Turandot

...and what do I get out of it now? How long have I been hoping to discover a "real", indeed "proper" new Guerlain fragrance again? I had almost given up hope and heretically assumed that modern Guerlain noses simply couldn't do it. But far from it, they still can - and how. But I will probably never be allowed to do more than test a few droplets, to take a look through the keyhole into higher Guerlain dimensions, so to speak.

With Perle Impériale, Guerlain has once again created a fragrance that I would simply call perfect. Silky, flattering, shimmering like pearls, delicately powdery and yet never sweet or heavy, the fragrance floats over my skin. Experienced noses may be able to recognize the fig, sandalwood or soft leather. The longevity is also astonishing, because despite all its elegance and expression, this is essentially a delicate fragrance. It whispers, but what it whispers is poetry, is harmony, is simply perfect. I can only enjoy the result and have no reason to even try to unravel the formula.

Am I really sad that I will never really be able to call this fragrance my own? That's almost true - but I'd rather be happy to at least be able to enjoy my "eighth laurel leaf" thanks to Parfumo. (So I'll keep quiet and describe my happiness once again as being able to experience a new Guerlain fragrance.

Oud in the base of an Aqua Allegoria fragrance sounds like "not fish, not meat" to me. Too fresh and spicy for an oriental and too voluminous and exhausting for a light, summery AA fragrance. This is aggravated by the fact that oud is one of my fear opponents, because since no version of this note has ever really thrilled me, I usually cringe a little when I find it in a pyramid. Especially when it appears boldly in the name of a perfume. Although I have to admit that the AquaAllegoria range no longer really attracts me anyway, because I have lost the common thread that used to characterize the fragrances. Especially when the "Forte Flanker" came onto the market, the topic was dismissed as unimportant for me for the time being.

So now AA, forte and also oud - can it work or can it go away...?
Even though I've already said here several times that I've moved away from Guerlain, I'm still tempted to test it every now and then, especially when I find what I'm looking for in the souk.

I try to ignore everything else and just focus on the fragrance on my skin. And lo and behold - it's actually something. The top note, which is clearly dominated by mandarin and yuzu, which I find rather green and citrusy, has real Aqua Allegoria character: expressive, cool and energetic. I cannot detect a break with the heart note, but it is true that the fragrance drifts into a well-known neroli aroma, which is obviously resented by some perfume members. I can't understand that, because I like it. Amber gives the neroli warmth and at the same time leads into a base that I find pleasant. It may be synthetic - but why not? But I really like this somewhat brittle finish, which lingers on my skin for a surprisingly long time. For me at least, oud is well packaged between cedar and vetiver and only works in secret - as a fragrance enhancer, so to speak, and not as the theme it is advertised as in the name of the perfume. So the all-clear for all those who avoid oud like the devil avoids holy water. I'm actually one of them. I'm also not sure whether Guerlain has done the fragrance a favor by presenting oud so boldly in the name. Listing the note in the pyramid would probably have been enough and would not have polarized so much.

Since the time of year is not the right time to add a new Aqua Allegoria fragrance to my perfume cabinet, I will probably make do with a bottling for the time being and who knows, next spring is sure to come. Because even if I don't consider the fragrance to be lightweight, I prefer other scents for autumn and winter.

How often we are annoyed when we fell for a beautiful top note in a perfumery again, the patience was not enough to test the entire course of the perfume and we had to realize at home that there is not too much more happening. Nice, and that was about it. I think each of us has already happened and sometimes creeps us the suspicion that our impatience is quite calculated by the creators of the fragrances to be able to make quick sales.

Well, it also goes the other way around and Fieno I feel as an example of a perfume that does not fall with the door into the house, but shows its beauty only to those who take the time to get to know the fragrance in peace.

The citrusy and rather one-dimensional opening leads us into a heart that is aromatic and almost clean soapy through spicy notes the theme of Fieno. To this theme, the rose adds elegance. So, in my opinion, this is not a rose scent with green accessories as usual, but it is the other way around and I find that decidedly appealing. No one has to worry about the hawthorn here. The note gives the fragrance depth and long-lasting power and I find it a skillful segue to the vetiver-heavy finish, to which the sandalwood adds warmth and softness. I still notice the aromatic heart note and yet this almost powdery base already settles over Fieno and lets the fragrance fade away in a decidedly friendly way. Completely harmoniously develops the perfume, which actually shows no real three-way pyramid, because the notes skillfully shimmer into each other, as I have noticed with other perfumes from SMN.

I am once again thrilled by the care and dedication with which the perfumers of Santa Maria Novella create perfumes full of expressiveness and nobility without panting after a trend or even pander to the current mass taste.

When summer is approaching its peak and the heat in the apartment is already fought in the morning with lowered blinds and shady awnings, I always get a little melancholy. Triggers for this are unmistakable signs that the still bare and wet-cold spring is coming to an end. Instead of a concert of birds, nature only provides us with the chirping of crickets, instead of balmy air, sometimes circulatory heat roars, and when the gladioli unfold their splendor in gardens, fields, and even in the supermarket, then all that remains is the hope for a beautiful Indian summer, a golden October, and the wish that the current heat wave may not say goodbye again with frightening storms.

And yet - this time, which I can then also just enjoy is not only melancholy, but it shows us year after year, how powerful nature not only disasters, but also pours out its cornucopia of treasures over us. A walk through the city market, a stroll along the farmer's gardens, the rich harvest of the orchards, showing us what the abundance of blossoms in spring let us hope for, makes me marvel every year. And it is precisely this power, this splendor of colors, of fragrances, of delicacies, of flavors that the sun makes possible, all this I find captured in Cala Rossa, this so unusual fragrance.

Mediterranean feeling means just not only thyme, rosemary, basil and lots of Limoncello, but also the salt of the sea, the aromas of various minerals that radiate the sun-heated rocks of the coasts, which are just not by flat sandy beach confusable for so many holiday regions typical. Anyone who doesn't just want to lie on the beach, but who also likes to take a stroll into the Italian or Croatian hinterland, will know what I mean. And exactly this fluidity embodies Cala Rossa for me.

So powerful, so aromatic, so full of energy is for me hardly any other perfume. Unconventional, tart, unbridled and yet harmonious, the perfumers of Santa Maria Novella have managed to capture the summer beyond tourist paths. Already in the top note neither bergamot nor citrus is used, but the round of Mediterranean herbs opens the fragrance energetically almost masculine. It stays that way throughout the run and finishes green-spicy. I'm amazed at the fragrances listed, because basically we know each of these individual notes. Nothing is exotic or reminiscent of the chemistry laboratory of modern niche perfumes, and yet the totality of these ingredients in the result is a completely unusual and for me delightful fragrance, which touches me very much every time I treat myself to it.

Now I just enjoy the summer as long as it lasts and with Cala Rossa I can get him back the whole year. And if you want to catch this mood with me, I advise you to read again the poem "Offside" by Theodor Storm. It captures in rhyme what Santa Maria Novella immortalized in a fragrance.

The Diordüfte from the Privée line, which I like to enjoy at least by filling in the summer are Sakura or Gris, gladly also Rose Kabuki. But they are still not real must-haves. Maybe because they're too similar now, and especially because they're coming on the market in slowly confusing quantities. Now so Eden Roc.

A gladly worn summer fragrance of Dior is for me Escale à Portofino, which sprays not only refreshment, but also holiday mood and I was curious about a comparison, Eden Roc should finally also be a tribute to a holiday resort of the rich and beautiful. The hotel at Cap Antibes could surely tell some interesting stories, as since 1870, many illustrious guests must have come and gone. In such a hotel at the sea, a crime novel with Hercule Poirot could be set. So you could expect nothing less than pure luxury.

Well, rich and beautiful does not necessarily mean loud and ostentatious and in this respect, the fragrance fits into an atmosphere of restrained elegance. I see myself with it not on the beach of the Côte d'Azur but rather in the air-conditioned hotel lobby, where even the concierge sends a shiver of awe down my spine because of his nobility. I remember with a smile a seminar weekend of Estee Lauder, which I was allowed to spend as a very young saleswoman in such a hotel temple.
Eden Roc does not exude a cheerful holiday mood, Mediterranean cheerfulness, or a desire for a trivial flirt, but unfortunately I see more of a super-exclusive rehab clinic in front of me. It is elegant, clean, serious, serious and certainly nothing for cash patients.

Just now I found an offer for 40ml at 98.00Euro, but that's not worth it to me the fragrance then but. Sure, he is also well wearable on hot days, has after the somewhat banal citrus debut also an interesting turn to cooler and calmer components, is in contrast to Sakura or Rose Kabuki also well wearable for men. But it is not a real enrichment of the Privée series. And so it remains for me to wait and see what the next pastel-colored dior fragrance will tell the never-ending story