Ummo

I'm not a tobacco lover, but I find Ummo to be a beautiful perfume. The opening has a fresh (green) hay and tobacco flower smell, which reminds me a lot of Versace's "The Dreamer." The opening is unusually soft and airy (as opposed to punchy or attention grabbing) with a subtle, nectary sweetness. In the heart, Ummo becomes more intense, and the primary note to my nose is a very realistic, golden honey. Though it is mildly sweet in the heart, it reminds me of the actual taste of honey - dusty, waxy, and slightly medicinal. I also get dried herbs here, and a bitter astringency. The brand lists styrax, which could be either liquidambar tree (which is what fragrantica says) or benzoin. With the power of that suggestion though, I think back to the brown, earthy, dry sticky smell of the seed pods of the liquidambar trees from my childhood. (You may know them as gumballs or spike balls.) The base is a mellow warm, dusty woody fragrance with light levels of sweetness.

I recently tried this in store and in their display (the English portion) said it had Styrax, but in the Spanish portion it listed something else, I wish I could remember what it was! I think this brand is overpriced, but if I was to treat myself to a Xinú it would be this one. It was sexy, sultry and deep. Although they don't list any Oud, It reminded me of Oud Wood from Tom Ford, with more subtle sweetness and complexity. Also important to note, the honey note in this is the smell of Mexican honey products, which is my favorite interpretation of honey! Not the overly sweet and cloying honey scents we get in popular perfumes. If you've ever bought artisanal honey products from Mexico, that's what the honey in this smells like, I love it!

I've been waiting for Fragrantica to add this one: Ummo is utterly sublime. I don't know what sorcery this is, but Rodrigo Flores-Roux has managed to make an all-weather tobacco fragrance. I've had to ration my 50ml bottle over the past year, but Ummo truly sings in all weather: even the muggiest summer day. Is it the tobacco flowers? Somebody help me! All of the XINÚ fragrances are excellent, but to me, Ummo, Monstera, and Oronardo are in a league of their own. I would literally bathe in Ummo were it not for the price, so if anyone knows of anything even remotely comparable at a lower price point, PLEASE PLEASE message me, as my wallet can't keep up with my nose here...

got this as a birthday gift for myself when I was in Mexico City, its such a beautiful tobacco perfume that dries down very sweet on me (similar to Le Labo's Tabac) but I feel this is more complex than tabac. there's a scent I'm picking up that my untrained nose smells and I wish I could explain what it is but its yummy. Of all the perfumes I smelled in the Xinu store, this one was my favorite!

Ummo is... amazing. I barely even care about the opening or the so-called tobacco (... and I adore tobacco) and just love how a few drops on my pulse points transforms into natural, warm, resinous, dark, expansive magic with the barest trace of sweetness. It's like embers and those orange-red sparks that fly from the hearth... and it LASTS. An instant mood-lifter.