The Nasomatto website would have been a perfect place for Prix Eau Faux contestants to get inspiration. Amsterdam-based Nasomatto is secretive (no fragrance notes are given for any of their perfumes and the owners/perfumers provide only their first names — Alessandro* and Arturetto — and cryptic bios online). One offering, Hindu Grass, “aims to breathe the belief in universal peace and love”. I was able to distance myself from the bad writing and annoying coyness of Nasomatto’s “Manifesto” when I saw their handsome bottles (I want one) and read the name Hindu Grass.
Perfume names often mislead us and the resulting perfume does not meet our personal expectations (a recent example pour moi: Hermès Un Jardin après la Mousson). To me, a perfume with the word “Hindu” in its name should: smell of incense, tropical flowers and fruit one would find on altars; contain spices (cardamom, coriander seeds, cinnamon); and be intense. Hindu Grass’ “grass” should provide a sharp vegetal blast coupled with some root-earth dampness — or maybe some marijuana smoke. But Nasomatto’s Hindu Grass is tame and smells like the perfumed robes and rooms of a self-indulgent man of a bygone era who spent his days snacking, napping, bathing, dabbing patchouli-sandalwood paste on his neck, sipping mint tea, gossiping and enjoying his hookah. This imaginary man is the personification of Hindu Grass: briefly amusing but overly domesticated and stationary; in his presence, smiles turn quickly into yawns.
Hindu Grass starts off sweet, green and earthy. As it transitions (much too quickly) from this promising opening, I detect a hint of leafy menthol. Smelling my Hindu Grass-scented arms 100 times, I’ve almost convinced myself there’s cilantro in the top notes, but I’d not bet my life on it. As it develops, Hindu Grass’ notes become indistinct, soft, and autumnal. I would describe the heart and base notes of Hindu Grass as “green amber”: warm, sweet, lightly woody with a background mini-zing produced by some residual greenness and smooth patchouli. Hindu Grass is a rich scent but for a perfume extrait it has below-average lasting power on my skin; it begins to fade in less than three hours.
Hindu Grass is a pleasant perfume and I would wear it if someone gave me a bottle, but it’s not what I want (need) or expect from: HINDU. GRASS. Since I still want one of Nasomatto’s bottles, I’ll have to explore the other fragrances in the line: Duro, Narcotic Venus, Silver Musk and Absinth. Please comment if you have a favorite Nasomatto perfume.
Nasomatto Hindu Grass is a perfume extrait and costs $148 for 30 ml. For buying information, see the listing for Nasomatto under Perfume Houses.
*perfumer Alessandro Gualtieri
I loved Hindu Grass, especially the drydown, which reminded me strongly of KM Patchoulissime, one of my favorite summer patchoulis. Unfortunately, Hindu Grass disappeared from my skin in about 1 hour flat, so I'll stick to good old clingy Patchoulissime.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who found Hindu Grass a bit disappointing. Well actually I found the whole line to be disappointing considering the price of a bottle.
Out of the whole line, I do prefer the Hindi Grass, but the scent lasted about 20 minutes on me and POOF! it was gone.
The Silver Musk smells exactly like Avon's Night Magic Musk.
The Absinthe was very tame and did not have any bite to it. This is the one I wanted to work but alas, it bombed.
The positive about the Nasomatto Line? The bottles. I love the bottle!!!!
Dawn
WinterWheat: I was really surprised at how quickly it “evaporated” from my skin…it's rather expensive to be so fleeting.
dawnkana: that leaves me with Duro then…a “manly leather” as some describe it..did you sample that one?
I happen to love Hindu Grass – the spicy transparency (which Rousse by Serge Lutens tries to achieve and fails) is the best part of it. The poor longevity (I agree) is the worst part of it. I did not smell mint, but now that you're mentioning the cilantro note (which many people detect as a soapy note in food), it makes me want to resniff it.
I have a sample of Absinthe waiting for me to try it at home – a few guys on Basenotes LUV this stuff even more so than Fou d'Absinthe (L'Artisan) the scent I perhaps judge all absinthe prominent scents by.
Duro is fantastic – please try it.
Mike: I'll try the Duro then, and let me know how you feel about Absinthe.
Can't say much 'cause I'm running, but I really like Absinthe; it's not so tame on me. Give it a try!
Kevin: Thanks for the review. I also like the bottles, but probably won't be rushing to purchase one anytime soon.
“Rather expensive to be so fleeting” is really my gripe with SO many fragrances. I still (foolishly) want the price of something to have some correlation with its lasting power. Alas, it's not to be, and sometimes it's a blessing to discover that something CHEAP (yet pleasant) can actually be applied before heading to the office and still be DETECTABLE if not going strong into the dinner hour.
Joe: I've been tempted to buy several bottles recently…but hold back because the fragrances really are so feeble…duration wise.
lilybp: will do
Hindu Grass–I expected a green, fresh opening, softening down to some creamy woods, maybe with a touch of incense. I got day-old grass clippings that vanished in about half an hour, for which I was grateful. Lucky I tried the sample, too. None of them move me at all. Absinthe is disappointing and pale instead of vivid and sharp. The bottles remind me of a long-ago perfume, but I can't remember which one. Which suits me well, I can just forget the whole bunch.
quinncreative: I've had SUCH a dry spell during 2008-2007…hardly any new releases have moved me to BUY them.
Exactly. Which is kind on my wallet, but not on my spirit. I want to be WOWED, not meh'd.