11/23/2011
Apicius
222 Reviews
Apicius
1
Less is more!
Matau is recommended by Rob Denton as „office, social and after sports wear“ – this indicates something unspectacular that could be described in a few words – well...
I would tag Matau a puristical perfume with woody notes. This scent style enjoys a certain popularity nowadays: Wonderwood, Bvlgari Man, Bang and the Dsquared perfumes for men are examples of this style. Matau starts with woods and juniper, and not much more. But it is not one of those woodsy notes that you can find almost everywhere, it is not the typical cedar or sandalwood. Manuka? Okay. This plant from New Zeeland seems to be quite fancy at the moment since I found it on some some labels at my local organic food store.
Anyway, this woodsy note is very attractive and not an every day scent.
However, Matau does not completely stick to the concept of puristic woodiness. Before the woody drydown, I detect something else that really surprised me – I smell a hint of lavender! With that, I sense a certain similarity to a lavender perfume that some users on parfumo highly appreciate: Utopian by Social Creatures! I hope, I do not go completely wrong with that lavender assumption since Rob Denton only mentions sage, which is quite often combined with lavender in perfumes.
Whatever – a similarity cannot be denied. Utopian is my favourite lavender so far. But whereas the more opulent perfume from London follows the oriental track, Matau stays completely on the woodsy side. By direct comparison, however, it is obvious that the somewhat simpler Matau contains much less lavender – if at all!
I see another relationship – to the discontinued Rush for Men by Gucci. Here, it is the piquante woodiness that creates the link – more precisely with the cypress probably. All three perfumes have in common a certain modern and very urban approach – which is particularily hard to find in this form. This basic character of Matau is what establishes its high quality for me.
Rob Denton feels committed to the concept of natural perfumery – this means we have to compromise on the sillage and durability. I wish the top and middle notes of Matau could last longer, but this is the only criticism I have.
Matau is the second perfume by Robbie VanGogh that I have tested – it seems this unknown perfumer could be top league!
I would tag Matau a puristical perfume with woody notes. This scent style enjoys a certain popularity nowadays: Wonderwood, Bvlgari Man, Bang and the Dsquared perfumes for men are examples of this style. Matau starts with woods and juniper, and not much more. But it is not one of those woodsy notes that you can find almost everywhere, it is not the typical cedar or sandalwood. Manuka? Okay. This plant from New Zeeland seems to be quite fancy at the moment since I found it on some some labels at my local organic food store.
Anyway, this woodsy note is very attractive and not an every day scent.
However, Matau does not completely stick to the concept of puristic woodiness. Before the woody drydown, I detect something else that really surprised me – I smell a hint of lavender! With that, I sense a certain similarity to a lavender perfume that some users on parfumo highly appreciate: Utopian by Social Creatures! I hope, I do not go completely wrong with that lavender assumption since Rob Denton only mentions sage, which is quite often combined with lavender in perfumes.
Whatever – a similarity cannot be denied. Utopian is my favourite lavender so far. But whereas the more opulent perfume from London follows the oriental track, Matau stays completely on the woodsy side. By direct comparison, however, it is obvious that the somewhat simpler Matau contains much less lavender – if at all!
I see another relationship – to the discontinued Rush for Men by Gucci. Here, it is the piquante woodiness that creates the link – more precisely with the cypress probably. All three perfumes have in common a certain modern and very urban approach – which is particularily hard to find in this form. This basic character of Matau is what establishes its high quality for me.
Rob Denton feels committed to the concept of natural perfumery – this means we have to compromise on the sillage and durability. I wish the top and middle notes of Matau could last longer, but this is the only criticism I have.
Matau is the second perfume by Robbie VanGogh that I have tested – it seems this unknown perfumer could be top league!
