Soffio Zenit by Brunello Cucinelli
Bottle Design:
Bijan Pakzad
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Soffio Zenit 1985

8.0 / 10 120 Ratings
A popular perfume by Brunello Cucinelli for women, released in 1985. The scent is oriental-floral. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Oriental
Floral
Spicy
Sweet
Woody

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
Ylang-ylangYlang-ylang NarcissusNarcissus Orange blossomOrange blossom
Heart Notes Heart Notes
Lily of the valleyLily of the valley Bulgarian roseBulgarian rose Persian jasminePersian jasmine Thermoplastic EardrumThermoplastic Eardrum
Base Notes Base Notes
PatchouliPatchouli SandalwoodSandalwood Moroccan oakmossMoroccan oakmoss

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
8.0120 Ratings
Longevity
8.495 Ratings
Sillage
8.093 Ratings
Bottle
7.2107 Ratings
Value for money
9.023 Ratings
Submitted by Schnuffi, last update on 06/01/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to
Bijan Women (Eau de Parfum) by Bijan
Bijan Women Eau de Parfum
Bijan Women (Perfume) by Bijan
Bijan Women Perfume
Bijan Women Light by Bijan
Bijan Women Light
Rapture (Cologne) by Victoria's Secret
Rapture Cologne
Oscar / Oscar de la Renta (1977) (Parfum) by Oscar de la Renta
Oscar Parfum
Life Threads Ruby by La Prairie
Life Threads Ruby

Reviews

6 in-depth fragrance descriptions
2
Bottle
7
Sillage
7
Longevity
8
Scent
Oriane

139 Reviews
Oriane
Oriane
Helpful Review 3  
Opulent Floriental
This review is for the vintage Eau de Parfum.

Top Notes: Basil, Neroli, Ylang-Ylang, Bergamot, Orange Blossom, Narcissus.

Heart Notes: Honey, Carnation, Tuberose, Jasmine, Orris Root, Lily of the Valley, Bulgarian Rose.

Base Notes: Oakmoss, Sandalwood, Tonka Bean, Amber, Patchouli, Musk, Benzoin, Vanilla, Heliotrope, Cedar.

Bijan is a decadently rich, delicious, and quite expensive smelling Floriental that is very well blended with the perfect amount of spice. I have to work hard to distinguish individual notes, but the ones I am able to distinguish smell very natural and lush. Bijan is not synthetic smelling at all. This is how I had hoped Bal a Versailles would smell.

Bijan immediately seduces both the senses and the imagination. The development is rewardingly slow compared to so many of today's fragrances. It develops over time like the slow opening of a beautiful rose. Bijan has a classic pyramidal structure.

The ylang-ylang and orange blossom in the top notes are lush and sweet. Then as Bijan slowly develops, I detect gorgeous notes of sweet honey and fresh carnation with hints of buttery tuberose and orris root. The deep dry down is very warm, rich, powdery, and sensual. All of the base notes meld together so seamlessly that it is difficult to tease them apart from one another. They are simply there on one's skin like a soft, rich, silky, beautiful veil. This is a perfume to truly relish smelling either on oneself or on someone else.

I am amazed by the way all of the notes combine to create the most incredibly soft smoothness. They meld effortlessly with one another to form a most intoxicatingly delicious smell. Sniffing Bijan is the olfactory equivalent of running one's hand across the softest most opulent and warm fur one can imagine. This...this is a Floriental worthy of the name!

On top of everything else, Bijan is obscenely affordable--at least in the current EdT formulation. I would expect to pay significantly more for a fragrance of this fine quality.

If you like Florientals/Orientals, this is one that is worth adding to your wardrobe. It is "dress up" worthy, date night worthy, and special occasion worthy. Sadly, they do not make fragrances like this anymore. Bijan is opulent, smooth, rich, warm, sensual, feminine, and dare I say it...sexy. I generally do not relegate any perfume to either day or night wear, but Bijan I think would be best worn in the evening because it is so opulently rich and seductive. A woman wearing Bijan will rightly expect the men in her immediate vicinity to notice her and to gravitate toward her.

The following ratings are for the first five hours or so. Thereafter, Bijan very slowly begins to fade away leaving behind what I envision as the wake of Cleopatra's barge sparkling in the moonlight.

Fragrance: 8/10
Projection: 7/10
Sillage: 7/10
Longevity: 7/10

ETA December 2019: Every time I come back to wear this fragrance I swoon all over again. This is the most wonderful, floral amber I have ever smelt. If I were told it was created by one of the legendary noses at Guerlain or CHANEL, I would not doubt it for a moment. It smells so expensive and sexy, but these days it is not expensive at all. If you love, opulent, floral ambers you really cannot do better than this fragrance.

I have several other ambers in my collection, but few even exist within the same universe as Bijan Bijan. It smells wealthy and glamorous, dark and rich. I can imagine a young Ava Gardener, Sophia Loren, or Yvonne DeCarlo wearing this. It is simply stunning. Anytime I wear it, I wonder why I still keep Amber Sultan and a few others in my collection. None of them compete with Bijan. Going out for a very elegant evening this Winter? Rubbing shoulders with the creme de la creme of New York, Paris, Milan society, or just your home town? Put on your finest frock and sexiest shoes. Don your prettiest earrings, and then, apply Bijan. You will turn heads and "knock 'em dead" wherever you go. I promise. :)
2 Comments
10
Sillage
10
Longevity
9
Scent
ScentFan

334 Reviews
ScentFan
ScentFan
Helpful Review 3  
A Vivid Bijan, at Last!
This last of the four Bijans I bought finally reeks, unlike the others! Thank goodness! Nowadays I find I often enjoy excess (to a certain extent): scrumptuous bites, luscious wines, thrilling music, incomparable sunsets, clouds of gorgeous perfume -- anything outrageously lovely. I was beginning to think the House of Bijan had no sympathy for perfumistas who yearn for drama. All is well. With this one, we can be Bijaned and smell almost like a sultana. Why almost? He soft-pedaled the heavy resins that would launch the reek into overdrive, but there's still enough here to threaten oxygen levels. Great! I love smelling like a character from the Arabian Nights. Bijan's many notes blend into a single narcotic medley that would knock any sheikh for a loop. This goes right next to my other fabulous orientals.

Only problem? The bottle isn't shaped like this. It's shaped like One Hundred % Bijan's bottle. However it clearly says Bijan women on the accompanying body lotion. Weird.
0 Comments
Krmarich

139 Reviews
Krmarich
Krmarich
3  
Lush marvel
I remember buying a bottle of Bijan for my mother about sometime in the late 1980s at a big department store. It was marketed as the next Giorgio Beverly Hills. Her impression was "its too strong". Hence it sat in her vast collection for ages until I would eventually get this bottle back, cleaning out her estate. She never used it and it's still very full. My, how my nose was so well conditioned to pick up a bottle all those years ago. Bijan is stunning!

Today I give some generous sprays and it's still the giant powerhouse I remembered. The one thing my now trained nose picks up is the dramatic notes that rest below the dramatic opening of giant orange blossom/neroli, is the rich sweet amber sandalwood/vanilla accord that hasn't been experience since the 1980s. In its vintage formula, this is as good as it gets. This is California luxury at its best.

There is nod to Obsession, Vanderbilt and Oscar de Larenta. I would say this is an "oriental" in its class. The white flowers are covered in the sticky sweet honey. Its French cousins are Poison and Clandestine. This makes me rethink Poison. Is it really a floriental? I never found these gargantua formulas ever developed. One drop lasted as is until your next shower. Bijan developes gently and easily as the day progressed.

Bijan is sunny California in a bottle for those of us who used to dream of palm trees and high-end shopping. The is an orange tree in full blossom that would be a constant calling card to this luxurious composition. If neroli and amber are your taste, then a hunt for a vintage bottle is well rewarded.
1 Comment
SoreEyelids

1 Review
SoreEyelids
SoreEyelids
3  
A gorgeous floriental
The original EDP formula is indeed so much richer and more oriental than the comparatively light (weak) scent available for purchase in stores today. It comes across as a less impenetrable, "sunnier" version of classic orientals like Tabu, laden with notes of sweet floral honey and slight touches of incense. Perfect for those of us who still wanna smell spicy and heady during a particularly hot summer.
Don't even mention the current EDT version though, that's little more than a body spray for me in terms of intensity.
0 Comments
Stacia

134 Reviews
Stacia
Stacia
3  
'80s perfume that is soft enough to not smell like '80s perfume
A woman whose child I used to babysit for wore this on her date nights and it was perfect for her, a flower child turned career woman. Her house was decorated in handcrafted art from around the world, her family ate only organic foods and her demeanor was as sweet as the honey note in this perfume. I was surprised to find that Bijan was relatively inexpensive and available at drugstores. It's a balmy summer afternoon sitting in a field of warm wildflowers, heavy with pollen. The wind blows and on the breeze you catch a waft of nag champa incense burning somewhere down the road.
1 Comment
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Statements

2 short views on the fragrance
Paris4meParis4me 4 years ago
10
Scent
Baroque in it’s opulence! A stunning and elegant statement perfume, maybe even a little brash. They don’t make perfumes like this anymore.
0 Comments
ArlufkinArlufkin 6 years ago
10
Bottle
10
Sillage
10
Longevity
10
Scent
The vintage Eau de Parfum is so much better than the Eau de Toilette that is available, today.
0 Comments

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