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Ysbrand
3
Limbo halls
The first impression of Opus V is awkward. If fragances have an evocative power, being able to transport us to a place, a moment or a state of mind, by appealing to any of the many human emotions or themes, Opus V doesnt suggest anything i can relate to. Which is not neccesarily a bad thing, but it is not a good one either.
I look in the website in search of any Opus V mythology or inspiration that makes me understand the fragance better: Opus V "explores the transformative journey of conventional media through the coalescing power of the Internet; navigating a world that is changed radically and forever" And I thought I was a nerd. "Changed radically and forever" are not good words in my book, they make me feel lost and insecure, and indeed i felt a bit lost in Opus V.
It starts with a boozy, aged iris, animal notes and agarwood. It smells to musty old books (which is a nice smell) with the strange, medicinal oud, and then flowers; there is a nice dose of a dirty jasmine, as well, and the floral notes merge with the civet. There is a bit retro thing going on in this perfume.
I think that the problem, or the problem FOR ME, because i understand this could be an asset for others, is that there are some "challenging" notes all together in Opus V: indolic jasmine, civet and oud. They have difficult scents, all of them, that IMHO can make a perfume a winner, or can be off-putting. Opus V is not off-putting, but is not pretty at all either. I find the iris amazing here, staying in the background forever, and i kind of enjoy the animalic jasmine, but only sometimes i had a tiny "bad breath" whiff in between the petals that, well, i hadn´t experienced before, and i guess the only real problem is that I personally don´t like oud so much : when i smell oud i have a sensation that something is wrong, and i have to remember myself that is supposed to smell "ill" on a purpose. The oud note is basically there all the time in Opus V.
It is a sillage monster, on top of that.
Nevertheless i happen to love the drydown. Basically there is an extremely dry, vibrant, almost harsh, wood that i find wonderful and hypnotic, and reminds me to the Bois in Miel de Bois! And there is more, this note lasts forever and ever on the skin and clothes, outliving the oud. In the clothes, like, days.
I will never own a bottle of Opus V (even if i could afford it) but I am giving it a good rate because the ones who love oud, indolic jasmine and civet are going to be thrilled with it, and the perfume really smells like it is the finest quality. I praise it for its uniqueness, despite i find most notes challenging.
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