Samson and Delilah by Peter Paul Rubens
If Exaltatum Osmanthus Noble was a woman, you’d never be able to trust her. She has an initial beauty that stuns and entrances, yet hides layers of deception like tulle petticoats that are so thickly corralled that they stop you seeing what’s truly underneath. It came as no surprise to me that this fragrance was inspired by the Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpiece, Samson and Delilah. Perfectly suited to the beautiful but duplicitous Delilah, Osmanthus Noble isn’t quite the lady it appears.
Eglija Vaitkevice via instagram
Eglija Vaitkevice, founder and perfumer at Exaltatum was trained in Grasse and within moments of trying her fragrances, you realise that she knows magic and how to bottle it. Exaltatum Osmanthus Noble opens with a blast of merry apricot blossom. It’s as wholesome as a May pole on a village green, and a garland of flowers above a maiden’s blushing cheek. The fruity scent of the petals combined with their snowy whiteness is your first impression.
Don’t be fooled. Exaltatum Osmanthus Noble smells like blossom but, like a student after a gap year, it’s never been near where it claims to have been. In fact, osmanthus is closer to an olive tree than it is to an apricot. You see? This fey fragrance already speaks in riddles. Greenery dances before your eyes like teasing dryads. Aldehydes, oakmoss and clary sage weave their pagan magick to disorient you. Styrax makes a bold statement, standing out among flowers like Neptune above the waves – a rough, almost sticky high note of spices and burnt stone.
Hedy Lamar in Samson and Delilah 1949
Darker tones reveal the true nature of this beauty. A velvety leather emerges: a new sueded texture that lingers on skin like fingers lacing a pattern on your neck and wrists. A feast of black cherry and precious saffron offers temptation that you are helpless to resist, whilst wreathing around you like a satin cloak that’s far too grandiose for the ordinary day you were having. Smoky facets and rich tobacco add their own touches of mystery and take you so far away from the maypole and the village green that you begin to think you dreamed it after all. Osmanthus Noble has made you her own, tricking you with her innocent rosy petals and leading you down a path that hints at the chequered past she never speaks of. It’s too late to go back and you don’t really want to. Love can do that to you sometimes.
Samson and Delilah Alphonse Mucha 1900
Exaltatum Osmanthus Noble reminded me of the lyrics to the Billy Joel song, “She’s Always a Woman”:“And she’ll promise you more than the Garden of Eden, Then she’ll carelessly cut you and laugh while you’re bleeding.” Just like Delilah, feigning her true love to Samson before discovering the source of his strength and taking it, Osmanthus Noble has a seductiveness that commands attention. Believe me, no matter how bad she’s been, it’s the beauty of her that you’ll always remember fondly, when you dare to look back.
Notes: Aldehydes mandarin, bergamote, cardamom, aldehydes, osmanthus absolute, clary sage, ylang ylang, saffron, styrax, suede, tonka bean, sandalwood, musk, labdanum, oakmoss, amber, tobacco, vetiver, animalic notes
–Samantha Scriven, Senior Contributor and author of iscentyouaday.
Disclosure: Thank you to Eglija Vaitkevice of Exaltatum for my review bottle. Opinions are my own.
Exaltatum Osmanthus by Samantha Scriven
Thanks to the generosity of Eglija Vaitkevice of Exaltatum, we have a 15ml bottle of Osmanthus Noble eau de parfum intense for one registered reader in EU, USA or Canada. You must register here or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what you enjoyed most about Samantha’s review, if you have favourite Exaltatum fragrance, and where you live. Draw closes 7/12/2020
Editor note: I definitely see a resemblance between Hedy Lamar as Delilah and Eglijia-Michelyn Camen Editor in Chief and Art Director
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