The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Mahsam Raza composed The Dragons of London in 2024 as part of The Dua Brand's Inspired Expression collection. Raza built the composition around a lavender-and-sage opening, layering in resins and spices that give the whole thing a dense, weighted presence on skin. The opening reads cooling and herbal, with bergamot flashing briefly before settling into the aromatic backbone, then the composition pushes deeper as frankincense, labdanum, and benzoin thicken the air. Cardamom and clove flicker through the heart alongside a surprisingly soft May rose, and the base settles into leather, sandalwood, patchouli, and cedar, giving the drydown a tactile, lived-in quality.
The composition earns notice not from any single exotic material but from how deliberately the layers are stacked. The top reads cooling and herbal, lavender carrying sage and oregano into something almost medicinal before the bergamot cuts through with a brief flash of brightness. Then the heart opens a second front: frankincense and labdanum bring smoke and warmth while cardamom and clove add a flickering heat. May rose sits in the middle of all that, unexpected and quietly essential, softening the spice without dulling it.
The evolution
On skin, the first twenty minutes belong almost entirely to the aromatics, lavender and sage doing most of the talking while oregano adds a green, slightly bitter edge underneath. Bergamot flashes briefly, bright enough to notice, then folds into the herbs. Around the thirty-minute mark the shift begins. Benzoin and labdanum start to thicken the air, pulling the composition away from cologne territory into something warmer and more enveloping. Cardamom and clove flicker through the heart, and the frankincense adds a low resinous hum that sits underneath everything else without ever rising to the top. By hour two the leather has emerged. It's not sharp or aggressive, more like the inside of an old glove, warmed up and soft. The sandalwood and patchouli settle underneath as the base, and the May rose is still faintly there, a sweetness that survived the smoke.
Cultural impact
The Dragons of London sits inside The Dua Brand's Inspired Expression collection. The aromatic-resinous-leather structure makes it a natural fit for the cooler months, when dense, warming compositions read as comforting rather than overwhelming. The sage and lavender opening gives it enough brightness to cut through winter air, while the leather and incense base settles into the kind of scent that feels appropriate for a dinner reservation, a long evening walk, or any setting where the night is doing half the work.
