Capri
19-69 (2018)

Capri was supposedly influenced by the 1963 French New Wave hit movie Le Mepris, and I can see that, but not exactly in the way that the brand advertises. Capri is front loaded with orange notes, which initially gives it a sparkling, fun-in-the-sun eau de cologne-style feel. But the pepper notes combined with the cardamom, a note that goes stale fryer grease on me here, become so aggressive that the perfume soon falls off the edge into something danker.

So I guess if you consider that the early movies of the French New Wave predicted the latter decades of the 1960s, when the youth-powered movements ostensibly preaching peace, love, and resistance began to reveal their underbellies of drug addiction, violence, despair, and ultimately disillusionment, then Capri is spot on. Whether that’s intentional, I don’t know, but to me it’s less a perfume that evokes moneyed bohemians living it up at some Mediterranean hot spot and more unwashed Charles Manson acolytes shifting along amid the louche Hollywood elite.

The niche version of John Varvatos Artisan Pure, with a peculiar drydown that feels almost dirty and B.O.-musky.

A great orange summer fragrance. Bold orange notes with five or six different aspects of orange plants, a hint of bitter green and a warm ambroxan and suede musk base. One of the very best of the new generation of orange essence fragrances that has me totally won over. There are so many bold yet complimentary aromas in this scent that I always feel I am smelling something just a little different every time I wear it as I move from sun to shade to indoors. Incomparable.