Monday, March 8, 2010

Magnolia Nobile EDP by Acqua di Parma - Spring review

To F.D., who has a beautiful Italian smile.
As we enter in the fall in Brazil, in the other half of the globe snow will melt and give place to beautiful blooming. Days will become warmer, the birds will sing happily, animals will mate, couples will marry, and many many festivals will take place. Spring will arrive and bring colors to our lives. And I can't think of another way to celebrate this season, better than wearing perfume with magnolia notes (truth is, I will always have an excuse to think of them, because they are one of my favorites!)
MY MAGNOLIA
photo credit - + Q Perfume personal files
I have mentioned many times here wonderful perfumes around a magnolia theme, and last year I was in love with the French perspective of working with their beauty, such as in Un Matin D'Orage by Annick Goutal (a fluid, watery delicate magnolia perfume). This spring I am moved by the Italian perspective, and I found in the Italian brand Acqua di Parma collection "Nobili", an amazing perfume called Magnolia Nobile.
MAGNOLIA NOBILE BY ACQUA DI PARMA
Launch: 2009
Perfumer: Antoine Maisondieu
Inspiration: secluded gardens of Italian villas of Lake Como.
Description by the brand: Precious, refined and extremely alluring. Perfect for the sophisticated, feminine woman, who lives her life with intensity and style.
Description by + Q Perfume: Velvety, feminine, sensual, classy.
Olfactive notes: bergamote, lemon, citron, green notes, magnolias, jasmine, rose, tuberose, sandalwood, vetiver, patchouli, vanilla.
Silage: balanced
Fixation: perfect!
Rating:✪✪✪✪✪
Where:
✪✪✪✪✪ - Wow! Full Bloom, beautiful!!
✪✪✪✪ - Worth buying and wearing all the season.
✪✪✪ - Worth smelling, but not buying.
✪✪ - I will go back to Annick Goutal
✪ - I prefer artificial flowers than this
Magnolia Nobile EDP
When you smell this fragrance on your skin it has an uplifting, alluring opening. The fruity notes of bergamot combined with the acid dryness of citron, and the lemony astringent flowery notes of lemons will announce with a smile, that something trés chic is about to come! It is vibrant, it is transparent and extremely well balanced.
Once Chandler Burr mentioned that Summer by Kenzo has the most beautiful opening he knows which I agreed, till I have met this one. The intensity of crystalline freshness and the radiant energy of this accord makes me think of the happy smiling faces of Italians. Italians are very intense and passionate in everything they do, including their amazing way of expressing happiness. It is simply contagious. Last year I had lunch in a small restaurant downtown Rome, near the courthouse. All lawyers gathered there to have lunch, and I was amazed by the kindness and happiness they shared with everyone around them in that tiny place. Hugging, kissing, laughing, singing and eating good food. I could not prevent myself from remembering my days when I practice law in Brazil and had lunch near the courthouse in downtown São Paulo. As sad as it may sound, I have never seen a single lawyer smiling... (and we Brazilians are considered to be happy people...). Maybe it was the crapy lunches...or our tardy judicial system...whatever...
Back to fragrances, my first encounter with citron was in a hair treatment by French brand Klorane for shine, and in Succot prayings ( citron is called Etrog in Hebrew and it is part of a religious ritual during Succot feast). I fell in love for this fragrance. Rinsing the hair under running water, or holding the Lulav and the Etrog made me breath joyfully a whiff of citron.
It is acid like lemons, but not as fierce as limes. It is flowery and fruity, not as sweet as bergamots - but still very dry and very fresh. It has a subtle touch of pear fragrance, but really very pale. Citron oil brings shine to the hair and to perfumes. And Acqua di Parma brought to my delight, an indulgent and amazing combination of all of them, adding a green touch.
KLORANE BAUME
In Magnolia Nobile EDP, alluring freshness blends with rich, sirupy notes of Osmanthus. (Did you know that there are 105 species of Osmanthus in nature? WOW! ). The fragrance is intense, with a fruity-floral apricot aroma. A pinch of austerity and aristocracy is added to the perfume, as it is saying "I can be funny but I am very sophisticated; I laugh, but I have a refined intellectual sense of humor". Again, I had to prepare my senses for Osmanthus and try not to inhale deeply. (if you don't get headaches from it, you are so lucky!).
Enveloping the skin, it brings down volatility. It wraps the top notes before they scape, and succeeds to keep them for a longer pleasure. MAGNIFICO!
The bouquet of magnolias, jasmine, rose and tuberose is intoxicating and a precious lush. Although magnolia is the protagonist of the fragrance, here it is surrounded in such an intricate sumptuous bouquet of narcotic flowers, such as jasmine and tuberose, and combined with fresh fluidity of rose notes, that I suppose it would even be a crime to try to deflower them. Let them walk hand in hand, rising and flowing from the sticky velvety Osmanthus. Let them conjuncture about femininity, refined manners, style and charming Italian lawyers in Armani or Zegna suits. Such magnificent imposing flowers do find each its own place to flourish and irradiate beauty.
ADRIAN BRODY FOR ZEGNA
The precious combination of the base accord of sandalwood and vanilla will bring a warm, slightly sweet and a woody touch to the perfume. A bit of earthiness and mossy depth will be brought by patchouli and vetiver.
Ladies will blossom and surrender to noble lawful gestures. Roman lawyers will win or loose cases, keeping their wonderful warm smile. Magnolias will continue to be one of my favorites. Spring will come and remind us of the joy of being alive. Beautiful Italian perfumes will touch me and reassure my passion for fragrances. And life it is, just as it should be!
You will find Magnolia Nobile EDP at the european site Essenza Nobile - enchanting like magnolias blooms!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I'll have to try this. I'm interested in what you think of Ormonde Jayne Tiare, which is my favourite right now. It seems like Magnolia Nobile has a similar "chypre" structure but without the moss. I love that moss.

+ Q Perfume Blog said...

I am not objetive when it comes to Ormonde Jayne because I am CRAAAAAAAzy about all the fragrances, about Linda and her staff.
But Tiare is indeed a special perfume :-) you have good taste!

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