Rituals — Poème d'Azar
Essence
Poeme d’Azar (2018) is a cozy, powdery floral-fruity gourmand from the Dutch mass-market lifestyle brand Rituals, released as the feminine half of the limited-edition Ritual of Yalda collection - a winter line inspired by the ancient Persian winter-solstice festival of Yalda (Shab-e Yalda). Its masculine counterpart is Nuit d’Azar. The scent is built around the festival’s symbolic foods and imagery: pomegranate (traditionally eaten on Yalda night) and a warm, almond-milk-and-tonka comfort accord. It is an affordable, easy-to-wear cold-weather “smell nice but not noticed” fragrance that has earned genuine, if quiet, wearers affection - sharpened by its discontinuation and the resulting hunt for surviving bottles.
Scent Profile
The opening is the most contested phase: most reviewers get a tart blackcurrant and powdery orris, but several detect an aniseed or melon-sweet facet and a touch of greenish rhubarb (wearers listings describe rhubarb in the top alongside blackcurrant and Florentine iris). One reviewer noted it “does not follow the line of Black Opium, although they share base notes… After a somewhat aniseed opening, what predominates is the scent of blackcurrants, with a touch of powdery orris root.” The opening is often described as fleeting - sometimes lasting only a minute - before the fragrance settles into its real character: a creamy almond-milk heart with tonka, soft Bulgarian rose, and vanilla, kept gently powdery by orris and lightly fruity by pomegranate. One of the most useful wearers descriptions: “a nice and well blended (almost too well blended) mix of almond milk and tonka with hints of orris and pomegranate. The tonka and orris keeps it slightly powdery, while the pomegranate gives it a hint of fruitiness and the almond milk keeps it sweet.” The patchouli base adds a faint earthy spice; one reviewer found the deep dry-down on fabric reminiscent of cocoa. The overall effect is warm, enveloping, comforting, and “not too sweet” - safe, inoffensive, and cozy without being boring to those who like the notes.
Performance
Performance reports are mixed but cluster around “moderate.” Sillage is soft to moderate and deliberately intimate - “this doesn’t have the biggest sillage.” Longevity estimates run from about 5 hours on skin to “a good 6 hours,” with several reviewers noting the base clings impressively to clothing and bed linen “until the next day.” A few find it weak on the skin specifically (“Sprayed & barely smelled anything… 1 hour later, nice tonka-patch-fruit mix”), consistent with a soft, skin-scent gourmand. As a budget fragrance the performance is widely judged acceptable to good value.
Wearing Context
A dedicated autumn/winter, cozy, casual-to-special-occasion fragrance. Reviewers reach for it in cold weather for comfort - “feels cozy and very pleasant in winter” - and its thematic Yalda/winter-solstice framing reinforces the seasonal placement. It is unobtrusive enough for everyday and office wear yet warm enough some save it for dates or special occasions. The soft, non-projecting nature makes it a “want to smell nice but not necessarily noticed” choice. Though marketed feminine, the comfortable almond-tonka profile reads broadly wearable.
Comparisons & DNA
The most frequently invoked comparison is YSL Black Opium, on the basis of shared sweet vanilla-almond-coffee-adjacent base materials - but reviewers are careful to distinguish them: Poeme d’Azar “lacks the overwhelming sweetness of Black Opium and also its citrusy aspects,” landing softer, powderier, and more tonka-forward. Perfumica’s aggregation lists similar-scent neighbors including Dior Poison Girl, Kenzo Amour, and Dior Addict EDP (2014) - all warm sweet-almond/vanilla florals - which usefully triangulates its DNA as a gentler, budget-friendly member of the almond-vanilla-rose gourmand family. Within Rituals’ own range it pairs with the woody-fruity Nuit d’Azar, whose wearers pyramid is top notes of black currant and ginger, a heart of sage and geranium, and a base of woody notes and vetiver. The perfumer is not credited in wearers reviews; wearers attributes Poeme d’Azar to Elise Benat, and wearers listings describe Benat among Rituals’ perfumer roster, but no documented critic source confirms her specifically for this scent - the attribution should be treated as plausible but not independently verified.
Reception
Within its mass-market niche, reception is affectionate. The dominant emotional note in reviews is loss: since discontinuation, owners describe rationing bottles, hunting Rituals clearance sales, and stockpiling travel sizes - “I will forever keep this on my shelf and wear it for special occasions. P.S.
Versions & Reformulation
Launched in October 2018 as part of the limited Ritual of Yalda collection in 50ml (and travel/15-30ml) eau de parfum, priced around US $75 / 39 at launch - inexpensive for an EDP. The collection extended beyond fragrance to shower foam, body cream, a massage candle, scented candle, fragrance sticks, and bath bombs. One reviewer suspected a possible reformulation between two bottles (“the first one was sooo much better. Richer, in both smell and performance… Perhaps it was reformulated, or I just remember it differently”), but this is unverified and may reflect batch or memory variation rather than an official change. The line was subsequently discontinued.
Acquisition Notes
Discontinued; availability is now limited to surviving retail clearance stock and the secondary market. As a former mass-market release it remains relatively inexpensive where found, and the wearers route to acquisition is opportunistic - Rituals store clearance sales have surfaced old stock, often in travel sizes after full bottles sold out. Buyers should note the soft sillage and skin-scent tendency, and that the fruity-fresh top can read thin if the bottle has aged. Given the modest original price and cozy comfort profile, it is a low-risk pickup for fans of almond-tonka-rose gourmands who can find it.
Notable Facts & Lore
- The name is rooted in the Persian calendar: Yalda falls on the last night of the month of Azar (the winter solstice, around December 21), and “Poeme” nods to the Yalda tradition of reading the poetry of Hafez (Fal-e Hafez) through the longest night.
- The composition’s central ingredients are symbolic: pomegranate and the imagery of candied fruit and nuts directly reference the traditional Yalda table, where pomegranate and watermelon (their red symbolizing the sunrise) are eaten in anticipation of light’s return.
- It is a notable example of a mass-market lifestyle brand grounding a seasonal release in a specific, non-Western cultural tradition rather than generic “oriental” tropes
- a framing that several reviewers, including those of Persian background, found unusually thoughtful for the price point.