NCD: Whole Being Collection Review

November tends to bring new themes at NCD for their collection, and 2023 has brought the Whole Being collection to us. I didn't pick up the full collection unfortunately, but I did select a few that caught my eyes (which all happened to involve tea in some capacity, total coincidence, I think the heart just wants what it wants). Compared to previous collections, I found that this collection had a relatively cohesive presentation in all its composition - that is to say, it's got that well blended aspect in which it's relatively difficult to pick out any one note and feels more like a melange of flavors blended together. I think the blends were definitely perfect for the inspiration, they felt calming and meditative and distinctly soothing, and strangely nostalgic. 

As always, a grateful thank you to Josh and Forest at Nui Cobalt for sending through these lovely samples.  

Balance - A scent for dynamic equilibrium. Shade-grown violet, sunflower, honeyed Oolong tea, dry maple wood, galbanum, and styrax. 

Once applied, the opening is lovely and sweet, and it's probably my favorite phase of this scent - it reminds me a lot of the subtle brown sugar honey richness from Little Brown Rabbit (NCD) but tempered against a soft floral background, however it quickly fades into floral/resin darkness. It's a little sticky, against the bitterness of drying floral arrangements, and dry, unpolished wood. For me, this scent turns slightly savoury, it has an edge of saltiness in there, and it reminds me a bit of a smoked tea paired with indistinct full bodied florals. As always with the rest of the scents from this collection, there's no particular note that pops out, rather, a smooth blend of wood, salt, and floral. Interestingly enough, while it's not at all similar in notes, this scent reminds me a lot of Levante from Nobile 1942 - with the hazy blend of woods, sweetness and salt, without the more vanilla/caramel aspects in the scent. It is otherwise a nice scent, but it's another one of those scents that give me an intense feeling of nostalgia for a summer long past, from another life. 

Mindfulness - A vitalizing scent to bring full attention to the present moment. Steamy matcha, bergamot, forget-me-not blossom, moringa, and green sugarcane.

I was super excited to pick this one as I'm always on the hunt for an amazing matcha note! I snatched this one up, so it was definitely the one I was looking forward to the most. When applied wet, this scent is a lovely fresh, grassy mood - the matcha is a soft, herbal canvas, dappled with touches of zesty bergamot and crushed grass. After dry down, more of the softer, white floral aspects come out - a whiff of jasmine petals, and forget-me-nots, paired with the fresh yet warm greenery of the sugarcane/matcha and a touch of gritty, earthiness from the moringa. The matcha here is definitely not overpowering or powdery at all, retaining more of a bitter, grassy quality (similar to Osmofolia's Matcha note). Admittedly, while this matcha note hasn't quite captured my heart, I can't deny the resulting composition is delicate and refined - it's a perfect fit for trying to channel mindfulness, and I enjoy the meditative calm and subtle sweetness of this scent that this gives. I'll be putting this one in my diffusers for sure. 

Surrender - A scent of languid softness to facilitate tension release. Silk tree, osmanthus, cherry blossom, vanilla bean, teakwood, temple incense, and moss. 

When I first tried this out of the parcel, I immediately felt like this was a sibling scent of Kitsune (NCD), it has the same lovely silk note, where it feels like an elegant, smooth clean floral quality to it with the barest touch of woody incense. However, after giving it a few more tries, I was surprised by how green and atmospheric this scent was upon retesting - the opening is actually a lovely rich mossy green, before the soft floral peeks through (relatively indistinct as to what floral it actually is, and more of a silky floral handsoap). The teakwood here is also very subtle, just adding a touch of depth to the floral/green blend but the incense is barely discernable. The dry down brings out more of the softer, soapy florals here. Although it's not at all similar to Kitsune when compared side by side, I would consider Surrender to be in the same vein - if you found Kitsune too sweet and feminine, Surrender is a fairly neutral scent that is soft and approachable, like falling late spring petals and soft moss under your feet. 

Devotion - A warmly spiced melange to bring you back into your body.  Saffron and crystallized ginger adorn passionfruit, golden fig, and papaya cradled in amber, santal, and blushing skin musk. 

On opening, this is almost a fizzy, fruity pop, and it's a little sweeter than I'd imagined it to be. While I can't pick out any of the passionfruit, fig or papaya, the scent is a swirling, heavy, weighted blend of saffron, amber, santal and musk, the full force of neglected cupboards and shadowy bathrooms. It's strange to say but personally, I find this scent to be more nostalgic than anything - reminiscent of this one essential oil blend I used to keep called "Poison" which, I actually thought was poisonous but probably wasn't as potent as I'd imagined - this smells almost identical though a little sweeter, with the mixture of subtle sweetness against a mesh of amber, santal and heady musk. I can't really define the edges and borders of this scent in a way that accurately captures what it is, and while I don't think it's something I'd ever reach for, I can't help but feel intensely fond of it.