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Post by Tina G

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“The perfume becomes, even if only for a few instants, the object of an exclusive and absolute desire.” – nu_be

The concept behind nu_be is an olfactory mapping of the fusions which create matter – the primal sparks of chaos that slowly settle into order and being. nu_be harks to the fundamental building blocks of the universe by creating ‘elemental’ fragrances – hydrogen, helium, lithium, carbon, oxygen, sulphur and mercury.

Lithium [3Li] by Nicolas Bonneville for nu_be 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Cedar, patchouli, musk, saffron, iris, woods, spices, rose

I’m intrigued to smell black rubber when Lithium [3Li] opens. Specifically, inner tube rubber as from a bicycle tyre, being slightly powdery. It is not listed in the notes anywhere but I find it consistently on first spritz. Dancing high over the top is a sharp metallic tang like the smoke and sparks you get when hitting granite with a metal hammer. It is a very light, airy metal, unlike the wet blood-metal in Le Cherche Midi ‘28’ or the metallic-fruitiness in Blood Concept ‘O’.

Deep in the heart of Lithium [3Li] the brown leather is heavy and thick like leather of a welder’s apron – made roughly tactile from the scratches and wearing of its use. After only a short time the rubber has gone but the metal and leather stay on, rounded out by earthy, powdery floral notes of iris and saffron. There is a hint of woods and musk in the background, which become more prominent in the dry down.

Photo Stolen Flickr

The combination makes me think of an old fashioned blacksmith’s workshop. Springtime. In the corner of a green field, surrounded by wildflowers, is a rustic wooden workshop. As you walk in, the fresh scents of the flowers merge with the damp earth floor, wooden beams, and metal tools hanging up around the walls. In the centre of the room is a fire and anvil, and the smithy himself, clean musky sweat of his work shining on his arms, mingling with the heavy leather apron of his trade. As he drops each blow of the hammer, showers of sparks fly randomly in split-seconds of brightness, filling the air with a flinty smoke.

Photo Stolen Fotopedia

At 5 hours Lithium [3Li] is still lively, having warmed up to a comforting woody/spicy rose, with silage strong enough that I wasn’t needing to hunt for the scent on my skin to appreciate it. At this stage it reminded me of another favourite spicy rose fragrance, Pink Quartz by Olivier Durbano. Lithium [3Li] is totally wearable, even for all its interesting industrial opening overtones. I spritzed this 10 minutes before going into a work meeting, and it totally derailed the conversation. Eyes widened, people looked around and asked what the great smell was. One co-worker then spoke about her close encounter with a workman on a train, freshly clocked off, dirty with a clean sweat smell and how desperately sexy it was. I’d said nothing about my thoughts on the fragrance; it was her own random memory trigger from the muskiness of the scent. Unexpected, but interesting…..

Further reading: Now Smell This introduces the line
IndieScents has $160/100ml and samples

xx Tina G