Cosmology Testament Collection 2020

...from another star, the second fragrance from the house of Testament London, which I, thanks to Modesty, get to test.
Maybe it is not intended, not made for terrestrial noses at all.
Perhaps "Cosmology" turns to entirely different spheres, fundamentally different from ours, whose inhabitants dress differently, eat differently, move differently, and probably also smell differently than we do.
Maybe.
Only Mr. Matos, Miguel Matos, the creative nose of the company, which is still young and ambitious and first appeared on my radar last summer with "Longevity," knows for sure.
And it turned my head a bit, because "Longevity" is a paragon of sympathy, a luscious, sensual lure that was a pleasure to wear and test.
I was sure that "Cosmology" would be no different - anticipating further delights, I first spritzed it on my skin in late autumn...

...and felt catapulted back to 2013, to my encounter with the terrible orchid, with which Josh Meyer indelibly burned himself and the Imaginary Authors into my memory.
Although the pyramids show little in common, "Cosmology" and "L'Orchidée Terrible" seem to be siblings in spirit - in the spirit of the cellar, to be precise.
Here and there, indistinct aldehydes dominate, not quite fresh floral and fruity notes - similar to those in Tom Ford's "Black Orchid" - and a rather unpleasant alcoholic base, which, unlike in "Longevity," does not leave a pleasurable impression but reminds me of the cellar spirits of the Meyers.
These are not pleasant associations, and to dispel them, I have repeatedly tested it over months, hoping to gain more enjoyable images and impressions, ultimately to draw a more positive conclusion.
Unfortunately - and I truly mean unfortunately! - our encounters always followed the same pattern, sometimes more aldehydic, sometimes slightly fruitier, yet always sadly ending in my memories of petty bourgeois drinking parties in the 1970s of the last century.
This must have caused misunderstandings more often than not, just as "L'Orchidée Terrible" did to me many years ago - here and there, some noses wrinkled, an embrace was shorter, a probing look longer, two- and four-legged housemates kept a dutiful distance, and my overall feeling was generally not so great.
Oh dear.
And once again: oh dear.

I almost feel sorry for the little "Cosmology," especially since it seems, as I see, that it does not have many friends.
Yet surely, the good Señor Matos had something in mind with its creation, the apparently so misunderstood one.
Just the naming alone shows thoughtful planning - and so the circle closes for me: Perhaps the perfumer is far ahead of us, and has his gaze set on infinite expanses, on untapped markets that lie far, far in the future or simply in another galaxy.
There, where "Cosmology" will celebrate resounding triumphs, someday, perhaps even tomorrow.
Who knows...?