Alpha Woods

The Supreme King I don’t know if Alpha Woods has any particular meaning in the terminology used to describe timbers. What I know is that if I think of the word Alpha, I immediately think of the Alpha male, the dominant being of the pack, the supreme king. And Alpha Woods definitely has something to do with virility. N.01 Alpha Wods is the first of four items in La Martina’s Colonias Intensas collection. I came across the entire series in an Italian drugstore, and the price was very ridiculous, e19.90 for the 80ml bottle. There was no tester available, but the keynotes listed on the box said enough to buy it blindly. Magic box, when you remove the top cover, the box unfolds and blooms like a flower. Well, the bottle does not have the cumbersome black cap, which I think was removed after the first launch to save some money. The perfume announces itself immediately, with a vehement citric and boozy accord. Lime, which has an even more pungent and dry smell than lemon, gives a sensation of exotic freshness, that flavour that is very recognisable in cocktails such as mojito, caipirinha, and so on. It is so natural that it seems freshly cut and crushed, mixed with the alcoholic content present in the perfume. It takes a few minutes before the sweet spiciness of the pink pepper becomes perceivable. The pairing of lime and pink pepper is nothing new. On the contrary, many fragrances place these two ingredients among the top notes. Yet it continues to please and work well, not only in fragrances from the citrus family. The opening is therefore fresh, citrusy, aromatic, and spicy. When the initial vehemence fades, the heart reveals a rather unexpected violet. Despite having used violet leaves, the middle trail is not powdery, as often happens when alpha-isomethyl ionone is present. Here you can feel the more watery and dewy, sometimes greenish and musky touches of the leaves. It confuses me, it’s not gasoline like in Fahrenheit, or penetrating and musky like in He Wood. Combined with the opening citrus notes, it almost seems like a barbershop accord. Meanwhile, very slowly, calmly, the semi-dormant vetiver begins to awaken, throwing herbaceous and earthy puffs here and there. But it’s very lazy, and perhaps still a little subdued by the other top notes that precede it. The harsh and green sensation lasts for hours before smoky and earthy shades of vetiver and patchouli finally take the stage. Both the herbs are polished, and modern, without any reminiscence of hippy opulent patchouli or dirty vetiver. Instead, the final trail has that sense of clean and white shirt. There is no similitude with Vetiver EAU DE TOILETTE, Grey Vetiver EAU DE TOILETTE, or other vetiver-centered colognes I am aware of. Among the four, Alpha Woods is the freshest one, more aromatic green than woody. I find it wearable during the warm seasons, from spring to fall. Very pleasant and gentle during the day, office safe, and so refreshing and alluring during the evenings and nights out. Unfairly underestimated, this collection went unnoticed, perhaps because it was launched during the COVID-19 lockdown period, or perhaps due to its initially too-high price. But it could also be that, since it is an intense cologne, people are not very inclined to invest or take risks. All in all, this is a great and solid fragrance created by Nose Mathilde Bijaoli. A dominant individual that holds a harsh, smoky, and greenish heart. Lime and Vetiver hold the stage. Natural, excellent! I'm formulating my opinion on a bottle I've owned since December 2023.

I've given this a "love". It's no slouch in the opening and performs reasonably well for some time but I wouldn't say it were particularly intense, that there were anything "alpha" about it in the sense of "alpha-male" (or "alpha-female"), or even that it were all that special, although my first experience of spraying it suggests that its fragrance oil content is quite high. I've nominated Encre Noire Sport and Dsquared2 Original Wood under "This perfume reminds me of", not because it's very close to either but because it is in the same wheelhouse, as another fresh, summery, green, woody fragrance. It's probably fresher than those two and more straightforward and directly summery—so much so that, always it is woody and could credibly be worn in the autumn, I doubt I'd wear it outside spring and summer. Anyone hoping that the violet leaf will push this in the direction of Fahrenheit will perhaps not be entirely disappointed, as the first time I tried it it reminded me of suede, but it's mostly just a very nice, clean, fresh, even sporty summery scent.