First Impressions – Initio, Paragon & Arquiste, Indigo Smoke

In my blog post last week, I discussed the Rasei Fort scent, Kolonya, and how it made me think of the colour purple. This week, I sampled two new fragrances that were potential “purple” candidates, Initio’s Paragon and Arquiste’s Indigo Smoke. Inito’s Paragon comes the closest to making me think of that colour. And despite the name, Indigo Smoke doesn’t make me think of purple exclusively. So which one did I like best? My first impressions are below.

Initio – Paragon – I’m not the biggest fan of the house, and Paragon won’t bring me around to the Inito way anytime soon. The herbal opening of lavender and sage is smooth enough, perhaps reminiscent of Xerjoff’s Naxos. Surprisingly, for an Initio, it never becomes cloying. Indeed never as much as Naxos, which is far too sticky on my skin. Once the top herbal notes burn off, the smoky palo santo and fruity plum come to the fore—nothing too “out there” and very much a people pleaser.  

Sadly, the scratchy sandalwood base (seemingly a brand signature) ruins it for me. And it doesn’t take too long for those crass woods to appear. From about the 30-minute mark, they enter the fray and linger for hours. These types of synthetics always make me think of cheap deodorants. Paragon is one of the brand’s more muted offerings, lasting about 6-8 hours before fading completely.

Arquiste – Indigo Smoke – Indigo sits between blue and purple on the colour spectrum, but even with the name and bottle colour, I don’t necessarily think purple or blue when I smell this new Arquiste. There are lots of shades of green and brown thrown into the mix. For sure, it is smoky, but not overwhelmingly so. And indeed, the whole scent is well-balanced and an excellent evocation of Lapsang Souchong black tea. True to life, the tea accord here is bitter, smoky, and leafy. This bitterness remains wearable and tame throughout, though. 

An excellent fruity apricot note in conjunction with smoldering, smoky woods (vetiver and guaiac wood) act as a subtle balancing counterpoint keeping everything in check. There’s a green aromatic hay-like undertone to the base notes and a spicy injection of cassia to hold my interest into the dry down. Calice Becker has done an excellent job with this one. Even those folk averse to smoky fragrances may enjoy Indigo Smoke. The smoky facet doesn’t suffocate but acts like a mysterious veil over the bitter tea, woods, and fruity notes.

My two favourite tea scents are Tea for Two by L’Artisan Parfumeur and Gucci Pour Homme II. Indigo Smoke is sufficiently different from both of these. Tea for Two is smokier, sweeter, and more overtly gourmand. It’s closer in spirit to the Gucci, with its airy spicy freshness, with both scents giving me a peaceful easy feeling. Indigo Smoke lasts for about 6 hours before becoming a skin scent. One of the best from Arquiste and one for tea lovers to add to their list.

Have you tried these two? Do you have a favourite tea/Arquiste scent?

Note: Bottle images from Google. I purchased my samples of Paragon and Indigo Smoke. And continuing on my purple theme, here are some purple flowers I photographed recently.