L'Attesa opens on a glorious orris note that is rooty, starchy, papery and cold.
There's a slight bready nuance that follows soon after the opening and then transitions into a cool dusty, powder textured scent that evoked strong childhood memories of the smell of wet playground pea gravel on a cold winter day. That cold, earthy, powdered mineral accord is what captivates me and moves me. It actually enticed me to do something I never do -- buy a bottle before I'd experienced a full wearing of the scent. I haven't smelled this beautiful and strange minerally powder accord in any other iris perfume before, and I've tried most of them.
Unfortunately, the long lasting base note in this seems to amp up on my skin after a few hours in a rather unpleasant way. It's an unrelenting woody freshness, as though the smell of an entire laundry soap aisle of a grocery store is projecting off of my wrist. After a few hours of only this note shrieking at me full volume I find it hard to love this scent.
Those who are either partially anosmic to this base or who find it pleasant won't mind, but for me L'Attesa went from a sweet symphony to a fog horn.
