Nymphology (ROUND 2)
scent of the day: Kyara Koko, by Ensar Oud
Loving this very much. Spiced-fermented-cheesy oud plus musky-indolic-animalic incense in a way I did not expect from Ensar—at least before I tried Iris Ghalia Trifecta (wet-dog animalics) and Siber Extreme (curry spiced), which in their own way read like nods to Prin. While not as funky, and here balanced by yin energy in the form of refreshing citrus candy, I get a similar oudy funk to what I get in Arsalan—and the result I would say is an erotic perfume but, unlike with Femme or Salome, in a decidedly masculine way. Kyara Koko brings not only more citrus greenery (clementine, lime) but even a mint edge—which makes sense since—whereas in Arsalan there are various spices (especially cumin) and the cheese is really ramped up. Although both have creamy florals and creamy woods (sandalwood), Kyara Koko’s vanilla-custard frangiapani works with the sandalwood and iris to make a creamier concoction whereas Arsalan’s fermented-apricot champaca reinforces the strength of the rot impression made queasier by the buttery sandalwood. Although both have a metallic sparkle of aldehydic florality, Ensar’s rose-jasmine-iris combo is still not as diffusive—even with the kashmiri musk—as Prin’s jasmine-gardenia combo (which I imagine is boosted by synthetics). Although both have a charred aspect, Kyara Koko’s mainly comes out in the dry down and in the white-ashe form of matchstick ash whereas Arsalan the char is louder and darker and present from earlier on.
I have long had two lists in my head, the ranking of objectively best and personal best, and on the former this Ensar is higher than the Prin (if not in terms of blending than especially in terms of ingredients, Prin likes to use that cheap mishandled fermented oud) whereas on the latter the Prin is higher than the Ensar (and at the bottom of both lists, in a rare overlap, is Malle’s Promise lol). Now my thoughts have shifted a lot. While I still think the best Prin is better personally for me than the best Ensar, Ensar’s tend to be higher not just on the objective scale but the personal one—and Kyara Koko, with its fruity-aquatic incense opening (a lover grauy-white vapor the whol way through, very similar to Jamaican Ambergris Purple Sultani in that way) and then its matchstike drydown, definitely beats many Prins on both lists.
Kyara Koko is the daytime partner of Kuru Kawa in my mind—more because they seem to complement one another than because they smell alike: although both have a medicinal aura and a base of musky leather (these features much more pronounce din Kuru Kawa), in Kyara Koko the oud is cumin flecked cheese but balanced by girl’s weekend resort elements of candy and mohitos whereas in Kuru Kawa the oud is tobacco-leather bandaid boosted into earthy machismo by cypriol and patchouli darkened further by jammy elements of rose and berry.
citrus mint antiseptic oud, that’s how you would describe Kyara Koko—artisanal level lemon candy like an exclusive lemon candy. very adult-like due to skanky Oud which provides a really nice tension, especially when boosted by the by the Africa Olifant like pissy sandalwood to the citruses. lemon mojito mint anise candy turned into an incense vapor (that humidor vapor of Jamaican Ambergris)—lovely tension between refreshing and skank, skank and refreshing bridged by a medicinal smoke.
*Let's workshop this poem about a man's conflict between his artistic calling and his sexual engagement with nymphette Lolitas who, even while in his stranglehold, enjoy more power than it might seem.
Nymphology
He bore like a plant needing fire to propagate its seed: fidelity to art had him vigilant
about where he came (how could he raise a kid?), but with feral teenyboppers snarling
succubi stares (daring him to nigga his strangle into shat linen) he could never pull out.
“We need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.”—Kafka (against the safe-space cancel culture pushed by anti-art bullies, left and right)
