O’Driu Sea Angel
Written by: Henrique Perrella
If perfumery can be considered an art, and in many instances, it is in fact, I would say that Angelo Orazio Pregoni is a good example of expressionism in perfumery.
There is a certain subversion in the way Angelo conceives his creations that can be lost if you do not consider them as a whole. However, the deformation of known ideas, the use of aromatic saturation to create the vibrant effect of colors, and a certain refusal to follow technical learning, opting for its sensitivity makes me think of how O’Drius perfumes could be a case study of this movement in contemporary perfumery.
It is possible to see with some caution and skepticism when the creator says that when launching Sea Angel his objective is to use his irreverence and provocative style to propose a different marine perfume, bold and that flee from the banality of the aquatic creations.
It is a description that indeed fits perfectly with the scent on the skin, but in my opinion, it is clearer to see Sea Angel as the expressionist vision of Angelo in relation to the Ocean and what a marine scent could be.
The keyword here is marine and not aquatic, as Sea Angel has nothing of an oceanic freshness that dominated the perfumery from the ’90s onwards.
The expectation here would be more for something animalic,, moist, and herbaceous, something that is possible by the use of seaweed absolute, a raw material with an unusual aromatic profile and perfect for more artistic exploration.
As promised, Sea Angel really amazes at the first few minutes on the skin, mainly by the humid, green, saline, and animalic scent of algae. It’s a sight of a more aggressive, even intimidating ocean, waters that seem to swallow whoever dares enter their domains.
However, there are many simultaneous layers in Sea Angel and it is curious that at the same time there is a functional aspect going on in the background, something that, I interpret, could be a criticism of aquatic perfumes.
Coupled with this intimidating impression there is a scent that immediately reminds me of a soft, delicate foam of powdered soap, a vivid contrast between animalish and clean on the skin.
And then, Sea Angel begins to turn into a saturation of spices, spicy aldehydes, flowers, and woods. Are we perhaps on a ship at sea, with the perspective of the ocean being seen from a storm? In a moment where everything seems to collapse while resisting? It is difficult to know, as there is a collision of the notes cited with fruity apple touches and a fuzzy floral scent that gives almost a vintage vibe to something that could be a CDG perfume at these moments (and that refers a lot to certain parts of the classic CDG2 Man).
The final moment of Sea Angel is perhaps its most commercial point, even more, seen in the masculine perfumery. But it is not surprising, since it is clear that Angelo knows the rules of classic and modern perfumery, only uses them when he is interested in achieving his goals.
After the storm of notes, Sea Angel accents on a dry woody scent that makes moderate use of the potent amber molecules that give a very dry and almost tobacco smell to many perfumes out there. In my preview of how I imagined Sea Angel would be, I predict that this could be a schizophrenic Angel in his behavior and indeed he is, oscillating between old and modern, daring and commercial, colliding various nuances and then soothing in the skin.
Perhaps it is not a perfume that fully reflects Angelo but is a creation that is certainly among his best and most controversial
Photo by: Henrique Perrella, (sample of Sea Angel), O’Driu official site.
Henrique Perrella is a data scientist who has been passionate about perfumery since childhood. Collecting perfumes since he was 17 years old, he developed his olfactory perception by constantly reading books and blogs related to the subject and by writing perfumes reviews in his blog PDD – Perfume do Dia, where he tries to know from the most artisanal and exclusive perfumery to the most massified and easy to find.
This post was written as a guest post for The Plum Girl site.
1 Comment
Appreciate this post. Will try it out.