Eva Kant
O'Driù (2013)

This smells very medicinal and feels a bit sharp when it first goes on. It settles quickly though, and then I get a lovely, spicy, creamy, woody vanilla. It's a complex mix, but the notes all work very well together. This is the second O'Driu scent I've tried (I have added Pathetique to my stable) and I rather like it. I'm not into assigning a scent to a particular season, but this is another one I could see working better in the cooler months. It's 30 degrees (Celsius) today and very humid (and therefore very sticky and gross), and although I'm really enjoying the way this has unfolded, it feels a bit heavy for a day like today. Will definitely re-visit this little beauty when summer is over and the cooler weather kicks in. But I'm already thinking full-bottle at some stage.

From all Angelo Orazio Pregoni creations Eva Kant seems to me maybe the one that stands out as one of the most easiest to approach. Don't understand me wrong, this is certainly a fragrance that has Angelo written all over it: first, for the use of art in an unconventional way, this time drawing inspiration for a more popular form of art, the comics. Also, it is a fragrance that pays homage to Italy by using a character that has become part of italian popular culture. And, as Angelo Itself, Eva Kant is, with Diabolik, an anti-hero and her fragrance is certainly not a straightfoward interpretation of a woman.

Still, it is the first time i see Angelo creating a scent that even if it's sold as genderless has such a very direct portrait of feminility. And as the character itself demands, Eva Kant is a complex scent, one that has to be able to show different aspects since we are talking about a master of disguises. So her scent is made to change and evolve its characteristics while you are wearing it and it does deliver what it promises as Eva Kant passes through different olfactory facets you would find in a perfume.

The fragrance starts very hot and sexy, with a proeminent use of what seems like cinnamon and pepper to form a contrast between cold and hot spices. Then, you notice that this is anchored in a bright and lemon like citrus impression, the first moment that alludes to its Italian roots suggesting a secondary mediterrean aura. This is reinforced mainly with a good fresh, slightly soapy and floral green magnolia, which is contrasted by one of the flowers that Angelo uses a lot in his creations, the voluptous and versatile ylang. It is time for another change with Eva Kant showing it's more maternal side with a very creamy vanilla that makes me think of baked goods filled with vanilla cream. The sandalwood is used here to give a woody nuance and a final contemplative aura to Eva Kant.

In a time where mainstream feminine scents seems to focus its identity more on the advertising trying to appeal many woman with fragrances without a strong personality, Angelo offers an interesting ode to a woman that might have started it's life on comics as the partner of a brilliant criminal mind but a woman that with time gained its respect, freedom and space. Eva Kant migh be an anti-heroine, but she is true to herself and not boring or incongruous. It's an interesting take on pop comic art and on the duality of the timeless and always changing soul of the modern woman.

This is my second wearing of this beautiful concoction. This is also my first experience with this artist's work, and I am sad he is no longer with us - he's not dead yet! But, you all know what I mean.

So, I was gifted multiple samples from a lovely basenoter, Purecaramel, and his love for art has invigorated my love for art once more (sometimes I allow the mundane to overwhelm). The day the samples arrived from Italy was like Christmas morning! The Clown wraps his art so well, and I appreciated it and smiled a lot!

Eva Kant opens with fresh meadows. Peaceful in springtime. Then it moves into fall, where there is warmth, and wooded walks. I can still smell the meadow nearby every now and then, but the spice of the darker season is more prevalent. This scent is such a juxtaposition for me regarding the packaging and the juice; how can something smell so relaxing with a bottle that prepares me for futuristic death?

There is something "days past" that this juice has going on...not vintage...but a reminder of such. It has a classic feel. I really like it.

Sometimes in cold weather, I'll do a minute or two of exercise before applying perfume – just to get my skin warm enough to be receptive. With Eva Kant I wouldn't need to bother – it's a perfume that somehow feels massaged in rather than sprayed on.
A resins and spice combination which has the pleasing moreishness of a skilfully made milky desert (something Indian maybe with lots of ground cardamom and just a touch of ginger), it feels comfortable, relaxed and at home on my skin. Gentle myrrh and dusty vanilla are also prominent in the central theme and they blend right in. A rather traditional citrus and lavender combo injects air and space through the opening stages, while not detracting from the after-dinner feel, and a hint of something like raw, split wood adds a pleasing contrast. The wood changes subtly, getting waxier and more prominent over the course of the wear, but doesn't unbalance the other elements.
While Eva Kant is a fine thing, I find it (like its projection and longevity) a touch too measured, inspiring little by way of passion. An occasional visit will do me.

This O'Driu'fragrance represents in my humble opinion a step forward in the growth process of this wonderful artisanal italian brand. The Eva Kant's aroma is indeed less "wild" than usual for the previous Pregoni's olfactory performances (less traditionally abrasive, raw and visceral) and more modern, glamour, finally silky and approachable. We are dealing with an aromatic (delicious) fresh exotic vanilla-white resins based concoction extremely balanced and subtle (of course not a gourmand juice in my opinion but just a well calibrated spicy-oriental). Eva Kant opens with a spacious and sparkling fluidy (clean hotel room type) twist in which the concert of turbulent orangy mild spices (cloves, cumin, cinnamon, saffron...in my opinion) is supported by a certain dose of soapy fresh fluidity rooted over a wet accord of lavender, grapefruit, cardamom, ginger and chamomile (a really modern touch). This initial approach is really stunning, I would define it exotic, daring, laundry and hyper sophisticated (I'm sure a minimal implementation of synthetic is granted providing a more modern and refined "industrial" feel). The note of spicy (and vaguely honeyed) ylang-ylang is central in this exotic approach and provides a really "far in memory" tropical feel gradually morphing (across a boisterous molecular spicy initial storm) towards a soapy white resins/balsam centered fresh oriental aroma of immense beauty. The note of myrrh imprints an utterly spicy-oriental daring twist so dreamy (almost tropical) but basically fresh, balmy and aromatic. Magnolia provides an utterly magistral touch of hyper modern (floral) sophistication. The usage of sticky resins (opoponax and in my humble opinion a minimal touch of frankincense) is modern, cool and somewhat trendy-chic. It's weird to believe what follows but the intense Eva Kant's resinous peppery-exotic spiciness, its rich texture, the general opulence, the particular usage of resins and its soapy-cosmetical hyper modern undertone conjure me more than vaguely the cult Donna Karan Black Cashmere's "caribbean" exoticism (of course in here it works in a fresher and brighter way.....it seems Eva Kant could be considered anyway a sort of Black Cashmere's brighter brother). The dry down is a really articulated, fresh and woody spicy-oriental mixture with a yet intense spiciness and a soapy-fluidy optimistic aura. A great piece of olfactory "modernism" by the italian Wizard Mr Angelo Orazio Pregoni.

A peculiar sequence of powder, citrus, and herbs starts Eva Kant off with a candy-like quality that's destabilized by a plasticy-herbal accord. It's neither unpleasant nor pleasant; instead, it's mainly confusing as the scent wants to pull you in several directions at once. Fortunately it sorts itself out fast and settles into sweetened myrrh with distant chimes of lavender, citrus, and something that smells like bay leaf. Once it hits this stage, things become subdued–both in force, but also in interest. Even though it's a fairly spindly composition, something about it seems off-kilter as there's a war going on between the sweetness and the notes that reference O'Driu's earlier reliance on apothecary herbs. In this respect, Eva Kant feels like a bridge between the O'Driu of the past and some of the most recent releases.

But this particular bridge is rickety. Eva Kant is a scent that doesn't quite come together in the way that Pregoni's past work has. Even though a clear attempt was made to align the elements, they just don't cohere in a way that's either daring or complimentary. On the one hand, it's as if the scent wants to do something blindingly original but is afraid to get its feet wet; yet, on the other hand, it's too ugly to aesthetically redeem itself in any meaningful way. For me, the combination of savory / herbal with gourmand-ish aspects was similarly botched in Piguet's Oud as well as MiN's Botanist, and while it's tamer here, it's just as displeasing. After a while, this smells like a rough draft of Armani's nasty saccharine-bomb, Myrrh Impériale, that's been soaking in the kitchen sink with a bunch of unwashed dishes for a few days. It's not the worst thing I've ever smelled from Pregoni (the guy was very prolific early on and made some real clunkers), but it's somewhere in the bottom 30% or so. If you're curious about this line, look back to scents like Allegradonna, JMT, and Lalfeogrigio to get a better sense of what he can do.

Perhaps a bit overlooked on account of the buzz surrounding first Peety and then Pathétique, O'driu's Eva Kant is a completely unique scent that I've taken a very strong liking to.

I get lavender, citrus, a doughy note on a soft woods held together with a cement note. Sounds weird as I've described it, but it is a beauty of an opening. In the mid phase flowers and a gentle vanilla become evident, and the play-doh note morphs into something more approximating band-aids, a la the presently unavailable Skin Graft. In fact, if I were forced to pigeon hole this one, I'd call it a skin scent, but categories are only misleading when applied to a scent as unique as this one. EK dries down as a gentle band-aid/vanilla blend, as goofy as that sounds. The drydown is delightful.

EK never screams. It barely makes moderate silage, but has excellent longevity (18hrs). At the risk of horrifying its creator, EK also is great for office wear. Two thumbs up.

One of the most intriguing and stunning "new" scents I have smelled since a long time, one of those scents which literally smell like nothing else. The opening is a slap: a biting, angular, nondescript potion of flowers, musk, a load of spices, an animalic oily drop on a gorgeous dusty vanilla base, mixed with a totally unrelated, still inexplicably perfect and fit carnal and lascivious "feel" I can really not come to describe. Cloves, ginger, pungent spices, a really dense and pulsating heart of flowers – magnolia and ylang – some raw animalic notes like castoreum, aniseed, a meditative balsamic breeze with an herbal feel, caramelised benzoin and myrrh, incense. A totally peculiar blend both decadent and medicinal, archaic and futuristic, with ambery translucent notes and narcotic flowers. I kept thinking of art while wearing this, as this scent has a really oniric and "imaginative" progression which triggers images and unconscious "situations" more than words, and I recalled the work of some of my favourite artists which kind of work or worked with the same suggestions, from Jeremy Mortimer to Jenny Saville, to Schwarzkogler and other provocative Viennese "aktionists". An alchemic smell of gauzes, bandages, blood, medicines, flowers, flesh, animals, with a heavenly, but at the same time gloomy balsamic sweet breeze all around it. Really hard to catch, decompose and define, but terribly irresistible and captivating. And most of all, speaking of "perfume" itself, so good and pleasant to wear. Then, it slowly and brilliantly evolves on a rich, decadent floral accord, which in turn gets a really weird, evocative and a bit creepy, sticky and opalescent feel of water – not in a predictable "calonic" way, rather of lacustrine, stagnant water, still salty but much dense and almost oily, together with a counterpart of talcum/vanilla and spicy dusty notes, medicinal and sensual at the same time. That medicinal feel is the other "pillar" of this scent, a subtle but bold vibe which does not disappear and stays there like a psychotic nurse from some obscure Italian horror/crime movie of the Seventies. Ghosts and fantasies apart it's a terrific scent, not "challenging" to wear since it perfectly manages to be daring and new still smelling amazingly good, exuding talent and intelligence, with a beautiful evolution and a totally unique and distinctive personality. Bravissimo Angelo!

9/10

The opening is a unique, creative and mesmerising entry into the EK experience: lavender and a woodsy impression, given added freshness by an orange-grapefruit citrus background, form a delicious, smooth top note accord. Soon a gently spicy myrrh is added, accentuated by a very mild ginger. The middle notes then therm towards the floral, with a magnolia of beauty combing with ylang ylang very convincingly. At that stage I get a nut-aroma with a herbal component - this all is working together beautifully, merging without losing structure. Later in the base I get a cocoa-tonka note predominating, but whiffs of the myrrhe still come up once in a while. All this is most exquisitely blended of ingredients if the highest quality, whose natural purity and beauty is discretely dazzling. Very good silage and projection, with over twelve hours of longevity on my skin. And astounding masterpiece, and one of my personal O'Driu favourites.

Eva Kant opens with a splash of herb-laced grapefruit before quickly transitioning to an effervescent rose and geranium tandem supported by underlying dry anise and coffee with subtle hints of sharp lemon citrus and animalic castoreum peeping through. The herbal rose and geranium infused anise and coffee accord continues through the early heart, starting off strong before gradually giving way to a powdery ylang ylang, magnolia and lavender floral trio with bitter wood-like myrrh support taking over through the latter heart. During the late dry-down moderately powdery vanilla and benzoin take over as co-stars balanced by smooth sandalwood, as the diminished earlier spicy floral remnants fade. Projection is very good and longevity outstanding at well over 15 hours on skin.

The open to Eva Kant is probably the most recognizable aspect of the composition, tying it loosely to many O'driu compositions of the past and present. The culinary herbal aspects are there, as is the tremendous castoreum laden dulled rose and geranium accord that is found in some of Pregoni's best work. Where Eva Kant really goes in a different direction is when the ylang ylang and magnolia come into the picture with the dusty powdery facets of the composition really kicking in. The late dry-down in particular is quite pleasant with the powder softening, smoothed by relatively dry sandalwood in the base. The whole composition comes together rather nicely, though some may be put off if they are highly powder-averse. The bottom line is the 150 Euro per 50ml bottle Eva Kant resides around the middle of the O'driu pack. That said, "middle of the pack" from a great nose like Angelo Orazio Pregoni still means very good, with the composition earning a solid 3.5 stars out of 5.

Eva the perfume all hinges on the juxtaposition of a bitter spiciness layered over a soft creamy base. The former composed of lemongrass, bitter grapefruit oil from the skin of the fruit with a soapyness from the cardamom, I guess the listed lavender plays in this accord by didn't feel too prominent. This all is feels volatile and expansive. The second side is driven by the resins and vanilla, it sits closer and denser, sweet, slightly powdery and creamy.

Over Eva's progression the focus shifts from the bitter side to the soft base. But things never feel entirely harmonious, their is an interesting interplay between the two at all times almost a combination of avant and classical. If we're talking music think Walk This Way by Run DMC and Aerosmith. Very late drydown turns mostly to vanilla. Projection is moderate/good and longevity +8 hours. After a few wears now I'm liking this very much.