Cuore di Pepe Nero

I have to admit I am very surprised while reading reviews. Although I am very enthusiastic about this scent, to start with... I hardly perceive it as summer fragrance,I pick up a little of the lemony vibe but the dominant note for me is black pepper (which I love), so for me, it classifies as an autumn fragrance. About being unisex,I would rather say it is a typically masculine scent, however, it is known to appeal to women too. In fact, a female friend of mine wears it and she does elegantly so... and the clerk at Erbario Toscano boutique told me it was one of their best sellers and that although targeted towards men, an incredible amount of women happen to buy it for themselves (and let's say it, a woman wearing a masculine fragrance smells sophisticated and sexy, so why not...). Now, one final disagreement, so many smell a similarity with Terre d'Hermes and Ginepro nero, well I think they might be confusing the black juniper note with the black pepper note in Cuore di pepe nero, I find them completely different. I get the similarities between TDH and Ginepro Nero, but absolutely none between the former and Cuore di pepe nero. Now... it remains an AMAZING, spicy scent.

I understand why some people speak about TdH but for me this is another story. It’s true this is bitter and citrusy in the opening, spicy all the way through. But CDPN is in my opinion a bit more quirky. If I had to choose right now I would probably fancy a spray of TdH rather than Pepe Nero. That said I loved Pepe Nero and I will surely love it again. It’s fresh yet very dark. It’s a thick black linen cloth hanging from a citrus tree in a summer night. There’s the sea over the horizon whilst someone is grinding some black pepper by the window where a bar of soap rests on a windowsill. It smells natural. I remember sniffing deeply to take it all in. It lasts forever on my skin and even in hot weather it projects for a good five to six hours. Great performance from opening to drydown. I don’t know why I got bored. Maybe I wore it too often and intensively for a few weeks no matter what I was wearing or the circumstances. I couldn’t get enough of it until apparently I did. I confess I do open the bottle for a sniff from time to time and use the shower gel on special occasions. So I guess I still like it but I just don’t feel like wearing it for now.

Last spring a male friend and I were browsing through a high-end gift shop on the square of my small town, awaiting an adjacent festival to begin. Anywhere there's fragrance, I will sniff it. Several of the Erbario Toscano scents were presented in the back of the store, and this one made me gasp with awe and delight. Why? A memory. It flooded me, hauntingly, driving me mad trying to place it. Surely, a man from my past, long, long ago, as in my early childhood, wore something nearly identical yet with so many peppers and vetivers out in the 60s and 70s, I suppose I'll never know what it was. Regardless, I exclaimed about it aloud in this small shop. I approached my friend and told him how I felt. Later, when I was at the front of the shop, he secretly bought Cuore di Pepe Nero for me. It's definitely up there with Chanel No.5, Coty Chypre, and Opium for bringing back fond if vague memories of those who wore such divine scents around me before I even knew what perfume was. As our days warm up now that it's March, I'll be putting this back on and wondering, "Who am I emulating, and will he come to me in a dream?"

After months of dreaming about this fragrance, I finally got a bottle of it today. I’m so excited to wear it! Cuore di Pepe Nero is a gorgeous scent. It works so well with my skin chemistry. On me, I definitely smell the citruses and something fruity that’s both fleshy and tart/dry at the same time-I think the rose hip. It’s aromatic all the way through and it gets woodier and slightly sweet as it dries down. To me, it has dark academia, sophisticated but also kind of cozy vibes. When I smell it, I picture a reserved and very elegant gentleman in a velvet smoking jacket in his study with a pipe. It would work well as a signature scent and has a bit of a je ne sais quoi.

This perfume is a real gem, perfect combination of citrus notes, pepper and patchouli. Similar to TDH but less sharp, this is a great Mediterranean summer night scent. Longevity could be better though, but it is still fascinating.