Tempore Donna Laura Biagiotti 1999

Laura Biagiotti is known for making sumptuous, complicated perfumes, and Tempore Donna is one. This perfume presents radically different faces in its stages. The top notes mesh really well with the heart notes, making it difficult to distinguish them as "fruity" or "floral" or even "fruity-floral." This strange but not unpleasant goo gives way to the base rather quickly. The base is the standout in the composition -- it is very warm and very chocolaty, like that cake that features molten chocolate in the middle. Even so, I would not classify this fragrance as a gourmand or call it particularly edible. Not for everyone, but you'll like it if you love chocolate.

... a kiss is still a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by..."

Time and again, these immortal lines from "Casablanca" come to my mind - especially when "Tempore Donna" wraps around my sense of smell.
And that, even though Ingrid Bergman was certainly not the woman I could imagine wearing this fragrance.
She was too brittle, too cool, too Nordic, too much of a lady as well.
It took me a while to trace this initially very confusing association - 13 years, to be precise.
"Tempore Donna" has been in my possession for that long, accompanying me through green and gray days, through confusions and chaos, through highs and lows, through great happiness and deep pain.
Thirteen long years.
And here we are now - as time goes by.

"Tempore Donna" is a woman, unequivocally and uncompromisingly.
Not a girl, not a princess, not a diva, not a vamp.
She does not just want to play, does not want to pass the time, does not longingly stare after a missed fairytale prince.
She smiles with a halo of light around her eyes, which shine, yet whose depth also bears witness to suffered pain.
She embraces, snuggles up, conveys a sense of security.
Her skin is warm, soft, and velvety, no longer as tight as it was back when the nights in the disco were long and it was straight from a quick shower to the office.
Today, she prefers cashmere and linen over bare skin.
Her beauty is not that of the model types on the catwalk - she loves her curves, which speak of sensuality and enjoyment, of generosity and zest for life, of spaghetti, Barolo, and tiramisu.
No man looks up to her, yet dozens of gazes follow her as she walks by.
She loves roses, dark, lush, magnificent roses - and daisies, the delicate little ones, for which no vase can be fine enough.
She does not giggle; she laughs - from the belly, joyfully and contagiously, and preferably at herself.
She likes children, and children love her, yet no one would think of seeing a mother hen in her.
She loves love and is aware of its transience, which is why she prefers to stand on her own two feet rather than on precarious Manolos.

A woman.
No Lilith, no Eve - this woman could not be created by God; she had to become.
Grow, seek, err, suffer, mature.
As time goes by.

First of all, many, many thanks to the lovely Auenduft for this charming mini, which I will not part with.

During my first testing a few days ago, Tempore struggled on my skin, didn’t really get going, perhaps it was the wrong time, not my day, whatever. However, since I find the little bottle so cute, I applied Tempore again this morning and lo and behold, a completely different impression emerges.
I googled Laura Biagotti as a person. She was born in 1943 and is still a very attractive, albeit somewhat plump lady, and even when she was young, she was never one of those very skinny women. Very pretty, very curvy. A full woman. This is exactly the image that Tempore Donna conveys.
Tempore starts fruity-sweet, a bit of cuddly peach skin with a splash of lemon, not loud, but still very clear. It glides into a wonderful floral heart note with a great balance of the flowers, all spring bloomers. Yet, there is no kitschiness to it.
Although I don’t like scents that contain chocolate, it doesn’t bother me here. It brings some depth and sweetness and weight to the base without overshadowing the sandalwood. Luckily, vanilla is not dominant either. Thus, Tempore remains feminine, warm, but not too sweet.

A great fragrance if you just want to be a woman. Leave the pants in the closet. Put on a dress again. Emphasize everything that one has as a woman: breasts, legs, waist. Feel like Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, or Marilyn Monroe.
It doesn’t always have to be a snappy Chanel or a grand oriental like Shalimar to showcase femininity. Or Salvador Dali (femme) with which one is out and about like a lustful cheetah.
Tempore has just as much sex appeal (though not so offensively), yet one doesn’t have to fuss too much about oneself. Just be a woman.....

During a shopping trip with my mother in the late nineties, we first tested this fragrance. My mother was wearing Venezia at the time, which is no longer available and has many admirers, and she was always interested in Biagiotti's creations. I had already developed a love-hate relationship with Roma back then, thanks to a creepy German teacher, and Venezia just didn’t appeal to me at all. Quite the opposite with Tempore. I liked it immediately. Mmhhh, it had something. With the peach and vanilla, it reminded me of my beloved Casmir, but still somehow individual and beautiful with the chocolate note. Yep, I liked it.

I got the fragrance about a year later. As a poor student, I couldn’t buy every fragrance back then. But I loved telling friends and relatives about the scents I liked. And that worked out on birthdays from time to time. Suddenly, I was the proud owner of a 100 ml bottle of Tempore. I wore it on every occasion. I had a big bottle: whether at university, privately with friends, or out in the evening. It was always well-received in my circle. In the meantime, I would classify it as an autumn/winter fragrance and definitely wouldn’t wear it at university anymore (should I ever think about studying again :)).

Today, my bottle is unfortunately empty, but I fondly remember this beautiful scent. Perhaps it would have fit better in the niche than in the mainstream? I have no idea how it would fare today, but I believe it would hold its own, just like Venezia, which my mother still mourns to this day. That Roma is the one that remained? But it’s said to have been terribly reformulated. Well, then they should just let it go.

Finally, a perfume from Laura that actually lasts on the skin; most of hers dissipate in seconds.

This is another one of those scents that makes me look at the clock, waiting for my bakery to open, as its sweetness is quite appetizing.

You can smell fruits that are quite sweet, as well as little flowers, all blended with the light chocolate, but none of them stands out.
I perceive a soft, white, gourmand, and quite velvety perfume on a subtle sandalwood base.
For those who don't like lily of the valley: here they don't ring so loudly.

The perfume doesn't undergo a significant development, but the chocolate kiss runs through all the notes and is surprisingly long-lasting.