Transilvania

Transilvania of course is notoriously associated with Dracula and this perfume lives up to and surpasses every association you have with the name. Transilvania opens up with a blast of black cherry followed quickly by jasmine. I almost never wear white flowers and jasmine in particular because on my skin the brightness always gives way to the scent of mothballs and at worst, something fecal. And I have never found a good reason to want to smell like either. That is, until now. The jasmine in Transilvania is heavy--indolic, hovering between the camphor of preservation and the funk of decay. It truly is a scent of things neither living nor dead. The mind calls up the mustiness of velvet robes rustling, the whiff of things moving furtively in the darkness. Combined with the black cherry, the scent is hypnotic, cloying almost repugnant. And then something really surprising happens. It changes. Have you ever gone back to watch a movie that terrified you as a child only to realize that somewhere between growing up, and the special effects that your horror film has become a comedy? Suddenly, Bram Stoker's Dracula has become a pantomime Nosferatu. I wish I could describe the conflicting emotions the progression of this perfume inspires. It's like that funny feeling when you hit your elbow and you don't know whether to laugh or to cry. But luckily, laughter wins. All the terror and dankness of before gives way to the sweetness and powderiness of tuberose, immortelle, honey--the warmth of vanilla with just a hint of the earlier animalic notes. The drydown is like a nightmare dissipated. As you stare at the sunlight, you wonder, was it all a dream? This is not a perfume; it is a story, poetry in a bottle. Part of me thinks "no one wants to smell like this" and the other half says "you'd be crazy not to want to smell like this." This is not a scent for those who want something simple and inoffensive or a crowd pleaser. I could not recommend it more.

The creation of TRANSILVANIA was inspired by none other than the famous Transylvanian vampire myth. Of course there is a twist in this: Flavius Calaj and Miguel Matos wanted to show us another side of this special and terrifying world. While retaining the positive aspects of the vampire myth, they gave a unique meaning: the result is a wonderfully intense, powerfully rich and highly magnetic scent, which attracts light into this dark world, thus keeping fear away. From the first sniff we can be sure that the outstanding scent of this perfume is the intense flavoured, almost black sour cherry juice aroma. The start is discreetly sweet and has a particularly dry effect. The scent of roses gives the special beginning an indescribable rusty background. We can definitely feel this metallic smell reminiscent of the taste of blood in our mouth. This chord is brilliant, I can hardly believe what I smell. The scent of the virtuoso sour cherry is still dominant, but a duet of tuberose and jasmine slowly emerging in the heart of the scent, which reminds us a bit of Love Toxin, but in Transilvania the aroma of sour cherry is absolutely dominant, subverting these two floral scents that would otherwise fight and strive for victory. This snow white, innocent-looking flowers are battling with the stray, red-blodded berries, hitting and tearing each other, but they don't stand a chance. As the fruitiness of the perfume becomes drier, spicy animalistic notes also pop up like a specifically honey-sweet garnish. Soft vanilla resin and a pinch of oud can be felt in the dry off, beautiful! It’s not just a perfume, it’s a bottled poetry itself!

I opened the vial to sniff and I was hit with the powerful scent of ear wax and metallic blood. I immediately thought of Dracula resting in his coffin with blood dripping from the sides of his mouth into his ears. And this is what the inside of his ears would smell like after being in his coffin for several days on the Demeter ship. But that was just the first impression. What I am experiencing immediately after this dries on my skin is dust. So much dust. Cobwebs from the chandeliers, and layers of dust forming chunky, greyish pills on velvet-lined coffins. It's as if someone just shook a rug that has been unmoved for several years. It tickles my nose and almost makes me cough if I smell it up close. Then comes a tinge of smoky, waxy, borderline-rotting sweetness--I'm guessing the cherry. But it is a waxy cherry, like cherry lip balm left in a drawer for several years, or red "cherry" candles, or those red wax lips they sell near Halloween. There is absolutely nothing juicy or fresh here with this cherry note. The civet is very prominent in this, and heavily musty and musky. It smells a lot like a run-in with a large, damp animal up-close. It smells how I'd imagine a wolf running through the rain would smell like. It also strikes me as intimate in a human way. The layers and notes all combine to create a scent that is ominous, both repulsive and alluring, and extremely ancient. It's a work of art, and I think anyone who likes gothic things, dark history, or Dracula should try it.

Transilvania, the place where my heart beats it's most beautful songs. Home. Never ending longing. It was very clear that I had to try this fragrance. My perfume journey started long ago, as a teenager mostly with cheap catalogue scents, than later came the drug store scent department and everything the internet has to offer. Still, I never owned a niche scent, so maybe my opinion is not very valuable - I am not a connoisseur, but an average woman who owns maybe a bit more fragrances than average. But Transilvania...I had to try it, so I ordered the sample pack. It starts with cherry, honey and some wild, animalic note I haven't smelled before- civet, is that you? It mesmerizes and pushes me away in the same time. A spell was cast, and the magic is working. It is indeed more than a scent. It is a story. A story of love and abandon, rapture and emptiness. It has color - dark! and depth. It has texture - velvety. It has both something transcendental, scary and from beyond this world and something very carnal, like the smell of the wet skin of a loved one after making love for so long that you started to feel empty. On my skin the cherry lasts forever- I could still clearly smell it after 1 day, the animalic note silently fades away, and a balsamic, flowery-tonka bean base remains along the cherry and honey. I love it. And I feel very proud, that this amazing scent was born in this place I call home. It is truly unique.

Transylvania is above all a precious perfume. That fruity mix of cherry, with the floral part and a sweet and animal part in the background seems simply spectacular. The cherry is quite discreet, in my opinion, and it gives more of a feeling like cherry gum when it comes out ... It reminds me a bit of the bubaloo gum filled with cherry syrup that I had when I was little. Towards drying, the aroma becomes slightly dirty but not too dirty. Although it looks a bit like Sarah Baker's jungle jezebel, it is not as powerful and animalistic so I see it as much more versatile. Still it is dense and intense and has a very good performance. It seems to me a very good perfume that comes from the hand of Miguel matos and that goes directly to my wishlist !! I see it totally unisex and for a wide audience. Scent: 10 Longevity: 9 Projection: 8 Versatility: 9 Originality: 10 Quality / price: 8 Overall: 9.5