Translated
Show original
Show translation
NuiWhakakore
Top Review
31
In simplicity lies beauty (Plato)
The master sits in his workshop and stares at his work table. He is surrounded by the best woods and his tools. The air is filled with the scent of shavings and the work of all those years. He has created great things here, sculptures as tall as a man and figures as small as his thumb. Throughout the empire he is known for his works. When he sees a piece of wood, he recognizes the inner form of the figure hidden within and only has to uncover it. It has always been this way, a gift since childhood. He hasn't started a new work for months now, though. Better, he has already begun, only he will no longer complete it...
It was from months ago that he placed a cedar block on his work table and looked at it. He saw the shape before him, as he always had. So he took his steel and guided it to the first cut. But that's when the miracle or curse happened, depending on your point of view. Sweet resin dripped from the cut, filling the workshop with its scent. He had never smelled anything quite like it. So enthralled was he by the spicy scent that he didn't realize until many later that he could no longer make out the shapes in the woods. He had lost his gift. The wound in the cedar block, however, never closed; the resin always remained fresh.
So the master sits before his work table, contemplating the cedar block and breathing the spicy air. He has enjoyed the fruits of his gift for many a year and created great things. Now all he can do is enjoy the smell. He sighs lightly, picks up his needles and embroiders the next sock...
----------
With Opoponax, Santa Maria Novella has succeeded in creating a brilliantly simple fragrance. Lots of warm woods with cedar bringing in a fresh limey note. Then add Opoponax, balsamic, spicy, sweet (but not too sweet), done. Perfectly simple - simply perfect? Not quite, as the longevity is rather modest on me, 3-4 hours on skin, 4 to 5 hours on textile, so unfortunately far from a never-ending source. Nevertheless, great fragrance.
Platonic thanks to Toppine for the sample!