Very wearable - but don’t expect rough, dark, sea ambergris.
I really love Anomalous’s storytelling, though it can be a bit misleading at times.
For this one, it pushes the imagination toward something abyssal, oceanic, dark, salt-wet, animalic: “the edge of an abyss”, “the ocean’s first pull”, “briny sea moss”, “the ancient stillness inside the whale’s belly”...
As an ambergris fanboy, the story made me expect the darker side of ambergris — think young ambergris tincture: salty, ozonic, seaweed-like, animalic, rougher, sharper.
But this fragrance is actually very smooth, wearable, sweet, warm, vanillic, even honeyed, I would say.
If ambergris, then imagine a very old, long-aged ambergris tincture that has turned more warm, soft, much less animalic, and round - then add a good amount of sweet notes, vanilla, amber, and wood. Yes, there are some ozonic and slight aquatic touches in the opening, though much less than I expected from the perfume’s story.
In the drydown, it pretty much continues its course: sweet, vanillic, benzoic, and woody.
Still a very nice perfume, but approach it better without its story in mind ;-)
Not for the ambergris addict who is looking for the raw, untamed sea.
Seva had to grow on me, but now I love it!
Where I live, you find geranium quite often, and I have always found the smell quite challenging. Just brushing the leaves lightly can release a strong, often metallic scent.
Seva has this strong green, metallic, bitter rose / rose-geranium accord (not plush rose at all). It put me off at first, but somehow I kept being drawn back to it. It is the way it is embedded in the composition as a whole. It is set into something resinous, woody, and warm, which makes it feel oddly grounding and clearing rather than harsh. To me, it has something of crushed stems and leaves, but softened by a resinous warmth underneath.
As it progresses, the dominant green rose-geranium facet steps back a bit and more of the warm tones - resin, sandalwood, frankincense - come forward.
To me, it is one of Sìuno’s longest-lasting perfumes, and quite long-lasting for an all-natural one. All through the wear, it has something very grounding about it.
Two Different Stories
With Hold My Pipe, dosage makes a big difference.
At one or two sprays, I get a lighter, more playful side: sweetish, fruity, perhaps even slightly floral tobacco, with some warm wood and smoke in the background.
Created as a tribute to Sherlock Holmes, it does not feel like a heavy tobacco fragrance to me in that dosage, but rather a playful one. It always gives me the image of the usually serious Sherlock Holmes saying “Hold my pipe” before doing something crazy - in the spirit of “Hold my beer.”
At three sprays or more, it becomes heavier, smokier, and much more atmospheric. It really turns into a Sherlock Holmes-like atmosphere in scent form. Very fitting for the story behind the fragrance: peat from the Grimpen Mire, smoke from Baskerville Hall’s fireplace, Lestrade’s still-smoking gun, the fruity tobacco blend from Sherlock’s pipe, plus sweet opium fumes, Tokay wine, and spices.
In that form, it feels exactly like the fragrance was intended to: a dark Victorian detective scene in perfume form - smoky, atmospheric, tobacco-rich, slightly eerie, and very story-driven.
Beautiful green-leaning rose oud fragrance
Mandarin and blackcurrant over elegant earthy tones in the opening. The high quality materials are noticeable right from the start. Then rose with that camphoric lift typical for some ouds. Very much to my enjoyment, this is not a plush rose, but more a geranium / green rose style. It settles into a long green-rose oud finish with some incense in the mix. Very beautiful.
Amazing Ambergris ride
Very different on arm / dry skin vs. chest / under clothes — and both are amazing wears.
On arm or dry skin, this goes much more salty, wild, animalic, dry and textured. It really reminds me of a raw, untamed sea - crushing waves, deafening roar, salty air. Rugged, raw, beautiful. What a material!
On chest or under clothes, it turns much warmer and rounder. The opening is especially beautiful, with bitter almond and dark berries. From there it becomes a fruity-animalic, dry-leaning scent with green rose, oud, earthy patchouli / vetiver and unmistakable ambergris running all the way through. Amazing fragrance!
