Myhorses

This is an unusual duo, the exotic osmanthus flower replaces the rose in a fragrance that’s strong, powerful but delicate and tender in the same time. The strong and alembicated scent of Laotian oud is paired with the delicacy of sweet, apricot smelling, osmanthus flower in a way in which both of them reveal their best parts and , surprisingly , the Beast is not killing the Beauty but is putting the Beauty in the spotlight and lived happily ever after. The background of this scented story is made of patchouli, musk and ambergris and overall I perceive Mona di Orio’s Oud as a ambery woody scent rather than an typical oud perfume

This is a unique and complex interpretation of the rose-oud theme , far from the way in which Arabian perfumery is treating this duo, being totally different from all rose-ouds that I tried up to now. Mohur is more a floral leathery bouquet with echoes from Indian cuisine, mainly pastry. It starts with a hand full of spices: black pepper, cardamom and saffron combined with sweet floral notes, the rose is lying down among spices and sweet almond milk .
Of course oud is there right from the start, but in a very soft manner being more a counterpoint for the spices during the top notes and for sandalwood, vanilla and benzoin in the base notes than standing for itself. In spite of its complexity Mohur is not a heavy perfume and each time I’m wearing it tells me a different story about India.

First of all a warning : this one is a love or hate scent that either really works with one’s skin chemistry or clashes with it very dramatically. Don’t rely on the notes: gardenia, coconut and vanilla because they are intertwined in a subversive way.

Before testing this one you should have in mind Serge Luten’s Tubereuse Criminelle not because they smell alike but because of the similarities of the olfactive construction. In Volo AZ 686 there are two phases, the first one tries to describe the trip by plane which is not a very pleasant part, can be even scary for the unsuspecting person who is sampling this perfume. It starts with an extremely green, sharp and striking accord reminding of different chemicals and other substances including kerosene and rubber easy to find in airports and airplanes. For this part the greenness of gardenia is to blame.

If there is enough patience and skin chemistry after half an hour you are getting closer to the coconut trees and beach. The gardenia is not green anymore and the coconut shows up together with vanilla. Actually you will find a very different and interesting gardenia interpretation capturing all its faces.

In the drydown gardenia has a friendly face , it’s creamy and soft, the coconut is melted in vanilla and the whole feeling is like lying on the beach with the skin shining full of suntan oil and a glass of pina colada nearby after that (not so pleasant)trip by plane.

First of all this a Le Labo fragrance so do not expect a lily soliflore, you are getting instead a large white flowers bouquet featuring beside lily a great tuberose, a slightly indolic jasmine and tiare on a bed of buttery vanilla with a coconut echo.

Lys 41 starts big with the white flowers, tuberose and lily as prima donnas with a shy touch of green and plenty of creamy vanilla. As the fragrance further evolves the green note becomes stronger while the vanilla creaminess is more prominent, a coconut note starts to grab attention probably due to tiare flowers that have more emphasis in the middle notes of Lys 41. This coconut note is light compared with Datura noir or Vittoria Apuana and could be a good choice for somebody who likes floral fragrances but does not enjoy so much coconut in perfume .In the basenotes a nicely done woody-musky accord is laced with a lot of vanilla that succeeds not to be gourmand.

Serge Lutens: don’t take the word “noir “too seriously in this perfume because you’ll find instead a lot of white from coconut, tuberose, almonds all enveloped in creamy vanilla, in other words how “noir” can a suntan lotion smell? We are talking about a tropical frangrance (perhaps femme fatale went out on her summer leave somewhere on a tropical island) that starts with a big creamy sweet tuberose laced with almonds, a gourmand opening.

In the first moments the almonds have some bitterness reminding of the famous poison cyanide but it disappears very soon, vanilla is doing very well its job changing nicely the bitter smell of almonds into a sweet one that in time becomes sweeter and sweeter. Later on a floral fruity accord made out of tuberose and a short living apricot shows up not for long.

After some time , as the scent evolves on the skin, almonds are changing their partner, tuberose is left in favor of coconut, almonds together with coconut continuing their dance on the skin with a good portion of suntan lotion and a lot of sweet vanilla.