Unda Maris 8 Filippo Sorcinelli 2018

Let's start this review by explaining what "unda maris" referrs to: the "waves of the sea" describe a specific sound of an organ register where one is tuned slightly lower than the other, creating a "wobbly" bass sound. And considering that this is a Sorcinelli fragrance, we can safely assume that we're in church territory!

But that church is by the sea! The wooden doors open abruptly because of the strong winds of the sea nearby - as we sit inside and the incense and myrrhe is burnt, we get a combination of resinous and salty marine notes.
It took me a while to get truly comfortable with tha combination. But after owning the sample for some time now I finally decided to get a full bottle - my search for my "aquatic summer scent" is finally over! This is the one:

Let me draw some comparisons to other perfumes that I've tried, maybe this will paint you a better picture.

Where Megamare mainly stays on the oceans surface, Unda Maris 8 dives below the surface and shows you a bleached coral reef (goddamn climate change!) with sealife in the distance. Around you there's the salty ocean, with some algae and an abandoned landscape. But in this solitude lies warmth and an urge to continue your adventure!

If you got to trythe new Le Sel d'Issey Eau de Parfum and you enjoy that combination of salty and spicy-woody-resinous, then you're in the right territory!

Unda Maris also heavily reminds me of Navis . They have a very similar aquatic feel. But Unda Maris 8 is a bit smoother, smokier, lasts longer and changes over time!

That's the beauty of this perfume:
Multiple levels of the sea in one perfume. From a churchy breeze to a full dive into the deep ocean, only to return back to the shore and have the sun dry you off, leaving a salty layer on your skin. This is what I feel when wearing Unda Maris 8 . It's good!

I also LOVE the packaging and presentation of the perfume. It arrives in a simple but sturdy box and inside is a wooden "etui" for the bottle. Some might call it tacky, but I really like this aesthetic. Open the black wooden block and find an organe register head as the bottle cap: it's really something else. The "extrait de musqiue" has better packaging than the other lines by Sorcinelli, a very cool experience overall.

I hope you enjoyed this lengthy review and I hope I was able to give you a better picture of this perfume :)

This is kind of Marine, I wouldn't call it realistic by any sense but its doing something different than a lot of marines are. The ozonic notes conjure water, and more generously conjure the feeling of ocean spray when a wave crashes. If I was not being generous though, I'd say this was a fragrance trying to call itself marine when it's really just aquatic. The underlying incense smell is intoxicating though, and makes me think of Good Friday mass in a stone church with wet walls.

Unda Maris 8 - @filippo_sorcinelli

Tradition - entrusted to the pen of Antonio Mazza, illustrious member of the Almo Collegio of the Medical School of Salerno (1600) - narrates that in 1453 a work of art was found on a beach in the waters of Salerno, following a shipwreck of a merchant ship that escaped the fall of Constantinople into the hands of the Turks on May 29 of the same year. The same tradition tells that a bricklayer found the table, while he was intent on obtaining sand for his work, he hit the table with a shovel and suddenly he was paralysed, his screams made many people flock, who worked to dig in the sand, until the icon of the Madonna appeared, which was immediately taken to the nearby Church of Sant'Agostino. Every year on August 6, a procession on the sea recalls the landing and the discovery of this ancient panel that the people of Salerno call "The Madonna who comes from the sea".

Unda Maris 8 in my imagination is nothing but the trail that the bilge of the boat releases: the sea water impregnates the wood while the incense released during the procession joins the sea breeze.

like a Shipwreck!

• Top notes: aldehyde, marin notes

• Heart notes: heliotropine, everlasting, salicylate

• Base notes: animalic, gurjum balm, cedar, leather, oakmoss

For me, this is the most conventional fragrance in the Extrait de Musique collection. While the others are significantly darker, this one is really easy to wear and will probably please a white variety of tastes. So, if you’re looking for something pleasant for a sunny day, on the slightly original side but nothing too far out of the ordinary, this one might do the trick. On the other hand, if like me, you were imagining a church like incense à la LAVS with a marine touch à la Nebbia Spessa, you’re probably in for a disappointment.

love it. Twilight. Bitterly cold. Liminal. Saline. The incense celebrates the marriage between the sea and the flora, in a union we call the Mediterranean.

As others have observed before me, you can perceive each individual note in a balance that feels like a symphony. The scent is austere and calm, not at all melancholy—at least to me—but rather almost encouraging, soothing, and full of hope.

Incense has always served as the sidereal vessel of our prayers. Here, the incense changes course and embarks horizontally toward the infinite expanse of water, upon which we pour out our worries, emptying ourselves.
“They just want to be in a place where they have the world behind them, and before them nothing but emptiness.” (Sebald, 2002)

Blue hour. A bay embraced by Mediterranean scrub. A blend of incense drifts toward the water. A thought setting sail.