Velvet Sicily

This is gorgeous! I can't believe how wearable Velvet Sicily has become. Years ago, when I was in college and the original Sicily came out, I found it overbearing and too much. My colleague wore this and this was a room filler (unless she was an oversprayer). Today, after 20 years of separation, I opened the latest version of Velvet Sicily. It arrived on one of the coldest days of the year, the bottle left outside overnight in sub zero temps. I refused to spray it after bringing it in, knowing it was not going to feature the notes the way it should. So I let it sit 24 hours. Was planning on a couple days but I was on pins and needles to get my nose on this. Now the scent: sun warmed, laundered sheets, drying in the breeze. (thank you to whoever painted that picture) Warmth. Rays of lights. Hints of warmed florals. Clean feeling (but not a 'clean' scent, if you will). Beautifully balanced. I'm not picking up on the banana note, and maybe it will pronounce itself after a few more days of sitting or when worn on a hot day. I also don't feel this is has big sillage. 3 sprays and moderate. I'll wear more and update. There is also a pronounced difference between the blotter and skin. The wood (I guess sandalwood) is much more pronounced on the blotter and the creaminess is subdued. However, this scent just shines on the skin. You know how there are some scents that do better in the air? Well, this is beautiful in the air but utterly divine when you get your nose close to your skin. Another observation. On the skin, this feels creamy. When sprayed on clothes, this feels more powdery. Others have mentioned how this feels retro. Maybe??? I understand there were loads of aldehydes in the original Sicily. Here, if they are still being used, I find them to be very friendly. I do feel that Velvet Sicily has been modernized a bit; it feel more airy than Sicily. I prefer it this way. Maybe since I've been testing some classics recently, I was expecting it to be more difficult to wear but I'm just finding this scent to encapsulate joy. I'm so lucky to have found this scent after years away. She will be a treasured gem in my collection.

I own the original Sicily and really like it a lot. It can be a bit overwhelming at times and I have to be in the right mood to wear it, but I do enjoy wearing it when the mood strikes me. Comparing Velvet Sicily to the Original and I think I like Velvet more. Velvet Sicily is a good name for this because while it keeps a lot of the same characteristics of the original, but it is softer, much smoother around the edges. The original is very high pitched. Velvet is like taking the original and putting it through a gentle filter. The banana note is missing here which I am sure many are not happy about that. From what I understand banana is highly volatile and probably makes shipping the perfume around the world a bit dangerous, I don't know. Another thing here is that the original has a strong 80's type of hairspray vibe going on, again I have to be in the right mood to wear it. With Velvet that is gone. I enjoy the soft heliotrope here, the aldehydes that are not as high pitched. This perfume is like a veil of the highest quality. It surrounds you in beauty giving you a mysterious allure. There is the smell of freshly laundered women's undergarments. This woman uses the highest quality soap that is gentle, clean but w/ a slight animalic quality. What good quality soap always has been, not like the horrid cheap smelling laundry detergent that is used by many today, and many perfume smell like, looking at you Narciso R. I am also getting a bit of an almond pastry smell as if in the distance a bakery has just pulled something delicious out of the oven and that smell combines w/ freshly washed silks and satins. I really miss perfumes like this, and I wish more designers would stop pulling beauties like these off of the store shelves. Velvet Sicily is womanly, sophisticated, sensual but wearable for every day. A signature perfume. Simply Beautiful.

Tried this one several times on skin, the impression was excellent. I don't remember the original version very well because it was long time ago, but I'd say it's very recognizable as Sicily. The aldehydes have been drastically toned down and they only last the very first minutes. It starts with a soapy note and although in the pyramid there is neither the banana nor the fig note I can smell both of them for a while, perhaps reconstructed mixing the heliotrope with something else. In the dry down, the creamy note takes over - probably jasmine and heliotrope and other white flowers - and only occasionally does the luxurious note of soap appears again. The scent has an interesting evolution, an olfactory journey that recalls that of the bathing experience, starting with lathering the skin with a creamy foam and then moisturizing it with a delicate and soft cream. It is a clean, absolutely not sweet, very feminine and sensual fragrance. I'm sure this perfume contains many more notes than what are in the pyramid. In fact the soapy notes to me vaguely smell of orange blossom and honeysuckle and the creaminess seems to come from much more than just jasmine It is a gorgeous fragrance and absolutely my taste, the only thing I really don't like is the extremely inflated price, not justified considering that it is not really a niche scent and that the longevity is quite average: after four full sprays on my neck, I could barely smell it after 4 hours. Someone said that it was introduced in the Velvet collection because it is a very particular fragrance, which only some people will appreciate, instead I believe that, as it is now, it is quite mainstream and therefore should have been introduced on the market in D&G's more commercial line at much lower price. In that case I would have definitely bought it.

I have been craving Sicily since I dropped my bottle on the bathroom floor 5 years ago. The reasonably priced bottles on eBay get snapped up fast (a lesson I learned too late, unfortunately) and I was SO close to winning an auction on a lotion, shower gel, perfume set, but was outbid at the very last second. So when I found a reasonably priced bottle of Sicily 2.0 on eBay, I didn’t think, I just instantly added to cart. The two weeks delivery time from the UAE was agonising, but totally worth it when my prize finally arrived. I paid US$286 including postage (which was pretty pricey in itself) for the 150ml bottle and I have no regrets. I wondered how it would compare to my beloved original Sicily, but I’m pleased to say it’s pretty darn close. I bought some original Sicily minis online to hold me over until I could find a full bottle from a reasonable seller so I can do the side by side comparison and I’m pleased and relieved that D&G stayed faithful to the original magic of the fragrance. I don’t get lemon tarts or freshly dried laundry (my god, how I wish my laundry smelled like this!). What I do smell is the most heavenly clean, warm smelling scent. Creamy florals, mellow musk and a hint of nutmeg (which is one of my favourite fragrance notes). Sicily can be worn anytime, all seasons, all occasions. If I had to choose only one perfume to wear for the rest of my life, Sicily and Chanel No 5 would tie for top honours. I’m so glad I have the big bottle so I can apply liberally (even though projection is quite good!) and just relish the beauty of this magic elixir. Hopefully by the time I need to worry about replacing this bottle D&G might reintroduce Sicily to their mainstream collection so everyone can enjoy it again at a decent price.

I vaguely remember the original when it came out 20 years ago and when I saw the new Velvet version I was intrigued. I remember liking the banana custard-y uniqueness of the original so I decided to blind buy Velvet Sicily. Maybe not a true blind buy, but a one eye closed purchase. So this review can't be a true comparison of the two, but simply my opinion of Velvet Sicily. I do like a good bergamot, neroli, orange blossom type scent as I own Bottega Veneta Knot, the excellent Knot Absolu, Hermes 24 Fourbourg, Terry di Gunzberg Lumiere D'Espices and Hermes Dora Neroli. Sicily isn't a neroli based fragrance, but it does have a bright, lemony floral aspect to it. I detect no banana in this, which is a bummer, but the musk and sandalwood does give this a slight vanilla type spiciness that I really like, I only wished this part was a bit stronger. But I do detect a faint creamy custard in here somewhere. The heliotrope and rose gives this a slight flowery feel but it is not overly strong or sweet. All in all, a well rounded spicy floral that quite unisex on me, however the projection and longevity is about average. Due to the purpleness of the heilotrope and the hint of vanilla, this could be a distant cousin to Chloe, Love Intense which is almost impossible to find. Recently I have been seeing Velvet Sicily pop up at discounters so if anyone sees this for around $150 I'd say grab it. This is one of my new favorites.