The perfume is composed as follows:
Top notes: plum, Italian bergamot & Brazilian pink pepper
Heart notes: Indian Sambac jasmine, oakmoss & patchouli
Base note: leather accord
The surprising whiff of plum is my favorite part, especially in such a musky, woodsy, almost masculine or cologne-like perfume. I love how Scentsate's review describes the way the scent evolves over time after application:
"The opening is the most beautiful. Not only is it the most overtly leathery part of the fragrance, but it brings with it a decadent outburst of plum. This effect lasts for about half an hour, impressive for top notes.
"It gets sweeter towards the heart, half-an-hour in. This is where the pepper and rose become more noticeable. Bottega Veneta has been described as a chypre, and I don’t think this is technically incorrect. Lots of perfumes contain the ubiquitous chypre triad of labdanum, bergamot, and oakmoss. But it is featured softly, as an accent rather than the main show. The heart reminds me a little of the 2008 Chloe with the softness and the transparent rose. But it’s better than Chloe, and remains dusky and soft.
"Towards the aforementioned forever-lasting end, all of the accents fade, and you are left with a lovely suede rose. The best thing about Bottega Veneta probably the natural feel of the leather note. Somehow it feels like you are actually wearing kidskin gloves, instead of just having sprayed chemicals on your wrist."
This is certainly on my Christmas list. Don't you love it when you discover a perfume that connects with you, something that you want to wear alone, without clothes to smother it. Just as Marilyn Monroe said in an interview...
"You know they ask you questions," Monroe said during an April 1960 interview with French journalist Georges Belmont. "Just an example: 'What do you wear to bed? Do you wear a pajama top, the bottoms of the pajamas, or a nightgown?' So I said, 'Chanel No. 5!' Because it's the truth! And yet I don't want to say 'nude,' you know? But it's the truth." For more on Marilyn Monroe and Chanel, check out this article.
