Ebitda

Hetkinen are an indie/niche Finnish house that specialize in very refined, clean fragrances that are all about purity and quality. Their relationship with nature is exemplified by the natural wood caps that their bottles have. EBITDA is a supremely unisex fresh fragrance that opens with bergamot with its juiciness filtered out with black pepper. It is a curiously spicy fruitiness that isn’t too sweet or cloying and has real staying power throughout. The middle is leafy, slightly musky ambrette and Vetiver that evokes bracken and ferns to me. You still get the black pepper that brings the spiciness feel but it is more of a texture than a scent if that makes sense. The overall feel is a very fresh blast of Finnish forest air. There isn’t an ozonic accord but it hints at one. The forest feel is brought home convincingly with bark and some woodiness; I think sandalwood but a fresh and brighter one not an old and textured one. It’s a really very lovely thing. Not sweet but there is a sweetness, not citrusy but there is a citrus note, not musky but there’s a musky feel and not spicy but there is a spicy tinge. The abiding impressions I get are those of a cold, moist, green, leafy fragrance that is as much fresh feel as raw scent, and that is richer than you expect. It dries down woodier in a fairly linear fashion. I have a couple of Hetkinen fragrances I blind bought and this one was an immediate love for me. I think the natural feel (Hetkinen are a vegan brand that only uses natural ingredients, nothing synthetic etc) is a lovely counterpoint to today’s arcane fragrance chemistry. The performance is worth talking about too: it gives me 5-7 hours on my skin and much longer on clothes. The sheen on your skin when you spray it speaks to the quality of the oils used here; it is serious stuff, make no mistake. Sillage is in keeping with the theme and not harsh or outspoken but always there and is quite well judged. You will want to go heavy on the nozzle here and give it a couple or three in spots you'd normally do one, as this is a fresh fragrance that needs it. I really enjoy the juice here and the way it feels on the skin. It reminds me a bit of Creed - Himalaya in that when you spray it, it smells like you've been keeping it in the fridge even if you haven't. You can actually smell what cold smells like, and EBITDA does that too. You can tell it is a cold weather fragrance but it would perform just fine here in Dubai as well I think. The name is quite interesting too. It is an oblique reference to the cheques & balances we see in nature that evoke our own financial markets; the thinking being that a chilly, bracing forest walk in Finland shows you what happens when the trees and plants all around are able to profit and compete and flourish in an environment set up for them to be successful. Nature's capitalist meritocracy. If EBITDA is success in our financial markets, this fragrance is the natural equivalent. It’s a gloriously oblique thing that requires you to think and consider which I love. Fresh fragrances like this one are by their nature very versatile and this one is no different. You can wear it with absolutely anything and is as unisex as a fragrance would or could ever reasonably be. There’s something very worthy and wholesome about this brand and its lovely, natural-focused fragrances that seem a world away from the hypersexualised humanity of many of our better known brands and juices. Having both extremes in my collection makes it feel more balanced somehow and I love that. EBITDA is priced at €44 for the small 30ml bottle I bought and €69 for a bigger 60ml bottle. This is superb value for a really high quality juice in my opinion. I was put onto Hetkinen by a friend of mine who knows I love very refined fresh, green fragrances and he suggested I try this and sister perfume Chaos, which I’ll review as well fairly soon. It is quite different to this one. Three word description: Fresh Finnish Forest Scent - 8/10 Sillage - 7/10 Drydown - 7/10 Bottle/packaging - 8/10 Performance - 7/10 37/50