Frutto Proibito

I've been slow to review Frutto Proibito even though I'm wearing my small sample all the time. It's a complex and unusual perfume that feels rich and high quality (that oily sheen on the skin), moving, interesting - and difficult to decode. I didn't want to boil it down to a summary, especially as - beyond Sandra's fragrantica staff review - it hasn't been reviewed here previously. Frutto Proibito really does evoke the garden of Eden at the moment of the fall. It''s like the scent version of Andre Derain's painting, 'The Dance' (1906), an eerily beautiful Expressionist work which isn't actually a depiction of Eden or Eve but which I've always read as a kind of pagan feminine Eden where Eve and the snake get to stay and dance with bacchantes imported from archaic Greek ritual. The feel at first spray is jungly, dense pungent green foliage and pulpy fruits. Unless I really concentrate the citrus fruits don't land straight, and instead give the effect of something more 'exotic', I'm thinking pomegranate. The florals emerge out of this humid, tropical-mist-drenched tangle of vegetation and 'forbidden fruits' almost from the start, although it takes a while to notice that, yes, there is quite a lot of tuberose here and maybe some ylang (can't distinguish jasmine separately). A possible key to this effect is the combination of blood orange, anise/fennel and cyclamen - there's a wet/aquatic (though not marine or saline) floral effect that I associate with cyclamen notes in perfume, made juicy by the blood orange and aromatic by the anise/fennel. Overall, there's a gorgeous, overripe oppressiveness to it that I find absolutely fascinating; something of the effect of Cacharel Eden and certainly echoes of Carnal Flower, which is the closet thing I can think of, but Frutto Proibito is more luxurious and modern than the former and not as classically beautiful as the latter (the effect of blood orange with anise in this is more bohemian than the eucalyptus+melon in CF). Because I'm so fascinated by the top and mid notes, I've not really thought much about the drydown; yes non-sweet ylang-vanilla, yes gorgeous milky pencil-shaving-and-curry-ish woods (it says cedar and rosewood but I'd only have guessed the sandalwood), which emerge gradually and - again like how the flowers come to the fore slowly but then become noticeable all-at-once - almost imperctibly. Really, though, this is mainly about the sultry leaf-fruit-flower blend that is almost-but-not-quite sulphuric (grapefruit?). Once these die down, so does the weirdness/originality. I would totally ignore context-appropriateness and wear this every day if I could, but the negative is that Frutto Proibito is way too expensive for me - £480!! I'm guessing the solid malachite cap (!) is contributing to the high price, so I wish they'd do a cheaper version and/or smaller bottle. Yet the price is probably also the usual Fornasetti brand/design markup, and surely another significant factor is the (to my nose) high concentration of excellent-quality oils: I haven't smelled anything this luxurious in a long time. As far as I know Harrods is the only UK stockist, so FP is quite hard to access, but I'd highly recommend lovers of complex, beautiful and weird fruity-florals try this out. Get the shop assistant to spray you lavishly and take satisfaction in the thought that each spray is a wastage of £££. Sillage and longevity are very impressive, which you'd really hope they'd be given the price. P.S. Interested in identifying the perfumer responsible for this, if anyone happens to know. I'm also curious about the other 2 in the trio.

Thank you @since88! Will check out some of his other perfumes when I get the chance :) Btw, another potential 'reminds me of' for this is the original Oilily perfume, which I haven't smelled since the 90s but I think was similar?

This was a blind buy and my least favorite of the three, but I am in no way disappointed!

I find the anise note in this perfume to be very noticeable, and unfortunately, it’s a scent I dislike because it reminds me of tea used for an upset stomach.

@dlst08 Master Paolo Terenzi is the behind all this as a master perfumer ;) More info at my Instagram: frag_explorer

I love this...pricey blind buy but I love it.