Antinoüs

Male homosexuality. Imagine a perfumed ode to it. The anticipation between two men, the accelerating heartbeat, the heat of desire. Is it still okay to find the beauty in this? Or has it gone from the forbidden and condemned full circle back to problematic and tainted? I sure hope not. Antinoüs was the young lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian, and he was regarded as simply too beautiful for this world. "What the invention of oil-painting was to the Venetians, the face of Antinoüs was to late Greek sculpture, and the face of Dorian Gray will some day be to me.”—Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray. I've always found something quietly sensuous about clary sage—a botanical muskiness beyond its clean clarity, with hints of tobacco and tea leaves, and a subtly sweet balminess. Here, it is what first greets my nose, abundantly so, followed by the delicious pungency of both common sage and white pepper. This is act one of the burgeoning chemistry between two bodies, and then the beads of sweat form. Act two: the salt of perspiration and the rising temperature. Nothing loud, it's not sleazy, but it is enough to suggest the smell of sex when in close contact. The sillage suggests more the naturalistically herbal and lucid woody warmth. The magic here really is brought forth through intimacy. THAT kind of intimacy. There could be sun, there could be sea, there could be lived-in sheets, or there could be fresh bread in the adjacent kitchen: take your pick(s). Then there is act three—post-coital, cigarette optional, the come down after climax, the heart rate slows down and two rest in each others arms and enjoy each others comfort and smell.

I think this is the most intriguing from the house, but perhaps not the most wearable for most people. It's got cumin but it still distinctly smells Mediterranean. I get citrus, cumin and perhaps something vaguely coniferous as strange as that sounds. Perhaps it's hiding mastic? Me and my buddy sat there talking about it and comparing opinions, we also came up with kumquat. It's puzzling but I also get something akin to ruber and oil, which he did not get. Super interesting fragrance that is very unique. I've never smelled anything quite like it, but it's somehow nostalgic from childhood, and instantly made me smile with wonder.

My first impressions on a blotter were that it stunk of cumin, literally just cumin. But after a couple days, I gave it another chance, but this time on my skin. All I can say is, wow. It opens with this salty cumin vibe that almost reminds me of goldfish, but not in a bad way. As it settles, it loses the harshness, and turns into a sunkissed skin type of smell. I think this is a great scent for beach days or pool days. If I ever went to Italy during the summer, this is the perfume I would take.

Open more clary sage than sage, then moves onto a clearly defined, smoothed and muted out cumin with a salty bias, and a similarly smoothed+muted white pepper—though arguably this is a supportive bias to a lesser degree of a more prominent “recently cleaned skin” (not freshly cleaned, so more like après-showered skin) accord, then after a bit the wheat absolute becomes more prominent than the muted cumin impression, with a sandalwood bias, and as a whole, gives a natural human skin smell kind of profile, in the most neutral sense. While this perfume was made in ode to the Western symbol of male homosexuality, Antinous, it’s rather a significantly less animal (than maybe, Muscs Koublai Khan by Serge Lutens for example) take on the idea. It’s not as erotically developed to something like cyber sex by Filippo Sorcinelli--it’s naturally and even intimately familiar, if narrowed into a neutral lens of, arguably, androgynous skin-skin sex with no particular bias that focuses on knowing the person’s smell intimately, on the skin, but again, from a truly neutral perspective, despite the homosexual ode the perfumer intended. Just don’t expect any feminine/masculine facets to particularly stick out—it’s probably how this is able to be marketed (justifiably) as a unisex frag. Though, as a gay male myself, this neutrality doesn't make it less enjoyable. I'm just surprised this impression was possible with something as basic as wheat absolute. I really like this perfume. It’s not permanently cumin forward as some are claiming (not that it’s a strong raw cumin either, in something like Tyrannosaurus Rex by Zoologist), but I feel like it could be just a smidge stronger as far as the profile goes. Maybe the bit of sandalwood+vetiver is killing the lust of this perfume for me. In a way, it's what the base of Sadonaso by Nasomatto should have been. Given this, just imagine what you could do with this perfume alone! Only time will tell in the meantime to consider this further.

This fragrance is unique, and unafraid to put off less inquisitive noses. I would qualify myself as cumin hesitant, and was put off by it on first sniff on the tester. When I tried it on my skin though, I became so interested in how it transforms. I couldn’t stop sniffing my wrist once it dried down. As a lover of salty (especially), as well as aromatic fragrances, both are facets are done justice here. It truly smells like a body in the sun, the human form in its beautiful honesty, absorbing flecks of salt spray under golden light. I find myself drawn to this scent, thinking of it often.