The new eau de parfum from Bvlgari is a surprise to the nose – it’s a classic, elegant scent, but without the usual cloying, heady feel of floral fragrances.
When you pick a perfume for the day, you’re doing more than merely spraying on a scent. You’re picking the mood you want to be in and the vibe you want to surround yourself with.
Some days, it may be a fresh, green fragrance; other days, something classic and feminine. The latter can be tricky. While they are distinctive, such perfumes also tend to be heavy, voluptuous florals that can come across as cloying and heady.
If you think about classic perfumes, you’re likely to think about those from Italian luxury brand Bvlgari, which is known for both its fine jewellery and fragrances. It has seamlessly merged these two pillars of the brand in creating a stable of fragrances, every one with its characteristic stamp of lavish charm.
The newest, launching in October, is the Rose Goldea Blossom Delight. What sets it apart: It was created to be a fresher and more youthful take on a classic signature perfume.
“The scent depicts a rose in bloom,” says its creator, perfumer Alberto Morillas, who is a veritable master of fragrances, having crafted olfactory greats like Calvin Klein’s CK One, Kenzo’s Flower and Bvlgari’s original Omnia.
Morillas made the fragrance’s top notes particularly green, with green papaya and violet leaf. This makes it a more herbaceous than heady floral, giving the fragrance a rawness that prevents it from coming across as over the top.
Next, for the heart notes, the perfumer picked rosebuds and rose leaves instead of fullblown roses, resulting in a softer, more subdued floral take. This subtle softness is what makes you want to keep smelling the fragrance, to take it in with deeper breaths, as if you can’t get enough of it.
Last, where heavier woody notes like sandalwood and vetiver usually anchor almost all fragrances, Rose Goldea Blossom Delight has white musk mixed with Bulgarian rose accord. A floral note as a base is not unusual, but in this case, the heavier rose accord is what gives the fragrance its elegant, feminine vibe so it doesn’t just smell like light florals and greenness. Not using woods also lightens the scent, making it more luminous and even addictive.
THE BVLGARI GOLDEA FAMILY
THE NOTES: Pomegranate, Damacus rose, jasmine, musk and sandalwood.
