Odin New York 01 'Nomad'

I don't know all that much about the Odin New York line. I ordered a sample of 01 sometime last year purely off the back of a review of the line by someone (can't remember who) who mentioned that 01 was most to his liking.

The notes from Luckyscent include juniper berries, Himalayan cedar, bergamot, palmarosa, black pepper, heliotrope, tonka bean, sandalwood and grey musk.

My initial notes for the opening state that I detect something quite juicy, smelling like mandarin. I suppose I was wrong there. I also noticed early on a surprising heavy dose of musk, with what I would describe as 'blonde' woods. I'm not sure what I mean by blonde, except that Nomad wears rather light. As the citrus fades, Nomad starts to smell uncannily like the wooden stick of a vanilla ice cream eaten at the beach. You know, the part of the wood that was covered with ice cream but is now just fragrantly damp from where you've licked off all the ice. At least, that is how I perceive it. Is this the heliotrope, with sandalwood and tonka? There is a creaminess to Nomad, with light woods and a vanillic undertone, definitely. This phase is the most enjoyable for me. I love this evocative smell of a childhood (and adult, come to think of it!) treat.

The rest of the development continues in much the same vein. The musk becomes more prominent, but it is a clean musk, not skanky but not totally like laundry either. The woody vanilla note diminishes, whereas I would have preferred if it had stuck around longer. What I like about Nomad is that it uses a lot of notes that could have strayed dangerously into generic men's perfume territory, yet manages to avoid the obvious cliches. The dry down is probably the phase where it smells the most generic, yet even then it retains enough of a bite and uniqueness to please me. I wouldn't say that I would rush out to buy a bottle of Nomad, but it is very well done for what it is. I think it would be a good all-round perfume for office or casual evening wear, and I don't think a woman would struggle wearing it either. It is not overtly masculine, and is on the sweet side, but balanced.


If someone could tell me what Palmarosa is, I would be grateful. I could Google it, but feel like hearing from you instead.

Image credit - http://www.ausliebezumduft.de/