Tag: profumum

Olibanum by Profumum

December 12, 2018

Notes: orange blossom, sandalwood, incense, and myrrh.

I’ve tested several scents from Profumum over the years (and even written about some here and here). I have liked each and every scent I’ve tested. There doesn’t seem to be a dud in the bunch! Olibanum is yet another winner. The only problem is that Profumum Roma is a niche brand from, you guessed it, Rome. It’s not the easiest to find here in the US. It’s fairly pricey as well. The brand now offers an 18 ml travel size for $83 which Luckyscent carries. The 100 ml size is better value for money, but that travel size might be how I acquire my first Profumum scent, and Olibanum is a potential contender.

As you can guess from the name, Olibanum is a resinous, incense-focused fragrance. Indeed, it opens with a very true-to-life incense note. It’s like walking into a yoga studio and recognizing that they’re burning the good incense. It’s not smoky or acrid. It’s not plasticky or synthetic. It’s just true incense. This is a dry, yet well-rounded composition. The other notes come through sparingly, but they do their job in supporting incense as the star of the show.

Looking at the notes, I expected to smell orange blossom first. I expected a clean white floral scent. However, this orange blossom is actually very citrus-driven and more like true petitgrain from the leaves rather than the orange blossom itself. It’s a zesty yet dry orange citrus note that blends with the incense to give a bit of life, a bit of vivacity to the composition. It’s not floral at all though. I find that this citrus note comes through more on the skin rather than testing on paper. And it comes through as you wear it, rather than as a top note.

Sandalwood is also listed, and this is not your typical creamy sandalwood. This is not Santal Blush. Again, it’s as dry as can be. My nose reads it more as cedar than sandalwood. But then, I love cedar so much, my brain could wish it into any composition! Regardless, this piece of the composition serves as a dry woody anchor for the resinous incense to play off of. Just today, I tried layering Olibanum with Jo Malone’s Wood Sage and Sea Salt, and it is delicious! The woody notes are intensified and the grapefruit note in WS&SS plays well with the bitter orange blossom of Olibanum.

Of course, you don’t need to layer Olibanum. It’s a stunning fragrance on its own. However, it’s very somber and contemplative. This is incense, after all, the scent of sitting in quiet meditation or prayer. I do get church vibes, but I grew up Catholic. I will always get Catholic mass vibes from incense. If you don’t want to project Catholic mass vibes, layering Olibanum with a more floral or fruity composition is probably a good idea. On its own, Olibanum is a stark but beautiful fragrance. It makes an impression with few notes. It’s meant for reflection, and it’s gorgeous at this time of year. It’s definitely worth testing, as are so many scents from this line.

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Profumum is available from Luckyscent in the US, which is where I ordered my sample of Olibanum.

The info on notes is from Fragrantica.

The photo is of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I took it on a rainy morning when I was in New York in September.

Sorriso by Profumum

February 4, 2016

sorriso profumumNotes: dark chocolate, bitter orange, vanilla, and exotic woods.

Sorriso means “smile” in Italian, which makes it a fitting name for this fragrance because dark chocolate is a reliable way to get me to smile. I definitely have a sweet tooth, both when it comes to food and when it comes to perfume. I love some of Profumum’s other gourmands like Confetto and Vanitas, so I was really looking forward to finally trying Sorriso. I noticed that Luckyscent doesn’t include vanilla in their official notes for Sorriso, but Fragrantica does. I’ve included vanilla in the notes here because I sense it all the way through, from the opening to the dry down. This one is chocolate/vanilla all the way for me.

The initial opening comes across extremely sweet on my skin with a serious dose of vanilla. If you’re wary of too-sweet perfumes, don’t worry, this is as sweet as Sorriso gets. I get a small dose of the orange note, but it’s not bitter or sharp. This is a very smooth orange, like syrup. The orange note may be fleeting, but it’s enough to take the ultra sweet edge off the vanilla note.

Now the chocolate comes in, and Sorriso gets interesting. This is one of the more subdued chocolate notes I’ve come across, but in a good way. This is a true dark chocolate, deep and bitter. Paired with the vanilla, it’s really interesting. I expected this fragrance to be completely dessert-like and edible. However, once you get past the initial blast of sweetness, there’s a deep and almost earthy tone to Sorriso.

The general woody tone of the dry down helps keep Sorriso grounded and really rounds out the dark chocolate note. I still sense the vanilla, which by this point, reminds me a little bit of the woody, boozy bourbon vanilla of Diptyque’s Eau Duelle. It’s a shame the orange note isn’t more of a major player here. I think Profumum intended to bill this as a chocolate/orange fragrance but it’s much more of a chocolate/vanilla. However, the chocolate/vanilla interplay here is so interesting, it’s hard to complain. And it’s less outright foodie than might be expected.

I wore Sorriso this past New Year’s Eve and really liked it for the occasion. I find that there’s something festive about this one. (Maybe I just find chocolate festive in general?) Of course, now that it’s February, fragrance brands are making a Valentine’s Day push. I wouldn’t call Sorriso sexy per se, but you can never go wrong with a chocolate fragrance in general. Profumum is a niche Italian line and, as such, it does run very pricey. I’ve never splurged for a full bottle despite loving some of their fragrances. Fortunately, Luckyscent offers samples, and Sorriso is definitely worth a try if you’re into gourmands in general or chocolate in particular.

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In the US, full bottles of Profumum are available from Luckyscent, which is where I got my sample of Sorriso.

The image and info on notes are from Fragrantica.

Confetto by Profumum

November 20, 2014

confettoNotes: almond, anise, musk, amber, vanilla.

I seem to be very one-note lately, and I promise that one of these days I’ll write about something that isn’t a gourmand scent. For now, Profumum’s Confetto is a warm, delicious confection, and a very worthy entry into my personal favorite scent category: vanilla-based gourmands.

Confetto opens with a sugary effect that already feels rich and creamy in texture. It’s a bit like the milk left over in your cereal bowl, where it has absorbed all the sugar from your cereal. Except this couldn’t be classified as just a leftover, it’s truly yummy, and an appropriate opening to the main course.

Then the almond note kicks in and adds some nice interest and depth. The effect of the almond is to slightly dry out that rich opening, adding just a hint of bitterness. The main effect is that the heart of this fragrance is nowhere near as sugary as the initial opening. The other point of interest here is the anise. I’m used to anise from Jo Malone’s Vanilla & Anise but, in the case of Confetto, I think the anise interacts with the almond instead of the vanilla. The anise adds a licorice-like twist to the somewhat dry almond notes. It’s a clever touch, as the anise adds a different aspect to the composition, without tipping everything into overly-candied, overly-sugared territory.

I’ve described Confetto in very sweet terms, and you’re probably wondering how this could not smell like candy. I think it’s all in the way the vanilla is handled. I would compare it to Profumum’s other vanilla: Vanitas. That fragrance is a cold, fragile vanilla. The composition of Vanitas is fascinating, and it has some sharp edges to it that give me the impression of a piece of hard candy. Whereas all the edges have been sanded down in Confetto. This is an incredibly smooth perfume, with the musk and vanilla base giving off warmth you can luxuriate in.

I first tried Confetto over the summer, and found that the vanilla was quite intense in the heat. It took on a boozy aspect, similar to the bourbon vanilla of Diptyque’s Eau Duelle. Now in cold weather, I find that the almond note is more the focus of the fragrance. Maybe it’s that the cold weather allows the vanilla to calm down enough to let the almond come to the forefront.

Profumum runs quite pricey, but I think Confetto is appealing and very wearable. It’s definitely full-bottle-worthy for me (and I’m grateful that Christmas is coming up). The sweet aspect gives this fragrance a youthfulness, but I don’t think it’s juvenile. I think it could read as quite grown-up, especially during the musky vanilla dry down stages. Confetto is my number one go-to scent at the moment. It’s comfortable to wear, it’s been keeping me cozy in some record-breaking cold weather, and best of all, it’s delicious.

 

Profumum is a niche Italian fragrance line. It is available from Luckyscent in the US, which is where I obtained my sample.

Image is from Fragrantica, while info on notes is from Profumum’s official site.

Uniquely Sweet: Vanitas by Profumum

July 31, 2014

vanitasNotes: vanilla, myrrh, orange blossom, sandalwood.

Ah, vanilla: the dependable foundation of so many yummy gourmand fragrances. I love gourmands in general, and, when in the mood, nothing hits the spot quite like a delicious vanilla. However, Vanitas is an unusual vanilla scent and an unusual gourmand, too. For starters, it opens with a bracing, medicinal dose of myrrh, which prompts me to wonder: is this even a gourmand at all?

The opening is tricky and even a little bit frustrating for me. Myrrh doesn’t always work well on my skin, and I still can’t decide whether or not I like it here. It’s definitely medicinal, and bordering on camphorous. Sometimes I think ah, that myrrh is so interesting! And other times I think no, it’s just giving me a headache. Maybe it’s fortunate then that the vanilla comes on very strong, interlacing a sweetness with the fortifying myrrh. The overall effect here is that of coldness, signalling that this is not a typical warm and cozy vanilla.

If this fragrance gives the impression of food, it might be of a milkshake made with vanilla bean ice cream, freshly blended, still frothy and bubbling. But then, maybe even ice cream is too heavy for Vanitas. This is a surprising vanilla composition in that it never develops that familiar creamy texture, not even from the sandalwood. Even though the sillage here is quite strong, Vanitas still manages to give the impression of delicacy.

The name Vanitas is appropriate then. In the arts, vanitas is mainly associated with still life painting. Vanitas themes and motifs are meant to symbolize the transient nature of life and of earthly pursuits. Bubbles are one such symbol used to convey the ephemeral nature of life. Vanitas the fragrance reminds me of bubbles, not in a fizzy champagne way, but in a pretty, fragile kind of way.

Vanitas is something of a riddle for me. The vanilla is quite sweet, but the myrrh keeps me from thinking of this as edible. Similarly, the fragrance as a whole comes on quite strong, but still somehow creates an air of fragility. Perhaps it’s the “chilly” aspect of this particular vanilla, creating a cold atmosphere that feels like it could shatter. It never does shatter; the fragrance fades away in a gentle cloud of swirling vanilla that clings to my clothes and my sheets.

I think I admire Vanitas more than I actually enjoy wearing it. But who knows? This atypical vanilla has room to develop in interesting ways. (And I may go for a milkshake anyway.)

Profumum is a niche Italian fragrance line. It’s available from Luckyscent in the US, which is where I got my sample.

Image and fragrance notes are from fragrantica.