Salamanca

Wow, this is such a complex scent. So many things are going on, it keeps changing and revealing new, fascinating aspects of itself. Many of the scents from Olympic Orchids are very atmospheric and evocative, and this scent is no exception. Sniffing it feels like watching a short film about Spain. It smells distinctly spanish to my nose. I've been to Spain several times, and I feel like I'm back there when I smell this. It's astonishing. The opening is incredibly strong and harsh. It smells very raw and unrefined, like leather and clay that hasn't been prepared for usage and sale yet. There is a chemical facet to the opening. It reminds me of the places where yarn, fabric and carpets are being coloured, in huge colour baths, usually outdoors. After the first sharp blast the scent softens slightly to a fascinating combo of rich spanish leather and wet clay. The kind of clay that is ready to be used in pottery or to be crafted into a sculpture or bust. It's a smell of creation and artistry. Towards the heart i detect facets of bitter almond. Slowly the perfume becomes more salty and savoury. The leather and the clay is still very much present, but keeps changing personality due to new, interesting nuances that comes and goes. That savoury smell brings to mind cooking. It's like I'm at a spanish hacienda. I can smell the dry stone walls of the buildings, the stables, horses, leather saddles, some bulls are out on a field near by, the kitchen door is open and whiffs of a slightly spicy vegetable broth or soup reaches me. I think I smell cellery, leeks, potatoes and cabbage. Towards the drydown the smell of wet clay slowly disappears, but the leather is still there. Softer now, a more approachable leather, not so masculine as it was initially. And the softness becomes even more pronounced when a beautiful, demure floral nuance appears. It's so unexpected. Such a wonderful surprise. It feels like getting a rare glimpse of a shy, yet sensual, spanish senorita hiding her face behind a black lace fan. The drydown is mostly spicy and savoury. This is a earthy, raw, unapologetic smell, a forceful creature full of contrast and colour. Highly expressive and energetic. If Pablo Picassos paintings had a smell, it would probably be something like this. Salamanca is truly a work of liquid art. Sillage is strong at first, but dries down to a medium. Longevity is fabulous. I get 10-12 hours out of it. A must smell for everyone who loves the unusual.

Salamanca has been a complete surprise. Seeing the notes didn't really appeal to me much, but I decided to try it based on a couple of reviews I saw and...voila! Finally I ended up going for a whole bottle, and that when I smelled the perfume directly from the sample it seemed horrible to me! Salamanca is, therefore, a beast perfumon! It is based on leather, which remains as the central note, giving the perfume power and great longevity. On the other hand, we find hay and vetiver in large doses that give it a green and earthy touch, and a very interesting balsamic and smoky part in the background. Immortelle is also detectable, giving it a dry floral touch that gives it a different hue than other green perfumes. Finally, the algae, an unexpected note that gives the fragrance a certain marine touch, albeit without any kind of fresh, oceanic, aqueous or ozonicom nuance; it simply has a slight hint of a sea smell. The performance is incredible. For the whole day and if you don't shower part of the next. In clothes it is eternal I find it a perfume to wear more during the day with moderate to cool temperatures. Totally unisex. Scent: 10 Longevity: 10 Sillage: 8 Versatility: 8 Originality: 10 Overall: 10

Oh, my. Sniffing the bottle, this is pure black leather. On skin, however, something really unique happens. The scent of sun baked clay, hot, dry grasses, buzzing dragonflies, and endless blue sky blows over like a wind at first application. It gets hotter and drier after a while, and leather, immortelle, labdanum, and a touch of farmland are the major contributors. Overlapping everything is a dry, arcane vetiver quite unlike almost any interpretation of vetiver I've smelled in the past. Everything is rendered in high-definition, the way one recalls sights, sounds, and smells from a memorable vacation. There is a sharp, poisonous quality here, and it reminds me very much of an even more difficult Djedi, if that can be imagined. Meama nailed it when he stated "Une beauté étrange comparable peut être à ces femmes qui se maquillent et se coiffent avec de la terre rouge ou le parfum d'un égyptien de l'antiquité." I often crave the strange beauty of this fragrance. The perfumer has it all; raw talent, great taste, great passion, and an incredibly wide range. A brilliant fragrance that is part of a brilliant line by a brilliant perfumer.

WOW. This is blowing my mind. I'm getting a lot of mitti attar, which I'm absolutely reveling in. Given the fact that a few nights ago I slept in a cabin made of clay and straw in the woods, I can confirm that this does in fact smell like actual clay from the earth (this is a compliment). There's a warm, hazy quality that accompanies the earthy and acrid scent of clay. This dry, husky element reminds me of hay bales warmed under the sun’s rays. Every now and then I catch a splash of marine seaweed funk, which is more than welcome. I pick up the molasses-like fragrance of immortelle in the late dry-down accompanied by sticky opoponax. Salamanca pairs dry, cracked earth with moist and wet notes along with a flourish of warm resin. The result is a delightfully unique take on leather that truly leaves me impressed. Wearing this makes me feel like a large and elusive lizard basking on a rock in the sun. Excellent.

What a peculiar perfume. very, earthy leathery, wet, dry and raw. It reminds me of my grandfather's barn where he hung and oiled all the leather harnesses for the horses he used to have pull the plow. something smells aromatic, (probably the hay) A very comforting rural scent. There is something sweet blooming that adds to it... mimosa? and clay. a very distinct wet clay. It's a wet and dry perfume at the same time, and smells totally different depending on the humidity of the air. I also smell the vetiver adding the old wooden barn to the picture. No animals though, I'm happy to say! There is also an oily undertone, like the smell of spilt oil in the machine shop. It's... like a summer in the barn out in the country, with your nose to the dirt. This is smoothe, rugged but raw. A delight for the senses. Not for the faint of heart, but for a lover of earthy unusual leather fragrances.

A beautiful leathery vetiver in the mode of Djedi (so I see the connection to "Onda"). This starts in a different place than the long-lost Guerlain, however. This begins with an intriguing herbal, marine, leather-earthy scent (the clay/mitti attar is definitely a presence!) whereas Djedi starts with a bold aldehydic floral. Because of that, Djedi's drydown into animalic, bone-dry vetiver is startling, and the herbal-seaweed-leather notes in Salamanca segue quite seamlessly into an ambery, grassy, vetiver drydown. This is the big place where the scents intersect--a bold vetiver-prominent base tied together with sticky labdanum, animalic leather, and little hints of vanillic/coumarinic sweetness and musks to bring it all together. Intriguing, bold, and wearable.

I'm thrilled to finally get a chance to sniff this. A lovely friend sent me a sample with just a wee bit in the bottom, but that was more than enough for a half dozen or so wearings! This comes out like oil, and I had to literally rub it into my skin. Don't worry, I was very gentle so as to not bruise the molecules! (Said in jest). What an interesting scent. Definitely clay and leather. Some green. It hit me that this is like a slightly more contemporary take on Gres Cabochard. I have that one, and really enjoy it. A lovely leather scent that I feel is most suitable for a man, but a great option for any leather lover like me! :) As with all Olympic Orchids, great longevity and performance.

Salamanca starts out smelling very strongly of fresh paint. It’s weird, but I can see it; I bet there are people who secretly love the smell of a hardware store. Over time, it gets a bright, sunny, citrusy feeling, with the “wet paint” note fading to a milder baked clay background. Gradually it lands in a more “normal” place: a combination of vetiver, leather and clay that feels elegant and neutral and dense, and a little animalic, like earth and stone. Medium grayish brown.

I look for scents that takes me places and this one does exactly that, like all the fragrances in the brand. The description with the scent literally drops me into a town with dusty sweet field, leather, hay, and clay during midsummer day. Love this one! I am enamored with Ms. Covey's creations. Update: I often miss smelling this.

I don't think it's my imagination. I immediately recall an early childhood memory in rural south Florida (and there is such a thing) - three-digit temperatures, leather, clay, sunburnt grassy fields, and the strangely comforting aroma of cow pasture enveloping me in a warm breeze.

Salamanca is once again available in the Olympic Orchids store, and I am pleased to report that the reformulated version is as good or better than the previous edition. On my skin, it lasts even longer!

This has to be the most unusual fragrance I've ever had in my collection. How my nose and skin chemistry reacts to it seems to be a bit off from the description. Sweet is listed as the top accord. I do NOT get sweetness from this, barely if at all. How could it be the most prominent? My initial exposure in good measure (meaning 2 full sprays on my neck) gave me a pungent waft of... the business end of an artist's studio. The smell of paint brushes mixed with turpentine. Very astringent and somewhat bitter, without being medicinal. There's a fermented hay and leather accord too, which you'd expect to smell at a tannery. So all this at first and you'd be like "why did I put this on myself? what was I thinking?" I don't get any floral quality. And I'm not one to have skin that kills the floral accord. For instance with St. Dupont Pour Homme on me, the florals come on very strongly. So with the whole composition looked at broadly, I'd say this fragrance is seriously masculine. At least on me. Maybe for someone women they may find the floral/aromatic note comes out ahead. Into the dry down different notes seem to come and go. I don't know if it's something to do with how my nose interprets what it picks up over time. I find Salamanca very complex. If you want to smell distinctive, this is the one. Chances are NOBODY anywhere around you will be wearing this. Longevity is a bit lacking for me. I think I need to moisturize more when applying during the colder months as the dry air probably encourages absorption. In looking back over what I've written, you'd think I am sour on Salamanca. No, not at all. I really like it. It's so unusual, so different, so rich in character. I call this the "thinking man's aroma." As Yohji put it, it's a smell, not a fragrance. Whenever I need to get deep into my head on a subject, whatever it may be, Salamanca will be my aroma of choice for inspiration. Dr. Covey has come up with something most unusual here. 8.9/10.

178) Return of the Djedi Nom de ...., encore un trésor caché. Ok c'est plutôt pour les perfumistas en quête de bizareries, mais franchement si vous avez l'esprit ouvert et que vous n'avez pas la manie de devoir associer des odeurs avec des objets pour les aprécier, vous allez découvrir quelque chose de terriblement élégant et d'une beauté rare. C'est sec et floral, sec comme une poterie de terre cuite et floral comme l'immortelle et le labdanum (la signature du Nez)le sont. Une beauté étrange comparable peut être à ces femmes qui se maquillent et se coiffent avec de la terre rouge ou le parfum d'un égyptien de l'antiquité. Techniquement je pourrais imaginer cuir-foin mais il y a un tel effet d'ensemble que je ne trouve aucune note comme étant dominante. Excellente tenue et sexy comme un luxueux costume sur mesure (unisexe). Name of G.... still a other hidden treasure. Ok this is rather for perfumistas in search of bizare things, but frankly if you're open-minded and you do not have the habit to associate odors with objects to apreciate them, you will discover something terribly elegant and a rare beauty. It is dry and floral, dry as a pottery of clay and floral as immortelle and labdanum (the Nose signature )are. A strange beauty may be comparable to those women who makeup and style hair with red earth or the perfume of Egyptian antiquity. Technically I could imagine leather-hay but there is such an overall effect that I find no note as dominant. Excellent longevity and sexy as a luxurious tailored suit (unisex).

Have you ever wanted to smell like you just mud wrestled in a full leather outfit during a chilly spring or fall morning? If so, then this is the fragrance for you! Probably one of the most unique takes on leather that I've smelled in a long while, and I'm frankly hooked. The opening to this fragrance is very realistic car interior leather covered in thick, clay filled earthy mud with a nice underbite of something green and herbal. This opening is the make or break it moment in this fragrance, you will either love this (like I do) or hate it. As it dries down the wet earth accord starts to take a back seat as this wonderful assortment of slightly sweet and potent resins/labdanum and dusty immortelle mixes with this earthy vetiver and leather. This scent is confident, realistic, and unapologetic; and it takes pride in it. Leans slightly masculine, but wear what you want. While I love the scent itself, I don't love its limited versatility. Sp/F day/night, would dress this up in formal, don't go out expecting compliments. The performance of this stuff is unreal. I sprayed it once on the back of my hand and it was there 48 hours and 2 showers/gym sessions later. The projection is nuclear for the first 3-5 hours, every room you go into will smell like mud covered leather, but then settles to a respectable 6 feet for the next 8 or so hours and then becomes within arms reach after that. Very very good, but very very weird. 8.3/10

This fragrance is so close to what I imagined my perfect fragrance to be and I never realized it until now. I've had the bottle for a little over a year now, but I first sampled it several years ago. I remember it being heavy on the leather at first spray, smelling almost chemical-y, but I liked that. Over time the leather would warm up and soften (i literally imagined a stiff leather jacket getting loosened up and worn in) into the more earthy/sweet notes. I grew up where hay bales are a normal part of the landscape, and I don't ever think I caught Hay on this fragrance then. It was just a masculine chemicaly leather scent with spice to me. Over time, and who knows if it was my body chemistry or the ingredients, or my ability to smell new things in it after getting used to it--it changed! The way it smells to me now is only leather as a foundation, but its instead extremely effervescent and mineraly right at the beginning and throughout. It's so beautiful. I understand the yellow mimosa note now and it really does work so well with the leather and the vaguely petrichor / dry grass situation. Every time I spray it I feel like its some strange citrusy dirty mineral water, but weighed down with the clay and leather so it's got body and staying power, doesnt fly away. This really is a work of art to me, by far my fave Ellen Covey scent.

This perfume perplexes me, not because it is confusing, in fact the imagery and storytelling is matched with crystal clarity in the resulting scent. It perplexes me because it is so impressively executed, it is photorealistic to the point beyond being perfume; this is teleportation in a bottle. There is a strong presence of leather, like the thick air emanating from the inside of a small artisan leather goods shop. Just outside, dusty clay pots filled with soil and dry Mediterranean vegetation baking in the beating midday summer sun. The dried herbal greens contrast the rich browns and beige stone wonderfully, but it is outrageously potent. This is truly one of the most impressively transportive scents I’ve ever across, never have I encountered something which so accurately depicts the smell so associated with hot days in rural Spanish towns. Despite my bewilderment however, I have a hard time believing I would actually wear it.

This fragrance was the first contact I had with Olympic Orchids Artisan Perfumes and I must confess that this one is very different from all other I have in my collection, it does not mean that it is bad, it is a classic and complex leather well done fragrance. It is a mix of os notes very difficult to understand due to its complexity, opening with a very dry and different smoke leather accord and patchouli that keeps strong for such a good time. In the drydown everything turns comfortably soapy and a green and floral notes appears to let the fragrance a little bit creamy. It is not an easy fragrance for those who is not familiar with real Spanish leather fragrance.

Very nice leathery/clay/vetiver opening. The leathery facet tones down quite fast to leave only a vegetal felling, with a hint of saltiness, probably because of the vetiver. Until then, I was not sold. That said, the base shows a stunning hay note, and coupled with the vetiver, reminds me vaguely of CR Relief and LC Larrea... Full bottle worthy? Not sure, as the green notes might be a bit too 'watery' for my taste (supposedly seaweed), and I wish there would be a bit more depth, but the jury is still out to make a decision.... just a big like for now.

Leathery, earthy. Salamanca almost has a "sweaty" smell to it. I think it's the immortelle, clay and seaweed adding a sweet/salty tone. If you are seeking a leather fragrance that evokes memories of a horse farm, this would be a good choice. It's not just the tanned leather though, it's soiled hay + hot breath. I don't dislike it or find it offensive in any way. It simply does not move me.

I understand the inspiration behind this scent but to me it's cowboy outlaw scent like Red Dead Redemption. Late 1800s. Dry grasses and equally dry leather heated up by the midday sun; dusty road leading to a town being industrialized. It's such a strong association, I cannot shake it. It's not a scent I personally would wear but it is so well done and it's one of a kind.