Armonia

When I bought Armonia, there was a little booklet with it about all the fragrances in this line; the part about Armonia is about Florence during the Italian Renaissance and how the pursuit of perfection in the arts is the same for the perfumer. It shows it's a really well-balanced iris, not too warm or cold either; the leather is smooth; everything is well done; and it does resemble Iris Cendré a little bit but in a smoother way. It's really feminine to me, but a man could easily wear it. Someone talks about a ballerina in a comment below, and I can see why. The violet and iris are sad flowers; they're not joyful; they're full of mysteries and hidden truths. They're also not "effortless" flowers. The leather and patchouli both gives an edge, and I think it fits the ballerina pretty well: dainty, mysterious, but also incredibly hard-working with something rough behind the beauty of it all: trying to achieve perfection is not an easy path. A really good perfume for people who love elegant and refined iris. Or iris.

This is just lovely! I am thinking to myself that it might be the perfect iris scent. Its very soft and no strange molecules in sight. Close to the skin but still there the next day. To my nose its slightly fruity in the top. But most of the notes are seamless to me. I do not detect the saffron which i am fine with. Pure bliss!

Armonia is the sort of “lady’s purse” iris-leather, buttery-smooth and chock-full of ionones, that always makes me slightly queasy. There’s also a hint of warm amber and something vaguely sunny and cheerful, but mostly we’re in that plush, wistful iris-violet-leather zone. I suppose Florentine iris is an appropriate theme for a fragrance inspired by Renaissance Italy, and this is a nice velvety execution of the theme (far less overtly feminine than the powder-puff Incarnata, with more leather-resin depth), but I just don’t like ionones at all. Ionones are the olfactory facet that violets and iris have in common; it’s a cool, melancholy, and rather frou-frou feminine scent, reminiscent of old-fashioned cosmetics. I associate them with a sort of pastel-toned ballerina aesthetic. Armonia has that in spades, but complemented with a smooth mellow leather that adds extra resonance, and warm dark resins that ultimately take over the drydown. It reminds me a bit of Chanel Misia, except less self-consciously “perfumey.”

Very old vintage leather, once comfortably soft, now more hardened, decorated dark wood picture frames, varnish, almost like an entrance to a sort of museum. Dark, dense, cool yet attractive and shrouded in powder dust. At first strong sillage and seems like good longevity, but fades too quickly. Doesn't last an hour and breaks down into a sweet orange-tonka vanilla. Ends within two hours as a skin only mixture of pudding and a metal spoon, the skin remains in the background like a distant memory. The longevity is therefore weaker and sillage loses its breath too quickly, but who would want another sweet vanilla-tonka?...Redundant, bit weird combination.

Dry, woody, leathery and heavily powdery; I perceive this as a violet-centered perfume, even though there’s no violet listed. The ambrette is quite pronounced, adding warmth and a soft, musky texture. There’s also a gentle vanillic undertone that rounds everything out, keeping the composition cozy rather than cold. It smells like a nostalgic blush compact, one that’s begun to crumble and scatter over time. In my mind, it evokes the image of an aging yet hopeful woman, waiting in her boudoir; still glamorous, still holding on to her charm. Tag(s): boudoir, powdery, nostalgic, makeup-y, warm