Air, Sea, Land - The ASL series aims to cover the classic "elements," although it forgets about fire, but with 4 bottles, it wouldn't have worked so well with the Mercedes star anyway.
Considering the thematic template,
Land would certainly have been the easiest olfactory representation to implement. Earthy notes have existed for decades, if not centuries, and a bit of green here and wood there would have surely completed the conceptual basis. Surprisingly, however, Land is the scent that most closely dedicates itself to its theme in a nearly niche manner (don’t worry or get false hopes: ultimately, it is still a designer). Instead of classically blending patchouli and vetiver with resins (labdanum, styrax) and the darkest woods (guaiac), it opts for a softly powdery iris (little root, much lipstick), balsamic-woody fir, light freshness from geranium and rosemary, along with spicy pepper and a touch of patch for the aromatic-earthy aspect.
So, is it land under? No, the scent stands on its own even when it doesn't quite meet expectations.
A minimal sweetness is realized through tonka bean, while the actually subtle cocoa nicely rounds off much in the background, taking the unpleasant edge off the synthetic rosemary and preventing the woodiness from drying out. Without it and the geranium, Land would likely have become more niche, but in the designer sector, you need gently binding elements to ensure sufficient mass appeal. That doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing; sometimes it’s just nice to smell socially acceptable. And as Käse has already written in their statement: Land is quite unisex.
In terms of price, however, the country egg could have done a bit more. Solid sillage, lasting about 2½ hours - that’s okay. But only 4 to 5 hours until it’s close to the skin? More is needed there. That affects the price-performance ratio.
Land is somewhat different from the usual iris representatives (very distant similarity to
Dior Homme Original (2011) Eau de Toilette) and only partially touches on the theme, but convinces me precisely because it is not too ordinary, yet still typically designer everyday wearable.
Iris
Balsam fir
Patchouli
Rosemary
Tonka bean
Black pepper
Cocoa shell
Geranium
Stulle
Käse
Chnokfir
Talulzius
Bizzl
