Venezia 2011

Laura biagiotti's perfumes aren't well known here so when I saw roma and Venezia in my favorite local perfume shop,I didn't know about them.I came here to read the reviews.I forgot about roma because of it's animalic notes but Venezia caught my eyes as I love vanilla and Venezia's vintage looking bottle but I didn't dare blindbuying it as I knew it's new formulation of a classic and I was afraid it may smell oldish Recently one of my friends purchased it for himself and when he saw I'm interested in it,sent it to me so that I can have it for a while and decide whether I want it in my collection or not,well I definitely want it Venezia opens with juicy,dark,lush,plummy fruity notes and heavy ylangylang .I'm not a fan of it's opening part and it felt a little dated but soon other florals which are light and gorgeous show up.middle phase isn't juicy any more.it's a lovely floral scent,a tad powdery blended with plum and peach.as time passes it becomes softer,rounder and more pleasant.vanilla,resins,sandalwood and amber ground floral fruity notes and create a warm,balmy scent with a honey-like sweetness.golden color of it's juice matches it's scent very well as it smells very golden.although plum is rated as the strongest note,on my skin it's not very strong.ofcourse I can detect something lush and fruity(like a mix of plum and a hint of peach)but the most prominent notes are ylangylang,resin and sandalwood to my nose,their golden mix blends very well with creamy florals,powdery vanilla and sultry fruits and I don't find it dated at all(unlike it's opening).it's warm,rich,well blended and refined. I have never tried original Venezia so I can't compare them but original Venezia must be a bomb if this one is it's watered down version for it's long lasting and well projecting I like it and I will add it to my wantlist

Plum-y Amber-Floral with Ylang & Sandalwood... At first I didn't understand this baby, but whether it was my nose developing, or 6 months macerating, she is now speaking to me. My first impression of this fragrance was confusing - kind of meh, kind of a let down as I was hoping to smell something similar to Samsara and didn't at first. But as it's matured, and when I quiet my mind, Venezia 2011 reminds me of unsmoked wine-flavoured cigarillos and raisin pie garnished with ylang-ylang! If Samsara and Ambre d'Alexandrie had a baby.... her name is Venezia! There are no tobacco notes per se, but to my nose the benzoin and plum include amber soaked tobacco/tea leaves, similar to what I smell in other benzoin-heavy fragrances (i.e. Moustache EDP Rochas). Imagine walking through San Marco's Square in October. You duck into a cafe to find it's upholstered in red velvet with gilded marino glass mirrors and fixtures. Some older Italian men are smoking cigars, and you join in the mood as you crack open a package of wine flavored cigarillos from a vending machine. The ambery-plum scent of the unsmoked cigarillos wafts up from the package and you take a deep breath and sink back into the red velvet booth. On the menu is raisin pie garnished with ylang-ylang, and the once invisible server moves around the tiny byzantine cafe in a cloud of chiffon and Samsara like Greta Garbo in The Grand Hotel. How could you have not seen her before?

Having been an devotee of Laura Biagiotti's Venezia in its original incarnation, I was delighted yet hesitant when I found out that they were re-releasing it. I had such wonderful memories of this gorgeous perfume that invoked something as lustrous and glorious as a baroque Venetian ball with beautiful women in rich fabrics, anointing themselves with gorgeous scent from a beautiful Murano bottle before being spirited away on a Gondola to be seduced by their very own Casanova. Yes, it really was THAT romantic a scent! I wore it throughout my 20's and 30's and men loved it. I loved it. Creamy, plummy, spicy, vanilla - this one still has all the elements of the vintage formula. I was frightened they would have tinkered with it too much but they haven't. I was worried it would now be too sweet for an early 40's woman to wear but I shouldn't have worried. It is as soft and classy as Biagiotti's other scents for women. The staying power was amazing. One spritz on my wrist lasted all day, all night and into the next day and dried down to a beautiful whisper that my adored one couldn't get enough of. Thank you Laura Biagiotti for making this customer very happy. I still have a bottle of the original and this is just as lovely. It still makes me feel special and ultra-feminine when I wear it. Please never stop making it.

Oh my World! What a beauty! I cannot remember last time I felt so under the spell of a fragrance - Venezia melted my heart immediately! The opening is very pleasant; the fruity note of plum mixed with jasmin petals and a pinch of vanilla... Absolutely marvellous!After 4 hours I can smell mainly jasmine and as the fragrance dries down, it becomes more cozy thanks to vanilla. I have no idea how much is the new 2011 version similar to old formula but the 2011 version for sure would become my signature IF it only was widely available. It is really rich, sensual, deep, a perfect juice for long, chilly winter months. Lasting power and silage are both outstanding; I could still smell it on my skin after a long hot shower. I believe that Venezia would appeal to extremely rich and sophisticated fragrance lovers; if Baiser Du Dragon, Elixir Des Merveilles or Badgley Mischka rock your boat, then you have to try Venezia. Brilliant projection, lovely bottle, quality juice. Two sprays and you're wrapped up for the rest of the day. Venezia is a marvel. Full stop.

Now, we all know that a perfume that is 20 years old would not smell exactly the same as a new one. Time will leave its print on it, even if it was kept in the box, cool and dark place. I'm saying this maybe to find an explanation to why the new Venezia smells the same but not exacly identical to the old one. I had in the past 4 big bottles of the old juice. Today I tried both the new and the old Venezia. To me the new one smells like the old one, but more like an EDT compared to an EDP. In other words, very similar, but lighter and without 'something' that the old one has. For the difference, I am blaming the age, like a more matured wine. You may say that I am deluding myself, but I don't care. The new Venezia is really awesome, it instantly brought back the memories of the old one with no trace of doubt, and it is nothing like any perfume on the market today.