Imaginary Authors - O, Unknown!

Like many of you, I like a good story.  Being a fragrance fan, I love when fragrance and story meet.  I’d been interested in Imaginary Authors for some time because of this.  Luckily, a good friend of mine sent me a sample of O, Unknown! an oriental woody fragrance created by Imaginary Authors. 

Unlike many fragrances that tell a story through wear alone, Imaginary Authors provides the wearer with a narrative to consider while enjoying the fragrance.  For this reason, before I get into my review, I’d like to share the fragrance story:

““It is a mystery to me why the further I am from home the closer I am to God.”

– Philip Sava

At age 65, when famed explorer and author Philip Sava was given less than a year to live, he set off from his home in Madagascar for parts unknown. Leaving all his belongings behind, he set off on foot, hopped a freighter across the Indian Ocean, and wandered into the Bangladesh wilderness. His journey, which lasted over a decade, took him through Nepal and Tibet where his exploration turned spiritual and into rural China where months of solitude resulted in some of the most confessional observations ever committed to paper. This is the story of a man grappling with the meaning of life as he grasps to life’s last vestiges.”

The perfumer further adds: “WHEN TO WEAR: At the risk of sounding bleak, this night could be your last. Splash on O, Unknown! and plunge forth into prosperity and joy. Repeat as often as you are able.”

There’s a bit of carpe diem to the story.  How true is it that often when people are faced with the possibility of life’s end do they take on the same contemplative thoughts and vow to live each day to the fullest like our brand’s hero?  Ah yes, Sava is a hero.  He becomes the hero of his own life by not only extending his life far beyond the frowning medical pontifications of doom but also, and more importantly by learning to truly experience life though adventure and closer perceptions.

It is this story that is beautifully told by the perfumer, Meyer.  O, Unknown! opens with a soft, powdery orris.  The note carries with it a wisp of mystery and stays on the safe side of becoming a lipstick scent.  Then in comes a rich, thick black tea reminiscent of fresh tea leaves tempered by a delicate moss.  There is an abundant earthy quality to these notes that seem to ground the scent to a tactile appreciation of the Earth.  As the fragrance wears, there is a soft underlying sweetness in the background.  A creamy green balsamic musk compliments the fragrance with a gentle woodiness that reads on me like new pine growth. 

O, Unknown! wears on me with moderate projection for roughly 6 hours.

Notes: black tea, Lapsang Souchong tincture, orris butter, Kyoto moss, musk balsam, sandalwood

Perfumer: Josh Meyer