Terra Mia

At times we all buy a perfume and receive a sample - and then experience an instant regret the sampled one is not the one we bought. It's more or less the story of how I got acquainted with this character on the label I always see as sad despite his grin. The Internet tells me that he's Pulcinella from Italian commedia dell'arte. A persona characterized by exaggerated physical features and a rather shady behaviour, but at least according to the Wikipedia in its English version, it's also a saviour of all, but saved by none. This could explain my impression of sadness. However, with this kind of introduction, one would expect this scent to be a bit sombre, a tad grotesque, over the top, unmistakably artistic - a fragrant equivalent of the scornful pity towards the futility of human existence and ridicule of the human condition in general. Or something similar. Not this time, though. It's beautiful. And an opposite to what is written above. I would describe it as utterly feminine and addictive. Perfectly blended - if I force myself to think about it, I can find there roses, coffee, hazelnuts and vanilla, but I would rather not, since for me it's rather a mesmerising monolith of sweetness enhanced with flowers, however, I don't categorize it as a pure gourmand in my personal classification because of the captivating flowers. The perfume is sweet indeed, and this impression deepens with the drydown phase. I've never remembered to make a side by side comparison, but from my perspective it resembles Delox or the other way round - they share the coffee and rose notes, and both premiered in 2017! However, in case of Delox the sweetnes results from honey. Subjectively, Terra Mia serves as an epitome of coziness and feminine energy, subtle, tender, gracious, evoking positive feelings and letting one reminisce. It could be a comforting warmth of your favourite kindergarten teacher as she bended over your drawing to praise you or the moving fragility you might see in the woman you are walking home after a date to make sure she's safe. But it's just me - maybe the warmth is not feminine at all and it simply comes as a shield provided by the saviour of all...? ;-) Nobody can be sure until they try and offer their own interpretation.

WOW! I feel I hit the fragrance Dream Lottery with "Terra Mia." This fragrance is really, really incredible. It's beautiful! So, this fragrance has coffee notes but those notes are anything but mediocre gourmand. When I detect coffee notes in the opening, the notes are akin to those I experience with Akro "Awake." No, this coffee does not have aromatic cardamom in its opening (as Awake does). But Terra Mia opens with a spicy, peppery note, along with some neroli (citrus) and bergamot. The citrus dissipates but the pink pepper, neroli and orange blossom DEFINITELY remain. This combination of notes gives Terra Mia a bright, VERY spicy and complex opening that is not a straight black-coffee gourmand experience. As the fragrance develops, it's the combination of opening spice with florals and amber-wood that jumps out. Incredibly beautiful, middle floral notes push through, which add a gorgeous layer and marked complexity to this fragrance. There are FLORALS...LOTS OF ROSE, LOTS OF ORANGE BLOSSOM, some jasmine. All the florals beautifully blend over a slightly nutty, hazelnut, coffee accord. And the base is clearly AMBER, lots of ambroxan, vanilla and musk. And I do detect more coffee in the dry-down, I do. This is NOT a creamy, warm, lactonic, milky, comforting, gooey, gourmet fragrance. Terra Mia is more reminiscent of sitting at an old oak table in Italy, a table that just had the pepper shaker spilled on it. The table setting is surrounded by lush floral bushes. And a double shot espresso cappuccino is served. Cannot stress how beautifully all the notes in Terra Mia blend and develop. Longevity is about 4-6 hours after initial application. And I'd say silage is minimal-to-moderate. GOSH, do I ADORE this stuff. It is magical, it really is. And I LOVE the bottle and the label!! Happy!!

Oohhhh yes. This is a masterfully blended, long lasting, well projecting Italian gourmand that deserves WAY MORE recognition! I wore this today on a beautiful sunny day in Melbourne, the final day of winter here in AUS. It was so damn good. Sweet vanilla and nutty coffee beans .. absolutely beautiful. After the first hour, it becomes creamy sweet and milky to my nose, and the vanilla becomes very clear. I get a small amount of rose too, but it's not prominent. This is not a black coffee bean scent like Follow by Kerosene, but a lighter blended brown coffee. This could 100% be a successful Tom Ford fragrance. Perfect performance. First 2 hours are big. I'm smelling my hand after 8 hours and it's still going strong. 12 in and it's nice and present. I can usually smell this after waking up in the morning, which is really pleasant to experience. I feel like this is suitable for any season. I'd wear this in summer.. just not in anything over 30°C, might be a bit too milky for "high" heat. I feel like the smell of calming sweet coffee is welcome at any time of the year. I really love this. I bought a 25ml decant, but I'm guessing that I'm going to need more. A big bottle will likely be my next big purchase, and at $130, it's not too bad! Just wow, man. Go try this stuff. *edit: 30/12/2019, finally pulled the trigger on a 100ml of this. Spent $175 but I'd pay more for a full bottle. This fragrance is incredible.

One of the most underrated coffee fragrances currently available on the market. Terra Mia is a niche perfume, native to the famous island of Capri, that smells heavenly. That if you’re into sweet, gourmand rose/coffee/vanilla fragrances but this has a unique twist, market by the addition of hazelnut. It’s same coffee DNA, but feels more nutty, than the more popular and often compared to, Intense Caffe or Ristretto Intense Caffe. More similar to the latter in my opinion, I can smell coffee here and in Ristretto Intense Caffe, but not in Intense Caffe. Performance is strong, as with both Montale’s fragrances, so you can pick and choose which one you want. Terra Mia might be less popular because it’s not as easily accessible to purchase, I got my bottle a few years back, when I have been on holiday in Capri. Fall, spring and winter season only since it’s strong and sweet. The amberwood and ambroxan took care of these two aspects. More feminine I’d say, since the rose is king here, it has jasmine, neroli and orange blossoms in the top and heart notes, but I don’t really smell the other flowers besides the rose! Phenomenal value for money, at least when I’ve purchased my bottle! Can’t recommend Terra Mia enough to the people who enjoy this scent profile!

I ordered a bunch of samples from Carthusia not long ago. Most of them were too lightweight for my decadent taste. The one that stood out was Terra Mia. Not in a good way at first. I found it pungent and nauseating and I could not discern the listed notes. But coming back to it a few weeks later I adore it. Ordered a 100ml EdP straight away. I mostly get the coffee and roasted hazelnuts, some indistinguishable floral notes and vanilla. A very slight burst of citrus in the very beginning. The overall impression is sunburnt soil leaning towards the ambery side. I would love to try the perfume extract version as well. A gorgeous scent! Update: Just recieved the Extrait de Parfum version a few days ago. It is very much the same fragrance as the Eau de Parfum but lasts longer and is, according to my perception, slightly heavier on the pepper. I strongly recommend the Extrait. Update no 2: When wearing this lovely fragrance this season, I get a lot more of the ambroxan than last year. Dry and salty, but at the same time creamy and rich. This goes for the EdP as well as the Extrait.