Otra
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements (2015)

Otra smells pretty light out of the sample vail. Almost indistinct. Perhaps soapy, woody, and slightly resinous, but almost too diluted to really smell. Subsequently, it took me a while to actually get around to wearing it on skin. It just never spoke to me.

Now that I’ve finally given Otra a fair chance on skin, I’ve started to come around on it. While performance is still an issue, I can appreciate the interesting composition.

Overall, Otra smells a bit green, but in a woody way. Not like green flower stems or fresh cut grass, but like new growth in a hardwood forest. If you live in a temperate climate and can identify a boxelder tree (Acer negundo), go out and snap off a small stem and take a whiff. That’s akin to the green smell I get in the opening, but much lighter, almost watery. This, mixed with a bit of something like light resin (or is that rosewood?) makes up the bulk of the fragrance. It actually reminds me a bit of PAA’s Copalli, which is also marketed as “ethereal”.

Speaking of, PAA describes Otra as “the mossy green wrappings around the riverbed” followed by “fertile forest bed with white clover”, with the river itself playing a subtle role in the background. For once, I don’t have to wrinkle my brain to apply PAA’s marketing. I think that’s a pretty fair description. PAA also calls this a “sister scent” to a favorite of mine, Al Fin. I do pick up some similarities, but they’re more like cousins to my nose.

Unfortunately, PAA doesn’t stop there with the marketing. Since its original launch, discontinuation, and relaunch, Otra has been rebranded. Gone is the “shy natured river nymph”, replaced on the label by a “lava queen in full command of the fever dream”. Oh boy, here we go. Love or hate the imagery, Otra is definitely more shy than “badass” (PAA’s word, not mine), and I think the updated marketing misses the mark.

All that said, Otra is actually pretty nice, but performance is so light, it’s difficult to recommend unless you’re looking for genuine aftershave performance. Like Copalli, if Otra were a little more outgoing, I might lean more strongly one way or the other, but it’s difficult to be anything but ambivalent over something this light-wearing. It would be a nice splash after an evening shave. If that’s your jam, perhaps give Otra or Copalli a try. For everyone else, try before you buy.

Neutral.