I got the opportunity to try the first perfume by Hungarian perfumer Viktoria Minya and I must say that I did not go into this testing unbiased. Actually, I expected not to like this perfume at all. Why? Let’s see…
Hedonist was created by Viktoria Minya in 2013 and includes notes of rum CO2, bergamot, peach, jasmine absolute, orange flower absolute, osmanthus absolute, tobacco, vetyver, cedarwood and vanilla.
I was expecting a perfume that was opulent and assertive or if I were a bit less diplomatic – loud and overbearing. Not my cup of tea, in other words.
All that was of course before I “laid nose” on it. My premature judgements were solely based on the name, the notes and the golden bottle. I put off testing it, since my policy is to never write a bad review about a small brand, I’d rather keep my mouth shut in that case, because it is only my opinion after all, and as such it should not wield any negative power.
Thankfully I did change my mind, tried the sample and it turned out to be just one more incident of me being entirely, and utterly wrong.
Hedonist turned out to be one of those perfumes that render me pretty much speechless.
Not wordless, mind you, since, on the contrary, I immediately started spewing forth a plethora of words, a multitude of phrases and images that crowded my mind and I talked about this perfume to everyone near me, whether they want to listen or not.
But when it came to reviewing it, i.e. putting that wave of emotional blabber into coherent sentences following a logical structure, I had to delare defeat.
Maybe if I took a step back and let my rational mind take over, I could produce a sensible, “objective” (haha) and at least somewhat distanced review. But I tell you what, I don’t want to.
I’m having too much fun just indulging, just swooning, just being there with the golden beauty that is Hedonist, right now, in the moment, without becoming too cerebral.
So indulge me and listen to my inner monologue inspired by Hedonist:
Hedonist smells golden, it smells of lush tropical flowers drenched in honey, colibris sussurrating in the air, dew drops on petals, golden rays of sunshine drenching wide open receptive flowers, bees swarming about, drunken on pollen and nectar.
Hedonist smells natural, soft and powerful at the same time. It smells of human skin warmed by the sun. It feels like the surface of white petals, infinitely soft and delicate, but sturdy as well, this is not easily destroyed, it can take on wind and storm and rain, and still smell of the sunshine that is forever captured in its heart…
And I guess that is what Hedonist is all about, what perfume in general is all about. Who cares what note comes when all the time. What we care about is that it takes us with it, it ravishes us, it lures us in, it makes us happy, it makes us laugh, it makes us roll our eyes back in our heads and sigh contentedly. It makes us want it, it makes us chase it, it makes us delight in the fact that we can smell something so good, so delicious, so gorgeous.
Hedonist is stream of consciousness, is flight of fancy, is a wildly beating heart full of joy and laughter.
Hedonist is life and love, here and now. Indulge, give in to your senses.
Rarely has a perfume had a more fitting name.
Hedonist is available through viktoriaminya.com, samples are available as well as international shipping. Viktoria Minya on Facebook is here. Luckyscent also carries it since last week.
