What Men Should Smell Like review on NadiaZ Perfumes

Last year I was introduced to the work of Nadia Zuodar, Swiss founder of NadiaZ Luxury Natural Perfumes. A crusader for ethical and sustainable perfumery, Nadia’s perfumes reflect her mission to “celebrate and care for diversity in all forms of life”. Artisanal production runs allow her to work with small yields of rare botanical ingredients sourced from around the world. Her ethical sourcing ofindigenous ingredients often translates into support for the communities working within her supply chain.

I have to confess, I am not a huge consumer of all-natural perfumes. It is an aesthetic school, which I can appreciate and respect but, for me, the genre is often characterised by perfumes that smell densely packed, heavy with a short life span. It’s a different dynamic to perfumes I usually smell, like going from long distance running to sprints. One is not better than the other. Both attract a different type of audience and a different type of athlete. The same can be said for natural perfumery and perfumery with synthetics. 

What I enjoyed about my experience of Nadia Z’s perfumes was the variety of natural ingredients she uses. It was a Discovery Channel of raw materials, featuring rare, odoriferous plant matter collected from around the globe. In her box of samples, one card contained a “surprise indigenous ingredient,” Omumgorwa resin from Namibia. This walnut shaped resin smells like myrrh with gourmand caramel notes. It’s an unusual odour and a great example of the unique ingredients Nadia uses in her perfumes, which results in a collection that smells rustic, tribal and earthy; a pleasant surprise and not at all what I would expect from a perfume house from Switzerland. To go on your own intrepid journey, visit www.nadiaz.ch