The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Lucas Sieuzac built Onice around a specific kind of tension. The brief was clear: take the clarity of mint and citrus and anchor it in something resinous and warm. Not blend them, let them collide. The 2021 release from Somens arrived with that intent already embedded, a fragrance that doesn't introduce itself so much as it makes a statement and walks away. Cashmere wood and elemi serve as the bridge here, soft and balsamic, pulling the bright opening down toward something more intimate without losing the crispness that opened it.
The note structure in Onice is unusual for a fresh fragrance. Most compositions ease into warmth, citrus fades, woods arrive, everything smooths out. Onice doesn't do smooth. The mint stays present through the heart, a cool thread running alongside cashmere wood's soft warmth. The elemi resin adds a subtle citrus-resinous quality that keeps the middle from becoming purely soft. Cedar arrives in the base not as a conclusion but as a counterweight, dry, slightly sharp, balancing the earlier coolness with warmth that finally takes over. It's synthetic fresh meets natural woody, a collision most perfumers avoid because it reads as dissonant at first.
The evolution
Onice opens cold. Not fresh, cold. The mint hits with an immediacy that borders on aggressive, black pepper lending a sharp edge that makes you pay attention. There's no gentle introduction here. Then the orange arrives. Bright and almost metallic at first, softening as cashmere wood enters. The wood doesn't dominate, it wraps around the citrus like a soft fabric, taking the sharp edges off without erasing them. Around the two-hour mark, the elemi becomes more apparent. A resinous quality emerges, warm and slightly balsamic, bridging the gap between the cool opening and the woody base that follows. By hour three, cedar takes over. The drydown is where Onice reveals what it really is, warm, close, and self-assured. The musk stays close to the skin, intimate rather than projecting. Cedar carries the final hours, dry and woody, with just a trace of that original mint somewhere in the background. Six to eight hours total, depending on skin. The evolution is a full arc: cold entry, warm middle, woody close. What starts as a statement becomes something personal.
Cultural impact
Somens approaches each release as a chapter in a larger creative practice, not heritage, not trend, just consistent world-building. Onice fits that pattern: distinctive fresh-spicy-woody structure, strong longevity, moderate sillage. The mint-forward opening is the kind of detail that divides people and earns converts in equal measure. Community ratings cluster around solid performance across the board, longevity, sillage, and value all scoring consistently. For a 2021 niche release at its price point, that consistency matters more than spectacle.
