Burlesque

This beauty had me at its opening notes which smell very much like vintage Dana Tabu. Deliciousness! Burlesque opens with some sexy skanky incense and patch, with resins in the background and a beautiful balancing blood orange note. I also smell a nice note of civet. This is like vintage Tabu, Shocking by Schiaperilli and My Sin, with the iris from Shalimar all rolled into one glorious perfume. As the fragrance develops it softens and iris becomes a major player followed by a glorious rose note. This is a stunning retro glam femme fatale perfume that can happily be worn by a modern woman of any age. Burlesque is a modern beauty with reverential reference to the golden age of perfumery. Others have tried and failed to create what Maria Gentile has accomplished with Burlesque. Pure genius in my opinion. This fragrance has beautiful sillage and great longevity. It can be worn by a man or a woman to great effect.

This is really, really nice, but I feel like there must be decent alternatives out there where you get more for the price. 170 euros for 30 mL seems really like a lot. I ordered the bottle a long time ago, sort of forgot about it, and just opened it to find that some of it had actually leaked out as well...about 5mL. So don't make my mistake and open it right away... This is more waxy than incense, which I like. It is powdery and not overwhelming, but noticeable and has good lasting power. It is unique, even though the notes look common. I don't detect the blood orange, but maybe that's what gives the four other notes a unique composition. It's well blended, and I like it a lot. If I could find something comparable to this scent for a better price, I would wear it all the time.

Some beautiful, smooth civet to start. Equally smooth well blended rose incense floral finishing sweet and musky and good enough to nibble. Yes, this is seductive alright. How is this scent not better known? If you like civet, this is a must-try. The rose isn't prominent, but part of the whole composition. Lasts many hours with a good application, so excellent for your evening out. This is smooth, pretty, done with real skill. Classy. I tested 1ml over one day and I'm loving it! Recommended x

My newest infatuation. This is that soft, powdery, waxy cosmetics bag and lipstick scent that so many people seek. What makes me really nuts for this is the powerful incense note that seems to be the backbone of the fragrance. Addictive! Absolutely divine on clothing the next day. Burlesque comes in parfum concentration. It lasts many splendid hours on my skin and has moderate to strong projection.

I'm not sure what renders this fragrance an "Amber Floral". Floral it is at the opening, but, as with so many of Maria Candida's work, this is the floral of petals, leaves and stems, not just a synthetic spritz. It is closely followed by an enveloping cloud of incense and patchouli that carries me delightfully from the garden into some sort of sumptuous summer house, filled with cushions and hangings and tassels, where I spend the rest of the afternoon consuming Turkish Delight and quaffing champagne. Not just for women in my opinion. Perfectly unisex.

I received a sample of this last week. As soon as I sprayed it, I had a flashback to standing in my mother's bathroom when I was a child, sniffing her bottle of Shalimar. It gives me straight Shalimar, or at least my memory of how it smelled thirty years ago. It is heavy on the incense, and just heavy in itself. Not sure I would ever buy a bottle of this because it's just a little too much for me, but it's a nice perfume with a familiar scent. I think it would suit me when I'm in a certain kind of mood.

sweet incense; powdery; final lasting drydown is too much patchouli for me though it is soft

The rose, violet and patch are all jockeying for prominence, and it creates an accord not quite like any of the three. I’m not quite sure how to describe it, though. Floral. Clean. Safe. It’s just not ‘out there’ enough, for me. I mean, it’s good, don’t get me wrong, I just don’t think it’s adventurous enough for me to wear as a scent. It’s pleasant, it’s unique, but it’s not spectacular. Sorry, that’s just how I feel about it...

Strangely, my immediate response after this is sprayed on my hand is: fruitcake! Yes, fruitcake. Perhaps its the blood orange top note converging with the orris and the base of patchouli. This soon shifts into an effervescent, 1920s-1930s style violet-iris-rose number, but is somehow missing the flair that comes from a classic like Dans la Nuit or Habanita. It grows more incensey over time, with the patchouli fixing it all onto the skin quite nicely, but it feels overall too delicate and, dare I say, shallow, in comparison to the greats for which its seems inspired.

Incense myrrh, and rosy iris. It is a dark salty incense myrrh blend with slight roses and iris. It has similarities with my favorites "Sanctum" by Ramon Bejar, & "Samharam" by Arte but lighter, & softer. A very interesting take on incense, and resinous myrrh. It's unisex and def works both way.

A very sensual composition revolving around incense, rose, iris and, uncredited but very prominently present, Peru balsam. It's also very strong too. Leans feminine, but that incense and balsam makes me want to wear it myself.

Gorgeous, thick and powdery iris. I dont get much rose, beyond the iris is tons of patchouli radiating from my skin. The quality of this patchouli is a teensy bit animalic and reminds me of FB's Sticky Fingers.