Vetiver Lorenzo Villoresi

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: Fragrantica

I'm in trouble. This is the 4th fragrance I've tried from the Vintage Collection of Lorenzo Villoresi and I like/love them all. I would like to add at this point that if you are adverse to large doses of cumin, please bear in mind that Vetiver from the Vintage Collection has copious amounts of cumin. Not quite a cumin bomb like Rubj but there's no hiding the cumin in Vetiver. 

For the first time I would say that a scent really does smell partly like an Indian curry and partly like a sweatshop. That's how Vetiver started on me. Lots of aromatic spices and the glacial galbanum making up a mixture that is a combination of- bitter, green, invigorating, metallic (celery is one of my most hated vegetables for its metallic aftertaste and smell!) and the....cumin with its sweaty/BO effect that has always been so appealing to me. A whole lot of notes that are potent and competitive beings and Vetiver could have been a jarring disaster but it's not. Far from it. Everything blends beautifully and all the notes fall into place like a choreographed dance, smooth and seamless. It gets rather dry and dusty in the later stage and befits its name Vetiver better than the spices and galbanum did at the beginning but the green bitterness and the spices remain and contribute to the arid climate that makes Vetiver smell like it were part of an Old Western movie. 

Vetiver is softer than I like my scents to be, I have to sniff myself closely to detect the scent trail but it does have a decent longevity. A definite like which would have been a love if the projection had been stronger. 

Garofano Lorenzo Villoresi

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: www.lorenzovilloresi.it

I was never blown away by Caron's Bellodgia as loved and lauded as it is. Perhaps my new-ish bottle lacks the magic of previous formulations or perhaps I tried it too soon on my scent journey to truly appreciate it but Bellodgia got swapped away before I gave it another chance to someone else who really loves it. In return I got a sample of Garofano and this is something I can see myself wearing.

To avoid confusion, the sample is from the Vintage Collection from which I've tried and loved both Ylang Ylang and Ambra, the former being the most natural ylang ylang I've smelt and the latter being a unique interpretation of amber that's nothing like most other ambers on the market recently. 

Before I came across the universe of scents I never thought of carnations as fragrant, at least not the ones in the florist shops on my tropical island. The very most I could come up with after sticking my nose into various store bought carnations was the mildest of mild spicy floral and even that's exaggerating. Snooping on gardening forums I came to the conclusion that the ones that I've been sniffing are likely new hybrids that were crossbred for their size and colour with little attention paid to their scent whereas carnations which have not been domesticated smell like well, like carnations are meant to smell. 

So never having smelt an untouched carnation nor carnation absolute, I have to rely on Google which tells me carnations smell as follows: heavy, musky, spicy, clove-like, floral, powdery, sweet as honey, exotic. 

If this is true then Garofano encompasses all these characteristics. It is a rich and deep scent that smells like pepper and other aromatic spices from the kitchen, a dark and thick honey, leaving the kitchen and entering a boudoir whose walls and carpet hold the smells of powder, both the living and the ghosts of glorious floral arrangements as well as a hint of musk from the owner. Garofano doesn't unfold on me chapter by chapter but instead I smell everything together and yet separately, the different notes coming forwards and drifting away again as if the notes are in a free-style dance but sharing the limelight almost equally. I say almost equally because the most distinct on me would be the spicy floral and powdery bits. 

Biased perhaps by the olfactory hallucinations of canopied four-posters, heavy velvet drapings and plush outfittings a la Dangerous Liaisons, I find Garofano to be more feminine than unisex unless you are John Malkovich. Besides smelling like a historical aristocratic drama filled with intrigue, Garofano has a great projection with a moderate longevity and I would highly recommend this to lovers of carnations and vintage-y scents. 

Ambra Lorenzo Villoresi

Source: Fragrantica

I've said it way too many times probably that Ambre Sultan is THE amber in my humble opinion and I've never wanted another amber since meeting that Lutens. Some ambers have been too powdery and many more have been too sweet and not resinous enough for my taste. And then there is Lorenzo Villoresi's Ambra from the Vintage Collection. 

You say amber, I think warm, inviting, smouldering, oriental, resinous etc. The opening of Ambra has none of that. "A misnomer", I thought, wrinkling my nose up at the sharp citrus and heavily peppered opening. Elemi is very evident with its fresh, spicy and citrus-like smell. Exotic spices join the line up like cardamom with its green aromatic sweetness, cloves with their unique minty spiciness and a heavy dusting of black pepper. Potent and commanding it most certainly is, the notes teetering on the edge of dissonance. 

It becomes more "amber like" in the later stages, the rough edges of its earlier self smoothed away. The "marine" salty muskiness I've come to associate with ambergris, accompanied by soft powdery woods and sweet smoky resins all lightly spiced, warm and comforting, as if Ambra has matured from a coltish young one to a graceful and loving swan with a mild temperament. Powerful opening that lightens into moderate projection thereafter and overall good longevity. 

Ylang Ylang Lorenzo Villoresi

Source: Fragrantica

I love the smell of ylang ylang and having read about its multiple uses in aromatherapy including being a relaxant and sedative, I managed to track down two young trees to plant beneath my dad's window. Despite being a tropical plant I haven't found it growing around this city island and it wasn't too easy finding the trees either. Anyway home they came and the scent of the flowers is so strong that the night breeze carries it up two floors to me and helps with my dad's insomnia.

Lorenzo Villoresi has bottled the exact smell of the flower in this scent. Ylang ylang has a distinctive scent that stands out amongst other floral notes although I find it hard to pin it down in words for like patchouli it can play so many characters from spicy green to heady narcotic and fits beautifully in a tropical garland. It's restrained and elegant in APOM Pour Femme but Ilang Ivohibé showcases its multiple personalities. In Lorenzo Villoresi's Ylang Ylang, it's ylang ylang all the way as if I am holding a few of the golden-yellow spidery blooms in my hands. Simple and linear but a very pleasurable scent that is soothing and uplifting. 

Source: herbalriot.tumblr.com

On a happy note, two good friends of mine are getting married today and Lorenzo Villoresi Ylang Ylang will accompany me for the day's festivities and I've chosen Tauer PHI Une Rose de Kandahar to dress in for the dinner tonight. 

I leave you with a lovely poem by W.H. Auden that I find to be precious, it has such honesty shining through the words that makes it incredibly touching. My most-loved line would be "if equal affection cannot be, let the more loving one be me." 

‘The More Loving One’ by W.H. Auden

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well

That, for all they care, I can go to hell,

But on earth indifference is the least

We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn

With a passion for us, we could not return?

If equal affection cannot be,

Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am

Of stars that do not give a damn,

I cannot, now I see them, say

I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,

I should learn to look at an empty sky

And feel its total dark sublime,

Though this might take me a little time.