Nasomatto - Black Afgano

Hard To Get

What is it about something that's hard to get that makes you want it more?

Nasomatto has a line of perfumes some of which are cheekily built around the idea of narcotics. Perfumes in the line have names like Hindu Grass, China White and Absinth. Black Afgano "aims to evoke the best qualities of hashish" and "arouse the effects of temporary bliss."

If you're afraid that you're going to attract dogs in the airport, don't worry. It's not the smell of hashish that Nasomatto is trying for, but the idea of it.

Black Afgano smells dry, dark and herbal and a little sweet. It's very strong when first sprayed, with big sillage for a little while, but there's some interesting development close to the skin. The main notes are dry grasses, earth and dark wood with some incense smoke and a hint of spice. As I wear it I keep thinking I smell something sweet around me but when I check my wrist it's still that strong wood, herbs and smoke. It's not until much later, when the strong top notes have faded enough, that I can detect the sweetness on my skin, a little sticky and slightly vanilla, like smelling vanilla cake.

A bit of a mystique has grown up around Black Afgano. It is notoriously hard to get. The rumour is that because of the difficulty of acquiring its main ingredient, that only a few bottles are made at a time. This may be true, but it's also possible that the restriction on availability is deliberate. If it is a marketing ploy to make Black Afgano unattainable and therefore more attractive, it's totally working. My local shop, Noor, was able to get 6 bottles and they were all sold immediately. They may be ordering more. I'm thinking about it.

I'm not even blown away by the perfume, but I find myself wanting a bottle because it's rare. I also like the Nasomatto line in general; they are all high quality scents and they're perfume extrait strength. I previously reviewed* Nuda, which is a very good jasmine. And I covet the bottles. They are so pretty.

So what do you think? Have you ever purchased a perfume just because it was rare or hard to get?

House: Nasomatto
Nose: Alessandro Gualtieri
Notes: hashish

*BTW: In my Nuda review, I complained about the Nasomatto website. It's much improved.

Perfume Meetup Recap

With a little help from my friends

Sunday was the perfume meetup at Noor, and it was fun. Fred and Nahla, the owners, were lovely hosts as usual. There were tons of people there, and lots of samples and new perfumes to sniff.

I was struck by the beauty of Stephen Jones from Comme des Garcons. Jones describes it as a "violet that's been hit by a meteorite." Odd description but a pretty perfume. Fred made me a sample and I'll probably review it later.

Kay from Perfumeniche let me smell her samples of Andy Tauer's new Pentachords, Auburn, Verdant and White. My first thoughts were: I like Auburn and recognize the orange topnotes and Taueresque basenotes; I did not like the opening of Verdant at all, too much like lettuces and I hate lettuces, but the drydown was better; and White struck me as the greatest departure for Tauer from his usual, but now I can't remember what it smelled like at all.

Ann from www.thespatravellersdiary.com was there and told me all about the Sniffapalooza in New York and let me smell some of the samples she got there. I'm jealous; maybe someday I'll get to go.

Kim Pittaway, another vintage fan like me, brought me a sample pack of some of her new vintage finds! I can't wait to try them.

There were many more people there, I hope I'm not snubbing anyone, but too many to list. I didn't buy any perfume this round, but who knows... That Stephen Jones sample is calling me and I can't get those new Nasomatto perfumes Noor has out of my head, especially the Narcotic Venus, a spicy tuberose and jasmine with real Va-Voom.

Thanks to MasterClasster from Basenotes for organizing!

Nasomatto - Nuda

A jasmine manifesto

First the rant: The Nasomatto website is a perfect example of all that I find annoying in perfume web sites. It has music I can't turn off. The whole thing is Flash. When I choose one section, there is no way to go back to a previous one and the text is the kind of flowery, poetic "manifesto" that sounds like it was written in Italian, translated to Japanese and then translated to English.

OK, rant done, I feel better now. Wait, I forgot to mention, there is nothing on the Nasomatto web site about their new perfume Nuda, so I can't tell you the official notes and the site only mentions the perfumer by his first name "Allesandro." From Fragrantica, I find that his name is Alessandro Gualtieri, but the only note revealed in Nuda is jasmine.

I wish I could say I knew the smell of live jasmine intimately, but I live in jasmine-deprived Canada. I've fallen in love with jasmine from soliflores like Montale Jasmine Full and By Kilian Love and Tears, Surrender and Opus Oils Jitterbug. Nuda is another perfume that explores the different facets of this gorgeous flower. Nuda is simply jasmine,  intoxicating and romantic from top to bottom. 

Nuda starts with the gasoline rush of pure jasmine: that part-flower, part-fuel scent. As that fades, it becomes a more conventional, sweetly narcotic jasmine. It's a little innocent and  a little sexy at the same time. Staying close to the skin, Nuda is a jasmine to wear for yourself or for lovers.

Pretty though it is, I feel like something is missing in Nuda. Jasmine Full has the sweet orange blossom and honeysuckle to round out it's jasmine; Love and Tears has a green stems note to add to its spring flowers feel. I've read that Nuda was intended by be very "animalic" but it's not on me. The dirty indoles of Jitterbug have been mostly stripped from Nuda, leaving it clean and fresh but just... pretty, and just jasmine.

Still, Nuda is a very good jasmine. If you are a jasmine fan like me, you should give it a sniff. Unfortunately, Nuda doesn't last all that long and the lack of any discernible basenotes, like a musk or wood, means that once the jasmine has faded there's nothing left but sweet dreams.

House: Nasomatto
Nose: Alessandro Gualtieri
Notes: jasmine

Image: Amedeo Modigliani,  Nu féminin, 1918