La Selection Piu Bellodgia

I just wanted to add a little update to my previous review, now that I have had the opportunity to become better acquainted with Piu Bellodgia. Seeing as my original review is rather long I thought a separate update was the best appoach. Piu Bellodgia is one of those scents that has grown on me over several wears, and as I've become more familiar with its personality and character. I liked it when I initially tried it, I would say that it has now been promoted to love! There is something about this gently spicy, airy and slightly sweet powdery scent that has kept me coming back for more. The original Bellodgia has a very strong and striking character with an intense, sometimes sharp, sometimes oily (and sometimes both!) edge, the presence or detection of which may be dependent upon factors such as climate, body temperature, monthly cycle etc. As such, it can be a rather temperamental fragrance, that I can only wear at certain times - although nobody else has ever commented on any differences it is something that I remain acutely aware of throughout, which can make me feel uneasy and unsettled. I have to admit, this in itself is not unique to Bellodgia, it is something I have experienced with many carnation and clove heavy perfumes. Don't get me wrong, I do like it, but it isn't necessarily the easiest perfume for me to wear. With that background and context then, it is with pleasure that I can state that I don't experience this at all with Piu Bellodgia. I have worn it several times now, and find it much easier to wear than the original. The carnation and cloves are less strident than in the original Bellodgia, and feel tempered by more soft florals, although the notes list for this and the original in both EDT & Extrait concentrations appear to be very similar, with this newer scent apparently losing violet and gaining cinnamon, although I can't say I picked up and violet in the original nor do I detect cinnamon here particularly, although perhaps it is contributing to the softer and slightly sweeter nature of PB? I really felt that there might be some soft vanilla here in the drydown, because there is a lovely, radiant softly sweetened spice accord in the later stages, but if there is, it isn't listed in the notes. It isn't a strong vanilla smell at all, it is more about the way vanilla can influence other notes that made me think of it. For example I will often use a little Emeraude to smooth out a perfume that is feeling a bit spiky to me, as it is like draping a thin sheer silk scarf over any particularly pointy bits, and there is something of that quality here in Piu Bellodgia. I noticed when reviewing this originally, that one person has likened this to L'Heure Bleue in the "reminds me of" section. While this doesn't particularly remind me of the Guerlain masterpiece, and I don't think I would have made that connection myself, I think I can see where they are coming from, as the carnation and clove notes here are not entirely dissimilar to those found in L'Heure Bleue EDT, although the rest of the structure is very different. It did give me an idea though, and I tried wearing this layered under L'Heure Bleue EDT and I must admit it worked beautifully well, enhancing the carnation and clove notes in the guerlain and giving it a slightly different character, so I do recommend experimenting with this too. In summary; this new take on an old classic by Caron is really lovely, it is easier to wear (for me) than the original, and more versatile too. It has impressive longevity and projection, and most importantly it smells lovely too. My only disappointment with it really, is that it lacks the sublime "Caronade" found in most of the fountain/urn perfumes from Caron

Surprised at only 4 other reviews for this, I had expected it to have been more widely sampled and discussed. That said I myself was very reluctant to try this one and didn't exactly rush out to sample it. I hadn't heard good things about the Caron "La Selection" reformulations and so I had felt no need to go out of my way to sample them. Which, as ever, turned out to be my loss really. It turns out that I really like this, based on my initial sampling. Bellodgia, the classic Caron on which this is based, is a reasonably well known vintage Caron, dating back to 1927. There are various different editions of the vintage Bellodgia floating around, as you would expect of a perfume almost 90 years old. Bellodgia parfum is in production still, available only as an extrait now from the Caron boutiques situated in Paris & New York, but the EDT of Bellodgia is no longer in production. I'm unsure whether the extrait is currently available from the ParfumsCaron website and I don't know how readily available it is outside of the boutiques to purchase new. This seems to be an issue with ALL the Caron fragrances to be honest, which is a real shame, as they are a historic House with some incredible scents that deserve to be more widely known and loved. That said, various vintages of Bellodgia EDT are often available on ebay. The reviews and comments I had previously encountered of Piu Bellodgia gave me the impression that Caron had obliterated one of their classics, and then attempted to cash in on the name with some substandard diluted thing that bore no resemblance to the original. In fact this view is completely untrue! (at least in my opinion). PB is actually very close to the original, or at least the versions I have smelled anyway. That characteristic strong spicy clove-carnation is present from the outset to the late drydown, and I think I may actually prefer this new updated version, because the lily of the valley tempers the sometimes sharp strident shriek that occasionally appears in the original. This PB has a lovely floral character with a spiced edge, and the tiniest hint of musky sweetness - not sugar syrup sweetness, just a slightly sweetened floral note. Musk, ceder and sandalwood offer a sturdy support structure and give this scent longevity and throw that are fairly uncommon from new releases. I feel that there is definitely enough of the old Bellodgia present to appeal to fans of the vintage EDT and extrait, while still retaining an interesting spiced floral that would appeal to fragrant adventurers keen to try something new. Longevity was amazing for me, wearing from a small spray sample this lasted a good 24 hours! Ok, by the last 6 or so it was very much a skin scent, but I got at least 12 hours with sillage and projection, which beats even my vintage Bellodgia decant. From a couple of small sprays I could smell this all day long, and the little wafts were delicious. I look forward to further testing this, and will get over my silly snobbery and try out the others in the La Selection lineup!

Piu Bellodgia 3.3 oz rectangle bottle with magnetic cap Piu, or "more" Bellodgia isnt really stronger than the vintage. Maybe its meant to be known as another modern Bellodgia. Its been my favorite dumb reach to smell good. It opens fresh, then the carnation, rose, jasmine, lily of the valley take over. Its refined and well blended to the caron aesthetic. Juice is lilac color so a bit odd. Its not a forceful wow scent but it is a nice daily driver if you love carnation. I personally love it, so it will be a workhorse in my collection . My only quibble is the white musk to anchor it. I think resins would have been a better choice as longevity suffers. Edit 12/22 All I can say is its much better a year later and for those of you that love fresh carnations...its a wow.

I blind bought this perfume and it arrived today - I’m stunned, speechless... It’s absolutely gorgeous!! I haven’t been touched like this by a perfume since L’Heure Bleue, which is also my all time favorite scent. Piu Bellodgia is my first Caron perfume and at it was ABSOLUTE LOVE at first sniff... I literally cannot stop smelling myself... it’s just heavy yet fragile and sensual, it’s fruity yet carnal... I simply cannot describe it right now - I’m speechless. I’ll be back with a coherent update the next days. I also can’t recommend blind buying it, because it’s a difficult one... anyway, for now it’s just LOVE, ADORE and again LOVE!!!

Caron Piu Bellodgia is a beautifully blended, soft spicy floral. It has lots of beautiful rose and carnation notes, but not heavy at all. Don't get me wrong, I love rose scents, but sometimes they can seem a little heavy on me, and I have to wait until it starts to get into the cooler temperatures outside to wear them. Piu Bellodgia, I think, you can wear all year round. Just lovely!