Polvere di Siena

Erbario Toscano is the best kept secret of Italy and Polvere di Siena is the jewel of this treasure trove company. Understated but very present. First hit is almost "boozy" and than it caresses you and anyone that comes (very) near you... Vanilla here is spiced to perfection with a smallest healthy hint of medicinal/dental (clove+carnation I guess) non-threatening freshness, most pleasing (to my nose at least). It doesn't last long nor does it projects too far, but it glistens all around you like a halo of a Holy light... and if a sunlight shining through a frosted window pane could have a smell, this would be its gloriously perfumed scent of a it IMHO. Everyone, even the hard core haters of vanilla, always give me most positive comments when I'm wearing this heavenly scent. Very comforting (without being mumsy), absolutely unisex and simply divine, try it if you can...

I love this perfume to bits. I had always been skeptical of Vanilla scents, I suspected they would all smell unoriginal and too girly. Of course, I was wrong. I am not great at explaining perfumes, but I will say this: Polvere di Siena is warm, welcoming, embracing and yet exciting. To me, it's like going on a summer family trip abroad, during your childhood; mum there making sure you don't wander in the middle of the street, dad with the camera, your brother in his deep reflections, your grandma looking around all dignified, and a really warm sun hitting your skin while you're walking around. That is what this brings back for me.

(Zo_smells down here nailed the description.) Polvere di Siena ("Siena's Dust") is a remarkably interesting vanilla scent. Not your typical vanilla. If you look at the most perceived notes up there, you will get a good idea of what this smells like. It is vanilla, spices (not too strong, but they make themselves heard) and a woody base, most of all. It is different from most vanilla scents. It is sweet yes, but much less so than usual vanillas. Totally unisex imo. Very good performance. Most people would like it.

This is very, very well made! I am picky as hell for vanillas and especialy the dry down. Most drydowns are generic musc-fluff, polvere di Sienna is creamy vanilla and benzoin to the last bit. Lasts ages as a skin scent and wafts nicely for the first hrs. The opening is spicyer and remeindes me of gris charnel and co but sweeter, softer ,warmer, creamier.

I had high hopes of this fragrance, after reading the glowing reviews on this page. Italian perfume at a bargain price: what's not to like? But like its much-hyped sister, Gocce di Resina, Polvere di Siena lands on me like a suffocating embrace from a blowsy Italian dowager: huge waves of vanilla, spices and floral notes are followed by a powdery fugg, which takes for ever to dispel. It makes me pine for the integrity of Santa Maria Novella, the artistry of Sorcinelli or the purity of Maria Candida Gentile - Italian fragrances that are costly, but which combine quality and subtlety in equal measure. In Italian perfumery, as in life, Ars longa, Vita brevis!

A warm embrace of a scent, Polvere di Siena ("Siena's Dust") won over the vanilla skeptic in me. I generally prefer my vanilla as a supporting note, usually included in an amber accord and melding into a composition's whole. I had yet to smell something vanilla-centric that stirred me as this one. Perhaps the contrast with pronounced black pepper, cloves and dianthus is what makes Polvere di Siena more than just wearable; it captivates my nose. Erbario Toscano is not an expensive brand, and many of their fragrances are simple, straightforward, but pleasant. I recall smelling a number of them upon visiting a shop in Ogunquit, ME. However, this one either wasn't there or I had simply missed it. I was recommended by a friend to give it a try and was struck by its name and its color (which is actually a vibrant deep siena orange and not what appears to be transparent from this photograph). So I remembered it and figured I'd pick it up. While it does share the "DNA" of others from ET, the composition itself is more intriguing and complex. The interplay between the almost vanilla liqueur note and the aforementioned notes, along with rose and muguet make the scent, but not quite edible. This is no gourmand (thank goodness, I am also very finicky when it comes to those, I don't want to smell like you could just take a bite out of me). This is further removed from edible territory by the balsamic, incense-like effect of elemi, a wonderful note that is a brother to frankincense, but while the latter leans more coniferous, elemi has facets of lemon and pepper. One can imagine that this really coalesces with the black pepper note and exalts that effect wonderfully. The drydown sends the fragrance from mirthful to contemplative, with the woods accord classically rendered through the trinity of patchouli, sandalwood, and cedar bring this comforting scent home to cozy resting place on the skin: sweet, peppery, distant woods, nothing too sharp, nothing to dense, just right. Goldilocks would approve.

Sublime this fragrance created by the Maison! Also for this perfume in the beginning it is liqueur and reminds me of the hint of rum. The spices are immediately felt, warm, enveloping, intoxicating. Besides, what stands out on my skin is the sandal. Sweet, sweet, sweet .... Siena powder recalls terracotta. That amber color that has been used both for the pack and for the fragrance, and once again Erbario Toscano pays homage to the much loved land of Tuscany.