You are surely familiar with that feeling when somebody just mentions a song (or says just one word), and you instantly hear this song in your head, playing on repeat, sticking around for hours, if not days while you catch yourself humming it? What does Royal Blue smell like to you?

This happened to me while I was talking with Olentia Nasus…That old Synth-Pop song Voyage Voyage (Desireless) just kept echoing in my thoughts, left me singing every now and then: „Voyage, voyage, vole dans les hauteurs…voyage, voyage, et jamais ne revient.“ Later on, I thought: how appropriate – Olentia Nasus is, in a way, all about – a voyage.

Olentia Nasus Natural Perfume

This is a new artisan brand in making, coming from Sweden where Carlos-Ivan – owner and self-taught perfumer (born in Mexico City) lives since 2003. He came to Sweden working as an actor and performing with his own pantomime show, playing some music and juggling – this was just an introduction to his fragrant voyage, brewing inside of him.

Olentia Nasus in his lab

In 2013 he was watching Alessandro Gualteri’s documentary – “The NoseSearching for Blamage“, and somewhere in the middle of the movie something just clicked: he realized that all he wanted is to become an artisan perfumer, making perfumes his way – natural, gender-free, vegan, translating his thoughts, fantasies, dreams, and giving them an olfactory shape.

Abandoning all the rules and designing perfume as an art, however disruptive the process might be, was something that inspired him.

Olentia Nasus was born, meaning „fragrant nose“ in Latin, and his fragrant voyage started…

Perfume in making

The next part of this voyage is yet to begin, after many trials and errors, learning and failing, starting all over again, mixing, filtering, and macerating: Olentia Nasus is planning to launch the first fragrance next Spring, named Royal Blue.

There’s a lot to be done yet: sourcing bottles, paperwork, applying to databases, complying with Swedish regulations…but hey! I received a small sample of pre-production Royal Blue made just for me, and I’m more than happy to give you a sneak-peek preview!

Royal Blue

Royal Blue (what does this color smell like to you?) is about – a voyage. Open space. Far away places. A call to travel. Which came to me just at the right moment, as I am about to leave for my vacation road trip… Voyage, voyage. Reminding me of how much I love to travel!

Upon spraying it on my skin, a burst of invigorating freshness, very brief (oh I wish this could last longer!) and mouthwatering. A fully ripe watermelon – so ripe that it smells spicy -burst open, juices trickling!

This reminded me of my summer holidays spent in my grandmother’s lush, opulent garden: she would get up early in the morning on Saturdays to go to the open market, bringing home a big watermelon for me – all by herself. She would then cut it open, remove the pits, cut it into cubes, and keep it cold in a big white, heavy ceramic bowl.

I loved to sit in the garden on a picnic blanket under a plum tree, and she would bring me this afternoon snack, serving it together with a small fork wrapped into a white linen napkin. I ate cold melon cubes with my hands, wiping them on my dress. I smelled of watermelon, so what! Wasps and ants liked that, I remember chasing them away.

I also feel the smell of fresh hay coming from the fields at the far end of this garden, with green leaves of anise and a couple of lilac lavender blossoms swaying in the wind, feeling like bitter-sweet homemade honey with pieces of honeycomb still in it.

The fragrance shifts, turning golden brown: like ripe tobacco leaves in sunshine, smelling crispy dry like white wood with patchouli undertones.

It later becomes thick, creamy, and resinous: I like its drydown, lingering on my skin for hours. It’s woody-musty-dry and even a bit leathery-smoky, with a touch of most gentle, bright vanilla – just ambery warm, soft and cuddly, like my old picnic blanket.

Royal Blue is a nicely blended fragrance with an interesting composition, contrasts, and structure. Natural. Soft Oriental. Eau du Parfum. Gender-neutral.

Notes: Watermelon, Pink Pepper, Orange flower, Hay, Anise, Vetiver, Tonka, Tobacco Virginia, Patchouli, Labdanum, Vanilla, Cocoa. (my interpretation, not the complete or official list of notes). Longevity and projection moderate: note that I used 1ml of a sample very sparingly on my skin. It’s natural, let it breathe, test before you buy. Expected Royal Blue launch time: Spring 2020.

Keep an eye on Olentia Nasus. His web site isn’t functional yet, you can look him up on Instagram: olentianasus. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for him, hoping his dream comes true!

The Plum Girl
Elena Cvjetkovic
Photos: The Plum Girl, Olentia Nasus
The sample of Royal Blue was graciously provided by Olentia Nasus, opinions of my own.
Disclaimer

4 Comments

  1. Just a question; For 375 Euro/50 ml, who do you expect the avarage buyer of this product will be? Is there really a market for perfumes like this one?

    • Price is determined by what (1) a buyer is willing to pay, (2) a seller is willing to accept, and (3) what the competition is allowing to be charged.
      There are four key pricing strategies, namely premium pricing, penetration pricing, economy pricing, and price skimming.
      With perfumes, perception of value that makes the product worth the higher price – is subjective, and yes, there is a market for premium priced goods…or not, if the targeted buyers decide so. Everything in the world is relative…

  2. Yes, I am aware of that, still I wonder how a perfume of this type could compete with others in the same pricerange sold by well known brands?

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