Metamorph

#1455 in my "Tour de Fragrance" My first Ayond scent, a decant. The perfumer isn't identified here, but it really comes off like something Rosendo Mateu cooked up in his early days, like Puig "Agua Brava." Comes off like a less citrusy Perry Ellis "Red 360", a scent I blind bought and gave away as soon as I smelled it. (Certainly no resemblance to any Hermes scent.) I'm just not a fan of clove notes that aren't deep in the background. I also had "Agua Brava", and O Boticario "Zaad Intense" and "The Blend Bourbon." Gave them all to a men's shelter. Even though the clove in those scents wasn't dominant, I could still smell it, and to this day my stomach recoils at the memory of "Clove" chewing gum. [When in 2019 the Gerrit J. Verberg Company acquired the rights to produce "Clove", "Beemans" and "Blackjack" chewing gums, popular in my youth, but which I utterly despised, I thought, "Sometimes nostalgia gets taken too far."] At first, clove is all I got from this. Fifteen minutes later, frankincense and pine is all got from this. Burberry "Hero Eau de Parfum" is the only scent I have on the shelf that combine the two, and in that case the woodiness dominates throughout. I certainly like frankincense, I have tons of scents with it. It's a note I look for. But just frankincense and pine is not attractive nor interesting. It reminds me of the guys in my college dorm who thought, and thought wrongly, that burning incense cones and spraying Pine Sol would cover up the smell of cannabis emanating from their rooms. When thirty minutes goes by the clove is back to dominance. An hour in the scent does get more well rounded, but then it just smells like Jacques Bogart "Bogart", a really old school scent with clove, that like Agua Brava goes for under $20, not $160 like this stuff. This scent isn't offensive, but for me it's kinda pointless. If the purpose of a fragrance is making oneself more attractive to others, this doesn't do that. If the purpose is one's own enjoyment, for me anyway, this doesn't do that. Certainly doesn't make any sort of statement. Certainly not worth $160 to me. I actually prefer the $11 Aqua Brava.

Notes are wrong, this is not a warm or fresh spicy fragrance. Primarily a pine incense fragrance. Very similar to things like Fille en Aiguilles or Profumum Roma Arso. Woody/cold incense fragrance in the vein of the aforementioned Serge Lutens, also similar to the CDG incense series, like Zagorsk or Kyoto. Very good quality stuff, apparently all natural, which somewhat excuses its quiet performance and low longevity. Although none of its competitors are particularly strong either. The frankincense in here is sort of like Passage d'Enfer or Goutal Encens Flamboyant- airy, transparent. Opening is fantastic, with fresh Juniper and energetic bergamot and a big dose of sweet conifers throughout. Hints of vetiver maybe. Don't really get the clary sage, wormwood, or jasmine, although I'm sure they're there. Well blended. Dries down linearly into a conifer/frankincense with some dirty nagarmotha/vetiver influences in the background. The pine in here is better than in Fille en aiguille to be honest. Pineward-esque conifer quality in here, really great. Overall, hardly original, but still very good. Definitely has an "artisanal feel", sort of like a pineward fragrance. Definitely nowhere as polished or balanced as fille en aiguille. It's enjoyable and quite therapeutic, transformative in perhaps a forest walk type of way, but certainly not in a revitalized desert after monsoon season way. Not sure what a coniferous forest has to do with the desert rain. This is a nordic spa day fragrance, it couldn't be farther from the desert, imo. Concept is good but translated poorly by the perfumer. Perhaps it hearkens to the forests of the PNW, but certainly not Arizona. Wished this leaned on the desert theme more. Good scent, poor story.

Off a tester onto my skin, imagine Hermes once the heart settles in. But then arises those beautiful, sticky, oily nuances of fir. Hermes may be a greater all season all occasion + performance, but there is a depth here that is intriguing and realistic. My advice would be to go to with Hermes, but sample this one.