Lavenderleo

"Imagine it's the end of July. A dry heat sweeps over the city, the dark asphalt so heated by the sun that it cracks in places. The heatwave drives people to the countryside, near the sea, hoping for a little cooling and respite from the relentless forces of nature. You find yourself on a slightly rotten pier with a view of the gentle waves of the water below you. The scent of refreshing mint and citrus is noticeable before you see the man in front of you: white linen shirt, medium brown hair with honey-colored accents from the sunlight, skin slightly reddish from a long day in nature. No words are needed when he sits down with you, no communication about why he has come to you, nor where he got the courage to sit with you. The scent alone radiates self-confidence and steadfastness. There is no need for expensive clothes, because the elegance can be recognized by the perfume alone. And so you sit there, at the edge of this open water and watch the waves together while the fragrance is seemingly the only thing that breaks through the oppressive heat."




These are the words a colleague of mine used to describe the fragrance after she sprayed it for the first time, and I fell in love with this associative story so much that I simply have to share it here. The fragrance is very masculine at first, mainly due to the cool mint note, and it only becomes unisex with the soft lavender and musk undertones. The fragrance reminds me a little of a Hugo mixed with aftershave in the best possible way. For a more feminine touch, I like to combine it with Cruz del Sur II to emphasize the sweetness a little, but for men it's an absolute must-have for the summer.

Originally, Bianco Latte on paper is everything I've ever wanted from a gourmand fragrance: sugary caramel, intense honey with a warm vanilla note as a base to round everything off. A year ago, the hype started on social media: the fragrance was described as an absolute must-have for gourmand lovers and the rush of new followers was huge - including me, of course. To this day, I am glad that despite countless testimonials that labeled Bianco Latte a safe blind-buy, I still decided to buy a 10ml bottle for the time being - and to this day I thank myself for it.

Instead of a sweet, seductive caramel-honey-vanilla combo, the sticky smell hit me the first time I sprayed it on. The vanilla and caramel notes have less of a decadent crème brûlée and more of an instant vanilla pudding or sweetener with artificial vanilla flavoring. Instead of creamy, laconic notes, I found a pungent sugar bomb that was so penetrating that the person sitting next to me on my train journey that day quickly left. It also gave me a headache almost immediately and I could hardly get home fast enough to scrub off the scent. It's worth noting how long it lasts, because even after several attempts to wash it off with dishwashing liquid, the fragrance stayed on like a bomb.

I have never re-gifted a fragrance so quickly and to this day I immediately get a migraine attack when my girlfriend wears Bianco Latte to a university lecture, even if it is in a huge hall with enough distance between us.

Once and never again do I trust super-typed fragrances on TikTok.