Thameen The Hope Full Review: A Blend of Spice and Passion
To this day, spicy notes do not represent an olfactory family in their own right. They are considered to be olfactory facets that are found in many sub-families. They are mostly associated with oriental and woody fragrances, or with ferns accords, in the public consensus. Nevertheless, spices are among the oldest, natural and raw materials used in perfumery.
The spice trade between the East and Western Europe started as early as 2000 BC, giving birth to the discovery of new and mysterious scents. As soon as distillation was developed, perfumers began to extract spicy essential oils to enhance their compositions. Having said that, spices were at first timidly shown in formulas in the early 1900s. They finally managed to make their way into most traditional ingredients down the line.
As far as spicy scents are concerned, I am more inclined towards warm and spicy tones with subtle cool facets. Cinnamon is by far one of my favorite spicy notes. I more often tend to keep a look out for that warm, sweet, and woody embrace that I get from this spice. As someone who has over 400 bottles of perfumes, some of which are various spicy fragrances, when I tried The Hope by the British luxury perfume house Thameen, I could not resist the temptation to get my own. It was love at first sniff. Like other scents from this brand, The Hope is also inspired by a Precious Stone.
“Described as the size of a pigeon’s egg, it is a distinctive grey-blue in hue and emanates a rare red phosphorescent glow. The gem has been worn by sultans, queens, aristocracy, and socialites; most notably Queen Marie Antoinette who wore it as a hairpin, and its last private owner, the flamboyant heiress Evalyn Walsh Mclean. It was the inspiration for the ‘Heart of The Ocean’ in the film Titanic and inspires the iridescent fragrance.”
The opening is a radiant glow of both the cool and warm spices, Cinnamon, and clove with a nacreous syrupy touch of myrrh. The cinnamon here is delicately infused in the middle of other notable spices, evoking a sense of intimacy and seduction. Clove brings warmth and semi-camphoric touch to the opening, whereas myrrh forges a beautiful and sweet dynamic throughout.
A woody shimmer of cedar and oud wood lay at the heart of the scent, layered with the multi-faceted and honeyed brilliance of the immortelle flower, which never gets too sweet or dull at any given point. The amalgamation of all these fragrant notes seamlessly blend in harmony, without having any screeching moment.
The base is unveiled in all its glory by the charm of black amber, whisper light labdanum, earthy and semi-sweet vetiver, as well as emollient musk clouds. At this point, this fragrance is all about exuding as much elegance and glam as possible. Confidence and reassurance are the name of this game. The Hope is almost a perfect oriental, woody and spicy perfume with one major stumbling block that kept it from being my top pick. All the magic described above lingers for about an hour and then it’s gone. I think that’s a huge turn off specifically because of the high price tag.
Thameen The Hope has so much to offer, but what it fails to deliver is persistence. This is a unisex scent with versatility and likeability factors on its side. It has that magnetic aura that will lure you in, a charmer but I wouldn’t say a keeper. The only way I got to improve its lasting power is by layering The Hope with some vanilla cardamom dominant scents or strong spicy rose scents to have that soft glam effect that feels natural and undeniably beautiful.
