02/22/2021
Drseid
819 Reviews
Drseid
Helpful Review
3
A Whole Better Than The Sum of Its Parts...
Matangi opens with a very brief blast of relatively sharp orange blossom with an underlying soapy ylang-ylang before quickly transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart a green tinged jasmine emerges and takes the fore, supported by the now more prominent neroli spiked soapy ylang-ylang and a rose-like geranium, with slightly creamy orris adding additional support. During the late dry-down the composition morphs into a smooth vanilla driven perfume with mild supporting relatively dry amber through the finish. Projection is good and longevity is excellent at over 12 hours on skin.
On paper Matangi hits all the right buttons for this writer's perfume preferences... Jasmine, vetiver, and ylang-ylang are all favorites. Of course, a published note list doesn't mean that much, it is what the wearer actually sniffs, and when analyzed from that angle, the composition is a bit of a mixed bag. The jasmine is the real focus of the perfume through its heart phase. Unfortunately the jasmine featured is more of a green tinged, slightly sharp version quite unlike the indolic heady jasmine grandiflorum this writer prefers. The ylang-ylang is more successful, but it couples with the geranium to yield a bit of a dough-like soapy floral accord that smells good but not great, while undermining the jasmine to some degree in the process. The vanilla led late dry-down is surprisingly pleasant, with the supporting dry amber never calling attention to itself, instead providing just the right amount of body to the vanilla, enhancing the overall effect. The bottom line is the $90 per 50ml bottle extrait strength Matangi may be a bit of a mixed bag, but the "good" to "very good" 3 to 3.5 stars out of 5 rated perfume's whole is better than the sum of its parts, earning it a recommendation to floral indie perfume lovers.
On paper Matangi hits all the right buttons for this writer's perfume preferences... Jasmine, vetiver, and ylang-ylang are all favorites. Of course, a published note list doesn't mean that much, it is what the wearer actually sniffs, and when analyzed from that angle, the composition is a bit of a mixed bag. The jasmine is the real focus of the perfume through its heart phase. Unfortunately the jasmine featured is more of a green tinged, slightly sharp version quite unlike the indolic heady jasmine grandiflorum this writer prefers. The ylang-ylang is more successful, but it couples with the geranium to yield a bit of a dough-like soapy floral accord that smells good but not great, while undermining the jasmine to some degree in the process. The vanilla led late dry-down is surprisingly pleasant, with the supporting dry amber never calling attention to itself, instead providing just the right amount of body to the vanilla, enhancing the overall effect. The bottom line is the $90 per 50ml bottle extrait strength Matangi may be a bit of a mixed bag, but the "good" to "very good" 3 to 3.5 stars out of 5 rated perfume's whole is better than the sum of its parts, earning it a recommendation to floral indie perfume lovers.
