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Kirkè = Tropical Summer Vibes Unique Unto Itself
TLDR - if you’ve seen comparisons to Erba Pura convincing you they’re extremely close to one another as I had, and avoid one or the other, sample them both and let your nose be thy guide. My nose tells me that while they share a loosely similar dna, they are VERY different and unique from the other. Close and sharing a similar dna in the first few minutes, and the more time passes the further apart they become such that several hours in and with both still quite noticeable I’m almost willing to say I don’t even pick up on a similar dna any longer. Both winners in my book with Kirkè seeming far more tropical, shimmering and summery and with powdery nuances in the deep dry down, where Erba Pura feels like a warmer silkier base with much less dominance by fruity notes and the amber and vanilla driving this one with fruity notes being distant supporting notes after 30 or 45 minutes. Where Kirkè strikes me as tropical, Erba strikes me as more apt for spring with extremely different textural qualities. I don’t necessarily reserve certain frags for certain seasons, and if I had them both, where now I do wish I would have picked up Erba Pura when I had the chance to do so at a price so low it would feel criminal… I likely would generally tier them out as Erba for spring and Kirkè for summer. Sure, similar in the opening for a few minutes, but the similarities for my nose just about end there.
A couple times a year on hot summer days I reach for Kirkè and I’ve always enjoyed it. Tiziana Terenzi fragrances were some of the first I hit my head on when I tripped and fell into the niche rabbit hole and I must admit I’ve been a fan of the brand / Paolo Terenzi as a nose / perfumer ever since. I’ve often seen people refer to him as essentially a clone fragrance maker but my nose has just never seen it that way. Instead, my nose has seen it much in the same way my ears can hear a song witten in the same key with the same chord progression, but a different beat and lyrics reveal an entirely new song. Sure there perhaps may have been some level of inspiration, or perhaps not, but the end products are vastly different.
This morning I realized I had a sample of Xerjoff’s Erba Pura perfumed by nose Chris Maurice, but had never done a side by side. I felt inspired to do so, to answer that similarity question or whether Kirkè seemed like a clone to my nose as I’ve seen alluded to or outright claimed on many occasions. For the first few moments I pick up on strong similarities, but within 5-10 minutes they become vastly different fragrances to my nose. They both open quite fruity, but Kirkè, after those first few moments hits my nose as a much more tropically inspired creation. I tend not to categorize fragrances by seasons, but where many do, I can see Erba Pura as a spring whereas Kirkè is more apropos for summer.
Rather than seeing them as quite different and thus no “cloning” of a fragrance, I can concur with the notion they share a similar DNA while being quite distinctively different. While I often do associate bergamot, lemon, and Orange with fresher / more apt for summer fragrances, the opening in Kirkè with peach, pear, passion fruit, black currant, and raspberry create a much more “summery” feel to me. I can see how some may associate it with a more “feminine leaning” vibe, however, with male audience targeted fragrances over the last several years becoming more and more sweet and fruity, and my nose just having become accustomed to things I likely wouldn’t wear 10 or 20 years ago, this to me is unisex right down the line.
Perhaps the very most noticeable differes my nose picks up on is textural in nature. It seems to my nose, while both fragrances list musk and vanilla as notes, I believe the mix of vanilla and amber makes Erba Pura feel “warmer” which is why it strikes my nose as one, should people be deadset on fragrances based upon seasonality / temperatures, Erba would strike me as more of a spring than summer, for the warmth it exudes comparative to Kirkè. Several hours into my wearing of one on the back of each hand with very frequent sniff checks, Kirkè has retained a very tropical feel where the passion fruit, Lily, clean musk, and sandalwood have become the dominant players, with the zing of passion fruit and I’ll call it a sparkle from the raspberry really setting the tone. At this juncture Erba has become more ambery and vanillic with the “fruit basket from the Mediterranean” mid and very minor lingering of citrus sort of dancing off in the distant background.
My nose doesn’t pick up on the “warm sand” accord, or much in the way of vanilla and patchouli, as these seem to minor supporting players that I'm sure if removed would alter the end product fragrance but I’m just not picking them up. The further into the dry down, the more prevalent the heliotrope becomes, through it comes through as making the tropical vibe have a powdery quality.
All in all, while I don’t own a bottle of Erba Pura, and on a couple occasions when I was adding to my collection, almost did that very thing, I do wish to someday add it. It’s quite pleasant and to my nose is a standalone fragrance with minimum comparison to Kirkè. That being said, I love Paolo’s works as much as ever, feel reassured once again that he does his own thing with the end products being quite unique comparative to those his works get compared to, and Kirkè is a tropical summery gem in my collection. I have been trying to be more diligent with making sure I frequently rotate my fragrances such that they all receive wearings and love and as such I was going to go mow the lawn, and then spray something entirely different than either of these on for the rest of the day after I shower… particularly since Kirkè made the rotation not all that long ago, but I’m enjoying the passion fruit dominant tropical feel so much, Kirkè is going to get a full wearing for all of today as I head out a little later on.
A couple times a year on hot summer days I reach for Kirkè and I’ve always enjoyed it. Tiziana Terenzi fragrances were some of the first I hit my head on when I tripped and fell into the niche rabbit hole and I must admit I’ve been a fan of the brand / Paolo Terenzi as a nose / perfumer ever since. I’ve often seen people refer to him as essentially a clone fragrance maker but my nose has just never seen it that way. Instead, my nose has seen it much in the same way my ears can hear a song witten in the same key with the same chord progression, but a different beat and lyrics reveal an entirely new song. Sure there perhaps may have been some level of inspiration, or perhaps not, but the end products are vastly different.
This morning I realized I had a sample of Xerjoff’s Erba Pura perfumed by nose Chris Maurice, but had never done a side by side. I felt inspired to do so, to answer that similarity question or whether Kirkè seemed like a clone to my nose as I’ve seen alluded to or outright claimed on many occasions. For the first few moments I pick up on strong similarities, but within 5-10 minutes they become vastly different fragrances to my nose. They both open quite fruity, but Kirkè, after those first few moments hits my nose as a much more tropically inspired creation. I tend not to categorize fragrances by seasons, but where many do, I can see Erba Pura as a spring whereas Kirkè is more apropos for summer.
Rather than seeing them as quite different and thus no “cloning” of a fragrance, I can concur with the notion they share a similar DNA while being quite distinctively different. While I often do associate bergamot, lemon, and Orange with fresher / more apt for summer fragrances, the opening in Kirkè with peach, pear, passion fruit, black currant, and raspberry create a much more “summery” feel to me. I can see how some may associate it with a more “feminine leaning” vibe, however, with male audience targeted fragrances over the last several years becoming more and more sweet and fruity, and my nose just having become accustomed to things I likely wouldn’t wear 10 or 20 years ago, this to me is unisex right down the line.
Perhaps the very most noticeable differes my nose picks up on is textural in nature. It seems to my nose, while both fragrances list musk and vanilla as notes, I believe the mix of vanilla and amber makes Erba Pura feel “warmer” which is why it strikes my nose as one, should people be deadset on fragrances based upon seasonality / temperatures, Erba would strike me as more of a spring than summer, for the warmth it exudes comparative to Kirkè. Several hours into my wearing of one on the back of each hand with very frequent sniff checks, Kirkè has retained a very tropical feel where the passion fruit, Lily, clean musk, and sandalwood have become the dominant players, with the zing of passion fruit and I’ll call it a sparkle from the raspberry really setting the tone. At this juncture Erba has become more ambery and vanillic with the “fruit basket from the Mediterranean” mid and very minor lingering of citrus sort of dancing off in the distant background.
My nose doesn’t pick up on the “warm sand” accord, or much in the way of vanilla and patchouli, as these seem to minor supporting players that I'm sure if removed would alter the end product fragrance but I’m just not picking them up. The further into the dry down, the more prevalent the heliotrope becomes, through it comes through as making the tropical vibe have a powdery quality.
All in all, while I don’t own a bottle of Erba Pura, and on a couple occasions when I was adding to my collection, almost did that very thing, I do wish to someday add it. It’s quite pleasant and to my nose is a standalone fragrance with minimum comparison to Kirkè. That being said, I love Paolo’s works as much as ever, feel reassured once again that he does his own thing with the end products being quite unique comparative to those his works get compared to, and Kirkè is a tropical summery gem in my collection. I have been trying to be more diligent with making sure I frequently rotate my fragrances such that they all receive wearings and love and as such I was going to go mow the lawn, and then spray something entirely different than either of these on for the rest of the day after I shower… particularly since Kirkè made the rotation not all that long ago, but I’m enjoying the passion fruit dominant tropical feel so much, Kirkè is going to get a full wearing for all of today as I head out a little later on.