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Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
04/11/2024
ElAttarine
30 Reviews
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ElAttarine
Top Review
27
Carried by the vanilla glow
so despondent my little soul wings...
so powerless sometimes my heart...
caught in the thicket
what am I really
everything is deception
where is support
You show me a vanilla light
put a protective cloak of incense power around me
strengthen me with styrax in my back
lay iris powder at my feet
put civet powers at my side
This is the first time I've tested a fragrance that prominently features vanilla and rated it positively. This is a small sensation for me, as vanilla fragrances usually run the risk of being overtly sweet and/or musty. Neither is the case here! The notes listed here and on the Prada homepage (vanilla - styrax - incense - amber) might lead you to expect a rather simple ambery fragrance, but that would be completely wrong. This one is very complex and beautifully crafted and never ceases to surprise me. Other sources also list other ingredients that confirm my olfactory impression - I had already doubted myself and thought I was imagining them all.
It is precisely this uncertainty, a certain unstable floating and then being carried that seems to me to be the theme of this fragrance: a vanilla glow of uncertainty and unsteadiness.
-----
It begins for me with an ambery vanilla that has a kind of glow right from the start and also something very delicate and lively, citrusy and fresh. (I thought I was wrong at first, but some sources also list bergamot) Then it becomes denser and deeper as it progresses, resinous-powdery-sweetish. The brightness of the beginning gets some shadows. I perceive a delicate but very dark leather note, and I also suspect ambergris with its slight animalic quality, which typically contributes to the dark/light theme - as I know it from Annette Neuffer's fragrances in particular. And I would guess that some oud is also present. Sometimes it becomes apparent shortly after spraying it on, but not always. I'm pretty sure that the light animal notes are reinforced by some civet. This is where the fragrance gains downright vintage qualities with its - yes, should I call it opulence? It is a successful modern and somewhat lighter interpretation of vintage opulence.
The incense is present, but remains part of this chiaroscuro and does not stand out as a note in its own right. And I can imagine that there is also some iris in the powderiness. So: "Marienbad" is a very complex, very well-made fragrance. The components create a lively whole, like different layers that intertwine with each other and constantly reveal each other and new things.
(I've never looked at Daniela Andrier's work before - I've only just realized how many big houses she's worked for. I'll have to look into that again when I get the chance.)
-----
For me, this fragrance has three thematic facets:
Firstly, what could be described as baroque or opulent and makes me think of vintage fragrances. On the Prada homepage, it is described as "baroque" and "decadent", which is not quite right for me - it is more the aforementioned vintage notes in a modern interpretation. If you want, you can find parallels here to the spa architecture of the 19th and early 20th centuries, which has been preserved in Marienbad/Czech Republic with the splendor of the classicist and art nouveau buildings.
Secondly, I perceive the difficulty of objectifying impressions of reality as the theme of the fragrance. This is evoked by the light, floating, misty quality of the beginning, as well as by the interaction of the ingredients, which unfolds anew each time. There are echoes here of the film "Last Year in Marienbad" (1961), which addresses the question of what makes my memory of past loves and injuries "accurate". This is about love, about depths of the soul, confusion, about the questions of what is real and what I really want. These questions remain unresolved in the film, the ambiguity remains.
Thirdly, it is the chiaroscuro theme that is beautifully realized here. The fragrance begins bright and light, and then the dynamic between light and shadow, between illusion and clarity, unfolds.
Many thanks to @FrauKirsche for the sample and to both of you, dear @FrauKirsche
and @Can777 , for your beautiful introductions to the fragrance, without which I would not have tried it, that would have been a shame. Now it's on the wish list.
so powerless sometimes my heart...
caught in the thicket
what am I really
everything is deception
where is support
You show me a vanilla light
put a protective cloak of incense power around me
strengthen me with styrax in my back
lay iris powder at my feet
put civet powers at my side
This is the first time I've tested a fragrance that prominently features vanilla and rated it positively. This is a small sensation for me, as vanilla fragrances usually run the risk of being overtly sweet and/or musty. Neither is the case here! The notes listed here and on the Prada homepage (vanilla - styrax - incense - amber) might lead you to expect a rather simple ambery fragrance, but that would be completely wrong. This one is very complex and beautifully crafted and never ceases to surprise me. Other sources also list other ingredients that confirm my olfactory impression - I had already doubted myself and thought I was imagining them all.
It is precisely this uncertainty, a certain unstable floating and then being carried that seems to me to be the theme of this fragrance: a vanilla glow of uncertainty and unsteadiness.
-----
It begins for me with an ambery vanilla that has a kind of glow right from the start and also something very delicate and lively, citrusy and fresh. (I thought I was wrong at first, but some sources also list bergamot) Then it becomes denser and deeper as it progresses, resinous-powdery-sweetish. The brightness of the beginning gets some shadows. I perceive a delicate but very dark leather note, and I also suspect ambergris with its slight animalic quality, which typically contributes to the dark/light theme - as I know it from Annette Neuffer's fragrances in particular. And I would guess that some oud is also present. Sometimes it becomes apparent shortly after spraying it on, but not always. I'm pretty sure that the light animal notes are reinforced by some civet. This is where the fragrance gains downright vintage qualities with its - yes, should I call it opulence? It is a successful modern and somewhat lighter interpretation of vintage opulence.
The incense is present, but remains part of this chiaroscuro and does not stand out as a note in its own right. And I can imagine that there is also some iris in the powderiness. So: "Marienbad" is a very complex, very well-made fragrance. The components create a lively whole, like different layers that intertwine with each other and constantly reveal each other and new things.
(I've never looked at Daniela Andrier's work before - I've only just realized how many big houses she's worked for. I'll have to look into that again when I get the chance.)
-----
For me, this fragrance has three thematic facets:
Firstly, what could be described as baroque or opulent and makes me think of vintage fragrances. On the Prada homepage, it is described as "baroque" and "decadent", which is not quite right for me - it is more the aforementioned vintage notes in a modern interpretation. If you want, you can find parallels here to the spa architecture of the 19th and early 20th centuries, which has been preserved in Marienbad/Czech Republic with the splendor of the classicist and art nouveau buildings.
Secondly, I perceive the difficulty of objectifying impressions of reality as the theme of the fragrance. This is evoked by the light, floating, misty quality of the beginning, as well as by the interaction of the ingredients, which unfolds anew each time. There are echoes here of the film "Last Year in Marienbad" (1961), which addresses the question of what makes my memory of past loves and injuries "accurate". This is about love, about depths of the soul, confusion, about the questions of what is real and what I really want. These questions remain unresolved in the film, the ambiguity remains.
Thirdly, it is the chiaroscuro theme that is beautifully realized here. The fragrance begins bright and light, and then the dynamic between light and shadow, between illusion and clarity, unfolds.
Many thanks to @FrauKirsche for the sample and to both of you, dear @FrauKirsche
and @Can777 , for your beautiful introductions to the fragrance, without which I would not have tried it, that would have been a shame. Now it's on the wish list.
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