Smells like Brooklyn
Nomaterra’s Brooklyn Violet Leaf was a delight to wear for a week. A light eau de parfum with plenty of subtleties that are a treat to experience during the course of the day. Right from the initial icy citrus-metallic fragrance, to the central violet leaf theme, and the ever lasting presence of patchoulli and musk, Brooklyn keeps you entertained. It is soft on the skin and soft on the nose and embodies a sense of confidence in comfort.
A little bit about Nomaterra. Founded in 2012, Nomaterra is a New York based house that makes location inspired fragrances. The husband and wife team at Nomaterra travel around the world and capture the scents of various unique locations, making fragrances for the travel inspired. Scents associated with a location are handpicked and aim to capture the essence of the location. The Nomaterra boutique is located in New York. Brooklyn was created in 2014 and is included in an eau de toilette, an eau de parfum, and candles.
Brooklyn is a scintillating eau de parfum. It opens with an icy citrusy smell that gives way to a light metallic fragrance. The smell of violet leaf promptly follows and is accompanied during various times of the day by the smell of tonka bean, dry tobacco, lavender, and musk. The fragrance ends with earthy fresh grass notes that are typically found in fragrances including musk and patchoulli. The eau de parfum hangs close to the skin and lasts the day. Would make a great day time / office wear fragrance.
Monday
I was excited to wear the Brooklyn Violet Leaf. I’ve never worn a location inspired scent before and this was a new experience for me. Humans associate smells with a lot of different experiences like eating at Subway or visiting grandma’s house. I was looking forward to being transported to Brooklyn or at least revisiting the memories of the great time I had when I visited Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Violet Leaf was easy on the nose. It doesn’t rush out of the bottle. One is first greeted by a chilly citrus note that is promptly followed by a soft metallic fragrance.
It was late in the afternoon that I noticed the fresh grass and light green undertones of the fragrance and I quite enjoyed it.
Tuesday
My second day wearing Brooklyn had me noticing a few more subtleties in the fragrance. The soft metallic fragrance was followed by a light woody floral scent with hints of cinnamony tonka bean. The violet leaf had shown itself. It is a very comforting smell that does well coming off the cusp of the metallic notes, especially when followed by green, fresh leafy notes.
Fun fact: “the coastal violet is historically native to Brooklyn’s marshland coasts and now can be found peeking through sidewalk cracks all over the borough.” — Nomaterra.
Wednesday-Thursday-Friday
The interesting part about wearing Brooklyn was that it had something new and unique to offer every day this week. Whether it was a hint of tobacco, lavender, musk, or jasmine, the floral woody violet leaf was always accompanied by an interesting supportive note. These subtle changes gave it an edgy feel that was balanced by the earthy musk side of the fragrance.
The violet leaf wasn’t overwhelming (or nose fatigue inducing) and neither were the accompanying supportive notes.
The fragrance hangs very close to the skin and is barely noticeable to those outside your personal space. It lasts the day and would be great for office wear.
140 Character Review
Nomaterra’s Brooklyn: the story of the violet leaf. Introduced by icy metallic notes and supported by floral, woody, earthy, green notes.
Composition
Being an eau de parfum Brooklyn is probably composed of 12%-15% by volume of aroma chemicals or aroma ingredients and around 80% alcohol. By aroma ingredients I am referring to essential oils, aroma chemicals, natural extracts or anything that contributes to the fragrance.
The aroma ingredients include bergamot and wild rosewood top notes, jasmine, marsh lavender, and violet leaf middle notes, and Brazilian tonka bean, musk, patchouli, and tobacco leaf base notes.
The icy citrus notes you experience from opening the bottle can be attributed to the bergamot and alcohol, while the metallic notes can probably be attributed to the combination of rosewood and the middle notes. The light bergamot top notes result in the icy citrus smell being an introductory note that quickly gives way to the more characteristic notes of the fragrance.
The violet leaf middle note is very interesting in that it appears to be a relatively heavy molecule compared to the other middle notes of the fragrance. This leads to an accompaniment experience where the violet leaf note is accompanied during the course of the day by the various middle notes (jasmine and lavender) and a few of the base notes (tobacco, musk, and tonka bean). Further, the floral theme that is common to all the middle notes may have added to the central presence of the violet leaf in the fragrance.
The base notes, primarily the patchoulli, hang on the skin for a day or two and are quite noticeable in close proximity. The green, fresh grass smell can be attributed to the patchoulli while the earthy and woody smell are qualities of the musk.
To Conclude
Brooklyn is a soft eau de parfum that aims to tell a story. The story opens with icy citrus and metallic notes that give way to the violet leaf — the protagonist of the story. The violet leaf is supported by various interesting yet familiar notes — tobacco, cinnamon/sweet tonka bean, lavender, earthy musk, and fresh green patchoulli. One may call this the story of Brooklyn. All in all a great day time fragrance.
