Armani Prive Vert Malachite

The composition is centered upon the highly fragrant and redolent white oriental lily. 'Vert Malachite' opens robustly with hesperidic bitter orange and petitgrain. Both are quite subtle, and seem overshadowed by the floral bouquet of the heart and base. The petitgrain offers a sly green/woody note with a far more rounded citrus edge while the bitter orange lends a slight tartness to contrast the overly sweet florals ahead. Sambac jasmine with its heady, indolic odor commands the mid-range of the fragrance, along with ylang-ylang and pink pepper. The white and yellow floral accord produced between the jasmine and the ylang-ylang is quite exotic in tone yet is refined in its character as to remain polite and not unwieldy. As with the bitter orange and petitgrain of the top notes, the pink pepper only seems to be present to offer a piquant variance in this floral dominated composition. White lily, vanilla and benzoin conclude the fragrance in the base. The beautiful white lily note pervades the entire architecture, noticeable from initial application well into the dry down. It is a suave and sweet scent, with faint animalic traces in its background. The vanilla marries well with this sweetness, offering comfort as well as a hint of sensuality. Unfortunately, the fragrance of lilies is loaded with highly divisive opinions and "love it" or "loathe it" connotations attached. It ranges from being described as intoxicating by some to headache inducing by others. Here I think the perfumer did an excellent job at taming the boisterous scent down, yet still allowing it to remain authentic in its tone. As it truly is a predominantly floral fragrance, 'Vert Malachite' is likely only to resonate with a female audience. Women who appreciate white floral-laden fragrances (specifically lily dominated fragrances) will fall in love with its luxurious and lavish characteristics. As an "eau de parfum", the sillage, projection and longevity are superb. I feel the perfume really soars in spring and summer, when the trumpeting lily notes can be best serviced by the warmer, more humid air. Overall, 'Vert Malachite' is an unique addition (and a refreshingly lighter addition) to the Armani / Privé line, albeit one which may be divisive amongst audiences. Read my complete review at my personal blog:

All things bright and beautiful, Vert Malachite smells like an opulent bouquet of white flowers. If this was a sound spectrum, it wouldn't have a strong bass, but it would have superb mids and heady highs. Those highs aren't as strong as the mids; the highs are this lightly powdery smell. Not sure where this comes from, as I'm not great at picking out any notes well; I'm an amateur with a good collection. I remember the first time I smelled it I was blown away. I couldn't get over gorgeous this was! Absolutely intoxicating, but I just don't wear it as much as I thought I would. Perhaps I'm left wishing I got Bleu Turquoise instead, as it's better for a guy. Still glad I have this. I've tried all of the Terres Précieuses collection to date (which is great and diverse) and own all. This one is the brightest of the bunch; it's a very happy smell. On a guy, you can't pull it off in cowboy boots and a flannel. It's more of a professional scent on a guy who doesn't want to wear a dark, excessively masculine fragrance. It would also not be out of place on a nice Spring or Summer day in shorts and a button down or at the beach. In the office, I have to go very light because it'll blow your nose off otherwise. The opening is sharp for about 45 minutes, then it smooths out to something very agreeable and lovely. Full disclosure, I originally bought it for my girlfriend before coming to the realization it was much too loud/strong for her, so I kept it for myself and bought her Pivoine Suzhou that she loves and is the perfect somewhat subtle but head-turning fragrance for her. I already bought this tester for about $150, so I kept it because I like it and the deal I got. Overall, it's very fresh, bright, expensive smelling, and the most richly floral unisex I've smelled in my somewhat limited experience. Lasts forever and don't need much of it; strongest opening fragrance I own. 8.7/10 scent, sometimes 10/10 for me. 10/10 longevity. 10/10 sillage. 10/10 bottle, so beautiful!

This perfume was always under my radar everytime I smelt the different perfumes from Giorgio Armani's Prive line, never being that impressed with any of the others and thinking from the name "Vert Malachite" that this would be a green and not a white floral perfume. How very wrong I was! This perfume does open up with a slight hint of the bitter orange and petitgrain to break up the sweetness, but then comes the very sweet and indolic jasmine and a hint of the ylang ylang in the heart notes, giving me an almost bubblegum tuberose smell. I also smell a hint of the pink pepper that gives a touch of spiciness. Lastly, I smell some vanilla in the base. I find this perfume very sweet and innocent smelling and I could imagine a woman in her early 20's really liking this. It's sweet in a white floral way, but not in a gourmand way. I can imagine wearing this either night or day and in either the spring or the fall, but not in summer, since it would make it smell slightly too sweet and sticky. This perfume lasted around just over 8 hours on my skin and it radiated quite far from my skin as well. I was very impressed with the lasting power of this fragrance, especially considering that it's a white floral perfume. This perfume is heaven in a bottle and I highly recommend it to all white floral lovers!

Vert Malachite smells like a refined, doable, Mugler Alien. I get very subtle ylang ylang banana, waxy sweetness, soft spiciness from the pink pepper, airy jasmine, clean lily and a balm of benzoin. I don’t pick up any heavy vanilla sweetness which works in here. It’s more of a beachy, solar floral sweetness. A solar ambery jasmine. Also “solar” smells like haze or clean humid air to me, with rain not too far away. A solar fragrance that feels cooling. After stumbling over JM Tuberose Angelica this year, Vert is similar but with a creamier base. Vert is a pinch less fresh due to the lack of dewy angelica that provides a green breeze, but both still very clean and great for most of the year. Glad I continued to come back to this and kept my samples from years ago to to enjoy. I couldn’t do the heavy bug spray jasmine-amber in Alien but Vert works for me. This also has strong projection and will not go anywhere for the day, once you put it on. The older Prive line really has classics. If I find a smaller 50 mL at a good price, I will repurchase but unfortunately i think they stopped making that size.

Vert Malachite moved me so much when I first smelled it, I was not even repulsed by the steep price. (Ok I was, but I quickly convinced myself this gem is worth anything.) I happily splurged on the big bottle, because this is my ultimate spring summer dream. Some say it's for winter, but to me this is when nature comes to life and everything is getting brighter and happier. This is the delight of trees blooming, sun hitting your face and wearing dresses in flower gardens. (That's very cheesy.) This was back when my fragrance obsession started, but now I can say that the Lily is very noticeable here. This is what you smell, when you smell a fresh white Lily in the garden. My first impression was actually a baroque interior full of green marble or Dorian Gray's decadent place with velvet everywhere and magical stuff happening. Someone commented that it was too heavy, but I dare to wear fragrances like these. This is somehow bold enough for a leather jacket and at the same time romantic for a dainty dress. Creamy white flowers made opulent and strong. And it lasts. Love. 10/10.