A Maze (2007)
by People of the Labyrinths

A Maze is simply a run-of-the-mill rose, saffron and agarwood scent with some orange blossom, sandalwood and musk acting as the supporting notes. The rosy opening is sharp but the drydown is a gentle woody musk. Personally, there are many similar (and much better) oud rose scents available (especially from Montale) for much less than what People of the Labyrinths is currently charging.

Never did care for saffron as a note in fragrances. Usually I can grudgingly get along with it, but in AMaze the saffron dominates my olfactory sense to the point of overwhelming the other notes. What I get out of A Maze is a disagreeable leathery saffron note overshadowing a very nice rose note. There is supposed to be civet – I wish I could smell it – that would be a tremendous improvement over the saffron note. I just don’t like this one.

Upon introduction to the skin, A.Maze is an icy-cold and ultra-bright, sharply hesperidic and herbal, alchohol-infused blast. Being a lover of rose, I didn't even register rose for a few minutes...to find it is a feat. Once recognized, it's a peppery, almost aldyahidic rose. The next 10 minutes are anxiety-ridden, waiting for the rocky start to take a dive and run ruin on the skin...but thank goodness, the fear is not realized. The fragrance begins to soften, and continues to do so until musk and woods are uncovered. The rose starts warming and becomes sweeter, the early sharpness recedes, and Amaze becomes compelling and very much likable. Likable with a twist throughout. I would not call this a 'dark' rose...maybe a 'cold' rose being warmed by the rising sun. It's certainly never a simple rose, never static, always changing...and wearing it is much like chasing after it through a maze. Aptly named. This is an incredibly complex and modern scent...what a ride if you're paying attention.

It starts out sharp, not unlike the topnotes of Timbuktu. The rose is prominent but the orange blossom is stronger, and stays that way for the duration. The orange blossom here reminds me of Habit Rouge Eau Légère. Both fragrances put out strong sillage of the same sort. The saffron (not my favorite note but works well in certain fragrances - Opôné, Agent Provocateur) is more apparent well into middle notes as the orange blossom softens (somewhat anyway). I get a little wood, more and more musk, a little incense, but the development isn't great. It ends up much better than where it started, but the stuff is pretty loud and not all that well blended. I sure as hell wouldn't want to wear it, but the sillage is good and smells good on others. My girlfriend doesn't like it either so I probably won't be smelling it very often.

Either way, it's not a bad scent by any means. The only way to know is to try it for yourself.

Get to it, for otherwise you'll never know.

I found this an extremely complex rose scent – though perhaps a little TOO strong (note: I sampled the EDP)

‘Dark’ rose scent predominate this, I didn’t smell any other notes except for a little of the candied-roses that some other reviewers mentioned in the drydown. Just LOTS OF ROSE! Reminded me of Rose Poivre (The Different Company) but A.maze is NOT peppery – however I think they both share animalistic qualities (not musk…animals). It smelled like I had arrived at a circus tent & the person sitting next to me was holding a bouquet of roses (smile)

I probably won’t buy a bottle (there are so many more rose scents I want try before I commit to one so EXPENSIVE).

Not a rose scent for the faint hearted – that’s for sure.