Una Tira l'Altra Hilde Soliani

Desirability: Full Bottle

Source: Fragrantica

Source: www.cookingforkeeps.com

Cherry, more cherry and more cherry.

I enjoy both Bambolina and Doolciiisssimo where lovely dark cherries are to be found, in the former mixed with green and watery notes and in the latter with a warm and sweet tobacco, but if you are looking for cherry without much distractions, you don't have to look further than Una Tira l'Altra.

Source:www.hungrygirlporvida.com

It's like a gazillion ripe and luscious dark cherries tumbling out of the bottle, there is a syrupy tinge at the beginning that makes me think of glazed cherry tarts or Cherries Jubilee but the sugar level adjusts itself over time so that it feels more like you are getting the fresh fruit where it's both sweet and a bit sour rather than a cherry dessert by the drydown. 

There is a noticeable bittersweet almond note and this delicious combination of nuttiness and fruit makes Una Tira l'Altra an awesome gourmand scent with a perky attitude. Sillage and longevity are both very good. 

Lolita Lempicka Parfums Lolita Lempicka

Desirability: Full bottle

Sweet and gourmand without the gag or diabetic factor. 

Ok so there are way too many fruity floral gourmand combinations out there, most of them smelling too similar and generic. Ok so I get totally confused by how many flankers there are for the Lolita Lempicka fragrances, it's just as bad as the spinoffs of Thierry Mugler Angel, Alien, Womanity and almost more numerous than the progeny legitimate or not in some ruling families. Anyway I digress...

Lolita Lempicka (the original I speak of) like Mugler's Angel is one of few scents that I will always have in my wardrobe no matter how ridiculously large it gets or how many white hairs or lack of hair I have in the future. Lolita Lempicka and Mugler's Angel in my opinion are THE royalty of gourmand scents. 

A fanfare of syrupy black cherries on vanilla ice cream before the protagonists come in. The major players star anise and licorice add a nice twist to this sweet gourmand, a spicy sharpness contrasting the thick creamy praline, giving Lolita Lempicka a darker side like the wicked witches and sisters that are a staple in any good fairytale. I've mentioned a lot of sweet treats but Lolita Lempicka in reality isn't that sugary, it's nicely balanced between the spicy aromatic herbs, the sweet bits and carrot-iness of the iris/orris root. Feminine and fun! 

If you need any further persuasion look at that bottle (ok maybe not the best argument if I'm selling this to a guy), that polished apple that looks like it was made by fairies is whimsical and cute without being childish. And the price tag? I highly approve and wish many more perfumes could be priced as sensibly. Plus Parfums Lolita Lempicka could give a few niche houses lessons on projection and longevity. 

Doolciiisssimo Hilde Soliani

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: Fragrantica

I tried three Hilde Soliani scents today including Mmm and CiocoRosissimo and while all were interesting experiences, some more than others, Doolciiisssimo has the siren call that keeps drawing my nose to my wrist to inhale the scent over and over again.

I enjoy tobacco in lighter doses such as in Serge Lutens' Chergui and L'Artisan's Havana Vanille, cherry can be difficult and most times either smells quite artificial or fleeting, the most promising I've chanced upon recently was Hilde Soliani's Bambolina. Cherry and tobacco though? I had my doubts. Proved unfounded. This is no cigarette ashtray or the malodorous smoker's breath.  It's like sweet aromatic cherry flavoured pipe tobacco and smells nothing like cigarettes or cigars. On a side note I never realised that pipe tobacco is about as complex and interesting as wine, what with the different tobacco leaves, the different ways of curing the leaves, mixing and blending several types of tobacco and the addition of casings to give it flavours like whisky, maple syrup and cherry for example. The cherry note in Doolciiisssimo is so realistic that visions of the dark red succulent fruit come to mind with every sniff and I can practically taste the tart sweetness. Vanilla is there in the background, sweet and creamy but whilst there are suggestions of gourmand in Doolciiisssimo, it is not very sweet for those who are wary of smelling like dessert platters.

After finishing the rest of my sample, I've decided that I do want this cherry tobacco scent in my life and as luck would have it, Luckyscent currently has it on discount! 

Rahat Loukoum Serge Lutens

Source: jetsetfashionmagazine.com

Source: www.auparfum.com

I fell in love with Rahat Loukoum in Barney's New York but thankfully did not buy it (Well on hindsight, at that time I was kicking myself for not getting it but I was held back by the bell jar form, it's pretty but I'm no good with dabbing and would most likely end up pouring the entire bottle in a very costly accident). Back in Singapore and back on the daily web hunt, I found out to my eternal happiness that it's now available in the "Le Vaporisateur" form which is 2x30 ml with an included shiny jet black travel case AND it's cheaper than the bell jar would have cost me in Barney's. 

I had The People Of The Labyrinths' Luctor Et Emergo on my want list, which in short is Coca-cola's Dark Cherry Vanilla coke plus bitter almond with some smoke trails of incense in the background. Anyway, Rahat Loukoum has kicked Luctor Et Emergo off the want list and let me explain why.

Rahat Loukoum is a warmer relative of Louve, the bitter medicinal almond from Serge Lutens. It's much less sweeter than the jordan almonds in Keiko Mercheri's Loukhoum Eau Poudree (I have this out of the Loukhoum trio), doesn't have the powder of Mazzolari's Alessandro and makes me think of Luctor Et Emergo but that's not to say they are similar as they aren't really. To put it in simpler terms and in proportions,

Rahat Loukoum: amaretto + cherry + honey

Luctor Et Emergo: cherry + vanilla + almond

Comparing Rahat Loukoum with Louve, the latter gives the impression of being more aloof and bitter, whereas Rahat Loukoum would be a boozed up Louve, all flushed cheeks and warm feelings. Neither is superior to the other and both have a similar drydown that is nutty and slightly musky, bottled comfort made for snuggling. I find the projection of Rahat Loukoum to be stronger than Louve but the longevity for both are equally good.

I did a side by side testing with another of my almond loves, Hilde Soliani's Conaffetto and surprisingly after wearing Rahat Loukoum the whole day, Conaffetto seems less bitter and I can pick up the lovely orange blossom more strongly. Whereas Conaffetto smells fresh and bright, the Lutens is more boozy amaretto cherries. 

Those looking for an inexpensive substitute for Rahat Loukoum might want to sample Les Nereides' Douceur de Vanille, that is more about bitter almonds than its name suggests, with a drydown that has the equivalent effect of an anxiolytic.

All in all, it's been a fabulous day smelling of almonds.

Bambolina Hilde Soliani

Desirability: Decant

Juicy and bright, Bambolina smells youthful and is radiant with good health. 

Crochet wig. Source: http://www.hiddeninfrance.typepad.com/

I scoffed when I read the listed notes for Bambolina, what on earth are aquatic fruit? Sea coconuts? Now I know and no it's not sea coconuts. Bambolina smells...watery. It's as if you took some fresh fruit (juicy cherries front and centre), crispy greens and citruses, sliced them up and immersed them in iced water, letting their juices diffuse and create a delicious thirst-quencher.

I was puzzled when i smelt roses when there aren't any listed. Luckily my nose isn't wrong, it's the cherry blossom note. I was 3 years old when I enjoyed my first and since then last, Hanami in Japan so I won't be a reliable source for how cherry blossoms smell. However, Google says that cherry blossoms smell green and fresh with a similarity to roses. Puzzle solved.

The inspiration for Bambolina was purportedly a walk in the middle of June when a shower of rain caused Hilde Soliani to seek cover under a cherry tree.  This scent replicates that scene to a T, from the brilliant sunshine, the cooling raindrops trickling down, the smell of the fruit on the tree and the faint muskiness that rises off skin in humidity. Sheer bliss!

This elixir of relaxation does not project much but has excellent longevity. Another for the wish list!

Luctor Et Emergo The People Of The Labyrinths

I had to check this out since it's been collecting more accolades than Katharine Hepburn had Oscars (on that topic did you know Meryl Streep had more Oscar nominations but one less award than Hepburn?).

It arrived just in time to coincide with my bitter almond streak, when I was nursing the remnants in my sample of Mazzolari's Alessandro.

Luctor Et Emergo opens with slightly spicy incense and made me wonder if I got a wrongly decanted split. The splitter assured me her eyesight is still 6/6 bilaterally. So it starts with spiced smoke and it stays that way for a few minutes. Then I smell bitter almonds AND...Coca-Cola's Black Cherry Vanilla. Thankfully none of the plastic doll/play dough notes some other fragrant sniffers have gotten. I enjoyed cherry coke back in the day when I had a super metabolism and I relish it here without the calories going to my butt. The wood and smoky notes keep the cherry vanilla in check, I enjoy the contrasting bitterness of the almonds against the sweetness of the cherry vanilla and the interplay of the notes make this a very interesting as well as wearable scent for both sexes.



Luctor Et Emergo isn't a sillage bomb on me but it is perceptible by others around when they get past my personal bubble shield. Longevity is modest, I get about 4-6 hours wear before it becomes a skin scent. Please note that I am testing the EDP version and there is an EDT version available too. 

The cherry wood-smoke broke through the layer of Marks & Spencer's coconut hand cream that I accidentally slathered over my snifting spot...pretty impressive performance.

All this talk of cherries, vanilla and coconut made me think of this:



Raw Cherry Rose bars (with coconut rose cream and fresh cherries)