Athenaeum

This fragrance always smells different. Sometimes resinous, sometimes lavender, sometimes patchouli or something undefinable—but always wonderful. It transforms throughout the day, all day long. One spray is enough, and you’re surrounded by a constantly evolving cloud of scent. For me, it suits every season and almost any occasion.

When I travel, I like to pick up a fragrance (or several if we're being real) to remind me of where I've been. When I was visiting Edinburgh from California last October, I searched for perfume shops and came across Jorum Studio. I picked up Athenaeum, and I simply adore it. Even months later, it brings me right back to that trip. Athenaeum is beeswax, old paper, wood, lavender, and hay. Simultaneously cool and warm, like a break in the clouds shining sun on rainsoaked medieval stonework. This is Edinburgh to me. It's an ancient castle full of books, and lit by fat dripping candles, standing in a field of dry grass and lavender. The lavender is faint but the beeswax and woody elements are very present. It's unusual and gorgeous and will always remind me of my trip.

A true gem. For me gives the most delicious impressions of gasoline, wax and foggy heath. A very comforting smell I'd wear in the autumn. It's classic yet intriguing, and like all Jorum perfumes, innovative and without any cliché. Highly recommended.

Athenaeum Jorum Studio is the scent of summer, having passed its peak. It evokes images of a rural house surrounded by fields and meadows, with a hayloft, old books, ink supplies, and field mice. A lavender-gray field blends into the sky, and the air sometimes feels as heavy as lead.

To me, this perfume is a place. A place inhabited by a hermit-thinker with an earthy floor and the soft pastels of hay. Golden dust particles, hanging in the soft sunbeam that fills the room, resemble pollen from the fuzzy bumblebee tails.

Athenaeum feels animalic-musky to me, but it seems to be built on other modern materials or with their addition. I really like the almost tactile image of a soft, smooth rodent’s fur and the adored large, beautiful insect pollinators! They are here, hiding in dried fennel and herbs, clover, wheat flour, lavender, freshly plowed soil that smells crumbly like patchouli, an oak box of beets, and a basket of juicy, crisp, sweet apples. They haul thick honey from the combs (sometimes there’s so much of this sticky treat that it starts to smell slightly urinous), peek into the inkpot, leaving paw prints on dried herbarium leaves and old notebook pages. Meanwhile, the idle days of summer are coming to an end, and the melancholia of autumn sneaks up unnoticed. The owner of the place carefully starts gathering books in leather bindings with yellowed pages, touched by many hands, eyes, and hearts, to read during the damp, chilly evenings.

Athenaeum holds everything I love most in a perfumery sense, even the feeling of solitude. It’s my favorite from the brand so far. I’ve been using it for several months, and I haven’t grown tired of it. Even when I wear it in the evening, it doesn’t interfere with sleep, which is rare (I sometimes wake up at night from smells). For this reason, I believe this perfume is great at any time of day. The longevity is quite high—around 8 hours on my skin, for sure. The sillage is also decent—around 4 meters! It’s gender-neutral and beloved!

Smells like an old church it's beautiful