The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
The Soki London collection reads like a register of women who refused to be overlooked. Empress, Aphrodite, Artemis, each fragrance named after someone who shaped history by sheer force of will. Cleopatra, the 2025 release, closes the chapter. The Egyptian queen who outmaneuvered empires understood that power and seduction aren't opposites. That's the thread Nic Mastenbrœk pulled for this composition. The perfumer didn't reach for the obvious interpretation. Instead of heavy resins or warm spices, the structure leans into citrus, mandarin and orange gelato, as the opening statement. Jasmine sambac and neroli carry the heart, building a white floral register that reads as lush without tipping into sweetness. The base of vanilla, sandalwood, and amber anchors everything in warmth that stays close to the skin.
The orange gelato note is the key decision here. It sounds dessert-adjacent, but it reads cooler than straight citrus, there's a textural quality that keeps the opening from reading as simple or sweet. Jasmine sambac carries genuine power; it's heady, almost indolic in the right balance. Here, that intensity is kept in check by the citrus opening and the neroli, which threads a bitter-floral note through the heart. The combination of jasmine and vanilla is familiar territory, but the sandalwood gives it a creamy-woody edge that prevents the drydown from becoming saccharine. The composition earns its complexity through restraint, each layer arrives with purpose, and nothing sits on top of the other.
The evolution
The opening announces itself immediately, mandarin's sharp citrus, then the cooler, almost frozen quality of orange gelato. It lasts about thirty minutes before the florals take over, and that transition is where this fragrance earns attention. Jasmine sambac doesn't arrive gently. It sweeps in and takes up space, but the neroli running alongside it keeps the lift from becoming suffocating. The base builds slowly. Vanilla emerges first, sweet and warm, before the sandalwood's woody cream settles in. Amber holds everything together, warm, resinous, the kind of foundation that keeps you smelling the fragrance the next morning even if you forgot you wore it. The sillage drops to close-body fairly quickly. Cleopatra becomes a skin scent rather than a room-filler, which suits its character perfectly.
Cultural impact
Cleopatra stands out in the Soki London collection as the most overtly summery fragrance to date, the citrus opening is designed for warmth, the white floral heart for presence. The jasmine-sandalwood combination gives it a distinct character that sits apart from mainstream citrus-florals, which tend to stay lighter and more linear. The moderate sillage is a feature, not a limitation, Cleopatra is built for someone who wants to be noticed by the people who get close, not the entire room.
