Onda
by Vero Profumo

Onda Extrait:
I admit the opening is great, the treatment of vetiver most likely splendid and nearly unrivalled, but still, I have a few reservations to make. The mentholated character is getting slightly annoying for my own taste as it does not go away, neither does the smokiness (yes, log fire in a cabin is a very apt association) and neither does the composition 'mellow out' in the drydown. Surprisingly, I find Onda more related to Guerlain's Cuir de Russie (than Djedi), when I had a chance to experience this from a sample that seems fantastically preserved given the jus' age. Cuir de Russie however made immediately clear to me that Onda lacks some counter-balance in its composition... basenotes that gradually introduce themselves and mellow the fragrance for instance. Overall, I am lukewarm. I can see its qualities and achievements, but feel the compositions lacks balance and 'charm'. Maybe too much of a study instead of a perfume to enjoy and allure?

22nd November, 2011.

Saying that Onda EDP is a challenging composition would be like considering Marcel Proust and easy read. Onda is far beyond being just challenging, is weird, destabilizing and unusual but at the same time "cultured". It is built around a solid structure that shows many characteristic of classic perfumery and adds a bizarre, sort of futuristic, accord of passion fruit and vetiver that together with floral pattenrs and ginger gives birth to a strange blend that sits somewhere between a disinfectant, a mass destruction weapon and pure luxury. Overall Onda smells salty/sweet with fresh nuances, flowery with acidic/unripe fruits and definitely sulfurous (urine?). While all of this may sound disencouraging, I still believe that Onda deserves our respect as one of the most intriguing, complex and original compositions around. Onda, more than like a proper fragrance, sounds like a declaration of intent that says "I'm here, and I'm here to stay!".



On the other hand the extrait de parfum is, paradoxically, more familiar. Don't get me wrong, it's still far from being easy to wear or "pretty" but, its chypre-y animalic leather structure brings, somehow, to mind of the beloved Djedi. A loud vetiver-leather concoction that moves on the thin line between glory and precipice, between a luxurious smell and a revolting stink. Earthy, animalic and almost disturbing yet extremely compelling. Onda was definitely an ambitious and risky project just like doing tightrope walking between two skyscrapers. It took some skills and a guts but Vero Kern has successfully managed to walk to the other side. Chapeau.



Two of the most challenging and compelling compositions that I've ever experienced. By all means niche stuff.

24th September, 2011. (Last Edited: 23rd October, 2011.)

Onda Extrait (2007):

A staggering leather chypre. Onda plays the same trick as Gorilla Perfumes' Exhale: push vetiver hard enough and it metamorphoses from green roots to blackest earth. There is ginger up top and oakmoss in the base, with a standing army of sweating daffodils and lilies in the heart that exude a meaty miasma quite unlike anything else. There are also eerie whispers of urinously-potent honey, chlorine disinfectant, wet wool, cigarette stubs, and the smell of rainfall throwing up bacterial spores. It's true I wouldn't want to wear Onda everyday; that would be like hanging an Anselm Kiefer in the dining room. But for occasions when I want to be thrown around a bit, or to provide form for some melancholy, or be invited into the shadows in a fit of undaunted inquiry, this is the scent.


Onda Eau de Parfum (2010):

A case in point of what we knew all along: perfumes can and do differ considerably between one formulation strength and another. In the case of Onda, its Extrait version is a leather chypre, whereas its Eau de Parfum is a borderline fruity floral. Gratefully, Onda's creator, Vero Kern, has been willing to describe these differences:

“The compositions are simplified, replacing the heavy animal notes with the unique scent of Passionfruit, which I love very much and which gives the creations a certain erotic readiness. The Passionfruit is a common thread that connects the three scents [Onda, Kiki, Rubj] while still respecting the original style of the Extraits.”
(January 2010 interview with the Olfactorialist)

So this is not only an alteration of proportions, but also of ingredients. The passionfruit of Onda EdP, nowhere to be seen in the Extrait, is its personality. There is a little vetiver and oakmoss in the base, but truly, bizarrely, this is the smell of passionfruit, with all of its effulgent, sulfurous, perils. To the extent that they're comparable, I prefer the Extrait to the EdP by some distance.

5th April, 2011.

Exotic, evocative, a bit colonialist and divinely rétro. Onda is a weird wave of pungent and animal fruity passion which starts as a punch of disinfectant and bitter smell of urine in order to become one of the strangest flowery-fruity masterpieces of perfumery world. The dry down reminds  to me just a bit Messe de Minuit although less incensed and more earthy and prickly (thanks to the vetiver). Some trails remind to me a lot a sort of more acid and less airy Sel the Vetiver because of the combination of bourbon vetiver, patchouli, fruits, ylang-ylang and spices. Sometimes my olfactory memory goes on some concoction of Nasomatto. Anyway Onda is pretty bold and recognizable. In the alchemy there is a plenty of earthy woods and roots (a starring vetiver, cedarwood and patchouli), citruses, leather, flowers and spices. A role of protagonist is played by the accord between the passion fruit and honey which one, supporter by spices and above all by the "pharmaceutical" ginger, determines that particular pungent, medicinal but equally tasty smell that features the fragrance itself. It's unisex but leaning on the female side. Inside Royal Pavilion an eccentric woman talks about her african glorious memories.

28th November, 2010. (Last Edited: 13rd November, 2011.)

Onda's temperament demands firm handling, for this is one beast of a scent. The first words I wrote when I sprayed the extrait were, "powder, granite, steel," and that sense of powerful oddness remains throughout the fragrance's development. There's a fizz of ginger, a waft of incense, a scattering of spices, a blaze of leather, all of which resolve into a heavy vetivert. The effect is complex and compelling, and if you find the mossy denouement unsubtle, then you've probably missed the whole point of the experience. The eau de parfum may be a safer bet for more delicate souls. It dispenses almost completely with the mosses, giving the vetivert an opportunity to clear its throat and sing a melody that's cleaner and more buoyant. As a result, this version is less likely to offend, but I suspect that if you're the sort of person who's going to consider wearing it, you're not going to be satisfied with anything less than full throttle. Be brave: choose the extrait.

6th October, 2010.

Wow! Right off the bat, it smells like something between a (soiled) urinal cake and a band-aid. Dirty, but not animalic. Like standing at a urinal at a ballpark.

After several minutes, this mellows into a powdery patchouli-leather note. At this stage, I also smell the rather potent and "bizarre peanut butter and hospital disinfectant accord" that Vibert describes. I don't get any vetiver.

All in all, Onda is interesting, but somewhat obnoxious. I certainly don’t understand all the fuss.

17th March, 2010.