DUBAI AMETHYST

It's that desert kingdom's mirage-like, East-meets-West, over-the-top futurism that we captured in the three original Dubai Emerald, Dubai Ruby and Dubai Indigo scents. These encore additions, marking the start of a full-fledged collection, share the same mold-breaking aesthetic that - simply put - is redefining heady, exotic perfumery and propelling it into the 21st century. All are of-the-moment in both their ambiguous male-female sensuality and their pronounced lingering effect, thanks to their distinctive oriental-oriented base notes - so sought after today.

Each Dubai scent is named for a precious gemstone, evoking the ancient belief that gems are perfumes transformed into gleaming solids. And the Bond No. 9 superstar bottle housing these scents is once again covered with bedazzling, intricate Moorish starbursts on a stunningly vivid gold background, with an arched Arabic door beckoning front and center.

But of course, it's the contents that mesmerize the most.

Dubai Amethyst: It's male, it's female, it's both, kicking off sumptuously with a pair of lush floral top notes - lily and rose. These lead into a heart of jasmine and vanilla-esque tonka. But then comes an interplay of unexpectedly muscular, robust base notes: animalic ambroxan, whiskey-like tobacco and patchouli - recalling a nighttime forest.