Ombre Indigo
Eau de Parfum, Olfactive Studio (2014)

Weird scent. Some sort of a niche take on an aquatic but not a successful one to me.

I get calone and some soft spices in the heart. It's a little bit anisy as well. Some menthol. In other words most of the notes in the pyramid are there in minute amounts only to create what is a niche heart. Come to think of it, I once had 'marine' scented light blue incense sticks and this somewhat resembles those, unlit.

From the carded sample it is apparent that the sample sprayers are quite low quality. I know of a clone company that uses the same ones but their juice, even if copycat, is better. Not a scent that will wow you , most likely.

I think that this is one of the best openings of a scent in some time – it's an entirely engaging take on leather, resins, and an almost camphorous fruit note. It doesn't smell synthetic at all, and yet it smells like something that couldn't exist in nature. Smoky, rubbery, leather with fruits and spices pitched just right – it's a true show-stopper.

But I mean that literally in that the show stops once the opening notes have subsided. And that's what's frustrating about this generally mediocre line – everything they do is front-loaded, from the packaging, to the photography gimmick, to the scent concepts themselves (and I own a bottle from them, too). Ombre Indigo represent deceptive niche in this regard. It's pulling a similar move to what crap mall scents employ – suck you in with an engaging opening and some beautiful colored perfume. Once your card's swiped and you're on you way out of the store, that's when you start to realize that your new purchase is already falling apart. Ombre Indigo is fantastic for 20 minutes and then it becomes a mundane vetiver of the most insipid kind. What's sad about this approach is that it'll work – it might even win the company some awards from judges who don't stick around long enough to smell anything beyond the top notes. What's underscored by Ombre Indigo is superficiality – not just of the scent, but of the whole line and its approach to perfume.

A fairly unusual take on the well-trodden leather theme, Ombre Indigo sets a syrupy yet tart plum note against an intensely resinous background (benzoin and frankincense) and a rather butch leather note. The petitgrain opening is so sharply green it almost comes off as mentholated, and lends an attractive cold air vibe to the first half hour. The startlingly turquoise color of the liquid itself also adds to the impression of froideur.

But it's the plum note that really dominates the front end of this fragrance. It smells a bit unnatural, a bit removed from the original fruit, in that way that cherry juice smells more like the amped-up smell of cherry pits than the flesh itself, or the way purple grape juice smells more like the skin of the grape rather than the crisp, translucent insides. So, the plum note comes off as a bit syrupy sweet but also tart and tannic, as if the whole fruit has been boiled down into a fruit cordial or syrup, bearing merely a passing resemblance to the original flesh. The mixture of the high-pitched resins, plasticky fruit note, and butch leather almost conjures up a phantom accord of gasoline, making me think – briefly – of Knize Ten's fuel-soaked leather note, which is also ushered into being by a juicy fruit opening (strawberry in the case of Knize Ten). It is an unusual and striking opening, and one that sustains interest well into a full wearing of Ombre Indigo.

As time wears on, Ombre Indigo's resins, frankincense and benzoin, really come to the fore, making the fragrance feel increasingly high-pitched, woody, dry and a little bit powdery. In particular, the frankincense has a burned lemon peel aspect to it that keeps things rolling along in the high, thin-ish tone the fragrance first set out in. The fake plum note recedes a bit, and interestingly, a hidden tuberose begins to reveal itself in the dry down – not so much as a white floral note in and of itself but as a rubbery texture. The saffron-built leather note becomes increasingly sweet and rubbery, therefore, as the fragrance enters its final hours.

I like Ombre Indigo a lot, and think it's an interesting take on the leather theme. But I wouldn't buy a bottle of it, or if I did, I know that I wouldn't find myself wearing it enough to justify the purchase. Funnily enough, the very things that I think make this a striking fragrance – the plasticky, fuel-like plum/grape note, the high-pitched resins, the rubbery (p)leather note – would probably prove to be deal breakers for me when it comes to long-term wear and enjoyment of Ombre Indigo.

In a way, the bright blue color of the juice in the bottle foretells of the perfume's overall grab towards artistic and deliberate artificiality – it is blue in the way that the raspberry syrup at the Slushee Bar is always (for some reason) bright blue. It's a deliberate artistic choice by the perfume makers, and I respect that. But I think that the artificiality of some of the notes would begin to grate on me after a while, and the high-pitched, resinous feel to the amber and leather would tire my nose out. Therefore, I will just have to be content to admire Ombre Indigo from afar, and in a muted fashion. But I can perfectly understand why Ombre Indigo might be someone else's Holy Grail fruit leather – it makes a big statement. It is also, for a niche fragrance, quite nicely priced. Recommended!

I really, really like this saffron tinged leather fragrance. From the start there is a cold satin refined sheen that highlights the saffron and papyrus - smells similar to a very fine patchouli, but not listed here. There is a resonance of cool finely woven notes that contrast with warm benzoin amber spice base. The impression of dry leather stays noticeable throughout but definitely moves to the fore in the mid note range. There is warmth that emerges several hours into the scent. The results are an extremely enjoyable fragrance that I have come to prefer over other leathers I've tried recently. I would grade it higher than others here giving it 8/10.

Decent leather. Kind of strange that a leather fragrance would be blue. I also get the plum note which combined with incense and a amber. Starts off like a lab experiment at first, then calms down to be a nice fragrance. Just not for me though. 6.5/10

This is some truly nice juice. Starting from the color which is absolutely mesmerizing (those who are already familiar with Olivier Durbano's fragrances, might find the color idea a bit deja-vu though).

A big butch animalic leather supported by a vetiver-incense bone structure while tuberose-ish nuances slightly enhance the overall rubbery vibe. Saffron and green notes provide both depth and extra body. Striking yet somewhat easy to pull off. Powerful but not overly challenging. Very very nice and, for what concerns me, by far the best fragrance Olfactive Studio released thus far.

If you like well done mainstream-ish kind of stuff, go ahead. Very good lasting power. Recommended.

Rating: 7.5/10