Eva Kant was launched in 2013 by Italian niche line O’Driù. The nose behind the line is contemporary artist and self-taught perfumer Angelo Orazio Pregoni. For him, perfume is art that is only realised when it is placed on the human body. From then on it lives with the wearer – going about their lives with them.
The fragrance was inspired by a character in the wildly popular Italian pulp fiction comic series Diabolik. Diabolik is a ruthless thief who targets criminals – think Robin Hood. Tall, dark and handsome, he uses masks and disguises to conceal his identity. Eva Kant is his moll. Portrayed as a young attractive blonde, she, like her partner, is a master of disguise.
Eva Kant opens with a note of bitter, sharp grapefruit, subdued by pungent lavender – herbal, floral and medicinal. The smell of damp woods smooth it out perfectly. I love the bold confidence of the opening. The medicinal/woody aspects of the top notes are carried through the fragrance by myrrh and sandalwood and warm, fresh, juicy ginger. This is a tease – Eva Kant is disguising her heart by echoing her strong opening until she decides to reveal her inner beauty. On me, the fragrance doesn’t evolve as much as it shifts to creamy magnolia and rich, tropical ylang ylang. These florals are carnal, unctuous and beckoning. They lay upon a carpet woven from warm, sweet chamomile twinning with aromatic, resinous cardamom along with rich vanilla and benzoin.
The drydown isn’t romantic or charming rather, it’s complex with different notes coming forward and receding for hours. It is at times dry or creamy, floral, animalic, woody, camphourous, bitter and/or sweet – an expression of the idea that the fragrance lives with the wearer.
Eva Kant is art as perfume – a true original that is always exciting to wear and experience.
Notes: grapefruit, lavender, damp woods, myrrh, sandalwood, spicy ginger, magnolia and ylang ylang, chamomile, cardamom, vanilla and benzoin. But this is so much more than a list of ingredients.
Type: EdP
Parfumeur: Angelo Orazio Pregoni
- Login to post comments