The Iceberg Fragrance

I'm glad to review this amazing perfume, because it's one of the most delightful surprises I had in my tour in the world of fragrances. Two days ago I read about its components, and I was intrigued by them; yesterday I went to the shop to try it on my skin, and I was charmed by its inviting ambiguity... today I run again to the shop to buy it, and now I felt in love with it! The most strange thing is that the first notes I smell when I splash it on my skin are a bit too dry to my nose: I think it's due to the presence of coriander and bergamot, wich are not my favorite ingredients. I usually love warm and enveloping fragrances, fresh and citrus notes are not for me. But after few minutes this perfume begins to exhibit all its deepness and sensual complexity: it doesn't lose its biting character, but passing through the tasty flavor of pear, it involves you into the provocative, sensual roundness of vanilla and musk, smartly blended with unusual but gourmand ingredients like pistachio ice-cream, almond and red berries. Moreover, the presence of suede combined with vanilla and all the other components makes me smell additional notes wich are not in the list of ingredients... sometimes I seem to feel the fragrance of finest blond tobaccos, other times the delicious scent of precious wood coated by beeswax... and again other times I seem to smell an intense hypnotic incense. However, I must say that the presence of vanilla does not give to the fragrance an exceeding sweetness (like in other perfumes)... although vanilla is one of the most important components, it is well balanced by the other notes, which are contrasting and at the same time are valorising it, obtaining a unique, smoky, cool effect. What really fascinates me of The Iceberg Fragrance is its seductive ambiguity: it has an androgynous character which makes this perfume a very sexy weapon. I don't mean that this is a fragrance for viragos... I mean that this perfume seems to connect and interweave the two opposite worlds: female and male, warm and fresh, yin and yang, in one harmonoius re-union. And this is very seductive. I think The Iceberg Fragrance is an amazing, outstanding perfume. I'm definitevely in love with it!

Wow, this is as intriguing as it sounded from all the reviews I'd read about it! At first sniff I was struck by how expensive and masculine smelling it was, despite its creaminess. It smelled much more like a male fragrance than a female one (say 65% male to 35% female!) yet the creaminess of it definitely alluded to femininity as well. Fascinating! The longer it was on my skin the more its warm, creamy vanilla / pistachio loveliness emerged and took over from the suede / patchouli combination, so it began to smell more feminine on me. It stayed like this the rest of the time, and I loved it. The only slightly disappointing thing was that it seemed to fade very quickly but then I had only used a small spritz of it so perhaps that wasn't too surprising! I'm hoping that when I use it again it will last on my skin a lot longer. I actually haven't smelled such an interesting fragrance in ages, so unlike other reviewers I couldn't compare it to anything else. It definitely has its own unique personality, which I love. I think this perfume is ideal for a carefree, self-assured, confident woman who likes to take chances and do things differently to what may be considered to be 'the norm'. Definitely, I would think that women who like to play it safe and be ultra-feminine at all times, and who like predictably feminine and, dare I say, boring perfumes such as Anais Anais and Pleasures, would almost certainly not be suited to such an intriguing, ying yang kind of scent. I'd also say that I think this scent would be ideal for men who like to take chances and aren't afraid to let their feminine side show! It could smell just as good on a man as a woman. Also, the bottle is very lovely, almost like a piece of art! UPDATE!! Oh, I discovered that the staying power of this on my skin is pretty poor and it only lasts for about 3 hours or so and then almost disappears entirely! Also, I think it may be slightly too unisex smelling for my tastes. I still like it but I'm thinking that it's perhaps just not right for me after all. Bummer!!!

This was the first full bottle of anything I ever bought for myself, all the way back in 2013. I chose it based purely off the notes, my little 20-something brain doing the math and spitting out "this looks interesting." I don't even know if you can get it any more, but oh, what a gem! There's nothing quite like it. Over the years, my bottle has not lost its quality and performance: it smells and acts just as I remember. The Iceberg Fragrance opens with a light, somewhat sharp head, that to me reads as coriander, bergamot, and a bit of pear, all well-blended. This cuts across the creaminess of the base, hiding it a bit at first. Other people tell me the opening smells like Fruit Loops -- that's not how it is to me, but I get what they're talking about. Fruitiness, milk, a hint of sugar. Fruit Loops gone luxe and interpretive. As the top fades, the floral notes -- to me peony and mimosa, sparkling and sweet -- emerge, and maintain that contrast with the base. Though they aren't terribly strong, these stay for most of the length of the perfume, about 5 hours. The base -- oh, that base! Vanilla and pistachio ice cream, with suede mixing in and somehow becoming edible. But with the contrast maintained by the upper notes, the result is never quite 100% gourmand. Neither does it ever feel like a typical vanilla perfume, where vanilla takes over and runs wild, turning into some variation of cake and/or milk (I have nothing against this, ofc, I love perfumes like that). No, the vanilla is there, but not overriding, edged with greenery and flowers, warming but not dense or plush. As much as I love this one, I haven't worn it much over the years. It took me a while to understand and like it -- I oversprayed it at first, wore it in too warm weather, made myself sick with it. Even now that I have come around on The Iceberg, its unusual nature means I have to be in the mood for it. But when I'm in the mood, it hits the spot every time, and everyone around me loves it.

UPDATE: I'm going more and more crazy for this fragrance! The opening citrus notes, which at the beginning I didn't like so much, now are taking over my heart. This perfume changes every minutes on my skin, and every accords of it are amazingly delicious and hypnotic to me: one cannot exist without the other, and everyone develop like a fascinating melody. At the beginning it's quite harsh and biting (yang phase), soon after it gradually becomes hot spicy, then it develops as a warm spicy scent, and finally it becomes more and more round, dense and enveloping (yin phase). And gourmand, too! It's different also if you smell it from near or from far: when I sniff citrus notes directly on my wrist, people around feel the smell of an enchanting incense... when I sniff warm spicy notes, people smell a heavenly vanilla's fragrance. I have never knew such a "turbulent" fragrance, it's so dynamic in time and space! The dry-down has a vague inkling of Tuscan vanilla tobacco to my nose (although not among the ingredients), which is very exquisite and sensual to me and which makes this fragrance really out of the ordinary. My only regret is that the lasting power is not so great as I would like to, and the dry-down is too close to my skin... Or maybe am I just getting addicted?

Quite a nice little fragrance. and might i say amazing bottle! Something that outdone many high designer brand bottle. THe scent itself is above-average in my opinion, not quite unique but yet a very satisfying gourmand type fragrance. The amount of sweetness is perfect to not overload but only delicately and wonderfully accentuate your skin! Opens with the coriander peppery note that is characteristic of the allure sensuelle, except this one has a smooth leathery tone to it that grinds it down a notch. THis quickly (1hr) develops into a subtler rich aroma where the barely there violets and patchouli come out to play for awhile before descending into a pure pintful of CREAMY RICH VANILLA BEAN ICE-CREAM. The scent stays exactly that of vanilla ice-cream, i love it for that fact, didnt get the pistachio note. Sillage is nice, i get whiffs of it occasionally on myself, perfect for my taste. Longevity is not the best, but i dont mind because i got the adorable 30ml size, so it s perfect for me to respritz again and again, something i enjoy doing. This is definitely a keeper in my collection.