Onice
by Omnia Profumo

Notes (from Luckyscent.com): Citrus, anise, lavender, licorice, peach, pineapple, rose, nutmeg, geranium, hyacinth, jasmine, ylang-ylang, mint, sandalwood, musk, cedar wood, amber.

Onice opens on a beguilingly weird accord of celery, cumin, and anise that gradually gives way to a nostalgic 1970s-style aromatic fougère (think Azzaro pour Homme) gussied up with a bevy of incongruous tropical fruit notes. The transition is a mite cacophonous, but both phases are consistent in their air of deliberate eccentricity. The dissonant heart pits a barber shop arrangement of lavender, geranium, nutmeg and musk against lactonic fruit, bright florals, and ylang-ylang in such high relief that Onice can smell like a layering of two unrelated fragrances. I’m not convinced the pieces cohere well enough to succeed completely as a composition, but I certainly enjoy the reckless play between traditional genres.

The fruity floral elements manage to outlast the spicy, aromatic content, and Onice settles into a mild woody oriental drydown centered on sweet, powdery amber and creamy sandalwood. It’s a surprisingly quiet and conventional destination, given what precedes it. Some might call it anticlimactic, but after the eventful journey my nose appreciates the comfortable landing. Even so, it’s Onice’s off-kilter top notes that appeal to me most, and after each wearing I regret that they don’t persist for longer.

6th July, 2010.

Ok, at the opening, all I could smell was black licorice and celery. Eww, not exactly a pleasant combination of notes. But give it 25 minutes and the fragrance turns into something quite nice. It's a bit spicy and masculine and I can smell the cedarwood and a tinge of musk. It certainly ended better than it started.

23rd April, 2010.

Like Granato, this scent has a strange opening. Celery and salad greens, no lie. Then it gets interesting. The notes are hard to pinpoint but what I perceived was nutmeg, a little coffee, white florals, green apple, mint. Some sort of wood shows up in there too but I can't tell which one. It's ethereal and airy. Out of the Omnia brand I like Onice the most, even if I can't identify all that's in it. Sooner or later I'll figure it out.

23rd January, 2010.