Fiore di Riso
Farmacia SS. Annunziata (2011)

The Farmacia SS Annunziata line is characterized by understatement, which can result in perfumes veering dangerously close to Pleasantsville. What saves them is a satisfying complexity. In Fiore di Riso there is an array of elements that tease and dance, even though the overall experience remains at the level of murmur. The central players here are a white floral bouquet done in a creamy and powder-flecked style supported by a similarly cool and fresh but persistent vanilla. All kinds of other accents dip and bob in the mix – some light pepper at the start which morphs into just a touch of ginger, enlivening abstract greens, then the perception that there is depth here too in the form of resins in the base, some skin-like musks and a mossy chypric inflection. All of that may seem a bit wrought and perhaps difficult to imagine if you haven't smelled the perfume, but it's important to remember the mode of expression – civilized and soft-spoken. Everything here is light and in delicate balance – and on a day when one may be less receptive to such a tender approach could seem like a bit of a yawn.

This house is one of the best I've found-- everything I've tried has a richness and complexity I normally don't find anywhere else. This one is very creamy/powdery with a fascinating rice paper floral note- doesn't smell like anything I've tried before. I would likely call this a feminine frag, but I love it and wear it all the time.

Fiore di Riso opens with a delicate chypre accord: flowers (jasmine, peony...?), ginger, ylang/sandalwood, a bright green accord, benzoin, vanilla-tonka and a subtle mossy base which adds a hint of "earthy". Clean, graceful, velvety, a bit powdery and a bit sweet, not luminous or "white", but with its own kind of shadiness, however quite simple, cozy and linear. Been there, done that (thousands of times). Not much more to add: fairly pleasant and quite dull.

6,5/10

The flori-oriental Fiore di Riso is expression of historical italian olfactory tradition but this new generation Farmacia SS Annunziata's piece of perfume is actually pure modern/chic fresh allure. Yes, Allure is an interesting word in this case since the Fiore di Riso's fresh gingery initial accord of gorgeous bergamot, orange blossoms, white flowers, rose and balsams conjures me highly Chanel Allure but while the latter slides finally towards the dissonant synthetical "format" Fiore di Riso mantains balance and naturalness despite its sort of almost "sweaty/acid" penetrating floral fat. This "nectar/pollen" type of characterizing greasiness is combined and interacting with bergamot, probably real rice cream, benzoin, rose, sandalwood and vanilla. The outcome is indolent, slightly "acid/dissonant" and hyper fashionable. There is a dominant jasmine for sure representing a chic element in the choir (may be flanked by honeysuckle) but it is mostly the realistic, vegetal combination of lemon/orange/pollen/water lily/balsams (as combination of opposites) to determine the main olfactory glamour factor. Lemon "against" balsams, dense pollen "against" aquatic flowers, intense jasmine opposited to indolent rose, that's the source of the particular chic acid/organic floral subtleness. The dry down is a light and musky floral oriental extremely balanced, mild, spicy and subtle with its almost watery "aquatic-floral" undertone, the diluted balsams, a touch of powdery tonka and a light woodiness. An extremely sensual concoction with a fresh/joyful long trail.

l get creamy white flowers in the opening, overlaid with a rice paper note. l would say lily is the most prominent of the florals here. The overall effect is clean, slightly woody, very lightly powdery, soft & subtle. After an hour, there's a creamy vanilla that's not overly gourmand, & a sweetish sandalwood. lt appears to settle quite close to the skin, but after four hours l'm still getting gentle wafts of it when l move. l personally prefer vanillas with a little more depth & complexity, but if you're looking for a soft veil of vanilla that's neither cloying nor cheap-smelling, this could be the perfect choice.