I had just smelled was simply prelude to an olfactory creation whose primary purpose is to revolt, to disrupt complacency, and to flaunt a central digit into the face of the universe. The intent of the opening is ambush. This is certainly not an accident — it’s a challenge…a declaration — a rebellion.

The cumin provides heat: Not a thin, biting capsicum heat, but the lower keyed, full-bodied, stewing, festering heat of obsession and licentious passion: a subterranean, simmering, rapacious sultriness. This is no raging flame that destroys itself with its own exuberance; this is a street corner transactional heat that addresses the stewing of one’s own visceral juices and the gnawing of one’s own id. It stews, and gnaws, it languishes, and then it mutates. In the myths, the mutation is where the ugly duckling turns into the swan; where the Golden Fleece is gathered from the thorns, and where the rainbow glimmers and the birds sing. In Kingdom’s case, the dissipation, the lessening of the festering undercurrents — the mutation leads to…what?…a soft, underplayed rose / jasmine accord — anemic and totally out of predictable mythic character. If the scent were meant to be mythic, it would have blossomed into a full luxurious, pristine beauty — the myth fulfilled, again. That doesn’t happen. The myth turns into…Rosewater! Passion expended results in…err… very little: Why? Because it is the expending of the passion that is the meaning of the passion. Kingdom is not here to restate the old: It’s here to rebel, to overturn, and it is too soon to care about building new stories and expectations. Kingdom is hopelessly pessi-mythic. It languishes. It lethargizes in its floral and citrus ambivalence, always retaining the background heat as its real true eternal character: a steaming, unsatiated sensuality; and, as that, Kingdom continues on through its excellent but earthy…and its real…but fated… drydown — beautiful in its own way, but with no attempt at any sort of classic universal concept of beauty or sensuality or elegance... It is what it is, and the rebellion is enough...it has proven once again, its own existence… Kingdom is a truly revolutionary fragrance — one that flies in the face of tradition, prior knowledge, and comprehension. Long live the revolution!

The class cheerleader we all knew -- blond and bright and sassy and sweet on top, but OH what a slutty little thing once you scratch the surface.

Kingdom is a dirty, nasty, skanky little frag -- anything but safe and politically correct.

The cumin note doesn't come across so much as dark or animalic as it does very like B.O. (in that sexy, primate kind of way). It can be off-putting, granted, but it's well worth it if you like novel uses of cumin. (And I do.)

Exceptionally unisex, and guaranteed to garner tons of comments (if not always compliments.)

What a dirty girl she is.

This fragrance is living, breathing art: from the designer himself and his collective works, to the sleek chrome and red glass bottle, to the controversy about the cumin note (!!), to the fragrance itself, I am completely taken.

This scent in no way smells dirty or skanky. It is rich and spicy, yet completely wearable for both sexes. My husband and I are sharing a bottle.

The cumin is listed as a middle note, but I find it most prominent in the top. Interestingly, the citrus notes come out after the inital cumin dries down. The complexity at this point is clearly evident: it is peppery, slightly floral, deep, musky, with a clean sparkle of fruit and a round vanilla sandalwood sweetness. It only a bit of silliage when dry, but that is fine with me. It is a gift for the self and only chosen others.

I feel honored to have this scent in my wardrobe.
Instant Top 10...

When I first sampled this I found the initial cumin and old sweat onslaught absolutely and overwhelmingly repellent and was tempted to immediately go to the ladies room in the shop to wash it off! However, to cut a long story short, I did not and am now completely seduced by Kingdom. On me, the dry-down is still slightly disturbing but in a good way - I wear it very sparingly and always receive compliments when I do so. On a less positive note, I hate the bottle - completely unwieldy and lacking in any kind of sensual handling qualities which is strange considering the fragrance it contains.