I haven’t really worn this scent enough to write about it in an informed way, but the heart wants what it wants and currently the heart wants me to write about Olfactive Studio Panorama.

I wrote about Neela Vermeire recently and Olfactive Studio is another of my favourite niche brands. But if Neela Vermeire is all about traditional French chic and Indian opulence, Olfactive Studio is a modern brand with an intriguing concept: all its 6 fragrances are inspired by photographs. What the two lines have in common is that the collections are small and tightly edited, something I’ve come to appreciate in a time when everyone seems to launch 12 fragrances simultaneously.

While I do sincerely applaud Celine Verleure’s (she’s the founder of the brand) innovative approach to scents, I don’t really care about the photos. I mean, the photos are nice and everything (and the bottles are even better!), but I would not buy a perfume because of that. Fortunately, the scents are good, too. Lumiere Blanche is one of my all-time-favourite fragrances, in constant rotation whatever the season, and I also like Chambre Noire and Autoportrait quite a bit.

Panorama is a new favourite, a striking green perfume that smells like nothing else out there. The buzz around the fragrance centres on the unusual wasabi note that is listed among the components. I would not have recognized it without prompting, but the perfume certainly opens with a blast of greenness that is fresh and spicy and big. There is a touch of fruitiness there and for a moment it almost reminds me of salad leaves, but this as light as it gets – although I called the opening fresh, it’s not a cologne and to my nose, Panorama is completely seasonless and genderless.

To my great relief, the greenness doesn’t go anywhere, it transforms first into a more grassy and then a more woody and resin-y version – from a bright green to a dark emerald. There is a forest vibe, but it’s not the forest of the North: it’s more humid and the woods are more precious. It isn’t quite a jungle either, however, and there are definitely people and houses around. Come to think of it, the inspirational photo of the Sheats Goldstein house in Beverly Hills actually captures this fragrance perfectly: it’s green and lush, modern and stunning.