Noa Perle

Love at first sniff. As Lainey said, a marvellous fragrance in a marvellous bottle. So beautiful and fits the name perfectly. It IS mood-lifting, for sure. Starting out fresh and slightly aquatic, with a light citrus touch (the bergamot). Then watery flowers, like petals flowing in a lake (that peony!)... you refresh and rejoice, bathe in it, and while you do, something different, more substancial, is materializing in your palm... you feel it more and more, emerge from the water and realize it is a perfect, marvellous pearl... The drydown is one of the best I've smelled, the hazelnut accord is soooo beautiful as it slowly appears and keeps getting stronger and stronger, emerging from the water and flowers and overcoming them, to finally blend with the most delicious vanilla. I must say that at first spray, in the store, it smelled exactly as I had expected it to smell - watery and fresh, but with an intriguing "something" behind it. Bought it and put it on to go to the cinema with friends. It was on my wrist and decolleté and I smelled it all evening and late, late into the night. TRUE LOVE. I found out that something must be right about my zodiac sign (I'm a cancer) - water is my element and pearls go with it.

It's like two different fragrances in one, the second part being significantly better. It opens up with a fresh almost tropical citrus, a pretty common opening overall. There is someting disturbingly alcoholic about the initial opening, but just 10 minutes later it evolved into this unusual, increadibly pleasant soft smell like melting creamy chocolate icecream sprinkled with hazelnuts. Even though it is tasty, it's not a gourmand perfume, rather an unconventional floral fragrance with nutty undertones. If the opening was a bit disappointing, the middle and base notes were surprinsingly good, warm and cool at the same time, but still very comforthing. It's a departure from the classic Noa in a good way, beacuse it is not as soapy, plus it has a touch of aquatic. I think it's a good fragrance for the winter because the top notes are reminiscent of summer, while the rest will serve you a hazelnut hot chocolate to remind you cold days are not that bad after all.

IMO Noa Perle has two phases which are not similar at all. The opening is very sharp, zesty almost screetchy. The first smell is much alcholic. But after 15 minutes it starts to sit on my skin. It softens down and warms up. Floral notes start to talk. And the drydown is the best part. The nutty base is gorgeous. The smell stays still soft floral but it gets warmer, sweeter and creamier. I don't like the opening but I love love love the drydown. The sweetness of Noa Perle is just at the right amount. Not cloying or suffocating at all. The drydown reminds me of a Summer sunset of a day spend in nature. The sillage is average I don't think anybody near will be offended by this perfume. That makes it nice for office wear. The longevity is so good that you can enjoy the warm, soft, nutty phase for hours.

I don't feel like this should be considered a floral fruity perfume...on my skin, the hazelnut is quite prominent after an hour or so. I get a touch of tangerine in the beginning and then creamy florals. Overall, I would say it definitely has gourmand in its character. I find this very pleasant to wear from time to time. Something about it makes it very distinctive to my nose. It's light, slightly sweet, and before the hazelnut kicks in it reminds me of soft fragrant flowers after a spring rain. And speaking of rain, something about this makes it perfect on me when it's gloomy and rainy outside...hot or cold. I love it on these days!!!

This is the one perfume I find myself buying over and over again. When first sprayed I find the peppery note somewhat of a shame. I just don't like peppery smells much I suppose. The dry down is absolutely amazing however. The peppery note fades after a while and a beautiful very sweet and warm floral smell emerges. I've made this into my signature scent, I just can't get enough of it! The scent is quite strong, but I don't find it overpowering or too heavy. It's just strong enough to be noticably there and it's staying power is great.