The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Osare arrived in 2015, a new entry in Hilde Soliani's catalog. By then the artist had established a vocabulary of gourmand warmth, milk, sugar, vanilla, the edible playfulness that runs through much of her work. Osare broke that pattern on purpose. Named after the Italian verb for daring, it was Hilde's pivot into something angular, something that bit back. Where most of her compositions lean into sweetness and comfort, this one pushes toward the bitter, the herbal, the bracing green of an afternoon glass with nothing else on the table. The absinthe note sits at the center, unsoftened, and the herbal layer underneath keeps everything honest. There is no syrup buffer here, no vanilla rescue, just a clean, bitter profile that wears its name.
The choice of absinthe as a lead note is the entire statement. Wormwood carries a centuries-long reputation as a green spirit that carried edge with it, a botanical that perfumers typically shy away from in green compositions. Hilde didn't soften it, didn't cushion it behind fruit or sugar. She let the herbaceous bitterness lead with the confidence of someone who knows her audience appreciates a drink that doesn't apologize for itself. The herbal backbone, whatever aromatic threads Hilde weaves into the formula, sits in support, never rescue.
The evolution
The opening arrives cold and quick, like crushed wormwood leaves pressed between cold fingers. The green is immediate, almost metallic in its clarity, the way wormwood reads when it has nothing to hide behind. Within the opening window the composition sharpens, the herbal bitterness tightening rather than loosening, pulling every thread toward a single, focused point. The herbs arrive not as a bouquet but as a single green blade, angular and clean. As the wear progresses the composition settles into something drier and more mineral, less liqueur-like and more dried botanical. The absinthe note never quite leaves, it just becomes quieter, more like the memory of something bitter than the thing itself. On skin the drydown reads faintly herbal and faintly sweet, a ghost of the original green. Sillage stays moderate, keeping the scent close to the wearer rather than broadcasting it.
Cultural impact
Hilde Soliani has built a reputation in Italian niche perfumery for leaning into playful, sometimes provocative references, and Osare lands squarely inside that streak. The absinthe trigger is unmistakable in a catalog where most compositions lean sweet or creamy, and Soliani chooses wormwood as the protagonist. That choice pulls the scent into a register her audience recognizes as her own, the willingness to let a single, challenging note carry an entire composition. Italian niche perfumery often rewards warmth and approachability, so a bitter, herbal fragrance that references a drink rather than a dessert reads as a quiet act of defiance.
