Barry Lyndon

When I was very young, I would study maps for hours, studying the legend and all of its symbols, reading through all of the landmarks, memorizing names of cities and towns, hours and hours, fixated, hoping some day I'd visit so many of these far off places. I recall one map of Great Britain and Ireland that my father gave to me. What stood out were the designation of lands labeled "heath and moor." Heath is the infertile, well-drained soils, characterized by plants such as heather, gorse, bracken, billberry. The moor is upland, with wetter habitats, bog-marsh, damp, peaty soil, low-growing grasses, shrubs. In these landscapes, fewer trees grow, and if they do, they are smaller birches and willows, sprouting out from the panorama. Barry Lyndon, named for the protagonist of Thackeray's 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon (adapted in a fantastic film directed by Stanley Kubrick), is the story of a rogue that would scale these terrains on horseback. However, I divorce myself from this interpretation as it feels far more introspective, reaching into the quiet and sitting there in a space among the wet, cool vegetation, oceans of heather and artemisia. The leather representing a saddle would be instead a satchel containing a leather-bound journal, the vetiver is the ink from the pen with which to write about the struggle while surrounded by heartbreaking beauty. A withdrawn green, a slow stir, the fuzz of the air, the protagonist in my dream is one who finally had a chance to live in the reality the maps represented, even if for a brief time, a chance to be elsewhere, no longer bonded by love and lust. So there you have it, that's how I honestly feel when I wear this. It's a marvel much like the sighting of a bright orange juvenile salamander, a red eft as they call them, crawling from under the watery stones, dewy and soft, far from human clangor, reminding me of where I must be for awhile, with my trusty map, a pen, and my thoughts.

Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful Barry Lyndon! Also a good news in a grey world: even nowadays there are still creators whose talent and ability produce emotions on us when we are so lucky to come across their works! I read somewhere (I'm sorry not to be very precise!) that M.C. Gentile while inventing "her" Barry Lyndon took inspiration from the film more than the novel itself. So she was visualizing the hero - in a moment of the plot - while he was trying to escape, riding through the English countryside. I can see more than this.... Sometimes descriptive fragrances could sound like descriptive music: just student's home-works more or less predictable; more or less precise more or less unuseful and really boring, no doubt! This fragrance - for me - is a sort of concentration of "dusty" light in a bottle. The "Nose" can handle with a light hand different "heavy" substances (for instance the leather here used is more similar to saddle leather than to glove one) BUT keeping always in mind the sense of measure. Not too much of... not too little of. Every element seems to go hand in hand with the other. The result - according to my skin is an immersion in reach notes (as usual, much more than those indicated in the piramid above!) recreating a rarefact atmosphere. Probably I'm changing too much or... getting older: I've never got crazy for aromatic or fougere fragrances all my life, up to now! Longevity is also very good, discreet silllage: it as an elegant frag. after all! I've tried B. L., this morning but perhaps it is better not for the too cold season but for fall and spring. p.s. One hour ago, I sprayed it on 2 my male friends: even better than on me. If polygamy weren't forbidden (in my country) I would ask their hands instantly!

This is herbs and grass, in the best way possible. It's the level of herbs that reminds me of a handful of herbs freshly cut from the garden. There is mint in here that gives it a cooling and energizing feel, without being toothpastey or too medicinal. But being a herb forward fragrance, there is some danger of coming across as an "all natural pharmacy". Personally, i'd say Spring and Autumn are where this fragrance will shine. Spring and Autumn are great seasons for herbs and/or balsamic notes (this is Not balsamic). It has a slightly powdery undertone. Not so much as to call the fragrance powdery. But it has the effect of a powdery fragrance. Performance is almost too much. The samples are dabbers, and i got about 1/4 of the 1.8ml sample on my arm. It's choking me out a little bit. Lasts and projects Very well. Especially considering the high level of natural ingredients. Where: That's a hard question. Casual to semi-casual. It's not the most versatile type of fragrance type. It's got the "comfort and soothing" effect for some. "Energetic and lively" for others. Try it and decide for yourself. When: Autumn, winter, and spring. I wouldn't wear it in summer, as it is quite potent, and a potent herb fragrance can be quite dense in the summer heat. Who: Unisex, with a little masculine lean. It's mostly unisex. Age i'd say mature. I don't see any teens or people in their 20's being the biggest fans of this herbs and greens style of fragrance. Personal score: 8.75/10. I love it, but i don't know when i'd wear it. I don't really wear herb forward fragrances very often. If i did, this would be on the top of the list so far. Absolutely worth a sample.

As I consider Stanley Kubrick ́s “Barry Lyndon” to be nothing short of a masterpiece, I was very curious to try a scent that was inspired by this film, or, more specifically, by one of its scenes (Barry ́s horse ride through the English countryside). I ́m relieved to say Maria Candida Gentile ́s fragrance does deliver. From the very first moment, the scent feels outdoorsy thanks to green and grass notes. Shortly after that, leather makes its entrance. The note is beautifully rendered. Even though it dominates the heart, it never becomes overwhelming. It evokes the smell of Barry ́s saddle mixed with, I dare say, the smell his four-legged vehicle. A few moments later, the leather note becomes a little softer, blending with vanilla. The leather-vanilla combination is my favourite stage in the development of this perfume. Whenever I wear it, “Barry Lyndon” manages to put me in a contemplative mood. I know the adjective “sophisticated” is brutally overused when it comes to describing fragrances, but Candida Gentile ́s creation is a perfect embodiment of this characteristic. It ́s also an intimate perfume and an ideal companion for a quiet evening in when I pour myself a glass of wine, open a good book, or just let the ideas in my head run riot. A marvellous fragrance from an incredibly talented perfumer!

I had no hopes for this at all--a perfume named after one of my favorite books about a total scoundrel. I expected something vaguely green and shamrocky but, by god, she nailed it. This opens cool and green--almost minty. In a few minutes the balsam and heather come up--very classic and very well done. Then the surprise that makes this so good: a note that alternates between tar and something quite bitter. The only word I can think of for the note is "insolent". The note never goes away but it does move toward the background leaving leather, green notes and balsam in the foreground with just enough vetiver to make it a bit salty. As I said before a beautifully built classic fougere but with a twist that makes it memorable. Not a scent for beginners but well worth knowing. My only complaint--for an EdP it has a rather short life. Sillage: conversational, 2-3 feet Duration: 1-3 hours Fabulosity: excellent port wine Value to price: reasonable 7/10

Liberal sprays. Top note balsam resin, high pitched tone, antiseptic, very pleasant desirable. Within 5 minutes, heart appears. A surprise creosote and tar (the opinion of two people). Sharp contrast. Clever use of an offset scent. Not unpleasant. Lasts maybe another 5 minutes. Base note now appears about 10 to 15 minutes after the first sprays. Gentile, sweet musk like quality, linear. The top and heart notes linger within a 1 to 2 foot radius. Base note hugs pretty much close to the skin. Top and Heart took perhaps 15 minutes at most to unfold. Base note lingers for about 8 hours. Short longevity is probably being reported due to low sillage (it gets harder to detect that the scent is still there). Repeated the exercise, same results. Summary Masterful use of scent pallet. 4.7 /5 Top and middle notes unfold very quickly Sillage is poor, particularly on base note. 2/5 Unisex

meraviglioso accordo, ispirato da una precisa scena del film Barry Lyndon in cui il protagonista cavalca nella campagna inglese, umida, rorida e aromatica. il profumo si apre con un'esplosione originalissima di note verdi, artemisia, vetiver ed erba. quindi l'assestamento su una vaniglia appena percettibile che ammorbidisce la nota di fondo di cuoio discreto. a me, che pure ho difficoltà ad indossare fragranze che sanno di giubba di pelle, piace moltissimo. assolutamente unisex, perfetto con qualunque clima. insomma un nuovo straordinario classico.

Not the most original frag you can find but absolutly not badly performed and definitely completely different fron Farhrenheit. Yes, it's an elite or niche frag few people are aware of it: minimum 3+Gentile+ 16 people voting it+ all the shop assistants etc. Write about a product you like if you like something!

I can only describe Barry Lyndon as chique witches' scent; I imagine this is what Beatrice Borromeo would smell like if she'd ever attend a witch circle. That's probably way off the mark, it's just a fantasy sprung from my working class imagination after all, but there you have it. In any case, it's definitely wild and green and herbal enough for a magical potion, and luxurious and elegant enough for high society with its big kick of artemisia and other herbs playing so well with soft fragrant leather and just a little hint of natural sweet vanilla. So well-made and harmonious, and at the same time so original - as it seems all Maria Candida Gentile scents are. And, again like all of them, perfectly unisex with just-right projection and longevity to boot. I'm very impressed, and I'll cherish my little decant; since I despair of ever getting an invitation to that high society witches' sabbath I don't think I'll ever need a big bottle, but who knows, I might acquire one anyway.

to be loved, brings you the insight, it is perhaps a bit 'sad, but the mere fact that produces tiny shocks deep in the self ... is a great scent. It was created with visceral love, like all creatures of Maria Candida ... and feels!!

The first blast of Barry Lyndon hits you with an astringent marker smell similar to a Sharpie. I detected very few grass notes in the opening and even less in the dry down. If the sharpie was meant to be the grass or hay note, it was *intense* and not very accurate or close to other versions of that note but, thankfully, it fades very quickly. As the scent matures on the skin, I can smell a hard liquorice wrapped in a powdery pocket, which gives this bottle its "apothecary" vibe. This effect is achieved I think by layering the leather notes quite closely with the anise. The scent sits very close to the skin and there is not a lot of sillage. Over time, the leather disappears leaving behind a much more medicinal anise scent, which may be where the "metal" note enters into the scent. Is it interesting? Yes. Am I happy to have a sample? Yes. Am I in love? Am I in ecstasy? Does it make me want to buy a bottle? No.

A disappointing turn from Candida Maria: weak in impact and (despite the hype), completely uncinematic. More like a well-meaning but bland home movie. Strictly for die-hard fans of agrestic fragrances and purple prose.

Ok, here's my take on this masterpiece. First of all, take a look at or bring back to your memory the scene in Kubrick's Barry Lyndon when he rides away to a new life, with 20 guineas in his pocket, at the beginning of the movie. He's full of dreams and ambitions, and he wants to bite life's ass. Sorry for my use of words. :) MCG has captured that scene. It's a moment that we all have experienced at least once in our lives, that magic minute when you leave every burden behind you and move to a new direction, counting only on yourself. In order to make it justice, I'll try to describe this perfume from two different points of view. Here's the notes: you can smell the aromatic plants of the country Barry's riding in, the saddle of the horse (smell carefully and you'll see that it's not the smell of a pair of gloves or a new purse, it's a real saddle), the horse itself. And then you'll smell the powder of the courts of his future. Second take: the emotions. Barry Lyndon will give you the feel of an early morning full of promises. Your new life is ahead of you, and it'll be great. All your expectations, no matter how great, will be your reality of tomorrow. All you have is yourself, and you're going to find out that you're capable of much, much more than everyone, including yourself, expected. I don't know how MCG could convey so much in a fragrance, but she did. Hats off. Now please let me smell it again, and think about my life and expectations. How many perfumes make you do this?

A green aromatic fougère that unfortunately isn't my taste at all. I get a lot of strong, medicinal, almost minty herbs (a lot of artemisia) that takes about two hours to calm down before going into a softer herbaceous drydown mixed with a tiny amount of leather. I think other people could love this but a lot of these retro-smelling fougères unfortunately gives me huge headaches (including this one), it's not really a strong fragrance but some note in it I really can't stand and I could feel it all the time without even taking my wrist to my nose. Unfortunately that also hinders my ability to review this in a longer text because the rest of the notes were hard for me to feel... So if you get headaches from traditional or green fougères then this might be a warning to you 😁 I do recommend you to try it out if you are a fougère lover though.

The main pratogonist here in the bottles’ name (in my opinion), should be ‘Prince of a Thousand Enemies’, as I strongly interpret the narrative much more so to that of the Leporid family than anything resembling a human tale. I love Maria Candida Gentile, but Barry Lyndon is not one of my go-to’s from this House, nor in my opinion captures the premise of the film/book. Animalic and herbal, my immediate sense is English pastoral landscape, (as intended), but much more from a Richard Adams book than by William Makepeace Thackeray. In reference to Adams’ Watership Down, not only are the quiet, bitter herbal notes of heather, artemesia and grass fitting, but portray a wild fleetingness much similar to that of a hare (uncatchable), and also a phantom; intangible - drifting in and out of ones sensorial periphery like the The Black Rabbit of Inlé (though not as sinister). This one sits close to the skin and has very mild (if any) projection, leaving it very intimate to the wearer. Longevity is null. Like the film Watership Down, this perfume unravels in a slow-moving, somewhat uneventful mundaneness but with little surprises and moments of beauty and angst. Barry Lyndon as a film (& book) is a concept worthy to base a perfume from, & MCG’s attempt is noteworthy, however, to me, hints more of the backdrop than the plot itself. No matter how one interprets it, the only agreeable concrete element is that it’s contemplative, gentle, intriguing - but lacks a focal point. It isn’t linear, but isn’t exactly abstract either, neither dreamlike or surreal. While I’m still unsettled with exactly what resulting emotion or conclusion I get from it, I can say it lacks passion, desire, sensuality, mystery or tension. And nowhere do I get associations of ‘shirtless knights riding on the Italian Alps”, as her website describes. It definitely feels more so like the powdery, outdated and monochromatic 1970’s animation (of WD). Leather is almost undetectable, but blended so well, I presume, that it acts as the animalic foundation and musky base note from which I associate feral rabbits. In either event, like the character Barry Lyndon, who is a scoundrel, ‘Prince of a Thousand Enemies’ (as referred to the legendary rabbit folk hero ‘El-Ahrairah’ in Watership Down), is also so, and is equally fitting at least to the name (though I know I’m taking all of this out of context by even suggesting an book about rabbits), and would make a wonderful narrative and title for a perfume (just say’n..), though perhaps far-reaching. I love me-a-good, non generic title though.. I banter. Barry Lyndon falls a bit short for me in terms of something I would reach for on the perfume shelf, but it at least gets my creative juices flowing in being thought-provoking and in weaving a narrative that MCG portrays in all her olfactory creations. She’s a complete master at that.

This is, like most MCGs, a very tight composition (not much to add, not much to subtract without changing it entirely), so let's give Caesar what belongs to Caesar- no matter if you like it or not, respect is due to talent. I own 6 of her creations, and for all of them I detect some notes that I don't see listed or talked about on their respective pages... in this case, it's an odd green banana accord. I'm not sure what births it, but it's there, made sweeter by chamomile. Many talk about a feeling of warm, live suede or steamed spices (as in wet, soft, warm)- I think this is where it's coming from. I mean, rub banana on a rock and that'll make it fleshy! Sillage is very low, projection is also low (10in or so), but put it on this afternoon and it'll be there in the morning when you wake up. Not my favorite, but impeccable, high-quality, and conjurer-of-memories-you-didn't-know-you-had.

Stanley Kubrick's film Barry Lyndon is a masterpiece. How is Maria Candida Gentile's perfume? Well, it smells good, no doubt about that. It reminds me quite a lot of Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight in Paris. Vanilla leather with some vetiver and herbs. I'd say that the presentation of the leather is less pronounced than in Midnight in Paris, so this might be a good choice for someone who was bothered by it in the Van Cleef & Arpels version. In fact, I'd say that there is a continuum of this sort of fragrance, beginning at the extreme end with Bvlgari Black, which I myself find unwearable. Next in line is Midnight in Paris, and at the other terminus of refinement and subtlety would lie Barry Lyndon. I like this composition and believe that anyone who appreciates either Bvlgari Black or Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight in Paris would enjoy Barry Lyndon as well.

I found Maria Candida Gentile perfumes by chance in a small shop on my way home tonight. Out of the tree I tried from this line Barry Lyndon caught my attention and nose. It is a joyful combination where the leather - if it is present at all - plays very well the hyde and seek game. It opened in a fresh minty way developing into a delicate vanilla sheer balsam that sparkles with almost medicinal herbs, it must be the heather and arnica. To me, it is surprisingly uplifting. It stays rather close to the skin once the top notes evaporate which makes it fell comfortable. I find it quite strange that people put it next to Bvlgari Black, to my nose there is no similarity whatsoever.

An interesting and well composed fragrance in light of what the perfumer tried to achieve. It is green with realistic grassy notes, leather, and medicinal heavy anise notes in the opening. When the heather and other herbal notes came in the scent improves but it needs a heavy dose of natural lavender. I did not like it until I tried to wash it off with some natural lavender soap. The mix of the heavy lavender with this fragrance resulted in something really beautiful. My conclusion, unless you just love bitter, earthy and medicinal scents, layer it with a good lavender or avoid it altogether.

Barry Lyndon is an homage to a very special kind of rogue who likes to meditate on the course of his life while he is riding his horse along the desolated English Moor. What is prominent to my nose upon application is the leather saddle accord which I guees is kept at bay by a dose of orris root and a tiny bit of vanilla. Then its herbal character emerges in full, medicinal and astringent: hawthorne and arnica that settle on a dry vetiver. Please consider me following on IG @alexolympia6

Wandering in the moors of the country of childhood with paths full of warm fragrant needles. The glistening river Ljusnan breaks up with light under the roof in the shadow from forest branches. I’m barefoot, the sand under the needles is very warm. Still, this is a grown up scent, it brings out the adventurer in me. I am a forest lizard, and I sunbathe on the bridge.

Sour artemisia & leather dew. I keep on sniffing that leather note swinging between artemisia & bitter rosemary or heather! so is the vetiver. This is not a sweet fragrance, as it's kind of sour and bitter with some leather, herbal & slight medicinal. Quite an interesting take but it's overly soft & kind of weak.

Anyone who has even only seen the trailer for this epic film will realise that the notes are sadly lacking. Gunpowder? Smoke? Metal? Poudre? Come on...why use such an evocative name and idea and not follow through? Wasted opportunity. And at least don’t produce something lacking in performance...

Good fragrance, but i feel its drydown too similar to Chanel Egoiste (not a bad thing, of course)