WHAT I SMELL: Onda opens with a rush of warm and medicinal herbal coriander and basil. It’s almost minty and slightly chocolate and very gourmand. When you put your nose to your arm, you’ll easily open your sinuses with its powerful menthol. In a short bit, the herbs start to feel like they are beginning to be covered in salt. Onda sits in this mentholated stage for some time and it’s big and strong and must be applied with discretion because a little goes a long way. After around a half hour or so, Onda becomes slightly honeyed and slightly sweet with a bit of funkified fruitiness that seems to be peppered with a bit of ginger. Onda’s a bit strange in that it’s warm, but there’s a cool quality about it that keeps the wearer at a distance. After many, many hours In the end, Onda leaves you with a light and honeyed earthy dried vetiver. And trust me, this has some lasting power. 24 hours after wearing Onda you’ll still know that she’s there.
Onda Notes (from Luckyscent): bergamot, citron, mandarin, ginger, coriander, basil, passion fruit, iris, ylang-ylang, honey, vetiver bourbon, patchouli, musk, cedar wood
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A jute rug. That’s not a bad thing, but if you have ever laid on a jute rug you’ll know exactly what I mean. It smells like it’s from the earth.
THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ONDA: herbal, potent, sharp
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ONDA: Smellythoughts, Kafkaesque, Indieperfumes
BOTTOM LINE: Freddie from Smellythoughts passed me a sample a while back. As a sample, I dabbed it on and found it incredibly interesting. Enough so that I decided I had to have a bottle for myself. When I received my purchase, I spritzed some on and thought…”what have I done???!!!” For the price point, Onda is not something you want to have sitting on the shelf. So after a couple of days, I went back to it. Maybe I had spritzed too much on the first time, but the second time I liked it more. And now I have days when there isn’t anything else that I want to wear! However, Onda is one of those perfumes that you have to wear when you are in just the right mood and right frame of mind. Today I was driving around in the convertible with the top down on a sunny day that wasn’t too hot. Onda did her job well 🙂
- Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
- Scent: Woody Spicy
- Nose: Vero Kern
- Classification: Unisex
- Expense: $200 for 50ml EdP
The Scented Hound 
September 15, 2013 at 5:28 pm
You bought a bottle of Onda EDP ?!?! Holy crap Houndy i’m riddled with envy! You never told me that 😛 I NEED ONE. I get all mace, ginger, piss-laden honey and intense citrus with a cracking vetiver at the end, a very different experience to you! It is a true beauty – one of the sexiest fragrances I’ve ever smelt. I’m so glad you love it ❤ Your taste impresses me more and more 😉
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September 15, 2013 at 5:59 pm
Funny, I don’t think that Onda is sexy in the least. It’s kind of one of my “don’t mess with me” perfumes as it wears so boldly on me. You know I’m not a big vetiver fan, but this is not that green men’s scent vetiver and I’m really digging it. You’ll get yours my pretty 🙂
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September 15, 2013 at 6:49 pm
I hope so! Haha, just gotta get saving, I just splashed out over 200 on a new tattoo machine so no new perfumes for me for a while 😦
I’m so glad you love this one. I didn’t find it sexy before, infact I found it sterile and abrasive and definitely “don’t mess with me” – but as I’ve warmed to it and grown to love it, I haven’t found anything sexier – honestly, I said it in a video review – it’s the most… omg I dunno – haha, it’s friggin’ good.
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September 15, 2013 at 6:19 pm
I haven’t tried this yet. I need to. Although I tried Rubj and now my purse is a bit lighter. Like Rubj I think Onda is a love/hate kind of scent from the comments I’ve seen on it.
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September 15, 2013 at 6:23 pm
I shall send you some my dear Poodle 🙂
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September 16, 2013 at 5:11 am
Really? Oh that is so sweet of you! Thanks!
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September 15, 2013 at 8:57 pm
Hahaha at the “OMG… what have I done?!” Yeah, I think Onda requires a light hand in application. I have a bottle and apply very carefully because of all the honey. You know I think it’s sexy as hell, but it seems to have been different on you. God, does my skin amplify honey? I’m rather happy with my version of things because it’s so damn sultry. Just like skin during foreplay…. (I almost wrote foreplay skin, then got scared it might look like foreskin. lol)
I like how you consider it one of your “Don’t F* with me scents!” I can see that, given your description of how it is on your skin. I guess it joins Absolue Pour Le Soir in that category then?
Okay, so you know I’ll always be asking this now: what does The Husband think? 😀
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September 15, 2013 at 9:31 pm
He like vetiver scents and likes this. It’s not like Absolue on my skin at all. It’s just big and bold and sharp…so it makes me a bit sharp 🙂
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September 16, 2013 at 8:32 am
Oh I love Onda so much!To me this is like an extension of my soul and can’t wait to have it in voile d’extrait, as I found it a bit too unsettling and jarring on my skin in the EDP
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September 16, 2013 at 6:28 pm
Wow – that is quite the endorsement Ana. I am really looking forward to trying the voile d’extrait too…in all of the scents, Kiki and Rubj. I never have tried the Onda Parfum, but it sounds exquisite!
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September 26, 2013 at 4:50 am
Yes it’s Onda Parfum that I fell for.It’s more rounded, smoother than the EDP. Scent Epiphany has them both reviewed, and Susie is spot on .But as you said in one of the comments I am not made of money, and I simply cannot pay 214 euro for 15 ml.So I’m waiting for voile d’extrait which sounds like it’s similar to the parfum, only slightly less concentrated
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September 16, 2013 at 9:46 am
Onda is a no go for me, only Kiki and Mito have my approval, although they don’t fit my skin well.
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September 16, 2013 at 6:29 pm
VP are fragrances that either work for you or they don’t. I don’t hear about many in-betweens.
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September 16, 2013 at 7:56 pm
I haven’t tried the EdP of Onda except as a sample. However, I own a bottle of the extrait and love it. I have a bit of an odd relationship with it though. I very rarely actually wear it, but I love to just go open the bottle and breathe in deeply. It calms me 🙂
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September 16, 2013 at 8:26 pm
Oh, you lucky girl you! The VP extraits are like pure gold. I haven’t tried the Onda, but I own the Kiki and I wish I could wear it everyday, but unfortunately I’m not made of money and it needs to last! I’ve heard the Onda extrait is a bit more rounded and seductive than the EdP version.
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August 1, 2014 at 4:08 pm
It DEFINITELY *is* much more rounder & smoother- almost dramatically so to my nose at least. I simply cannot abide by Onda EdP, but I can tolerate Onda Extrait- although it is not likely to be a FB purchase for me. If can figure out what makes the EdP so off-putting to me I will write back. It’s not like I can’t enjoy very challenging perfumes & notes- I most definitely can. Words like Civet & Cumin get me fluffing with delightful anticipation. In fact, my favourite category of perfumes can be called “Raunchy Florals”, if there was such a category. But Onda? Man, I dunno.
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August 2, 2014 at 9:25 am
Gian – I can easily see where you are coming from. Onda was not a first love to me, but it has grown on me over time. It is however, one of those fragrances that has to be worn in the right conditions because if it’s not, it can become overbearing. I like it as a winter scent because there is a sharpness that melds easily with the cool of the air. I do wear it in the summer, but I have to stay away if it’s too humid as it will just suffocate. I have heard lovely things about the extrait, but I have yet to try it myself. I’m with you though… civet and cumin are wonderful words for me to see on a list of note 🙂
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August 5, 2014 at 10:09 pm
Great. Since I wrote to you regarding Onda, I’ve felt compelled to revisit it- again- and again- and then again…. To the point where where it has completely grown on me. And now I seem to be addicted to it to the point where 2 new FB perfumes arrived on my doorstep today & I’ve shunned them both to wear… Yup, you guessed it- Onda again! I just placed an order for 3 mL decant of Onda Voile d’Extrait to compare it to the Extrait & the EdP along with decants of Rozy VdE & EdP. I’m still waiting on my sample of Kiki Extrait (Damn, it’s taking a long time!) but at this point my bank account is fervently hoping that I will hate both Kiki & Rozy! Because Onda is definitely now a FB purchase-must for me!!! The question is which concentration is the right one for me?
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August 6, 2014 at 5:21 am
LOL. A true perfumista! Let me know what you think of Rozy… I have yet to give it a try. For me, the Kiki extrait is sublime, it’s smooth and caramelly (sp?), but the EdP is just nice… a little too plain lavender for me.
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September 23, 2013 at 8:06 pm
‘A jute rug’ made me smile. I have a sisal rug and can totally relate. Onda is a bit spiky for me, but I find Kiki and Mito more accessible and to my taste, especially the former.
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September 24, 2013 at 5:28 am
I could wear Kiki anytime, anywhere. Mito didn’t hit it for me quite as much. I need to give it another try.
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September 24, 2013 at 1:25 am
I’m with Lucas on this one. Kiki and Mito are my kind of perfumes. Onda is so bad on my skin that it’s one of those perfumes with which you can’t help thinking: Really?! Does somebody actually might want towear this?
But congratulations on your new bottle. Enjoy it!
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September 24, 2013 at 5:31 am
Funny…it was a rough start for me and now I am craving it. I really love it. It’s so different and bold…however, I don’t get sexy like Freddie from Smellythoughts gets though.
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