Year: 2007
Notes: bergamot, lemon, tangerine, coriander, basil, ginger, mace, ylang-ylang, iris, honey, patchouli, vetiver, ambergris, musk
Comment: Parfum extrait review
There's one thing that has to be said about Onda's opening – it smells downright weird...
One has never encountered such pungent, earthy and smoky top notes before. For the most part, it consists of a bitter, vegetal and mouldy greenness – with herbs, spices, and a dry and nutty vetiver chord producing a dirty leathery facet. It's so incomparable that the closest one is able to compare Onda to would be a vetiver-themed hybrid of Montale's Oud Cuir d'Arabie and Lorenzo Villoresi's Yerbamate.
Yet on the contrary, it isn't animalic in the conventional sense but more rubbery, with an antiseptic or sterilised tone set against a charred olive green canvas. As it settles, it mellows into something less brash and offensive – smelling closer to barnyard hay, with a tender honeyed sweetness seeping through. The ylang-ylang largely remains inconspicuous but the iris adds an enigmatic powderiness to the proceedings.
With a hint of bitter chocolate from the patchouli, the composition eventually winds down to both a leathery and ashy chypré-like epilogue. Revealing a strange verdant musk foundation, one is unable to detect any ambergris but more of an ambrette seed accord which, based on what went on before, makes more logical sense.
Personally, one finds it very wearable after it settles down and, overall, it's both compelling and disconcerting in equal measure. But although it's initially rich and bold, it only lasts for five hours. While one would much prefer a high-quality vetiver essential oil over Onda, its uncompromising complexity still deserves some praise.
One has never encountered such pungent, earthy and smoky top notes before. For the most part, it consists of a bitter, vegetal and mouldy greenness – with herbs, spices, and a dry and nutty vetiver chord producing a dirty leathery facet. It's so incomparable that the closest one is able to compare Onda to would be a vetiver-themed hybrid of Montale's Oud Cuir d'Arabie and Lorenzo Villoresi's Yerbamate.
Yet on the contrary, it isn't animalic in the conventional sense but more rubbery, with an antiseptic or sterilised tone set against a charred olive green canvas. As it settles, it mellows into something less brash and offensive – smelling closer to barnyard hay, with a tender honeyed sweetness seeping through. The ylang-ylang largely remains inconspicuous but the iris adds an enigmatic powderiness to the proceedings.
With a hint of bitter chocolate from the patchouli, the composition eventually winds down to both a leathery and ashy chypré-like epilogue. Revealing a strange verdant musk foundation, one is unable to detect any ambergris but more of an ambrette seed accord which, based on what went on before, makes more logical sense.
Personally, one finds it very wearable after it settles down and, overall, it's both compelling and disconcerting in equal measure. But although it's initially rich and bold, it only lasts for five hours. While one would much prefer a high-quality vetiver essential oil over Onda, its uncompromising complexity still deserves some praise.
