Skip to main content

Nico Uytterhaegen...when darkness comes from Belgium





Here's another recent discovery. Nico Uytterhaegen is a mysterious Belgian designer specializing in avanguardist leather goods and jewelery.

He recently introduced, on the market, a new line of fragrances called NONONSENSE. The line strikes me as incredibly inscrutable and obscure with handcrafted bottles produced in extremely limited quantities and wrapped in a black leather wallet. They're available as 50ml in EDT strength. Here are descriptions and pictures directly from the brand. I report them exactly how they wrote them...

NONONSENSE 1
A fragrance with a very strong nature. This eau de toilette represents the perfect combination of 100% pure essential oils such as eucalyptus, laurel, geranium, ylang-ylang, patchouli and vetiver. The scent is as fresh and vivacious as vbrant and exotic.


NONONSENSE 2
On a first contact this eau de toilette takes you through woods, spices and rosewood directly followed by vetiver, benzoë, laurel and rosemary. The top note evolves from fresh to intense ending, lately, with a light exotic groundnut note.

NONONSENSE 3
A heavy blend of bergamot and citrus creating a spicy eau de parfum evolving into the sensual and intense aroma of Europ. This elixir stimulates the senses. It's a breath of mystery, deep as a black absorbing light. The finished product is harmonized by vetiver, patchouli and ylang-ylang accent.

NONONSENSE 4
An irresistible fragrance which emits a subtle vibe of sensuality and mystery. On first contact, the scent is vivacious, seductive. A sparkling note of citrus combined with laurus and lavendula. It evolves towards a sensual eau de parfum based on the intense aroma of Europ and apple...The finished product is harmonized by vetiver, patchouli and ylang-ylang accent.

NONONSENSE 5
An irresistible fragrance which emits the softness and freshness of flowers. It evolves into a sensual eau de toilette based on amber and musk. The product is harmonized with a subtle oriental scent and modest touch of benzoë on the background.

And here are my takes...

So far I've tried 4 out of 5 as number 3 was temporarely unavailable.

No.1 is almost a geranium soliflore which is strongly aromatic and persistent. Sort of a bolder L'Anonyme with a remarkable rooty vetiver presence. Extremely stark and masculine.

No.2 is a weird but wearable concoction of synthetics and naturals. A spicy/woody mixture with resinous undertones and some "undetectable notes" that give a bizarre fresh/exotic/disinfectant vibe (something that strikes halfway between heliotrope and a soft synthetic flower). It could easily go with the most successful compositions in the Comme Des Garcons Synthetic Series. I believe it's marked as feminine but IMO it's perfectly unisex.

No.3 was temporarely unavailable.

No.4 is IMO the less interesting of the lot. A fruity/fresh concoction with a minty/flowery presence. Delicate, slightly sweet. Feminine.

No.5 is, together with no.2, my favorite. Opens with a compelling mash-up between a nu-gere a-la Sartorial/Invasion Barbare and clean synthetic notes resembling Comme Des Garcons SKAI/Dry Clean. It evolves into a subtle and slight animalic musky/ambery base. Unisex.

Overall I'd recommend this line to anyone who's into avanguardist and conceptual compositions a-là Comme Des Garcons, Etat Libre D'Orange, Six Scents and the likes. Nico Uytterhaegen fragrances are definitely not so easy to find but if you're interested you can always contact him at www.nicouytterhaegen.be/

Comments

  1. Nice reviews bro. A few of these sound interesting and as expected, I have never heard of these releases.

    Thanks for the info on them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for sharing your insights on Nico Uytterhaegen's NONONSENSE fragrance line! Your detailed analysis of each scent provides a clear picture of their unique characteristics. I’m particularly intrigued by your favorites—No. 2 with its complex blend of spices and No. 5 with its intriguing mix of floral and musky notes. The limited production and distinctive leather-wrapped bottles add an extra layer of allure. Your review definitely piques my interest in exploring these avant-garde Eau de Parfum. Thanks for the great breakdown!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oriental Lounge by The Different Company

Bergamot, Curry Leaf, Pepper, Red Rose, Tonka Bean, Labdanum, Satinwood. I suppose the first thing I noticed about Oriental Lounge is that as a man, this is a bit of a stretch to pull off. Since the core of Oriental Lounge is a powdery tonka and amber duo, it really does lean a bit too far feminine for me to wear. However, it would smell just as lovely on a woman and more appropriate as well. I bring this up simply because it's marketed as shared. I was wondering about the curry leaf. Actually, this "note" brought nothing to the table with the exception of possibly enhancing the pepper note just a bit. Even so, the pepper note itself was low key ( at least on me ) and both blended nicely with the citrus opening. From the onset of Oriental Lounge, it's unmistakable that this fragrance is.......well.....an oriental. From other opinions, I read some gripes about longevity, but it lasts on me quite awhile. This fragrance is uncomplicated and without much movemen...

Black Suede by Avon

Nutmeg, Clove, Amber, Musk, Moss, Wood Notes. Yes.........I am reviewing one of the Rodney Dangerfield's of fragrance. Black Suede has been gracing medicine cabinets, for better or worse, since 1980 my friends. If you're expecting me to inform you ( like others may have already ) that Black Suede is a nasty scrubber, you will be disappointed. On the other hand, if you're expecting a glowing review claiming it's a diamond in the rough, you won't hear that from me either. I will say though that Black Suede doesn't deserve the hate it's received and most of that is due to snobbery aimed at Avon products in general. I kid you not when I state that a close relative to this fragrance is Cacharel Pour L'Homme. The array of spice in both ensure comparison, but the "smoother" of the two is Black Suede due to its implementation of Amber. While wearing Black Suede, one can detect a hint of "drugstore". That quality doesn't manife...

Paco Rabanne Pour Homme

I am reviewing the original Paco Rabanne Pour Homme ( circa 1973 ) thanks to a generous basenoter who sent it to me recently in a swap. He also sent me the current formulation in order for me to do a side by side comparison. The side by side resulted in what I had already imagined would be the case. Not that the newer formula is terrible by any means. The original version simply is better by being deeper and a bit more masculine. No......you shouldn't go to ebay searching for the vintage formula and paying stupid prices. It's simply a notch or two better than the current and noticeable by comparing the two in real time. Rabanne Pour Homme opens with a slight shimmer in conjunction with lavender, spices and a subtle woodiness. It's an old school introduction, however a good one. The lavender takes about 5 minutes to raise its volume and evolve into a soapy rendition. I dislike when a boatload of soapy lavender takes over a composition, but here it doesn't go over t...