OSA
Note di Profumum (2016)

Osa-Re, a play on the Italian verb osare, meaning ‘to dare’, is a minty-grassy baller that walks right up to some of the biggest, most muscly scenery-chewers on the prison yard – Carnal Flower, Tubéreuse Criminelle – and shouts, “Oi! Any of you bitches want to fight?”

Osa-Re is all the rustling stemminess of a florist’s fridge, out of which a creamy ylang unfolds its long, banana-yellow legs. If you love the ‘privet hedge’ opening to Carnal Flower and ever wondered what a similar treatment would do for ylang, well, this is it. It is really quite similar to Carnal Flower, but with ylang rather than tuberose. Given that Meraviglia-Re, also by Note di Profumum, smells like a jumped version of Portrait of a Lady, also by Malle, the cynical part of me wonders if Profumum just ran the entire Malle back catalogue through Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry analysis to crack the code.

But cynicism is no way to live, man.

Anyway, if Osa-Re is running on some Carnal Flower-ish fuel, is it really any surprise that it smells amazing? The rich, banana-ish tones of the ylang creates a bubblegummy aura that doesn’t feel at all juvenile, probably because it is swiftly countermanded by that minty, grassy bitterness and ylang’s characteristic rubber and gasoline underpinnings. It is this balance that knits it all together.

Therefore, while Osa-Re is creamy, fruity, and sweet, like nectar squeezed from the center of a flower, it is also quite stemmy, crunchy-bitter (like biting into dandelion stalks) and well, a bit odd-smelling. Truly ylang then. Like Carnal Flower, it is BIG. And like Carnal Flower, there is quite a lot of that salty, spacey musk stuffed in the trunk to keep it all trundling on, long past the point where the luscious florals drop off. It is at this point that I want to rewind to the glory of the opening, to smell the force of a thousand ylang fingers unfurling in the heat, through a cooling eucalyptus haze.

Perhaps the oddest of the Note di Profumum collection, OSA is composed of, per the notes list, Ylang-Ylang, rose, patchouli, and chopped grass. It certainly has a certain sharpness that screams ylang-ylang and chopped grass, but the rose and patchouli do at least anchor the mix in something more familiar to me.

Still, this one isn't quite for me. It leans feminine and is mainly a floral/green mix that doesn't quite suit my interests, bunt it's not as if it's intolerable. I could see it quite nicely suiting others, and the care and quality are obvious as with pretty much all Profumum fragrances I've tried.

It's my least favorite of the Note di Profumum collection, but since the collection is, on the whole, quite good, that's not intended to be aninsult

6 out of 10

Lovers of ylang ylang take note, because this one is a real beauty. It does for ylang what Carnal Flower did for tuberose: sets it in a starring role, shining brightly in a constellation of notes that support it without ever detracting from it. For the first thirty minutes, the lemongrass adds a spicy citrus edge, before stepping aside to reveal a really beautiful ylang with the same "florist's fridge" feel that Carnal Flower is so famous for. It's like being adorned with fresh, living petals that have a coolness to them; they never become cloying or overwhelming even on a hot, humid day. Eight hours in, the flowers are joined by a vaguely earthy, mineral note like wet stones, & thirteen hours in the scent is only just beginning to fade.
I'm giving this one five stars, because not only does it smell amazing, but it projects & lasts like a dream. Highly recommended!