Clandestine Clara Penhaligon's 2017

Oh Clara, you intoxicatingly sweet lady, you have a lot of rum mixed with rock candy. You are dark, warm, but also a bit bitter and brittle with your lovely patch. And yet so tempting.

When you come to visit, you stay a long time. Preferably the whole night.

I love Clara. Whether she is beautiful, I do not know. She is good company. Special, a bit capricious, and always benevolent, she provides warmth and security without boredom. So sweet and yet not at all cute.

I don't know many places where I would like to take Clara out. But here, at my home, she is my favorite guest. Especially in the cold, when the nights are long and the days are already dark.

I want to rave about Clara, but to get back to normal: the bottle is a feast for the eyes. Beautiful, and the color of the liquid matches the scent perfectly.
The longevity is very good. On my skin, I can smell Clara for about 10 hours or longer, with a sillage that is not overwhelming.
The notes listed here correspond with my scent impression, so I don't want to list them all again.

I do not understand why Clara is marketed as a women's fragrance. Yes, it is a sweet scent, but so many sweets are now being targeted at men that I cannot comprehend why this one should be reserved for us women. For me, the scent is unisex, like many other portraits as well. Especially since not every lady may enjoy so much alcohol.

Clara is not a versatile scent, not an everyday fragrance. For me, it is something private that I like to enjoy at home or on long autumn walks all by myself. However, I think this portrait could also be a lovely going-out scent for some people, e.g., for a bar visit, and I can even imagine Clara being quite attractive and very beautiful on a man.