Manifesto

So, I have to edit my original Manifesto review with the following: I STILL LOVE IT!!! It's well on it's way to being my 'go-to' fragrance. It does begin on a rather 'present' herbaceous note of basil and pepper, not so much going on with the bergamont, but that's fine by me-bergamont can be headache inducing sometimes. It's a bit medicinal in the opening...but when you wear floral green fragrances, that's a strong possibility anyway. And I happen to ADORE floral greens!! After about 15 minutes, the basil and pepper do settle into a fresh and semi sweet fragrance, no doubt enhanced by the orange blossom and rose. I don't feel much pear in the heart, but that's fine by me as well. Strangely, I also find that the bergamont turns up here to the degree that it makes the fragrance a bit sparkling. The jasmine makes an extremely subtle appearance throughout the fragrance. The heart gives the most in floral notes but it blends very well with the still herbal backdrop from the head notes. At the drydown, the fragrance becomes softer and slightly more musky and warm. It smells fresh and classic, something I wear to work often because it smells magnificient on me and is inoffensive to others. I get a LOT of compliments with this fragrance. It is very much workplace, business meeting, or happy hour friendly. I understand that this one may not work for everyone, but if you love herbal scents with a hint of flowers, I think you'll like Manifesto.

I bought a very inexpensive dabber-vial of this for less than a dollar and discovered that I love it. Yes, I was predisposed to love Manifesto because I love the actress behind it so much, but I think I would love this even if the divine Isabella had nothing to do with it. So fresh, so green, so bracing--and yet with a clean smell, too. It smells like you entered a very exclusive spa or hair salon. Basil can sometimes come off as a bit too savory, but not in this context. It's very grassy and slightly peppery, a good balance for the rather subdued floral notes. I would call this perfectly unisex without being at all masculine, sort of in the tradition of Aliage. Yet Manifesto doesn't smell like a throwback, even though it is now 26 years old. In fact, the drydown reminds me quite a bit of a niche offering like Santal Greenery by Dries van Nooten (or the excellent Dua dupe Green Santal). I would love to find a full bottle of Manifesto, but it appears to be impossible, and who knows whether a quasi-freshie like this would even hold up over time. In the meantime, I know I will order more of these inexpensive dabber vials whenever I see them.

I just got a mini of Manifesto and, so far, I like it a lot. Yes, it might be a "yet another generic floral" but do you know how long I have searched for something that will smell of linden flowers... this one does, despite there is no "linden" note (listed) in it. Perhaps it is the sweet pea... There is quite a bit of lily, a touch of bergamot, basil and musk; that is what I can detect with my totally untrained nose :) It is very feminine, like Isabella herself. On another note, I just watched "The Accidental Husband" (a "chick flick", nice, lighthearted comedy). Isabella Rossellini has a minor yet memorable role in it. I love her. She has aged and put on weight (heck, so have I) but she is still full of grace, and I still love her ultra feminine, soft spoken, alluring ways. Manifesto is so Isabella... I think this one has no "age limit" - you can wear this whether you're 12 or a 112. Sillage so so, could be better but then again, do I want everyone to smell me before I'm even in the room? Nah. Lasting power ok, about 5 hours on me. This will be my go-to fragrance for spring.

Got this fragrance today was a blind buy came in a limited edition gift set in red fancy box. With 2x bath milks 1 scented body cream and a 30ml EDT $20 at an op shop must of come from someone personal perfume collection. Well I love jasmine and thank god that I do . I don't get any orange blossom scent but the intense jasmine is upstaging this perfume right through on my skin but there is another hint of sweetness mingling with the jasmine the sweet pea which I do not own any in my collection till now. The creaminess of the sandalwood is enhancing the creaminess you get from the jasmine I applied this at midday and that was 6 hours ago and scent has only slightly mellowed down since then. This would be a lovely scent in spring. Great for day or night, it actually reminds me of when I was a child my bedroom window was covered by jasmine and the sweet scent waft through my window in the warm night air nostalgia to me if you love heady jasmine this is the one

This was my signature perfume in the early 2000s! I loved the unusual combination of fragrant basil, zingy bergamot and pepper. A unique and unusual fragrance for the time and a refreshing change to the uber-sweet florals and heavy orientals of the era. As Flashshock1 said, skin chemistry was the deciding factor, and on my skin this was sheer perfection! Sadly I have never found another fragrance like Manifesto, although my current signature scent, Black Pepper by Korres, has a similar peppery and citrusy zing. Sadly my last bottle of Manifesto was stolen from my home in a robbery. Had I known it would be discontinued, I would have stocked up at the time on lots of bottles!

I keep going back to this, I can't help myself. Such a unpretentious fragrance, in every single way, yet SO amazing. It gives me this "fresh out of the shower / dancing in spring rain / frolicking in some mediterranean herb garden at dawn" kind of feeling; absolutely wonderful. The basil is very prominent but it's just such a delectable combo along with the bergamot and the (very subtle) pepper, I just want to drink it up. Unfortunately, the lasting power is very disappointing - only about 3 hours on me, leaving nothing but a faint idea of sandalwood behind. Definitely a new favorite and keeper.

Finally got this for a decent price off the bay and I am glad I did. The only other perfume I can compare with is Shi. Definitely unisex and has that men's cologne like note in there, not sure what that is but I get mostly the lily I think. Nice heavy bottle, pretty color. Maybe it reminds me of shades too, must be the basil. Good for casual days and anytime really. I would not pay the crazy prices I see out there but I never do for even the so called 'high end' perfumes. They're just rippin ya off

After long periods of shalimar, white diamonds, and all my other favorites my nose needs a good reset. Manifesto is my reset button. It smells like a clean white spa, a rehab from all my other scents while being an amazing standalone one itself. I expected it to be more peppery based on the reviews and notes listed but to me it smells like a nice smooth aquatic herbal. Its fairly strong and ever present, however i do layer with the body balm. I love you manifesto. I love you so hard

Early spring in the morning, clear blue sky, cold crisp air snapping through clean white linen on the clothes line. Lots of clear, zingy, green notes to start, then gentle white flowers with dewy fruit. I can detect orange blossoms and lillies and even a shy hint of jasmine. Warms up to a gently sweet mid morning breeze that smells like a jog on a wooded hillside in late February. A refreshing EDT that stays naturally close to the skin. Clean, confident, independent.

Very Fresh, enlivening, green with a watery coolness, I just love this. I find this a well balanced scent on my skin, no one note prominent over the others. Longevity is only moderate but that is okay, the dry down is soft with a hint of sweet pea. Very much a daytime perfume it reminds me of fan di fendi but much lighter.

I loved this perfume back in the early 2000s. Really disappointed that it was discontinued. However I have recently discovered a perfume that smells a lot like this, and it’s a cheap £10 one from Next called Paradise. Saves me having to fine expensive old bottles on eBay :)

Great value and quite expensive smelling, which is always a bonus. I've received many compliments about this one. Basil, pear and musk really stand out with Manifesto. Very impressive and so inexpensive!

It is a gorgeous scent. It lasts on me all day. You can even find it for under $20. Truly a complimentary scent. I'll be hoarding more bottles, it's getting difficult to find.

I LOVE this perfume. Makes me feel so sexy, like I just got caught in a rain storm! Not overly flowery, just a nice, light, fresh smell... Isabella, you rock!

I recently tried just about every perfume in the duty free on my way home from holiday. The closest I can get is Chanel Chance eau Fraiche 😊

I love this perfume. Peppery-green, it defies expectations and comes off as completely unique and original. It *is* a manifesto.

In theory, I like floral greens, but they don’t always work on my skin. Isabella Rosselini’s Manifesto is no different in this regard. In fact, I can see why it often gets unfavorable reviews and I can even find points to agree on with a lot of these reviews. So, why do I keep a bottle around? The simple answer is that at the right time of year, during the right conditions, it smells really quite good on me! In wintertime, I find this fragrance to be a feeble, watery, too-light floral. It smells almost like nothing, except that the longevity and persistence of its “nothingness” tend to become gratingly annoying after only a short while. Yet, on very muggy, warm, overcast days in the summertime here, it gently blooms on me with a waterlily-like delicacy that feels fresh, transparent, and appropriate. It also lasts a very long time on my skin. These few facts have been enough to sway me to keep it around for that one, perfect day where this fragrance fills a much-needed niche in my perfume collection. I do get the initial blast of basil. Then, while it’s not listed as an ingredient here, pretty much all I smell afterward is a spicy, waxy, flowery-sweet peony, backed up by a greenish, watery accord. This heart lasts a very long time until the final dry down, hours later, where it goes to a light white musk with perhaps a whisper of sandalwood. It’s the nearly immediate heart phase that can become oddly cloying at the wrong time of year, or if I happen to be in the wrong mood for this perfume. This is because, that even though the heart accord has a delicate, transparent feel, the longevity of it can be pretty overbearing, even when used lightly. In a way, it’s kind of maddening: I’ve wrestled with myself about keeping it seemingly every year I’ve had it. I’ve probably had it for nearly 20 years now. That’s a long time to wrestle! Ultimately, I wind up deciding to keep it. There is something pleasant about the crisply tailored, tapered box, with its textured, white-washed paperboard and icy, mint-colored insides. While the plastic, twist-down cap is sort of silly and takes away from the overall elegant presentation, the pale green juice looks refreshing, and the bottle has a comforting heft and shape in the hand. On the few days of the year when I can wear it, applying it feels fun, carefree, and a bit rebellious. I ask myself, “Will it still work for me this time?” So far, for the past 20 years, the answer has been, “Yes! Today, right now, on this breezeless, oppressively muggy day, it does work.”

I originally bought this when it first came out and could never really connect with the basil/ pepper combination, but I appreciate a well constructed green fragrance and this is that, so I hung on to it. Fast forward to spring 2024 and I pulled her out for a little go round and WOW! I store in a cool/ dark closet, so many of my older fragrances are still wearable. I don’t know if my tastes have changed, or its long timeout mellowed things a bit, but I went from meh to hell yes on this and it became a frequent warm weather daytime fragrance for me. I do love me some orange blossom and pear and it is now front and center and that weird basil/ pepper mess gets out of the way very quickly. I’m halfway through my big bottle, and I see myself in the future scouring eBay for a replacement.

Oxygen by Lanvin is the key and the best result for me comes with layering them. Manifesto goes through two stages 1. nasty-bright-herbal beginning due to specific basil (unlike basil oil which is also specific) - that nevertheless lets the scent stand out in its originality 2. friendly-simple-noble-grassy drydown (I hoped to get smth like that in Verdi 072 by Emilio Pucci) - it is light, without depth, but really pleasant in a casual way, naturally pleasant, I would say, and also refers to Oxygen main theme as a lighter echo. Perhaps I like it more than Oxygen - for daring at the beginning and friendly timid smiling later on, it's also more original, but to appear in public I need to glue it on Oxygen ‘uniform’ base. Both win.

On my skin, Manifesto was very refreshing and perfect for a hot summer's day. This perfume was very bright and herbal at first - with greenness from the basil and freshness from the bergamot. The florals smelt clean, and there is a touch of spice from the pepper. The scent dries down into a nondescript herbal-floral. In addition, the perfume lasts for about 4-5 hours; sillage is quite soft. The problem with this scent for me is that it's forgettable. It's quite elegant, well-balanced and clean, but there is no 'je ne sais quoi'. I could easily see myself pushing this towards the back of my wardrobe and never wearing it. I also found it to smell a little too synthetic for my tastes. Not for me, I think.