Uèrmì Fragrance Collection - Part I

Uèrmì ("wear me") is a(nother) new Italian niche line which is focused around the concept of offering olfactory depictions of "cloths", in a rather polished and minimalist way (I know what you are thinking while giggling - and you're right). I must admit I had the lowest expectations about this line (Antoine Lie, Takasago, another Italian niche line, those names) and so far they've been all satisfactorily confirmed. The line comprises 5 scents (Velvet, Suede, Cashmere, Silk, Denim), here's the first two I tested.

VE ± Velvet

Year: 2014

Nose: Jean Jacques

The opening of Velvet is nice, an abstract zesty tangerine note on vetiver, incense and Iso E, with delicate black pepper notes and a light floral and balsamic breeze. A sort of glossy, satin, restrained and "contemporary sophisticated" version of a classic citrus-vetiver scent, quite bright, dusty, even transparent, but quite compelling, dense and also decently lasting. Pleasant and elegant, not exactly the most unique scent around but nice. The vetiver note is not bad, by the way: it's clean, salty, moderately earthy, a bit rubbery but nicely lightened by lively citrus-spicy notes. A trendy scent which plays the card of "clean minimalism", but it's honestly pleasant to wear it – not enough pleasant to justify the price, though. 

6/10

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NO ± Suede

Year: 2014

Nose: Antoine Lie

No +/- Suede is basically a safraleine absolute, rubbery, slightly mineral, carrying the glossy smell of new leather-look (not real leather) shoes, with a delicate sweeter balsamic-fruity side. On the very base, besides a silky ambery note, a clumsy blend of industrial smells halfway chemical, dusty, smoky, sweet/sugary and dry (I think there's some evernyl which imitates dry woody-mossy notes). Linear, clean, dry-to-the-bone, almost a non-scent given the delicate minimalism (which in 2014 smells kind of "... again?"). Basically it smells like the drydown of many contemporary leather/suede scents (imagine Puredistance M or Roja Dove Fetish pour Homme after 4-5 hours). As a fragrance itself it smells completely dull to me, but if since this line is supposed to be used as a range of "bases" to be combined one with another, hence the "plain" personality of the scent. Not judging their marketing choices and the "concept" but I guess Perfumer's Apprentice or similar webshops already offer a decent range of "plain smells" to combine, at a fraction of this price... well however, to me, alone or combined, still a useless scent with a crazy price. Another proof of Antoine Lie's main talent.

4/10