Kajal Homme
Kajal Perfumes (2015)

Kajal Homme by Kajal Perfumes seems to have gotten a lot of buzz lately despite being released in 2015 so I'm happy to finally try it out after obtaining a decant. It instantly strikes me as a sort of men's signature scent with niche touches, a mixed fresh/warm spicy cologne-type fragrance with sweet bits. It's well-blended, with relatively few standout notes, in my opinion. Its citrus opening of grapefruit and mandarin fades into a mixed heart of guaiac, cardamom, orange blossom, and cashmeran, before a soft, woody, sweet base of oud, musk, patchouli, sandalwood, tonka, and vanilla.

Perhaps the biggest standouts to me are cardamom, vanilla, and musk–that becomes a prominent trio after the opening few minutes of citrus. Overall, the mix feels classy, sweet but not too sweet, fresh but not too light, and has gravitas without being heavy. Again, it seems partly like a men's signature scent but it's certainly unisex, as there's something fairly universally cozy and familiar about it.

Kajal Homme is in EDP concentration and is priced at $185 for 100ml per their website, and is also sold in the US at the Philadelphia-based Perfumology. It performs quite well albeit not outstandingly, but the performance is fair given the under $2/ml price point.

The care here is evident and the result is an easy winner, even if it does not dazzle or amaze. For me, it's a like, not a love, but it definitely makes me want to sample more from the house. It's a great judgment call to have a fragrance like this, and even though I see it as being reasonably unisex, it's a solid name choice to imply that it's a sort of year-round men's staple, though I probably wouldn't reach for it on a summer day.

7 out of 10