WHAT I SMELL:  Antonia opens with an absolutely heady and exhilarating rush of full floral lushness with the beautiful ylang-ylang front and center.  The perfume is luxuriant and rather waxy and it sits on the deepest powdered galbanum that seems to push the florals off of the skin.  Antonio makes my head swim with its feminine power.  There is nothing demure about this lady; but don’t get me wrong she is a lady in every sense of the word.  The perfume transforms, but not dramatically or with any sharp or sudden turns or edges, instead, she slowly moves from the brightest and dryest green to more of a warm and lightly soapy symphony of florals.  Antonia is a ravishing beauty from the very beginning when the rush of the green florals radiate from the first spritz and continues for hours to come.  When you wear this perfume, you are in Antonia’s world and it’s as beautiful of a world as you’ll ever experience.

From the Puredistance website:

Created by Master Perfumer Annie Buzantian in New York, Puredistance ANTONIA is a highly original green floral with a great lushness and warmth of heart, but at the same time pillowy and gentle as can be. Key in the creation of ANTONIA is the image of a strong, positive, but at the same time gentle woman.

The perfume is neither modern, nor old-fashioned. Puredistance ANTONIA is a timeless perfume with a feel of innocence, yet feminine and confident. She grabs you with gentleness and faithfully stays with you, tenacious,  but never overwhelming.

Ingredients: Jasmine, Rose Essence, Ylang Ylang, Orris, Ivy green, Galbanum, Vanilla and Vetiver. 

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  All woman; all-powerful in her beauty and sexuality.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ANTONIA:  magnificent, heady, voluminous

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ANTONIA: Olfactoria’s Travels, Undina’s Looking Glass, Kafkaesque

BOTTOM LINE: Puredistance is turning out to at the top of the list of my favorite perfume houses.  Their perfumes are works of art in that they are exquisitely refined and of the highest quality.  Where other perfumes develop with harsh twist and turns, their perfumes transform and reveal the loveliest of secrets with a whisper.  Puredistance wants to ensure their perfumes are perfection, and because of this new introductions to the line are far and few between.  But when they do release a new perfume, its pure magic as evident with their latest release, White.

• Bone Rating:  5 out of possible 5 bones
• Scent:  Floral
• Nose: Annie Buzantian
• Classification: Feminine
• Expense: $160 for 17 ml parfum extrait or $270 for 60 ml.  Note that Puredistance has some fantastic promotions on their website!