Sherapop
Helpful Review
2
Rich balsamy patchouli-ish rose
To my surprise, Montale ORIENTAL FLOWERS lists no patchouli among its notes, although it was the first thing I thought that I smelled upon application. I'm rather baffled by this, to be honest. One hypothesis I came up with is that when my box of samples arrived and a couple of them had come loose from their cards, perhaps I reaffixed them to the wrong cards. I had compared the colors of the strays side-by-side with another set I had received earlier since there were some helpful overlaps. I think that I won't really believe that this is ORIENTAL FLOWERS until I test another vial attached to a different card. For now, let me simply say that peru balsam plus orris appears to impart an earthy quality bearing serious similarities to patchouli.
In fact, the huge sillage and potency of ORIENTAL FLOWERS even reminded me a bit of Juliette Has A Gun VENGEANCE EXTREME--and that's saying a lot since I only wear that perfume at home and have also discovered that it is quite effective at covering up any lingering traces of nearly any perfume which I've tested and do not like. My preference in such a situation is to take a long dip in a hot bath, but on occasion that is not feasible, which is fine since I always know that I can count on VENGEANCE EXTREME instead.
Back to ORIENTAL FLOWERS: this smells really wonderful. Very rich with an oozing golden balsam quality. The oriental facet definitely outweighs the floral aspect of this composition, so I find it quite unisex although I suppose that the sillage is going to be too overwhelming for a lot of people--guys and gals alike. This is an example of a perfume which wears you, so don't expect to be able to devote your full attention to anything since it is impossible not to notice the tent of scent which ORIENTAL FLOWERS generates.
That's a good thing in this case, in my view, because the notes blend together perfectly, but this is a textbook example of a try-before-you-buy perfume!
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Update: I tested a second sample and still smelled patchouli! Perhaps it's an olfactory illusion, or perhaps there really is patchouli in this perfume!