Ylang Ylang Lorenzo Villoresi 2013

Ylang Ylang by Viloressi arrives with the generosity of a perfumer who isn’t afraid of overdosing. Is it realistic when it comes to ylang-ylang? Yes… and no.

Rather yes, because this fragrance is above all very green, yet it gently slips into a honeyed register, carried by the accompanying flowers. It oscillates between orange blossom and the indolic note of sambac jasmine, with a richness that is almost carnal.

It also reveals a soapy and powdery facet, reminiscent of the soul of perfumes from the past.

If I had to choose between this one and Perris’s version? Hmm… personally, I’d lean towards the Perris extract. But let’s not forget that here we’re dealing with a simple EDT — which makes the comparison almost unfair.

I knew that I could count on Maestro Lorenzo to deliver a bang on ylang-ylang, tropical in feel, succulent with orange blossom and jasmine fleshing out the accord, creamy custard ripe and voluptuous. It BLOOMS all banana oil sweet, speckled clove spicy, lush and decadent, finished with a boudoir powder and vanilla.

I promised myself not to add yet another LV and to enjoy the ones I do own, but if I changed my mind... Also, Il Profvmo's Ylang D'Or has already won my heart. That said, this one is undoubtedly magnificent.

Opening with a green, stemmy plant milk note that feels fridge-cold to the touch, I am reminded of the scent of a Casablanca lily right before the spice hits your nose, a smell full of pollen, camphor, and buttery body cream, the kind that sets you back $90 in the airport duty free (the price point, by the way, at which ‘cream’ turns into ‘crème’). This accord tilts quickly forward into armfuls of fresh white jasmine, backed by a sweet nutty powder.

It takes me a while to spot the ylang. This is a sunny, slightly syrupy ylang, with zero petroleum or grapey highnotes. The sharp, insistent (slightly sour, perfumey) edge I associate with ylang is entirely absent. Instead, this is a floral sigh, held aloft by entirely by green notes and a dollop of Pond’s cold cream. This sort of green, joyous (yet also buttery or milky) botanical aroma always grabs me and shakes my heart into my throat. Ostara and Amaranthine (both Penhaligon’s) do something similar, though there is also something gently cosmetic (face cream, powder, lotion) that reminds me of Chanel No. 22 (minus the aldehydic sparkle).

Every single note exploration I undertake uncovers a heretofore ignored treasure that I would crawl over hot coals to get my hands on, and for a while, I think that Ylang Ylang is that for me. However, in the far drydown, the latent development of a spicy, resinous yellow floral accord gives me that 1980s floriental taste at the back of my mouth and I press pause on the tape. Still beautiful, yes, but now there is a reservation. Something suffocating and insistent and intense in its far reaches, like Amarige sprayed on soap powder packed into small wooden box and quickly closed up. I will have to think about it more.

Now I have arrived at the last scent of the sample set from the Villoresi Vintage Collection.
It has been a very exciting fragrance journey. Since I am not familiar with the original scents, I cannot draw any comparisons. These are not experimental fragrances as the name clearly indicates. I appreciate that all the scents only smell of natural ingredients. They are complex and not something you can quickly test. They all have a development that needs to be awaited. All fragrances are precisely balanced and well-coordinated. Except for the scents "Ambra" and "Incensi," for which I would swap the names to make them consistent for me, the fragrances are exactly what is predetermined by the name and the ingredients. Once again, thanks to Angua for the generous provision of the set.
Ylang-Ylang is often not perceivable to me in fragrances because the scent is often combined with other white flowers. They then dominate, or I cannot distinguish them from Ylang-Ylang because I am distracted and irritated by the often very animalic-smelling other white flowers.
Furthermore, I was able to determine through Ylang-Ylang how my sense of smell has changed over the past two years.
At first, I only perceived a lush floral scent that was uninteresting to me. No, I didn't want to smell like that, too overwhelming.
Then, for many months, during which I tested it repeatedly from time to time, I found it trivial and almost wanted to throw it in the compost. However, it is a lovingly intended gift from someone at a time when I couldn't make much of fragrances, a travel souvenir with the hint that the oil was precious.
And now it has become a reference scent for me. So yesterday, in preparation for today's test, I dripped the oil onto a scent strip, also to see if it might have gone rancid. It hasn't, but now, in contrast to before, it finally developed a dense, overwhelming scent on the strip, typically white floral. I could not and cannot wear this oil as a fragrance.
I finally understood why the oil was presented to me so ceremoniously as something special: it is not an oil flavored with Ylang-Ylang; it is pure Ylang-Ylang oil. But I was also a philistine, my goodness! I wanted to throw it in the compost... I find it impossible in retrospect. I did not know how to appreciate the gift at all.
The Ylang-Ylang tree belongs to the magnolia family, and the flowers yield plenty of blossoms for processing. You can read about this and other details on Wikipedia.
However, this strong floral scent was only dense on paper; a meter away, it smelled creamy of beautiful flowers. And although it is indeed overwhelming up close, it does not smell carrion-animalic.
How is this now implemented in Villoresi's Vintage Ylang-Ylang:
Immediately after application, once the alcohol has evaporated, the strong and uncompromisingly piercing and heavy Ylang-Ylang oil scent greets me. Especially at the wrist, it is almost as strong as my oil.
However, at a distance, it immediately smells finer. After a short time, "Ylang-Ylang" becomes creamier, a bit greener. The other flowers mix in. Very intense, but not like in many fragrances with white flowers: not carrion and animalic. It is just a dense floral scent that smells very intense on the skin but is already a beautiful tropical floral scent 30 cm away.
I cannot perceive any citrus notes throughout the entire development.
Fine green notes follow, which make Ylang-Ylang even more beautiful. Then a soapy creaminess follows that lingers for a while. But that too recedes into the background. "Ylang-Ylang" becomes sweeter and a bit greener-creamy. At the beginning and also in the first phase of the scent development, it was only strict and overflowing with flowers.
Overall, "Ylang-Ylang" becomes more subtle, lighter. Now I also smell beautiful balsamic resins as well as a light woody note, which makes "Ylang-Ylang" appear more robust and slightly bitter-green.
The longevity is good, and the sillage is only very strong at the beginning.
I cannot understand the classification as a unisex fragrance in any way. It is a purely feminine scent.
"Ylang-Ylang is unequivocally a fragrance composition with exclusively exotic and tropical flowers. It is summer now. This scent does not seem so suitable for that. However, that is a problem of ours. Because in the tropical and subtropical regions from where the flowers come, they seem to have no difficulties with it. I think I can enjoy "Ylang-Ylang" in winter and autumn. Because I like it more and more throughout the test. It is now a scent that can be placed in the same category as fragrances like "Le Parfum" by Elie Saab. "Ylang-Ylang," on the other hand, is denser and without animalic tendencies. It is a vintage scent and therefore not a real innovation.