Youtuber fragrances are a dime a dozen these days. It seems not a week goes by without another Youtube reviewer announcing the launch of their fragrance house. As someone who cherishes the democratization of art in general, I love seeing new houses crop up, but there’s something very fishy about an artist who splits their time between reviewing other fragrances and promoting their own. Roll this up into an industry where most major critic-perfumers know each other and where sending free review bottles is common practice, and the whole field becomes extremely difficult to analyze. And that doesn’t even take into account pricing structures that make many YouTuber fragrances as expensive or more expensive than artisan perfumes by trained professionals.
Centauri perfumes holds a number of advantages over the average Youtuber perfume house. First of all, it is very clear that Centauri is run holistically by Peter Carter, who is known on YouTube as FragranceView. The bottles and website are attractive, and the fragrance library is limited to three perfumes and a few limited additions. Sure, Centauri’s prices are quite high – they all fall between the $100 and $200 for 30mL. However, the house otherwise appears a step ahead of other YouTuber houses. Of course the most important factor in the equation is how Centauri’s fragrances smell.
Dendera Notes:
Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Orris Butter, Rose Absolute, Vietnamese Oud, East Indian Sandalwood, Haitian Vetiver, Frankincense, Myrrh, Labdanum, Madagascan Vanilla Absolute & White Ambergris.
According to the house, Centauri’s trio of perfumes represent past, present and future. Dendera is assigned to the past, and its notes are quite in line with that goal. The first blast of the perfume presents a sharp but well-rounded spicy incense, with nutmeg and cinnamon leading the way. It’s a bit one-note and a touch screechy, but overall Peter Carter’s talent as a perfumer is apparent throughout Dendera. At no point does the fragrance appear amateurish, and it only improves as it dries down.
The following stages of Dendera are tamed versions of the spicy opening. There are flashes of the animalic roundness of ambergris, but mostly the perfume remains squarely within the confines of ambery incense. Dendera remains full and pleasant, but somewhat basic, throughout its drydown. Dendera is unlikely to repulse nor delight fans of spicy amber scents.
This is the ultimate conundrum of Youtuber houses. Someone new to the industry, even someone talented, needs time to hone their skill. Even talented noses rarely jump into the industry and make something that can compete with similar fragrances. Hopefully, Carter can run with the experience he’s gained in making these perfumes and raise the bar from decent to great; he’s certainly got a stronger foundation than much of his competition. For now, there’s no reason to pick up Dendera over any other spicy amber fragrance. The best thing about Dendera is that, like the past, it could embody the promise of things to come.
You can obtain a sample or a bottle of Dendera from Centauri’s website here.
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The Fandomentals “Fragdomentals” team base our reviews off of fragrances that we have personally, independently sourced. Any reviews based off of house-provided materials will be explicitly stated.
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