Year: 2015
Notes: thyme, costus, osmanthus, Turkish rose, jasmine, Javanese vetiver, sandalwood, ambergris, animalic accord
Elephant & Roses is supposedly an animalic rose creation, but one has been left greatly underwhelmed.
Starting out with the mint-tinged astringency of thyme, the costus adds a body hair accent to the opening. The herbaceous introduction is both striking and unorthodox, but the osmanthus' honeyed floral properties gradually smooths out the rough edges. The emerging rose is sweet, delicate and slightly spicy, but never really comes to the forefront. And as the jasmine adds a floral creaminess, green subtleties continue to prevail.
Residing on a soft woody-musk foundation, the vetiver is suggestively yeasty, while the sandalwood exudes its typically mild and buttery woodiness. However, with regards to the animalic aspect, it's far too subdued with a wallflower demeanour. By the drydown, what's left are warm, powdery and slightly creamy woody-floral traces, with just the tiniest whiffs of smoky vetiver and something faecal.
Although it's not as animalic as originally anticipated, its performance on the skin is surprisingly poor. It's thin, with minimal sillage and longevity of approximately four hours. For an Eau de Parfum, one expected something more robust and not something that closely resembles an Eau de Cologne.
Ultimately, this is one Maria Candida Gentile fragrance that one can easily live without.
Starting out with the mint-tinged astringency of thyme, the costus adds a body hair accent to the opening. The herbaceous introduction is both striking and unorthodox, but the osmanthus' honeyed floral properties gradually smooths out the rough edges. The emerging rose is sweet, delicate and slightly spicy, but never really comes to the forefront. And as the jasmine adds a floral creaminess, green subtleties continue to prevail.
Residing on a soft woody-musk foundation, the vetiver is suggestively yeasty, while the sandalwood exudes its typically mild and buttery woodiness. However, with regards to the animalic aspect, it's far too subdued with a wallflower demeanour. By the drydown, what's left are warm, powdery and slightly creamy woody-floral traces, with just the tiniest whiffs of smoky vetiver and something faecal.
Although it's not as animalic as originally anticipated, its performance on the skin is surprisingly poor. It's thin, with minimal sillage and longevity of approximately four hours. For an Eau de Parfum, one expected something more robust and not something that closely resembles an Eau de Cologne.
Ultimately, this is one Maria Candida Gentile fragrance that one can easily live without.
