Acqua Di Parmi Blu Mediterraneo Fico d'Amalfi

Notes: bergamot, grapefruit, lemon, orange, tangerine, cedar leaves, jasmine, rose, pink pepper, fig nectar, cedarwood, fig wood, guaiac wood

Vibrant citrus notes, starting with grapefruit and rapidly segueing into orange and tangerine, are blended with the sweet smell of ripe figs and shaded with woods to recreate the fragrance of a warm day on the coast of Amalfi.

Some fig fragrances are too green for my liking; this one, however, nicely balances a bit of green with a sweeter, riper fig with floral overtones.  As the scent dries down, the jasmine and rose are more noticeable, and some of the usually-fleeting citrus notes are still present.  Fico d'Amalfi is sheer and summery, a happy scent that is a great mood enhancer, and I think, completely unisex.

Sushi?

Bois 1920 was founded in 2005 by Enzo Galardi.  Inspired by his perfumer grandfather, Guido, Enzo reinterprets his old formulas with the finest ingredients to create modern and unique scents. (paraphrased from the house bio on Luckyscent.com) 


Apparently some liberty was taken with naming these "modern and unique" scents.  At least, this particular one. "Sushi," in Italian, means "sushi."  Yep, the Japanese seasoned rice dishes we have all come to know and love. Sushi Imperiale does not contain notes of wasabi, nori, and pickled ginger, nor is it reminiscent of fish in any way.  Whew!  That's a good thing.

Turns out, the scent is genuinely a good thing.  It's a bright and autumny concoction of citrus and sweet spices on a base of vanilla.  It reminds me of a friend's recipe for hot apple cider, in which she tosses several sliced lemons and oranges with a goodly number of cinnamon sticks.  But without the apple part.  The nutmeg is most evident in the opening, along with the sprightly citrus notes.  They are tart, but not sour, and marry perfectly with the bit of pepper and the cinnamon that comes up a bit later.  The vanilla isn't obviously vanilla, but it lends an overall sweet softness to the background.

Although Sushi Imperiale could be considered unisex, there's something about it that makes me think it might work better on a man. Perhaps my sushi-lovin' man....

Notes: citrus, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, Madagascan vanilla

Annick Gourtal Songes

Notes: immortelle (helichrysum), cinnamon, vanilla, sandalwood

Marketed as a man's scent, Sables is both sweet and woodsy, with an overall quality like honeyed tobacco.  But the star of this show is the immortelle, a note that has been compared to maple syrup.  I completely get the maple, but to my nose, it's far too dry (almost but not quite powdery) to be syrup.  It makes me think of something I tasted in my childhood, something that I am remembering as a flat circular wafer-type thing.  I can't recall if it was a candy or not; perhaps it was some sort of vitamin supplement?  Regardless of my weird memories, immortelle is more like maple sugar candy than syrup.
In the drydown, I can smell the cinnamon more and my thoughts turn to crunchy cinnamon sugar-topped pastries (ok, I think about food a lot). 

I can also see how Sables is a fragrance for men, but I'd say it's a fine gourmand-type scent for women as well.   It would be particularly lovely worn in the fall, when the air is crisp and the leaves turn red and gold.