The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Pastel was released in 2017, composed by Andrey Oleynikov, the Russian perfumer who also founded Myropol. The house is rooted in Moscow's intellectual botanism, treating fragrance as a precise meeting point between plants, minerals, and aromatic materials. That brief gives Pastel its peculiar tension: the name suggests delicacy, but the composition behaves more like weather over stone. Nothing about that mismatch needs decoration. It arrives as a deliberate study in contrasts, balancing vivid mint and ozonic air against mineral depth, polished wood, amber, and a small but telling thread of caramel sweetness.
The interesting part is how ordinary categories stop behaving. Mint is sharp, but not simply fresh. Orris root brings a cool, powdery hush, while the mineral notes make the composition feel closer to slate, rain, or brushed metal than a bowl of herbs. Caramel supplies only a narrow sweetness, enough to keep the mineral structure from turning severe. Amber settles beneath it all with warmth, and Iso E Super gives the composition a sleek, woody backbone. The result is less like a pretty pastel and more like color placed beside its exact opposite.
The evolution
At first, mint and the ozonic notes create a brisk, almost weightless entrance. The air feels freshly disturbed, with a cool green edge that quickly reveals a darker mineral center. As the scent settles, orris root introduces a pale powdery texture, while Iso E Super smooths the composition into polished wood. Caramel then becomes noticeable, but never in full dessert mode. It behaves more like warmth caught on skin. Amber gradually deepens everything, giving the drydown a mineral-animalic weight without making the composition heavy. By the final hours, what remains is a close, cool-to-warm blend of slate, skin, wood, and faint sweetness, still recognizably Pastel rather than a conventional fresh scent.
Cultural impact
Pastel sits within Myropol's Russian intellectual botanism, a register that treats perfume as precise sensory thought rather than fashion decoration. Its synthetic-green, mineral character gives it a naturally offbeat position among conventional fresh fragrances. Community descriptions emphasize its unusual, artificial-mineral quality, which makes it especially appealing to wearers drawn to experimental compositions with a strong point of view.
The House
MyropolMyropol is a Russian niche perfumery house founded by Andrey Oleynikov, operating from Moscow with a distinct focus on botanical and conceptual fragrance composition. The house has developed a collection of twelve perfumes since at least 2010, ranging from delicate floral studies like Jacinthe and Matthiola to more complex compositions including Rose Vinyle, Ereve, and the 2017 release Pastel. Myropol occupies a particular position within the Russian niche fragrance landscape, offering an alternative to mass-market production through an approach centered on carefully sourced raw materials and considered formulation. The brand's catalog spans both single-note explorations and layered compositions that reference classical perfumery traditions while maintaining a contemporary sensibility. Each release carries the influence of its creator's background and artistic priorities, resulting in a body of work that prioritizes olfactory coherence and material quality over commercial appeal.
The Creator
Andrey Oleynikov / Андрей ОлейниковOleynikov's signature lies in smoke rendered with botanical precision rather than pyrotechnic showmanship. Where many perfumers reach for synthetic smoke molecules to deliver impact, he tends toward natural materials that achieve smoke through indirect means: herbal resins, ag…
