KAJAL
LAMAR
2020
PERFUMER
Mark Buxton
Pineapple
Red Berries
Apple
Cardamom
Coriander
Bulgarian Rose
Turkish Rose
Magnolia
Jasmine Sambac
Vanilla
Musk
Amber
cashmeran
Cedarwood
Moss
‘LAMAR…beauty in a name, beauty in a bottle, beauty in a scent. A name with French origins Lumière, meaning light, LAMAR is also known to be liquid gold: mesmerizing, fascinating and enticing. A scent created to resemble the beauty of a golden sun setting in the horizon. Distant clouds reflect rich rays of color – hues of red, streaks of yellow and shimmers of gold. The scent of LAMAR evokes fragrant notes of rose and jasmine that float on a Mediterranean breeze. A magnificent scent. LAMAR…magnificent beauty. In the creation process of LAMAR, Mark Buxton, the renowned perfumer said “My inspiration, was to create a rich, natural, warm, long lasting fragrance, by using high quality natural products. This gives a feeling of walking through a bed of roses or a jasmine field – very feminine and sensual.’ – Kajal
Lamar opens beautifully fruity, with pineapple, berries and apple as listed notes. Pineapple is definitely what I get from it most. It’s instantly sweet as well, but more on that later. It’s almost like a fruit punch. What I love most about the opening is the floral touch. I think it’s the jasmine that hit me first, but it smells almost like an ‘after rain’, slightly green, dewy floral in the opening.
Two things happen to this fragrance after those initial minutes. Mostly, it gets very sweet. There is a woody, musky nuance in the base, but for a long time that is overpowered. Kajal is a strong performer, also with the top notes, so it’s more of a loud wear. The fruitiness becomes sweeter, the florals become a sweet rose and overall there’s a very candy-like sweetness to this scent.
It’s also rather feminine to my nose. Now, I’m always careful to address this, because everyone should wear what they like and there shouldn’t be any gender boundaries in fragrances. That being said, even I, as someone who wears women’s fragrances and that loves rose, probably wouldn’t reach for this. I would like smelling it on others though. I know several men that love Lamar though, so take my opinion for what it is.
Lamar seems to be compared most to Baccarat Rouge 540 and even though it’s far from a clone; Lamar’s pineapple is a big distinction; the similarity in style is there. And that’s not a bad thing for most people, Baccarat Rouge is a holy grail fragrance for many and I don’t feel like Lamar compromises on anything. The bottle is stunning, the quality seems great (this smells of much higher quality to my nose than Homme and Homme II), the performance is great and I’m sure a lot of people will love it. As someone who doesn’t like Baccarat Rouge, I definitely prefer Lamar and especially in the opening, but it’s just not a style that I gravitate towards to as much.
