I like heavy Oriental perfumes. Bring on the spice, deep flavors, and heavy moods!
The problem is, Spring is Springing... My preferred genre is Too Much in warmer weather. I need lighter, brighter options or I need to move to Siberia. I'd rather not move.
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| green. very, very green. via |
Maybe I don't like fig in perfumes. Maybe I don't "get" fig in perfumes. Seems to me everyone likes green fig notes that are representative of the fig tree. As in: tree, bark, sap, sticks, unripe figs.
Not me. I want ripe figs. Purple figs. Dessert.
Walking through my Sephora two weeks ago, I noticed the Guerlain Aqua Allegoria bottles. So pretty. The golden netting around the top, in a honeycomb pattern! The little bee on the button top! The graceful shape of the bottle itself...
I looked more closely... one of the packages had a fig on it. Out came a blotter. Spritz. A tentative sniff.
Interrrrrresting.... A ripe fig. A touch of citrus (just an eensy bit). Vanilla. (Of course. It is Guerlain, after all.) Verrry interrrrrresting...
I asked for a sample.
The Aqua Allegoria line was a concept deployed by Jean-Paul Guerlain, intended to create watercolor-style impressions of natural notes.
Figue-Iris, the bottle that caught my eye, was created by Jean-Paul Guerlain himself, and released in 2008. Notes, besides the fig and iris, include bergamot, grapefruit, violet, "milky notes", woods, vetiver and vanilla.
Let me jump to the end of the story, then backtrack: the sample was used. Emptied, in fact. I now own a full-sized bottle.
What sold me? The bright opening, lightly citrus-tinged with the promise of vanilla. The fig note, ripe and milky and sweet and luscious. The delicate floral blend of iris and violet, both subtle, that create a bridge from fig to base. The Guerlainade-Lite drydown, which sticks around for hours, a lightweight, pulsating, vanilla woods.
Figue-Iris is not green, does not have a strong or long-lasting heart, and is not very Iris-y. But it is light, comfortable, close-to-the-skin, and lovely. It is perfect. It is Spring.
Which perfumes do you like in the Spring? Are you a fan of figs? If so, the greener the better, or dessert-y like me? What do you think of the Aqua Allegoria line?
Fragrance: Aqua Allegoria Figue-Iris
House: Guerlain
Perfumer: Jean-Paul Guerlain
Notes: Fig, iris, bergamot, grapefruit, violet, milku notes, woods, vetiver, vanilla
Released: 2008
Sample: requested at Sephora. Then I bought a bottle.
Final Word: Figgy and fresh, and a perfect Spring scent.
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EauMG: Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Figue-Iris
Now Smell This: Guerlain Figue Iris & Laurier Reglisse, the 2008 Aqua Allegorias ~ perfume review
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