Opulentas (2020)
by Navitus Parfums

Okay, so this is a weird one. Opulentas by Navitus Parfums (2020) is part of a second series using the fake Roja Dove bottle designs, and thus part of the portfolio controlled by Steven from YouTube Channel Redolessence, and delivers a "designer plus" luxury perfume experience akin to Parfums de Marly, with mixed results. Price is about $140 for 50ml of extrait, and some of these become woefully synthetic and harsh in the base, while others maintain some poise throughout. Luckily, Opulentas shows a bit of the latter and is enjoyable from start to finish. What makes this so weird is it comes across like a fougère with oud in the base, a bit of east-meets-west, and if this is from the mind of Steven himself, he gets a round of applause for being novel. I still think the ingredients quality and finish leave a bit to be desired for the price, but if this came at a steep discount, I'd end up with one, and may if that ever happens.

The opening is right away a classic semi-oriental fougère tone that also reminds me of several Roja Dove creations, themselves upmarket reimaginings of past glorys from Guerlain. Lemon, petitgrain, and a tart dry lavender merge with apple and a sour cypriol in the heart, flanked by patchouli, geranium, and rose. The oud is medicinal here, and likely synthetic as with other oud scents from the house (thank Firmenich), and classic oakmoss joins the fray in the base with hay-like coumarin that feeds into the camphoraceous patchouli. The result here is one part Perris Monte Carlo Oud Imperial (2012) and one part Amouage Bracken Man (2016), but spun through the Roja Dove prism of luxury. Wear time is all day but sillage quiets down after about 4 hours, being every bit a close scent bubble as you'd expect from an extrait. Opulentas feels very mature so be warned if you like sweet youthful scents, because this is defintely not that at all. Best use is fall through spring in formal situations.

Christian Carbonnel is a clever perfumer here, spinning a web of several different perspectives on luxury masculinity, with Steven's help of course, interlocked into a perfume that is pound-for-pound in the Nordstrom realm of affordability for the average white collar dude who won't spring for Creed but likes something better than your standard YSL. Navitus Parfums as a whole comes across like another "fleece the cult of the Frag Bro or the rich, whichever comes first" kind of an operation, and Steven may just be falling into a trap baited by the exploitation of his own influencer hubris when offered to creative direct the line, but a brother's gotta eat too so if he's getting paid, power to him. At least Opulentas smells decent enough to not feel embarassed owning, but I don't expect the "oudgére" to become a thing because of it. Sample first and buy discounted if you like it. Thumbs up.