Mona di Orio Eau Absolue

By Tom One of the most shocking things that happened in the perfume world in the past few years was the sudden death of Mona di Orio. I never had the pleasure of meeting, speaking or even corresponding with her, but by all accounts she was a lovely as her creations. Losing a young, vibrant and talented lady as she left a void- but one that her company made a promise to fill. A knock at my door was a Fed-Ex box containing a sample of the scent she was working on when she died, with a note explaining that it will be available in the states at the end of the month. Eau Absolue is about Mona's love of the Mediterranean. It opens with bright citrus quickly spiced up with pepper- if you think you've been down this road, trust me you haven't. The scent daces between cool and warm like a spring day at the shore- warm sun on your skin and cool shade. The middle becomes a soft floral, adding in geranium, vetiver and bay and the finish is labdanum, amber and musk. Like most of her scents, I find this completely unisex- it's soft and lovely as a linen summer shift, but has just enough edge to it to make it great on a man as well. It's a winner, and another reminder of the level of talent we lost. Notes (from the website): Sicilian bergamot, clementine and Petitgrain Citronnier, Litsea Cubeba from China, Egyptian geranium, vetiver from Java & Haiti, Jamaican St. Thomas Bay Leaf, pink peppercorn from Peru, cedar wood from Virginia, musk, cistus labdanum . Eau Absolue will be available at MIN New York, LuckyScent/Scent Bar in Los Angeles, The Perfume House in Oregon, Nasreen in Seattle and the Perfume Shoppe in Vancouver. $230 for 100ML. My sample was provided by the US distributor. Image: Mona di Orio website