WIDIAN
Rose Arabia – Ginger
2024
PERFUMER
Hamid Merati-Kashani
bergamot
ginger
lemon
paradisone
magnolia
violet
hedione
ambroxan
patchouli
sandalwood
‘Ginger fragrance is a fresh, spicy journey to a tropical paradise. It begins with a burst of zesty ginger, invigorating the senses with its vibrant, peppery aroma.’ – Widian
This is a seemingly simple, focused ginger scent, which is a scent that I tend to like and this is a great rendition of it.
It basically feels like wearing a straight-up single ingredient at first, but it still wears nicely. This has what I think is the best combination of styles for a ginger. Some ginger fragrance go too much in the spicy, earthy, rooty direction for me, while a lot of others go in a too sweet or lemonade like direction, focusing on the citrus side, but losing the actual ginger twist.
Here, I’m finding a true balance of the two, making it easy to wear, but it definitely has the slightly bitter, green and mostly spicy side as well. It feels fizzy, tingling and its texture reminds me of a good frankincense. Yet, the majority of the opening is on the citrussy side, with the aid of other citrus notes.
As the notes suggest, you get a bit of a more floral direction in the heart, but it’s not taking away from the ginger. It grows more into a type of spiciness and the type that you get from the ginger leans perhaps a bit more traditionally masculine, with that fizzy cologne texture; if anything the florals pull it back to unisex territory, but it doesn’t have strong florals taking the upper hand on my skin.
The same can be said of the drydown. It warms up and becomes a bit more earthy with the invigorating spicy kick, but it doesn’t lose the freshness and brightness too quickly.
Overall, simple, but I will take simple over a lot of the ways that ginger is taken out of the spotlight. For example, Goldfield & Banks Ingenious Ginger could’ve been one of the absolute favorite releases for me of the year before, but it grows so sweet that it loses me. Widian / Rose Arabia’s Ginger is not likely to ‘wow’ everyone, but it’s a great pick for a dedicated ginger fragrance and at €175/100ml anno 2025, that’s not a bad proposition.
