Mauna
Extrait de Parfum, Mendittorosa (2024)

In my journey through Mendittorosa's current line-up, I finally reach a perfume where the inspiration and creative direction makes sense to the technical direction and overall message of the perfume - I, for once, am not reading a Mendittorosa press release and getting a headache! Mauna is the phonetic of the Sanskrit word for silence, but this is silence according to Ayurveda, which is the Upaveda of medicine for Hinduism. This silence is more appropriately described as a soundless vibration, an energy that is the lifeforce driving equilibrium amongst the primary areas of the body - similar to Om (Aum) which acts on a universal scale. I'm not quite sure what this means for a perfume, but as to the validity of the various practices in this alternative medicine I will simply state that for a divine being, Dhanvantari, to miss, or at least not warn us, that mercury, lead, and arsenic are highly toxic to humans is quite bizarre for a being who is supposed to guide us to good health. If something works, the evidence will show it; if people die from poisoning and at younger ages than non-practitioners, it probably doesn't work. What will Mauna do...? Anyway.

Thankfully, Cristiano Canali, the composer for Mauna, connected this idea of a silent vibrating lifeforce to beautiful Indian sandalwood, having been stirred on a spiritual level by his initial encounters with it in India, as opposed to the Ayurveda (what a relief). I fully understand how, and why, he wanted to make this connection. Real sandalwood is gorgeous, and Canali wanted to capture the hum - the vibration - that he smelled in the real-deal while in India. He succeeds in creating a perfume of simple but compelling beauty. The opening of black pepper, ginger, and olibanum is tightly focused. There is hardly any nose-tingling piquancy associated with pepper or ginger, but they both have a naturalistic fruitiness to them that are very present in Mauna. The deep, earthy, currant-type note of pepper gives a very tight and impenetrable feeling, while the citrus component of ginger gives a feeling of levity and energy. The olibanum doesn't seem to present itself immediately. There is a bit of a green and fungal aspect in immediate moments, but the olibanum wants to slowly reveal itself: as the pepper and ginger fall away, the resinous and slightly smoky notes gain strength and presence. The silky tendrils of olibanum usher in swells of sandalwood and benzoin, and it's beautiful. Creamy, aromatically woody, peppery, resinous, salty, animalic and musky, it is incredibly complex without being the least bit pushy about it. It has the texture of fine suede - there is definitely a leathery note in here - but it's far from a skanky and animalic tanned leather accord; it's plushy and thick, but yet soft and dense like silk.

There are a lot of high-quality materials, and more than a couple tricks being played, to deliver this composition, and it's very convincing. The overall effect is a palpable, gentle, vibratory hum rippling throughout the life of the perfume. There is an energy to this very complex woody accord that doesn't excite you to mania, but also doesn't lull you to sleep: every time I raise an arm or the back of a hand to my nose for one more intoxicating sniff I feel relaxed yet highly focused. That is its best trick. I have no doubt this perfume took a lot of time and skill to make; it presents itself clearly, uncomplicated, and magnetic, but if you stop, relax, and focus, I'm finding there is a lot happening below this uncomplicated and pretty surface but not to the point of being distracting. One should relax while experiencing Mauna. You're in for a long and beautiful journey.

I decided I really was in love with the ginger, sandalwood, and sweetgum balsam drydown of Mauna by MendittoRosa so I caved and ordered it from Fragrance Vault in June 2024. It is a gorgeous Indian sandalwood composition with ginger, black pepper, resins, tonka, musk and styrax which makes the sandalwood seem dry, a bit spicy and almost smoky, but not. To my nose, it is a drier take on sandalwood, like the chips have been dried and stored, waiting in reserve for a very special purpose/occasion.


Notes from the listing at Medittarosa: Piper Nigrum, Madagascar Ginger, Olibanum, Benzoin Resinoid, Santalum Album India, Tonka Bean absolute, Sacred Musk, Velvet, Styrax Exudate.