Nasomatto Fantomas Review – Alessandro Gualtieri; 2020

Alessandro Gualtieri of Nasomatto has just given us his first scent since 2018’s Nudiflorum: it’s called Fantomas and I reviewed it in episode 130 of Love At First Scent. Here’s a link: Nasomatto Fantomas review.

I’ve often thought that there’s something rather contrived and forced about the ‘eccentricity’ of Nasomatto, and Fantomas does little to convince me otherwise. Yes, at the start of the fragrance, the strange divide between the top and the base makes for an interesting olfactory experience, but the whole quickly grows wearisome. And it all rests too heavily on the wrong side of ‘synthetic’: that bulging sandalwood base, the weird, borderline gag-inducing melon-aquatic note, the crass leather. If they’re trying to evoke a crime scene, then they’ve probably succeeded. But there’s a difference between a perfume and a conceptual smell, and I’m not sure Fantomas manages to be more than the latter.

Persolaise

[Nasomatto Fantomas review based on a sample of extrait provided by the brand in 2020.]

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