Opoponax

Impérial Opoponax

Les Néréides

When I started with perfumes, and that is many years ago, among the general impression of a scent I also paid attention to the notes. My favorite scent at that time, Shalimar, had among its base notes the ingredient "opoponax". Opoponax (or Oppoponax) ... what is this, I asked myself. Fast forward several decades and that name came up again and again in a perfume discussion group, as the label Les Nereides "Imperial Oppoponax" and mainly because of its medicinal smell. Alright, I said, if I like it so much in the base notes of my favorite scents ... now what would the ingredient in almost pure form smell like?

A 5 ml decant from The Perfumed Court was the first attempt to shed light on the matter. It was a simple roll-on. At first, there was nothing special except a huge waft of vanilla. On that day, after having generously applied the roll-on on my neck and arms, I ran to the Bank in the deepest Winter weather. Inside, as I leaned over the table to fill out papers, my nose picked up this very enticing scent. Who, what ... smells so good here? None other than myself, as I could sniff my arm while the warm air inside the Bank had magnified the scent after the cold Winter air. There was definitely that medicinal note, nothing really wrong with it, rather an interesting note with balsamic warmth. Comfortable and cozy, let's relax in front of a fire place, if only in fantasy.

OK, fine, I forgot about that little roll-on after a while and just by hazard, applied a little before grocery shopping, like a go-to scent one would grab without any particular plan. As compliments were extended while I was waiting in line before the check-out counter, there must have been something right about that scent after all.

Sometimes others can lead you to a good scent.

Technically speaking, this is a soft scent, round, warm, with a slight medicinal touch which is rather comforting instead of off-putting or demanding. This is a little master piece of a regular perfume which does not aim for more than simplicity.

The name of this perfume drove me, as a bloodhund is driven by its flair on the right track of the prey. The unfolding is gorgeous.
Wet soil-velvet.

Ground, sweet myrrh, fresh and spicy benzoin. I really like this stage, if it would be a bus stop, I could wait there with such wide smile as Totoro! Later on vanilla overswell the other notes, and the final result is a unified, exaggeratedly sweet base with a light bitter almond cap, as the clouds swim above a mountain. I could compare it to marzipan aroma.

Half hour after the almost-unisex introduction it gets almost unwearable for gentlemen.
It lasts 6-7 hours on my skin, sillage is sufficient, much stronger then a skin-scent.

Some reviewers have compared The People of the Labyrinths LUCTOR ET EMERGO to Les Néréides OPOPONAX, of which I was recently sent a sample by the generous SystemeD, so I decided to give it a whirl. I guess that I'm confused by the comparison. No cherries; no almonds. I also smell no lavender (as jtd reports, below). So what do I smell?

Something golden and ambery. In this case, it seems like a cross between an orthodox labdanum amber and an ambergris. The labdanum, if present, is light. The ambergris, if present, is light. A couple of reviewers have referenced Calvin Klein Obsession, and there is no doubt some overlap in the golden brown notes, but OPOPONAX serves them up in a mild enough dose that by the drydown this perfume feels like a skin scent. It's warm and simple and golden. Much simpler than Yves Rocher VOILE D'AMBRE, to which others have compared this composition.

I guess that people are perceiving overlaps, and there are between all of these various creations, but OPOPONAX is its own perfume, not a copy or a flanker of anything else. I would characterize this as a lighter oriental scent without going so far as to fall into the recently invented genre of thin (watery) oriental fragrances, which I myself do not really like. No, this one still seems fat-soluble, but the golden layer applies as a very thin patina over the skin.

Many people like this perfume, so I know I’m swimming upstream here, but this is one unappealing perfume. I think it strives for harmony, but winds up feeling like motion-sickness. Lavender and amber are like their own one-material harmonies. They generally form pleasing accords so easily. And opoponax is one of the more appealing botanicals, rich but jagged, strikingly handsome.

Combined in this perfume, they form a cloying mix that sticks to the back of my throat like sick. Reminds me that individually beautiful elements can be used to make a mess.

Imperial Opoponax with the cherubs, if you please, the scent of angels! The bergamot, orange and lemon peel fanfare seamlessly transition into a crescendo of the fabled opoponax resin: an exudate from the Commiphora eyrthraea tree, this resin has sensuous warmth, a sweetness of toffee contrasted with bitter, leafy herbal undertones, powdery, efflulgent, yet rich, mythic. It is believed that King Solomon regarded opoponax as ‘the noblest of incense gums’.

Here, the opononax has support from benzoin, labdanum, sandalwood, all enhancing the facets of the resin with their shared qualities, all in congress to help exalt the king's resin. Naturally, there is an old world quality that might betray modern sensibilities, but this is what I live for, a retreat, some time to be under the spell of scent, musing over all the rituals, worship, sorrows and joy that accompanied the burning of this incense gum, this opoponax, that has magic much as the holy resins of myrrh and frankincense.