Aeon 001
Aeon Perfume (2015)

Aeon001 is a perfume that I didn't like the first time I tried it. My brain was zooming in so much on the vetiver that I was not seeing the forest for the trees. The more I returned to it, the less focused I was on the vetiver and more on the composition, and came to love it. I often do this with my kryptonite materials, so to speak. It's almost like my brain immediately recognizes the intruder. I'm not a fan of Vetiver, to say the least, but I like it when it's cleverly used in a composition. Here, it is put to great use.

Just to clarify things, I don't feel Aeon001 is a vetiver-based perfume. To me, it is a dry, really dry, Woody-Oriental perfume, loaded with resins and musks, hence exuding a dangerously warm aura. If you are looking for a vetiver-centric perfume, you are going to be disappointed. Two things come to mind when I smell Aeon001. Ancient Egypt, and a Thurible. I think of the Egyptian aesthetic as it is a robust, bold composition that shows harmony and restraint in avoiding excessive embellishments. I picture a Thurible due to the way it behaves on the skin. It has this warm, glowing core of musks, resins, and vetiver, resembling the thurible, and it diffuses around it a smoke cloud that carries the smell of white flowers and spices. It is a perfume that feels compact, anchored yet diffusive, and light, at the same time. Like being suspended in the air. Therefore, the bottle design is brilliant. Besides being one of the most fascinating and beautiful flacons I have ever seen, it resembles the way this composition is constructed and behaves. The vetiver used is quite different from the most I tried. It has a powerful aromatic facet and a perfectly tuned smokiness.

The opening of Aeon001 is aromatic and spicy. A blast of citrusy, dry, and aromatic vetiver, cleverly complemented by tart citruses and spices, with a generous dose of coriander. What you'll notice right away though, is the warmth creeping underneath. The resins and the musks. To me, it smells like civet, with a strong urinous quality. Even though it's buried in the base, it is so powerful that shortly after application, one would notice it. In the heart, there is a diffusive smoke accord that blurs the imagery of white florals. I see Jasmine listed on the ingredient list but I can't recognize it. It feels like watching a floral garden through a thick smokescreen. The final stage of the perfume is my absolute favorite. Dry and smoky veriver, resins, and loads of civet. On my skin, the civet is strong and overtakes the other elements, to the point where I need to mind my surroundings whenever I wear it around people. It exudes a beautifully warm aura around you, heavy yet light, never overbearing.

I believe this project was a successful first attempt from this unknown small brand. I would love to see them create some more in the future, hopefully in collaboration with other creative minds like Antonio Gardoni. As far as his works go, I can't compare Aeon001 to any of his compositions. If anything, it resembles a bit of the modern MAAI in the way it makes use of resins, woods, and smoke, and vintage MAAI in the way it unashamedly uses civet. It walks the lines of his older works like Gardelia, Cologne, and MAAI, as it has that strong vintage flair, zero sweetness or joviality, feeling rather morose and serious.

IG:@memory.of.scents

This was part of a sample set from Bloom Perfumery called Luca Turin Loves.
Which is no surprise because he loves Jicky and this is a brighter and cheaper version of it.
If it had been sold as an honest dupe at 30% of the price, it would have been alright.
But whatever, it doesn't exist any more so just get the Jicky.

Don't fall in for the marketing mumbo-jumbo, try before you buy. To my nose, this is more of a post-modern take on the indolic-decadent-floral chypre theme with a generous measure of vetiver thrown in than a true exercise in vetiver. It sure is well-made, complex and interesting, but the skanky white-floral note floating over the dense haze of the other components ruins it for me. Thick and heady, as is the current vogue in niche, this should appeal to fans of Slumberhouse or O'Driu. Imagine a Mazzolari with a dollop of Bandit and a dash of white florals, and you'll get the picture.

With Aeon 001 we travel with perfumer Antonio Gardoni down several strata of mulch – a place of relative darkness but teeming with life. Aeon 001 is one of the few perfumes that does justice to the complex aroma profile of vetiver as a raw material and then adds something worth adding on top. So beyond the gorgeous bittersweet earthy humidity of this humble root in all its glory, there are perfectly dosed smoky tones that dissolve into the whole, some terpenic mastic chewiness and a bright white floral boundary which offers a kind of beckoning-lights-in-the-distance effect for a while until it fades. Aeon 001 feels grounded and grounding – a druid commanding a vast vista.

Genre: Woods

Does for vetiver what Antonio Gardoni's more recent MEM has done for lavender: vetiver from another planet. I honestly can't remember whether I'd guessed that Aeon 001 was Gardoni's work prior to the big reveal* on Luca Turin's defunct blog, but in retrospect, it should have been obvious. A pungent, licorice-leaning vetiver and a boatload of cypriol sit atop the kind of simultaneously medieval-medicinal/animalic accord that has become Gardoni's calling card. (See MAAI, MEM, Cologne Reloaded, or Gardelia for examples.) If there were ever any doubt as to whether anything new or distinctive could be done with vetiver, this ought to dispel it. There is a weird compelling/repellent tension in Aeon 001's structure that keeps me coming back to it again and again. While I don't find it all that easy to wear, I can't seem to keep myself from trying.

*The schtick behind Aeon Perfumes is that they won't reveal the nose behind each limited edition scent until the entire stock sells out. Silly, if you ask me, but I suppose everybody needs a gimmick these days.