oM

It's clear that Marlen Harrison, The Perfume Critic, will make a fine addition to the staff at Matriarch, at least if the quality of his bespoke perfume, OM, is any indication. This is a gorgeous oriental orange blossom perfume, completely unique in my experience. I've tried dark, syrupy, and heavy orange blossoms (Serge Lutens Fleurs d'Oranger...), airy, soapy, and clean orange blossoms (Prada Infusion de Fleur d'Oranger...), and a wide range of candied orange blossom perfumes (the list goes on and on), but OM is the first truly oriental orange blossom perfume, with more incense and wood than any of the usual accompanying note suspects. I, too, have visited southern Spain, and it's true: the scent of Spanish cathedrals and the naranjeros of Sevilla have been ably captured and harmonized in OM. What a lovely composition! Bravo to Marlen and Christi!

Om did not really meet my expectations. I love orange blossom and looked forward to this. Mostly though, it smelled like patchouli, a bit of woods, and maybe even chocolatey-amber, but I didn't really get any orange blossom, not a realistic one anyway. It smelled more like brown orange blossoms that had expired under a too-strong summer sun. The perfume is rather linear, which is fine if the perfume is exceptional, but this was not. The incense I get in Gateways is phenomenal, and I hoped for something equal to that experience. They are not natural, but I love the honeyed incense and orange blossoms in the dry down of Seville a L'Aube or my all-time favorite discontinued similar blend from Fekkai. I'm not affiliated in any way with Strange Invisible, but from what I've sampled they can really do a 100% natural orange blossom perfume beautifully. Om didn't cut it for me, either as an orange blossom perfume or a natural perfume. I also didn't get much projection with it. I will stick with Gateways, my favorite from this house thus far.

The incense cones are quite intense - not so with the juice. It is both a scent and incense that grew on me to the point of jonesing for it. It does have a dried & burnt branches, leaves and hardened peel smoky vibe. ... I have been to Spain and it does hold a memory of going to the Alhambra Palace. The orange trees lined the streets albeit they had no fruit...but I could imagine the scene.

I was given a sample of this by HoM but unfortunately, I'm not a fan. It smells like dust, with a hint of orange.