ASKR

My favorite thing about JORUM Studio is that you have to READ, yes READ, in order to fully understand and appreciate the fragrance. Let me start with the name. Or the title. ASKR has multiple meanings. It refers to the progenitor of the human race. Typically formed from an ash tree by Odin. It translates directly to “ash tree” and sometimes other things like small spear shaft or wooden vessel. All these things come into play as you look through the list of notes. That's why you see driftwood, ash, etc. The word, HAAR, is also brought up in the description of ASKR on the official website. It refers to a dense fog in the northern hemisphere, specifically Scotland in this reference. I am mentioning all of this to help paint a picture of what this fragrance is trying to emulate. It is of my opinion that ASKR is not trying to be an approachable fragrance for everybody and their grandma. I think it is more an artistic painting than it is beauty product. It's not mentioned specifically, but I think the ash is representative of the Phoenix. The aftermath of it, or the aftermath of the new beginning. The new start of life. And that's why it is so authoritative in the fragrance itself. The entire concept is reliant on this key figure. I think ASKR and The Phoenix are interchangeable. That's the fire aspect of this fragrance. Now let's talk about the water aspect. The bottom half of the composition. ASKR also refers to the elm tree. According to the website, the remains of the phoenix are intertwined with the tendrils of the ELM tree. What connects all of these things together is of course water. Now the fragrance becomes a little bit aquatic, but just slightly and not in an oceanic way. Just a slightly fresh fog and damp wood sort of fashion. The Ash and smoke from the opening is almost entirely gone. What develops now is an aromatic and aquatic wooden earth composition. And I personally think it smells fantastic. I think this fragrance is so cool. So interesting. And created so intelligently. I could go on and on about the history and the mythology and the construction etc. There's so much to talk about. This fragrance is not supposed to be an easy grab or mass appealing by any stretch of the imagination. If I wanted that, I would go to a different house. Here's a good analogy: if I wanted a classic tweed would I go to Balenciaga? The answer is no and we all know that. Entirely underrated. You have to give it a try.

like many of Jorum's works, this is a multifaceted composition with very distinct phases and surprises that greet through repeated wears. when reading the notes, my anticipation was that this would be Jorum's take on a blue fragrance. Woods, smoke, resins, and aquatic aspects. ASKR meets these expectations and also, definitely, subverts them. If ASKR is a blue, it's a truly niche blue, taking that structure and iterating something wholly new...not a typical blue packaged by a niche brand. At the start I am greeted by a salty breeze, bitter galbanum and my favorite sichuan pepper note I've smelled. You get the tingly sensation that comes across almost mentholated. I wonder if this will remind some of tiger balm. I love it. As it progresses the woody resinous talks hold and while it softens the bitter herbs and smoke, it remains a dry warmth, never too sweet. The driftwood/seamoss aquatics are airy and wistful. The smokiness is tamed and gives dimension to all the incense and resins. Absolutely wearable and lasts all day, if that concerns you. All of Jorum's creations are robust and complete. I've been exclusively wearing ASKR since I received and I still don't feel like I'm grasping all it's aspects. But with each wear I discover something new. A new favorite.

In Iceland, we have a joke: after the bankers caused a default and Britain demanded money, we said, "we don't have Cash, we have ASH." (since the Icelandic alphabet does not have the letter C). This perfume is a 100% match to the black sands of Reynisfjara beach, when salty and decayed seaweed washes ashore. Or the coast of central Norway, where ash is replaced with summer soil soaked with very salty (to the point of bitterness) seawater or peat. Ash + salt + seaweed. A familiar childhood scent, recreated as realistically as possible. At low temperatures, after a few hours, amber woods appeared, which I usually cannot stand. But in this case, they are VERY different, recognizable only by style, not sharp, but as the perfect complement. Very surprised. I could say this is the perfect fragrance for me, but ... all 10 that came from the collection are PERFECT. Bravo JorumStudio! Of course, such fragrances need to be tested for months, so there will be another review, a bottle outing and a photoshoot!

i’m a stripper and when i work at the club i usually wear perfumes that i consider more likely to appeal to the masses, but i went out on a limb and wore this to work on a humid summer night & not only did i get a bunch of compliments from my coworkers but my first client of the night went for a lap dance with me & kept extending our time cause he was obsessed with the way i smelled. ended up spending two hours pressing his nose into my neck and i wrote down the name of the perfume on a napkin for him. salty & smoky & sexy, the scent of skin drying in the sun after skinny dipping & making a puddle of sweat and seawater on hot wet sandstone. also lasts forever especially on clothes

Wow, my friend sent me a sample and I was amazed right from the first spritz. The opening is the main thing that gets me, not harsh imo, but fresh and definitely not headache inducing (I can tell because I suffer from headaches quite often), then slightly herbal and balsamic. Definitely not for everyone, but if you enjoy natural and/or smoky smells, I can recommend. Instant love!

You awaken on a rocky Scottish cliff overlooking the North Sea in the early morning wrapped in wool blankets. You are next to a now smoldering, but nearly extinguished, and damp, driftwood fire. You can smell the sea below, but are above its harsh spray. The natural wool, the stone, the damp ash, the salty sea air. Scents that have clung to humans since time immemorial.

This is the most perfect seaside fragrance.... I’ve been looking for you.... It is soft and yet crisp. Yes ashy... like volcanic ash... it’s a rocky beach... it’s a beach with black sand. It’s cloudy and grey out. This is so perfectly androgynous and cool. I’m obsessed ..........

This is so incredible. Very ashy, sort of like how you’d imagine grey granite stone to smell. So clean. I’m a girl and find it too masculine for me but I want my boyfriend to smell like this

Perfect signature scent for a ghost. I love it

Once the smoke, ash and birch tar fade away you are left with a really lovely aromatic, marine-vetiver that is just remarkable.

All I smell of Askr in the opening is very strong alcohol – and underneath, an ashy gray dust. Over a few minutes it also starts to get woody, with a dry brown tonality. Now it’s an actual fragrance: a common niche archetype, the dry austere wood. “Driftwood” is exactly the right concept; it feels bone-dry, dusty, slightly grayed out and smoothed by wind and water. A vague saltiness nods to the “marine” theme. Askr is in pretty much the same masculine-leaning, ultra-dry woody-vetiver zone as many other scents. It’s a lot like Tom Ford Oud Minerale, in fact. Compared to “straight-up” vetivers (Encre Noire, Vetiverissimo, etc), Askr is smoother and softer, less intensely bitter. That smoothness charms me almost against my will; there’s a bit of a soft landing, a bit of iris-butter cushioning that saves it from being generic or overly harsh.

@mike’s review notes an acrid and piercingly rubbery opening. Unfortunately for me it just stays there - I get diesel fumes, rubber and smoke and this is sadly a bit of a scrubber. I see “reminds me of” votes for Myths Man, which I presume is just because of the unusual listed “ash” note. But notes are just marketing and don’t represent a list of ingredients - two fragrances can have the same notes and no actual ingredients in common, or even smell anything alike. In this case, I think this is what people were afraid Myths would smell like based on that ash note, when it was actually approachable, floral and sweet. This however is eye-wateringly industrial. Interesting yes, unique certainly ... he says, bringing the abrasive scouring pad to his wrist.

I don't understand the votes for similarity to Every Storm a Serenade, Encre Noire or Medullary Ray. Maybe only in parts of the fragrance journey... yes, Askr is dark, yes there is some sea salt. But in its entirety, it's nowhere near the three fragrances mentioned above. If anything, I find it similar to the universe of Beaufort... Tonnere, Terror & Magnificence, around there.

The opening is an absolutely overwhelming amount of ash. There's also a curiously sweet and animalic, almost civet-like scent present in the beginning, which is sadly drowned by smoke. After three hours the smoke finally settles (ha) and the fragrance begins to smell like the seaside - salt, cedar, dirt. Angelica, orris and galbanum come to the forefront at this stage. I like the drydown a lot but can't stand the opening. This is rated as a more masculine scent because of the ash, but I honestly don't know anyone who would want to smell this intensely of it. This is an intriguing, naturalistic coastal scent if you can stomach smelling like a smoked ham for a few hours.

Ashy, smoky, salty faintly marine but more background . Light ashy smoke next to a river on a rainy day. I like smoky scents but this one is not for me .

This is revolting. The opening is overwhelmingly ash ash ash. There’s some animatic sweetness in the very back, but to get there, I have to ignore the massive pile of cigarette butts in front of me. For me this is not wearable in the slightest and as a migraine patient I can’t enjoy the journey or the concept. It’s all a little too much

smoky, balsamic algae. Surprisingly I think this is in the same genre as Oud Minerale, which I also found interesting for it's pairing of dark, phenolic woods and marine themes. This goes in a sour-herbal direction that's a bit more interesting and actually a bit more pleasant. It's a primordial soup of grasses, woods, and seaside aquatic life crawling it's way back to life after the apocalypse. An ashy, inky haze is cast over the scene, feeling like a volcanic aftermath that's erupted into the ocean. There's a central, ambery base accord that leans towards a labdanum-like warm, balsamic piney aroma. As times goes on I pick up more herbs and spices which set it further from Oud Minerale and most others. I'll also say there is a lot of similarity to some of the Neandertal perfumes, but I don't remember which one exactly so I suggested Dark. Euan was the perfumer for 3 out of 4 of their perfumes and I feel like I get themes from one or two of them, so check those out if you want a similar experience. Light is a fresher, more accessible variant of this if my memory is correct, although surprisingly Euan was not the perfumer for that one. Like most Jorum fragrances this is wearable for the adventurous perfume enjoyer, but borders on challenging. The first few moments are acrid and piercingly rubbery, but it settles into a green-herbal marine aroma with facets of rubber, smoke, and spice.

The fragrance equivalent of smelling salts. A strongly aromatic, nearly medicinal palette cleanser. Kind of an inverse aldehyde in my mind, gritty and granular rather than bubbly. Scorched and tossed by an icy wind. Never really calms down or transforms on my skin, and I don't pick up on some of the subtleties others do. A bit sharp for regular wear, but I've taken to using my sample as a post-night-out reset scent, which hits perfectly on overcast mornings; feels like I'm sand-blasting the hangover off myself.

girl, no. the opening is, like others have said, just straight ash. to me it's more BBQ grill or fire pit ash than cigarette butt ash. as that fades it is very generic men's cologne. 30 minutes into wearing there is something nasty like plastic or gasoline???? the notes look so interesting yet they give nothing good at all

i love the ash and balsam in the opening, but unfortunately this settles down to very generic manly bodyspray scent after about 30 minutes. it feels like a teenage boy is following me around. too bad because i love jorum.