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Friday, April 21, 2006

Perfume Review: Wickle Chestnut & Vetiver and i Profumi di Firenze Fresco di Vetiver

You may or may not have noticed that I have been obsessed with vetiver scents lately. I promise that this post will conclude this week’s vetiver madness …conclude for now that is, since there are many more vetiver fragrances to be explored. I decided to review Fresco di Vetiver and Chestnut & Vetiver together, because both are simple, straightforward scents and there isn’t all that much to say about them apart from that they are very easy to wear and (in the case of Chestnut & Vetiver) very enjoyable.

Fresco di Vetiver by i Profumi di Firenze blends Javanese Vetiver with citrus (Sicilian lemon and, according to some sources, Calabrian grapefruit). It starts rather sharp, with a piercing note that I cannot identify. Just when I am ready to give up on Fresco di Vetiver having deemed it to be too harsh and too fresh for my taste, the fragrance becomes much softer, a little sweeter and all in all much more wearable. I believe that this subtle, refreshing scent would be quite lovely in summer; however I do not foresee buying a bottle both due to the unappealing top notes of Fresco di Vetiver and its price, which is rather high for such a very linear, very basic vetiver and citrus composition. Of all the vetiver fragrances that I have sampled, this is perhaps my least favorite.

Chestnut & Vetiver by Wickle on the other hand is good, no, make it great, from start to finish. As Katie pointed out in her review, it smells as simple as it sounds. There are warm, sweetly-woody chestnuts and there is fresh, green vetiver with just a hint of a soft citrus-floral note (perhaps orange blossom?). Whoever is the Wickle’s perfumer who decided to blend chestnuts and vetiver, he or she is a genius, since the two notes are wonderful together, the greenness balances the nuttiness and vice versa and the result is fresh and scrumptious and a little earthy and raw. This is not a longlasting scent and the price (and the shipping cost) is not exactly right either, but Chestnut & Vetiver is such a comfortable, charming little scent, I might eventually buy a bottle.

Fresco di Vetiver is available at Beautyhabit, $79.00 for 50 ml. Chestnut & Vetiver is sold by Wickle, £39.50 for 50ml.

On Monday, Guerlain L’Instant d’Un Ete and L’Instant d’Un Ete Pour Homme.

10 Comments:

Blogger katiedid said...

The C&V is certainly the best in the line. (The Scented Tea Leaf ain't bad either, but not nearly so charming.) The combo is just so nice, and makes me happy, so I don't care if it's simple at all. I can't think of anything else exactly like it, can you?

I completely skipped the iPdF vetiver - I could smell the stabby lemon just from picking up the bottle so I set it right back down. Reading this, it sounds like it might of ended up okay eventually if I'd actually tested it on my skin, but eh... too many other things to smell out there. I'm certain now I haven't missed out on anything, thanks.

I think my fave "cheap" vetiver is still Provence Sante's. Okay so it's nothing that's extraordinarily special, but it's pleasant, and comes in a big ol' bottle that goes on sale from time to time at Wild Oats for just under twenty bucks. Kind of shadowy and grassy at the same time, and you know, nice. Quite refreshing in the summer.

1:06 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Katie,
I cannot of anything similar to C&V either...and that's saying a lot "in our day and age" when everything smells like something else :-)
I have my little (well, long actually) list of Vetivers To Try and I wrote Provence Sante on it just now. Many thanks for heads up!

9:14 AM EDT  
Blogger marlen said...

The Chestnut and vetiver sounds very intriguing! Thanks for turning me onto a new company! pjxdnijh

10:25 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Marlen,
Always happy to enable! :-)

10:51 AM EDT  
Blogger NowSmellThis said...

Didn't love the iPF either, M, but that Wickle scent sounds very tempting.

11:40 AM EDT  
Blogger marchlion said...

You prompted me to put on the C&V this morning. I was semi-prepared for a scrubber; vetiver is not always my BFF. This was delightful. You're right, chestnut and vetiver were made for each other. Of course, it probably doesn't hurt that I am crazy about Godiva-type chocolates that are always filled with that chestnut ganache.

12:41 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

R,
The Wickle one is not a masterpiece by any stretch of imagination, but it is just so very pleasant. And despite the presence of nuts it does not seem "think" or heavy at all.

1:19 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

March,
Richt? Great combination of nutty and fresh/earthy. Yumsters.
And I am drooling thinking about those chocolates.

1:20 PM EDT  
Blogger Caitlin Shortell said...

I love that Wickle bottle. Chestnut sounds delicious with vetiver.

6:14 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Cait,
This is a seriously yummy scent :-)

6:22 PM EDT  

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