Mona di Orio, whose untimely passing last year robbed perfumery of a true pioneer of the erotic, was to perfume what some avant-garde musicians are to music: so far beyond mainstream tastes as to be almost indigestible. Though obviously made of rich, natural materials, many people find her creations simply bizarre. From the shocking orange blossomed animalia of Nuit Noire to the soiled and tainted bloomers of Carnation and Lux, I was convinced I could never wear anything by this house. Amyitis, however, continued the perfumer’s reputation for stubborn, curious originality while veering off into cooler, more poetic tangents with an iris/sage creation that is austere and otherworldly.
The perfume was inspired by the hanging gardens of Babylon, and a sense of breathing, living greens across the spectrum of the plant world is captured with a fresh top note of new leaves plus an unusual herbarium of savoury, sage and caraway. The fresh, soil-grounded iris/violet flowers at the heart also contribute to the composition an intellectual, writerly quality, while touches of saffron and opoponax add flesh. On smelling Amyitis I was immediately reminded of the character played by Geraldine Page in Woody Allen’s ‘Interiors’ (1978), a depressive artist with a similarly waxen complexion and pallid melancholia. An aesthete, hair scraped into a bun, staring mournfully out onto a trailing, moss-covered courtyard.
“hair scraped into a bun”..God I love that!
I have had several offers of samples of Mona Di Orio but then some perfume friends have steered me away saying I would not like her creations (and then in checking out the prices of a full size bottle saying to myself “I would hope not to like it as I could not afford it!” Have you tried her Vanilla? would be curious about that one…
I find all her perfumes very strange, but everyone is telling me that I would adore the vanilla so I definitely have to seek it out.
Amyitis did strike me as kind of lovely and strange, though, and I really did feel exactly as I described it here.
I often worry that my ‘poetic’ descriptions are excessive, but your comments are really encouraging for me. You seem to know exactly what I am getting at and I really appreciate it!
I just read this review of Amytis and totally agree with you. I have smelled several of her original line and found them difficult. But when I had the chance to buy the discontinued Amytis I had to jump for it. The strange green, that is mossy woods, not grassy meadows is a mystery to me but lovely.
How do you feel when wearing it? Removed? It is certainly very poetic/ arcadian, not something to bung on and go down the supermarket….I found it quite otherworldly.