Profumo Eau de Parfum

This is stunningly beautiful perfume, everything about it says "class". It is handsome, elegant, it feels expensive and luxurious. A definite chypre character right from the first spray out of the bottle. I notice mostly patchouli, creamy ylang, some smoky vetiver and soft wood, but really, this is one of those scents that is more than the sum of its parts. I could try and dissect exactly what I am smelling each time I inhale but I find that actually I don't want to, because the composition itself, how it plays on the skin, gentle wafts reaching my nose as I move, creating a beautiful aura of scent around me - I don't want to unpick it I just want to enjoy it. This is high quality, the ingredients feel like they are the best, the notes list does not really give justice to how wonderful this smells and feels. And how it feels is like pure silk, like honey, like yellow gold. I really cannot get across in words how wonderful and how elegant this scent is. This would be perfect to wear for a night at the theatre, for a romantic meal, for a wedding, for the opening night of the gallery exhibition, "darling sweetie darling"! This is a perfume that says fur stoles and champagne and evening dresses and diamond necklaces. Imagine a party - If your workaday clean light scents would ride the bus, and the fruity florals that litter the highstreet would roll up in a hired pink hummer, this beauty would be pulling up at the end of the red carpet in a Rolls Royce or a Bentley. Longevity is very good for me and sillage is present but moderate - you will leave a small trail of sheer beauty but you will not overpower anyone at all. Pure class. I only need 3 small sprays of this to achieve a wonderful aura of scent - small of my back, one on my chest and then a one spritz walk-through. Do not overspray this one. The perfume itself is also presented in a beautiful opulent manner - in a large cream fabric covered box with shiny metal clasp and inside the box is lined with cream satin, with the bottle held slightly elevated amongst the satin, and the bottle itself if very tactile, a good weight and a pleasure to hold in the hands and to gaze upon. Really this is an item of beauty all round, I love it.

Acqua di Parma PROFUMO 2009 is incredibly gorgeous. A luscious floral chypre with swirling petals and a woody patchouli-labdanum base. I actually feel as though I am wearing gold it's so luxurious. In that respect, I'd agree with onimoka's comparison to Hermès 24 FAUBOURG. Both perfumes are extremely elegant and, for lack of a better word, rich smelling: 24 karat gold! However, they are very distinct. PROFUMO is not quite as bodaciously floral as 24 FAUBOURG, although the sillage is still rather grand. In some ways, PROFUMO reminds me a bit of La Perla LA PERLA and La Praire Life Threads PLATINUM, but I feel that PROFUMO uses even better quality components than those two floral chypres, both of which, I should clarify, are beloved to me. The flowers here are not all or even primarily white. The ylang and the peony mingle alongside rose and jasmine. I find the rose to be dominant, but this is not a rose perfume, per se. The patchouli and labdanum pull everything together in a splendid way. I don't know what else to say except that this is beautiful and I'd love to have a bottle! I have found all of the floral perfumes of this house to be extremely well made, and I actually prefer them to the COLONIA series.

This is a true Chypre for women, an example, a classic, a masterpiece. Nowadays Chypre is a rare bird and if you can still get hold of this one, it will be a gem. I wear it in cooler weather when I want something uplifting that will make me feel special. It is piquant, classy and chic but not old fashioned. I would say not your everyday scent, more like for precious moments and special occasions. The experience starts with the box where this perfume lives. It is from another era, when life wasn’t about On-The-Go and you would take a moment and stop to open this ivory satin box and put the perfume on whilst getting into the mood for ...an evening at the opera. Purple velvet of the curtains, anticipation, the noise of moving chairs... No pyramid can express the sophisticated nature of this scent. And of course the trail is so exquisite. As you move it moves with you, not agressive present but surely noticeable.

Stunning What a treasure for woody chypre lovers! The opening is a strong, almost masculine blend of bergamot and ylang ylang; I don't notice peony at all. The next stage opens rather quickly with amber, jasmine and rose prominent; rich but not really sweet florals, and the amber seems to embrace the florals, making them smooth and rounded. The drydown is a spectacular blend of woodiness and musk that is to die for if you love chypres. I revel in the longevity of this fragrance; it lasts for 12+ hours. Strong sillage, best to use judiciously. A. di P. Profumo is well made with high quality ingredients which is apparant in every stage of the development. Elegance personified. Wear this if you really want to stand out from the crowd. Men should give this a try--it definately straddles the line between masculine/feminine. Unforgettable.

A truly wonderful scent, the price is justified and money is well spent when you get so much in return. Better just one bottle of magnificence than a thousand bottles of mediocrity. This is what I said to myself to stop my credit card guilty feelings. The scent is wonderful as I said, it comes from an age when scents were made with passion, dedication and art. Wearing it today is a hommage to good taste and the hope it has not completely gone lost. In certain moments it reminds of Mitsouko, maybe only for being a chypre but I would also add also for being a masterpiece that stands the passing of time without wrinkles on skin. Buy it if you like lovely scents that lasts a lot, if you like wearing something special, if you despise those modern scents which smell all the same.