Perfume Reviews by Italia

Silver Fir (Holiday no.8) by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

The spearmint note reads as an almost licorice vibe that dominates the opening of this fragrance. My nose cannot find the titular fir note; a light, almost watery cedar aspect, is the sole woody note apparent on my skin. The grapefruit and green tea are prominent in the mid range, and persist for the duration.

I find myself conflicted by this fragrance. It's sunny, fresh, sheer, easy to wear, and would be delightful on a hot summer day, but not at all the “fir tree in a field of snow” fragrance that its name conjured in my hopeful mind. 3/5 stars.

Les Petites by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

On my skin, Les Petites is dominated by a very green linden blossom from first spray to late drydown. Fortunately I'm a big fan of this wonderful note, as linden trees grow quite well in my region, and their essence perfumes the air in early summer. Dawn's linden note is true, with a light but pervasive citrus aspect from the mandarin and neroli. The mimosa note is also there, and the rose is very, very faint in the background. Les Petites doesn't really develop over time, but stays bright and fresh throughout.

One thing that sets it apart from many other linden scents is that it never veers into sweetness. Les Petites is the scent of the linden tree with tight, young green buds on a breezy June day, rather than the heavy, nectar-laden, creamy white blossoms abuzz with bees on a hot and lazy afternoon in July. I own and love Tilleul and La Chasse for the latter, but if you're looking for an unsweetened, citrussy floral, Les Petites may fit the bill nicely.

Longevity for this fragrance is surprising, especially as it was imagined originally as a children's scent. I get 6 hours easily from a single spray. I feel that the sillage is probably too powerful for a baby or small child, but this would be a lovely first scent for a young girl or boy, and it's a refreshing, cologne-like fragrance for grownups of any sex.

Savannah - Magnolia by Nomaterra

I was hoping for a hint of the always-elusive magnolia scent, and even though the listing of the raspberry note alarmed me a bit, I took a risk and sampled.

I hate leaving an overwhelmingly negative review, particularly for a small niche house's scent, but Savannah Magnolia is straight up Glade air freshener on my skin. It is an overwhelming fruity-floral of the nondescript type, with not a hint of the ephemeral, waxy, slightly lemony magnolia essence. I can't pick out a single listed note, except perhaps a very artificial berry and a muddled 'floral' aspect. There is no progression over time; it starts and finishes as a jumble of loud, indistinct, industrial cleaner, fruity-floral elements. This one is truly awful.

L'Orpheline by Serge Lutens

My first spritz of L'Orpheline produced an almost instantaneous association with another recent SL fragrance: L'Eau Froide. Indeed, it is a near replica, with prominent 'clean musk' + incense. After a minute or so, however, the chilly musk is warmed by a rich hit of nutmeg and a light dash of salt, keeping the 'clean musk' from growing sweet on my skin. After about five minutes, I get a clear but lightly applied lily note. On my skin, L'Orpheline is a nutmeg-infused Passage d'Enfer, with a delightful balance among the cool, slightly damp incense-lily-musk, and the warmth of salt and spice. Definitely a unisex fragrance, and one that may transition nicely across seasons.

For me, the anomolous L'Eau fragrances from SL missed the mark, and yet I feel they somehow were the necessary precursors to L'Orpheline, a marriage of the traditionally spicy and exotic SL line with these more recent attempts to satisfy the market interest in 'clean' scents. I find L'Orpheline to be a much more successful and interesting release, because it's really a union of chill and warmth, of clean and spicy-sweaty. After several testings, this one has moved to my wish list.

Peony & Moss by Jo Malone London

With the exception of the "Intense" line, the new Jo Malone fragrances (those developed after JM was sold to Estee Lauder) have been a huge disappointment, and Peony and Moss is no exception. These are 2 notes that usually work for me, but Peony & Moss is heavily undercut by the same unpleasant powdery-green sharpness that pervades all of the new JM fragrances; it's the 'Guerlainade' of the JM line, and it is really awful. I was hoping for a green peony in the spirit of JM Red Roses (which gives the effect of the velvety flower and its green leaves), but this one was a scrubber after about the first minute. I gave it to my mom - a huge florals fan - but she doesn't really care for it either, and she, too, is a lover of many of the original JM scents.

There is such a huge line of demarcation between the original JM scents and the new scents in the collection (again, excepting a few of the Intense colognes that are rather nice). After sampling, and in this case, blind-buying the new Jo Malones, I've finally realized that they all share the same sharp base, and I'm not going to waste any more time trying to make the line work for me.

Musc 25 by Le Labo

My experience of this scent is quite similar to Somerville Metro Man's. Musc 25 starts off as a light, slightly sweet, high quality white musk on my skin; however, about 20 minutes later, things go badly wrong. The sweetness is replaced by a sour smell that reminds me strongly of industrial-strength hospital cleaner. Unfortunately for me, Musc 25 remains in this stage for the next 3 hours. In its last stages, the sour note dissipates somewhat, and the primary effect is Johnson's baby powder. My second and third test drives of the scent produced the same results. Fortunately for me (and quite unfortunately for my wallet), Labdanum 18 and Gaiac 10 both provide the soft, clean, skin musk notes that I love.

Teatro Olfattivo di Parma : Bell'Antonio by Hilde Soliani Profumi

I guess I'll have to support the minority opinion that Bell'Antonio is not just for the fellas. I find it to be a beautiful unisex scent with outstanding longevity and a gorgeous drydown. At its heart, Bell'Antonio is a tobacco fragrance, but it avoids the rich, sweet route taken by Tobacco Vanille and Tabac Aurea (both of which I love).

What I find fascinating about Bell'Antonio is its ability to simultaneously capture the light natural sweetness of the tobacco leaf (think good quality pipe tobacco, not a Marlboro Red), and - in the opening minutes - the faint but surprising aroma of a burning, handrolled cigarette. Upon closer inspection, I find that the latter is actually an effect of the slightly bitter ground coffee note. The overall impression is far from dirty ashtray, but rather a dry, austere tobacco. It reminds me a good deal of Borneo 1834, slightly more roasted, and without the camphor note. In the later drydown, the coffee/burnt note recedes substantially on me, and the tobacco sweetens just slightly, as if touched by the faintest whispers of a skin-like musk.

I find this scent warm, enveloping, and comforting. While it's not heavy tobacco scent, it's one I definitely prefer it in the cooler months. If you're wary of trying this for fear of smelling like a dive bar ashtray, I'll add that I've been given compliments on this scent by several friends who are vehement non-smokers. It evokes happy memories of my dad, a pipe smoker for many years, whose hands always smelled faintly of his sweet, custom blend from his favorite tobacconist. I'll also mention that it layers nicely with Un Bois Vanille and Organza Indecence for those days when when you want more sweetness and oomph, but most of the time, I love and wear it just as it is.