Legno di Nave / Seawood
AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo

A marvellous composition, at the same time calming, uplifting and a little decadent. On my skin, Sea Wood opens up with an invigorating but smooth and non-invasive boozy patchouli and vetiver combination, the patchouli being the dominant of the two to my nose, with no strong earthy notes, just the rich, somewhat boozy and sweet aspects of it. There is also a glimmer of something sweet and resinous, but that all takes a back seat after the first 15 to 30 minutes.

After it settles, Sea Wood becomes a rather dry, lightly woody and breezy fragrance, with a generous but very well blended, smooth and not at all offensive dose of spices. Here I would agree with those who say it reminds them of wood taken from an old ship, my association would be to wooden planks washed up on the shore, or old wooden pontoons in a marina. For the first two hours or so, the predominant impression is therefore of wood that spent time in the sea but has now dried up, combined with a fresh ocean breeze, closer to the smell of the seashore in the winter than in the summer. The patchouli becomes more earthy and dry here, but never dirty or too strong. It is present, however, so keep that in mind if you don’t like patchouli (AbdesSalaam’s natural fragrances really show raw materials in their best light though, so I would still recommend this fragrance even to patchouli haters, as they might change their mind 😉) The use of vetiver here is very interesting, as I barely notice any of its aromatic qualities, except for perhaps some citric and lightly earthy facets, yet I am always certain it is there. Like it’s providing the strength of the fragrance, while remaining humbly in the background with its actual notes. Similarly, I do not pick up on a lot of frankincense, perhaps only in the slightly solemn character of the fragrance, but definitely no smoky or sharp incense aspects here. Of spices I recognized some ginger and a peppery effect, other spices like cinnamon and cloves specified by AbdesSalaam’s website I could recognize only after reading about them and really focusing on them, so again, those afraid of spice have nothing to fear here as the spice is, at least on my skin, never in the front row, blended into other notes seamlessly, and focused more on the aromatic facets of said spices, not the prickly, sharp aspects.

After an hour or two, the same resinous, salty-sweet note that briefly peeked through in the opening of the fragrance starts slowly creeping back in, but this time it is here to stay. Slowly, the elegant and relatively dry, breezy and woody fragrance gets a sticky resinous support, and the overall impression of the fragrance now starts leaning more to the amber-woody side, still accompanied by that waft of cold sea air and elegant spices. As far as I understand, this is the mythical ambergris presenting itself, and quite honestly, it puts all (and I mean all) commercial and niche producers quoting this and that amber in their perfume, in the shade. The difference is as obvious as a coffee stain on a white tablecloth, so I would warmly recommend this fragrance to those who want to experience this precious raw material in its genuine form. After the resinous base joins the symphony, Sea Wood is a salty-sweet, at times even savoury fragrance, combined with all the notes mentioned above. The salty-sweet combination is perhaps similar to unpeated Islay whiskies like Bunnahabhain, which may be a little confusing and bewildering to the nose, but at the same time has that special something that makes you smell it again and again. So, while in the initial projecting phase Sea Wood is relatively dry, the later more skin scent stage (which lasts for quite a while) is on my skin sweeter, although not at all sickly-sweet.

The ultimate pièce de résistance is delivered in the far dry down, when a base beneath the base of the perfume (I didn’t know that was even possible) reveals a heavenly golden musky note, like a single ray of light travelling across the room through a hole in the blinds late in the afternoon. And that single ray of sunshine lingers and lingers both on the skin and on clothes for a long time. Many say AbdesSalaam’s fragrances are three-dimensional, but I will go even further and say that this fragrance is bordering the fourth dimension, as smelling it seems to transport you through time itself…

Lighter, more subtle and transparent offering than most from Profumo. This one to my nose is the smell of driftwood. Saline/reedy vetiver with a dry woody heart (supposedly patchouli from the notes list, but I get more of an oak/cedar). Wisps of incense and a minty ginger snap add to the marine air vibe. Very interesting and pleasant but short-lived.

The fascinating idea of driftwood has been explored in several fragrances composed by perfumers who use a hefty dose of synthetics in their formulas, AbdesSalaam Attar puts it in practice with naturals only. So, the sea must do without Calone and other metallic- ozonic- sour smelling aromachemicals, and the water-soaked wood steers away from (potentially dangerous for my über-sensitive nose) woodyambers. The result is a nice bitter composition that whirls around a fizzy citrus- grapefruit, probably as a facet of vetiver- tangy salty green vetiver and slightly camphoraceous, herbal patchouli. Given the notes I should love it, but this is not the exactly the case. Some spices that pull out the boozy, sweetish facets of patchouli, in the middle section of the fragrance, result slightly annoying for me, I much prefer the salty, juicy bitterness of the opening and the dry woodiness of the far dry down.
In any case, thumbs up for a fragrance that feels airy and easy to wear, expecially in Summer. Longevity is moderate, for those who care.

"Great conjurations" (I would say) for this really "important" vetiver which possesses anyway an its own specific "salty" modern and anarch individuality full of dynamic mystery, adventure, noncomformity and urban/chic "metropolitan arabesque". A huge masterwork of refinement and arabian exoticism by the talented nose Dominique Dubrana (for our full enjoyment) and probably my new AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo's absolute favorite. At its "complicated" beginning it seems to be dealing with a sort of Montale Black Aoud and also in part Etro Vetiver (partially Mitsouko, Montale Aromatic Lime and Etro Patchouly) in their first step of the "evolution trip", being indeed the aroma supremely "holy", commanding, earthy, spicy, hesperidic, slightly incensey, mossy, classic, slightly stuffy, vegetal and almost medicinal. The impact is "strong" for sure, I mean since the aroma seems to be "too much elevated" and royal/exotic before to be able morphing towards something more approachable, dynamic and modern. I detect rooty vetiver, prickly spices (cloves, ginger, nutmeg, pepper), mild spices (cinnamon) and patchouli for sure surrounded by something highly aromatic, mossy, resinous and slightly waxy conjuring me in part the Aromatics Elixir's mystical chypre "complicacy" (with vague vintage chypre evocations a la V&A First). The sea patterns (seaweed, exotic vetiver and ozonic molecules) jump anyway soon on the stage providing a sort of lighter salty-fluidy-windy secret background a la Sel de Vetiver by The Different Company still coexisting with a marvellous spicy/liturgic and woody basic mélange but significantly breaking their wall of "cultural" (holy and canonic) tradition by a fist of piratic rebellion and unconditioning sense of freedom (yes like the clipper sails capturning the wind energy). Despite the salty/ozonic weird "hidden" spark I would say that the name "Seawood-Legno di Nave" is anyway slightly misleading since the general aroma tends to hold on a basic "important", spiritual, almost massive (and highly textured) articulation full of darkness, woodsiness and spiciness. I detect indeed also an ambience of silence and enigma wearing this fragrance over skin since you feel in any case to wear something otherworldly, forbidding, mystic, huge as an ascetical shelter of the deep Russian steppe. In the final part of the trip the rootiness consistently recedes and the perfume evolves towards something extremely refined (unisex, leaning over the masculine side), smoother but highly changeful, subtle, swirling and sophisticated by nuances of woods, salty ozone, musks, spices and resins. Stunning.

This "gift" was a promo bottle during a website offer that helped introduce me to two wonderful scents that I might have otherwise not chosen by notes alone (Legno di Nave and Balssamo della Mecca). Both are now house favorites from VdP.

This is a voyager's fragrance, and alongside another Italian blend - Regio (from Xerjoff's Casamorati line) - effectively evokes salty, almost soured air carrying the polar-opposite sweet essences of spice blends and sun-toasted woods. Where regio plays with citrus, this is greener and more resinous. It smells so incredibly natural (Duh... it's a natural perfume, but what I mean by this is that many of the notes in eastern-leaning perfumery are so new to me that I have trouble placing them. In the case of Sea Wood / Lengo di Nave, I am instantly transported to an old wood-hulled sailboat leaving the brackish waters of my upbringing and heading out into the open sea.

There is no sparkle here (the result of synthetics, I assume, in other blends). But unlike other more meditative scents from Abdes Salaam, this is one that deserves to have more sillage and projection. I tried adding a drop o molook attar (for the ambergris) to a 2mls SeaWood to keep the nautical theme and boost the staying power, but the single drop overpowered the beauty of the blend and the introduced "sparkle" along with the oud ruined the mix. So now I long to experience this as hirch_duckfinder does - as oil. Love this but would appreciate more of the great things happening in this living blend.

This is a fantastic and complex ambergris-centric fragrance. Of course, I'm biased. If a perfumer does even a remotely competent job with the note, I'm hooked. Such is the case and more with Legno di Nave ("Ship Wood"). I have to admit, though, that the powerful, spicy, clove-dominated scent (actually kinda "Kouros"-y) from the sample vial was enough to make me test a slew of others before I finally succumbed to curiosity, and I'm glad I did.As I said, the top notes were (to my nose, at least) dominated by clove, although I could make out the ambergris (which is substantial throughout the development) and a slight vetiver. On my skin, the clove slightly recedes in less than an hour or so; at this point, the fragrance is immensely more enjoyable. The spices here are not overdone, not too clove-y. The cinammon becomes a little more recognizable, and a deep, dark resinous wood scent (almost sap-like - more on that later) emerges. And, of course, ever-present and interconnecting is the ambergris, which is very well-represented here. This is the scent's best stage.As if this is not enough, the aforementioned resinous note develops in a such a way that it dominates and screams loudly at hour 5 or so (yes, that late in the game). It was at about this time that I began to question my own opinion of this great beast! Gladly, after a little while, the resinous note tired of its screaming, and what I was left with for the next 4 hours (and counting!) was a softer (though still pronounced) spicy ambergris scent with an almost balsamic twang.I consider this to be very closely related to CSP's Eau Grise, a scent that I treasure above almost all others, even though I do not own it and sadly cannot find it due to its having been discontinued. Although I like Eau Grise a little better - mainly because it omits the spice and tree sap notes that can make this a little overbearing, but only at times - I could definitely see myself using this instead.I strongly recommend this fragrance.