Scent Descriptions · 10
Om Parfums
The Olfaction of Om
00
Introduction
Om Parfums is one of those houses that I have massive respect for. Here are several reasons:
- It is run by an independent woman, Aichi Liu, who manages everything from the page, to the packaging, to the perfumery of the fragrances.
- The fragrances are phenomenal. They are complex, they are unique, they are well thought out, and some of the best from my recent discoveries.
- The perfumes and their stories or inspirations match up really well. This is not one of those houses that will say something about what a perfume’s artistic image is, and then go in a completely different direction when it comes to the actual execution.
- The ingredients are good, and the person is mindful about ethical sourcing of perfume; something that is an honorable attribute.
The one thing I have not added here is any comment about the vision or motif itself; because I feel that despite reading a few introductory sentences on the website itself; I could not judge properly whether they are coherent with the executed vision by the house. Until that changes, this paragraph will stay here.
HOWEVER, I AM NOT A COWARD AND I DID TRY TO UNDERSTAND. HERE IS WHAT I FOUND:
What I found
So Om is the Romanized version of ॐ/โอม, which is a symbol with involvement in Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism (an Indian religion that teaches enlightenment through pacifism towards all living things). It is polysemous (having more than one association linked to it), and is attributed to things like consciousness, Atman (the true, complete and innominate self) and Brahman (the nameless everything in the perceivable universe).
My Interpretation of Atman and Brahman
Atman is the complete you, and the everything that exists as nameless and separate from any categorization of identification (such that with reference to Freud, the Atman would not be the Id, Ego or Superego, rather the diffuse combination of all of them, but none by their own definition).
If you were to try and describe a friend or a parent as “kind”, but realized that the word “kind” can only transmit so much of the meaning, and is linguistically restricted to convey an objective truth that has no qualitative nor quantitative emphasis, then that is the reason you cannot define the Atman. Applying this concept to you, there is no word nor combination of words that would ever come close to holistically describe what you wholly are and the perception of that concept is what Atman is.
The aforementioned description applied on the scale of the universe and everything across all time is the Brahman. It is the nameless and nondescript everything.
In Hinduism, the personal ideological merging of the Atman and the Brahman is enlightenment.
It is also the sonic iteration of the divine, and is what is frequently used in association with it; such as in meditation and before reading sacred texts.
From this, the way I see it is that these perfumes are attempts of physically conveying that which is associated with the verbal iteration of Om, while parallel with the concepts of Atman and Brahman too. They convey the self and the universe through the exploration of the self. It is introspective and expansive in that sense.
As the website wrote; “scents retain their flaws, the passing of time, the evidence of the hand that made them. [...] Nothing is corrected. Nothing is rushed.”
and now that the exploration of the house’s concept was explored, I would like to add:
- The vision and motif of the house (if correctly understood) as a whole is incredible, and very well thought out, and there is a very clear connect between the house as a body of work with each individual perfume within it. 10/10.
One comment I have though is that the font used on the OM Parfums website is absolutely atrocious. Sorry, but I had to copy and paste the text into word for it to be legible. 0/10, nearly had a stroke.
Finally, at the time of writing, I have smelled all of these but briefly, and time only permitted me to write about one sentence about each of them (with the exception of Draco and Nymphea Caerulea, which have gotten more attention, but certainly not enough); and I chose to create a house page for them because I know they are a house I intend to revisit in the future, and properly take my time with all of their fragrances. They were phenomenal, and I am very very excited.
01 Nymphaea Caerulea
This is my favorite from the house at the time of writing. it is an incredible fragrance.
Top
Smells like lotus flowers and water lilies! it is a wonderful and gentle smell. I feel this is comparable to Ella K’s Pluie Sur Ha Long; but where Ella K went for the very simple and watercolour-like iteration of a scene with water flowers, this one captures it so well it is almost scary: it is airy and water, but has an undeniable undertone of complexity that foreshadows how it develops in the mid and dry down. Ella K has a watery lily fragrance that is vain in essence; but Om made a masterpiece of that DNA.
It smells exactly like a lake with lilies and lotuses and all the other flowers on such bodies of water that I cannot name; BUT IT DOESNT STOP THERE, because it also conveys the events happening on the shore of this body of water: the habitation and the people, the traces of life of the plants and animals alike.
Mid
Here, it turns a little incense-y, with labdanum and maybe frankincense. It feels lighter though, and greener too. I honestly adore how it went in both directions, deep and bright, by expanding on the complex facets of this fragrance whilst simultaneously maintaining the lovable watery and airy top parts of this fragrance.
There is some oud, which is gentle and very well blended. It also adopted a little powdery character which turns more and more aromatic with time (SOMEHOW now impeding the airy/watery facets).
There is a distinct absence of ambrocinide, which is also plus points for Om Parfums. That is way overdone now.
Dry Down
Unfortunately, the strip was mixed with another containing Aetherialism, and there is no recovery. Next time I smell this I will update the description and do it justice.
02 Lust
I REALLLY need more time with this one.
03 Burnana
Fresh smoke, incredibly unique. has banana and tomato leaf accords. Smells what a spark looks like up close.
04 Cannabis Café
Smells exactly how it sounds. Really well moderated, and not overwhelming in any of either of the two titular facets. Smells quite realistically of a table where you have cannabis and coffee beans spilled on it.
05 Dark Night of the Soul
A lot of oud which gives it a chocolate-y smell. This is very very high quality and smells great.
06 This Too Shall Pass
This is sweet, minty and fruity. It develops with yellow florals and coconut into a one of a kind tropical fragrance. This is one fragrance is truly one of a kind. Never smelled anything like it before. 10/10
07 When the Linden Blooms
Very floral; least unique of the house, but still MASSIVELY impressive, well done and good. There are tea facets, peaches(?), jasmine and something yellow that I cannot quite place my finger on. It is one of my favorites from this house. 10/10
08 Oud de Pasión
best iteration of Maracuja and oud i have smelled to date. It makes Oud maracuja laughable honestly.
09 Smoke Oud
Smoke and Oud (surprise surprise). it is done well, and is palpable most of all, which is the surprising thing. When dealing with two overwhelming notes such as smoke and oud, most fragrances fail by trying to make both or either of them stand out, which more often than not results in both of them fighting for center stage and the perfume smelling like a blending mess. In this case, the blending blends them spectacularly.
I would like to emphasize again that I have only smelled these briefly, and no text here will justify these fragrances, as they are way way WAY more nuanced than anything here gives them credit for. I intend to fix that in the future.
Not smelled yet: Aftermath, Babylon, Bee Oud, Berlin Underground, Bloodnana, Cacao Mania, Concubine, Envy, Frei, Ginga, Gluttony, Greed, King of Summerisle, Kreuzberg, LAMB, Mary Jane, Mate-O, Memento Mori, Ode to You, Ostalgie, Oudy Gluttony, Pride, Sea of Flames, Sloth, Winter Pride and Wrath.
From omparfumfragrances.com and Parfumo