For Her

Mandarina Duck just released two new fragrances. If you pay attention to the bottle, you will see that they are mirrors for her and for him. The brand has chosen the exact shape of Mandarina Duck for the bottle for him with the cap moved to the right side, while it has forced it to the left side for the bottle for her. An unfortunate choice dictated by gender for the colours, pale pink for her and pale blue for him, too traditional and conformist to my flavours. For the feminine juice, Mandarina Duck relied on Marine Ipert’s nose, a young perfumer that created, amidst the others, a few ZARA fragrances other than Brocard‘s pieces. Let’s deep dive into the pinky juice. Sour, citrus and slightly spicy accord surrounds me. While the white pepper is the most prominent note in yellow #mandarina duck, for instance, here I do not get too much of the pink pepper, a kind of spice that I have a penchant for. Instead, the tangy orange is terrific. It reminds me of the smell of the fresh zest put on top of the heating system during wintertime, a dry zestiness, and blends with the harsh red currant. Fresh and sparkling start, there is no sweetness in this overture, just a blast of sour and zesty nuances. More, the dry and papery cedar nuances ooze from the very beginning. A heart full of rainbow blossoms starts beating as soon as the tart blast calms down. Among the three cited flowers, jasmine is what I receive most, followed by a rosy peony and a tamed mimosa. Maybe I will go upstream a little, but unlike most people, the mimosa does not reach me. I beg your pardon; when I think of mimosa, I imagine the smell of fluffy yellow flowers, with a powerful smell that fills the room, and I am not getting it. To me, the Yellow Diamond smell like a mimosa for real. Maybe, it needs more time to familiarise and detect. Instead, now and then, especially outside in the open air, I get the pleasant and unexpected notes of fresh, leafy tobacco leaves from the paper handkerchief on which I sprayed the perfume. It may result from the blend of the other notes. The overall scent now moves closer to the body. I get it on my skin but not in the surrounding air. A gentle whisper of musk heralds the arrival of dry-down, with an impressive touch of cedar shavings, almost salty ambergris and the tobacco facet still present in the back. Now weak, in this final stage, the perfume is nothing more than an intimate smell on the skin, a boon for some, a loss for others. I would have expected something more from the point of view of performance because I feel like enjoying the perfume, and it is pleasant even on my male skin, that unisex a la CK One EAU DE TOILETTE, so to speak. Spring and fall are the best seasons for wearing it; perhaps during evening and night summer events, it should work well. While the longevity is moderate, the sillage is miserably intimate, and I don’t think it is an EDT as persistent as an EDP, as they say on the official website. Bottom line, it is a good fragrance, even if not disruptive, maybe too light for people who love powerful bombs. But I found it on sale for just 15€, so an absolute steal with no room for complaints.

An amazing first fragrance for a young person but for a floral woody lover it is also a perfect summer scent for someone of any age.