Perfume Review: Vero Kern Onda

Continuing with the theme of earthy perfumes for spring, today I am talking about one of my relatively recent discoveries in the genre, Onda by Vero Kern. Swiss perfumer, whom Andy Tauer reverently calls his mentor, Vero Kern started Vero Profumo with three fragrances, of which Onda is my favorite. With notes of vetiver, ginger, mace and coriander, Onda is described by the creator as "a flying carpet that takes us to the secret places of our deepest longings". My perception of the perfume is less exotic. Perfectly representing the green, earthy and, for the lack of a better word, almost bready smell of vetiver, Onda is a rustic scent for me. It is the smell of freshly ploughed earth, of hay, of wet grass, of wooden houses, of peat, of smoke in a chimney... A comforting scent, an urban person's vision of bucolic utopia. Another aspect of Onda that should not be left unmentioned is its sensuality. It must be the spices that infuse the no-nonsense vetiver note with warmth and indolence and, yes, "deep longing". So put together "rustic" and "sensual" and what we have in Onda is another perfume for Lady Chatterley. Onda can be found at veroprofumo.com, $145.00-$230.00. Samples sets of the three scents are also available, for $20.00. Photograph is by Arthur Elgort.