WHAT I SMELL: Opera Grande opens with fruit and berries that are lightly covered with a faint hair spray accord. The fruit and berries are candied sweet in a way that reminds me of hard candies that my grandmother used to have (and in which we didn’t want). In short time a rose enters and the combination of the fruit and rose make for a bit of an unnatural chemical mix. As the perfume continues to develop, a warmed ambered leather seems to slide in unexpectedly. The perfume has now moved from the fruity to this strange woody leather that is void of any moisture. The perfume, even with the fruit, was never juicy, but now it’s completely dry as it begins to quickly powder and project. Now the perfume feels like a chypre which to me makes it a bit more desirable, but there still resides this artificial biting note that I can’t put my finger on (maybe the nutmeg?). in the end Opera Grande slowly makes its way to a voluminous slightly soured patchouli/vanilla powder that is rather grand in size, but not necessarily in beauty.
From the Sospiro website:
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Less Opera Grande and more Three Penny Opera.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE OPERA GRANDE: dusty, complicated, sharpened
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT OPERA GRANDE: No written reviews found.
BOTTOM LINE: Opera Grande should be everything that I love; a big floral with creamy ylang ylang that’s heady and intoxicating. Even the name conjures up big and over the top. Instead, it’s a perfume that you hope will build up to a crescendo…but instead it just fizzles to a biting powder. Too bad.
- Bone Rating: 2 out of possible 5 bones
- Scent: Woody Floral
- Nose: Christian Provenzano
- Classification: Unisex
- Expense: $375 for 100 ml eau de parfum
WHAT I SMELL: Melody of the Sun opens with an herbal lemon and grapefruit that’s semi-juicy and lightly warmed. It’s an intoxicating mix of fresh fruit that shines over an ever increasing green tea note along with a ripened osmanthus. The perfume really draws you in with its positive energy and it’s also rather sexy in a “come-hither” way. As it continues to develop, a powdered jasmine infused musk blends masterfully with a warmed amber so the perfume manages to retain a wonderful depth. But after some more time, the perfume turns to the “bathtastic” as it begins to resemble the remnants of bubble bath that still lingers in the tub. In the end, Melody of the Sun moves away from the bath and rests in a floral musk that’s pretty and very easy to wear.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: 1950’s pinup sun bathing beauty. It’s clean, fresh, pretty and kind of sexy in a flirtatious way.
WHAT I SMELL: Neroli Nasimba opens with a warmed cardamom and petitgrain that feels as if it was dried in the grassland sun. In short time, a light sweetened neroli begins to make itself known. It’s very subtle as if it was brushed on top of the dried grass. The perfume buzzes with a light vibration of sun and wood. And after a bit, a light puttied labdanum and vetiver help to create a semi-soured covering over the wood. Very slowly, a sweetened note of orange blossom returns to lighten the perfume. It sits radiantly above the woody base although it remains somewhat elusive. And just when you think the perfume’s development has ended, the orange blossom blooms above a light leathered wood. Here the perfume remains with an ethereal mix of sun and earth. Neroli Nasimba is really lovely.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: African straw mask.
The Scented Hound 