Embrujo de Sevilla

Embrujo de Sevilla does not need a review. It needs a poem that only a compatriot of hers, with his heart ablaze of passion, could write. It needs an ode to praise her eternal beauty, or an elegy to lament that this beauty is forever gone. Something like the immortal words of Federico García Lorca, that sound as if they were written for this beauteous Hispalense... "Then I realized I had been murdered. They looked for me in cafes, cemeteries and churches ... but they did not find me. They never found me? No. They never found me." Shortly afterwards our "handshake" which left me breathless, and after finally managing to put myself together, I got angry. I kept looking at the Lilliputian sample and asking: "Why did you do this to me? I was happy without you! I was happy in my ignorance! Now I'm obsessed! Now I have to have you at all costs! Now I must have a Spanish mistress, to send her search all over Spain for you! And if I'm not good enough for Spanish ladies, then I myself must move to Spain and dedicate the rest of my life gathering as many bottles of you as I can find!" But the little vial gave no response. It just sat there, showing the slight indifference that someone who is fed up with compliments usually shows. But levity aside, what on earth is this? How could something so beautiful elude me for so many years? This devastating Spanish charm is one of the very best perfumes I have ever smelled. It succeeds so greatly in making it possible to enclose time, in this case the past, in a bottle, that it bends reason. It's so dreamy and so nostalgic, that for a while I was not sure if I would be able to even start writing a review about it. I doubted I could find the proper words to speak of how it speaks to me. But then she appeared... It was like a beautiful, yet melancholic apparition of an once breathtakingly beautiful Spanish enchantress slowly materialised in front of me and started to tell me stories. Stories about how there was a time when men were drawing knives for her dark eyes in the cobblestone alleys of Seville. Stories of how young artists, desperately and secretly in love with her, were singing passionate cantes jondos in Peñas Flamencas about the way her raven hair shone under the bright Andalusian sun. Stories about how the flutter of her dress made men in taverns order one more glass of sherry every time she passed in front of them during her Sunday strolls in Plaza de España. This is elegance. This is passion. This is art. This is Perfume! If someone had to have a perfume as a reminder of what perfume truly is, Embrujo de Sevilla would be the only one needed. And if someone asked me "What is perfume?", this is what I'd give her or him to smell. It seems that the spell this sorceress has woven around me is slowly making me losing my mind... The most difficult adversary to beat is not the one who attacks either your body or your mind. The most difficult adversary to beat is the one who attacks your heart. And this particular one had my heart shackled and on its knees within seconds. I never thought that there would ever be a perfume which would seriously doubt the first by far place that Opium holds in my heart all these years. I thought that it was already too late for such a thing to happen. But this bewitching Doña of yore is making eyes at me from the very first moment I met her. And these eyes do not forgive.These eyes are the ones to be lost in and never be found again. Ever. Y madre de Dios, ellos son tan muy hermosos...

I don't remember this stuff from the 1950's or 1960's. I only discovered it this last winter, when I was exploring Myrurgia fragrances on this site. It may have been around in the 1950's and 1960's, just not sold in a lot of stores like Maja was. But after reading Le_Coeur_Gothique's glowing review, I had to have a bottle. I finally found a bottle of this stuff on eBay, although it's a lot smaller than it looked. But it's from the 1950's or maybe even earlier, that glorious era when even low end fragrances were sold with little rubber or plastic stoppers in the opening of the bottle, so that if they were stored in a dark spot in the intervening 60+ years, the juice is still intact and fairly true to how it was when it was sold. It's everything Le_Coeur_Gothique says it is, but I have a few words of caution. Don't expect heavy balsamic. Balsamic is a term from 2010, not 1940 or 1933, when it was first marketed apparently. This is a lighter fragrance. The base notes are a lot more sandalwood than labdanum and benzoin. It's woodsy and spicy but it won't blast anyone out. Regardless of the gushing praise, I don't think you wear this fragrance to seduce someone; the person seduced is yourself.

I had searched high & low for this discontinued fragrance by Myrurgia, my luck paid off recently with a large (4 fl.oz) unused full bottle of the colonia/eau de toilette. Everything about this perfume is understated from the unusual design of the bottle/flask to the traditional fresh citrus opening of early 20th century colognes. Top hesperidic notes of mandarin & lemony verveine (verbena) are followed with a soft spicy carnation and rose heart interspersed with hints of lilac, heliotrope & jasmine drying down to a base slightly reminiscent of mown hay, a touch of civet and the creamiest east Indian santal imaginable. I do not detect any leathery quinolones or tobacco resins in this lesser strength of the perfume although the dry down is persistent lasting for several hours. I believe the extrait is a great deal more carnal & exotic than my presentation, the search continues for this holy grail of early Spanish perfumery. My hunt goes on also for the extrait, sooooo very rare & really hard to find !!!

Gorgeous. I have an approx. 2.5 oz bottle, yellow toned with gold plastic cap. Gold & black label. It was love at first sniff. Similar to Shalimar Eau de Cologne with the vanilla & spices, but without the leather. Woody but surprisingly with a sweetness wasn’t expecting, that I’m enjoying. I don’t seem to get the lemon notes of fragrances on my skin. The florals are very subtle on me if barely there, at least currently. And a hint of maybe the peach. I love aldehydes but don’t get them much in this. Also would’ve liked more sandalwood, but will see if it comes through in dry down. Seems very well blended. Mostly vanilla & sweetness, not much spice on me, making it more year round. Feminine enough but unisex feel. A good fresh yet sweet daytime fragrance, I think I’ll wear rest of summer.

Wonderful old scent. Remember me to women when i was a girl, was the semell in 1970.Is a poem is an other dimension! Really elegant deep personality and perfect balance.

I love it,it’s the perfect fragrance for winter got 5 bottles of it

A bright oriental amber floral-woody fragrance created by Jean Carles. It's powdery and dry, soft, sweet. This also reminds me of L’Origan. Top notes of aldehyde-bergamot and orange blossom are fleeting. Then the core is quickly revealed - carnation (eugenol), supplemented by jasmine and rose accard. Vanilla and heliotrope are the main sources of powdery. The wood-resin base contains benzoin, labdanum and sandalwood.

Sorcered-bewitched in Seville...