The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Hobby Pure arrived in 2015, the same year 10th Avenue Karl Antony opened a wider chapter in its catalogue. The design house had spent its earlier years building straightforward daily scents, and by the mid-2010s the line stretched into richer, more textured territory, with Hobby Pure part of that shift. Jean Jacques Vivier, who is credited on several of the house's releases, has been involved in marketing this one, and the fragrance falls into an Oriental Vanilla family, a category that signals warmth and depth. The word "Pure" in the title hints at the intent: not minimalist, but concentrated. A scent stripped of distraction so the sweet, resinous, smoky notes can do the talking without competing for attention.
What makes Hobby Pure interesting is the structural choice at its heart. Lychee and rose open bright, almost glistening, but the composition commits to sweetness almost immediately, through praline and vanilla in the heart. The praline-to-vanilla ladder pulls the rose away from its usual powdery register and into something more confectionary, more dessert-as-evening. Then the base, built around benzoin, frankincense, papyrus, and patchouli, brings smoke and dry wood into the frame, introducing a counterweight to all that sugar.
The evolution
The opening belongs to lychee. Juicy, almost effervescent, with rose threading through like a satin ribbon. The fruit fades fairly quickly, making room for praline to slide in, and from there the vanilla takes the lead, thick and creamy, grounded by benzoin's sticky sweetness. The frankincense surfaces next, smoky and resinous, and the composition shifts from confection to something more candlelit. As the wear continues, papyrus and patchouli take over. The papyrus reads dry, almost like the smell of old pages mixed with woodsmoke, while patchouli adds an earthy dampness beneath everything. What lingers is the benzoin-vanilla-patchouli trio, warm and close to the skin. The later stages of the drydown carry a faint trace of praline dust and incense, a ghost of what came before.
Cultural impact
Hobby Pure reads as the kind of fragrance a wearer discovers through curiosity rather than hype. Its smoky-papyrus drydown gives it a sophistication that contrasts with its approachable, almost playful opening, and it has the feel of a cold-weather piece, something weighty and warm that earns its place in a winter rotation. The sweetness at the heart is balanced by rougher, drier materials at the base, and that contrast gives it an edge that simpler vanillas often lack. It's the sort of scent that appeals to someone who already owns several gourmand compositions and wants one with more shadow and complexity.
