The Manoeuvres of the Baroness

Smells Nice love it reminds me of woman in gold younger version

Very underwhelming. This is finally penhaligons attempt at a more modern scent profile, it’s a floral gourmand, it’s very different from their usual releases. But it’s so linear - it’s essentially a simple creamy, vanilla based orange blossom with a meh woody dry down. There’s a lack of naturals in here for me at this price point and it’s very boring and I got a good 2 hours of protection before it disappeared . Would say this is very feminine. The brand has a cult following though so sure this will be very popular anyway, it has a designer perfume like vibe to it which will be very likeable for the mainstream market.

On first spray this smells like a rather ordinary orange blossom + vanilla you could easily get by layering a regular orange blossom scent like Penhaligon’s Castile with a vanilla perfume. However, as the drydown progresses, the green nuances in the orange blossom and the cream come out more and blend together to get a very pleasant result. I agree it smells designer. Still though, I don’t know if I’d buy this, since I have another orange blossom + bourbon vanilla perfume, Villa Neroli by BDK which has a much more substantial depth in the base with patchouli and niche uniqueness.

I was expecting a niche take on orange blossom, but The Manoeuvres of the Baroness is yet another iteration of the ever-popular sweet floral sandalwood profile. There’s definitely a blend of white florals in the background (tuberose, gardenia, and jasmine) which makes it undeniably pretty. However, this scent profile is everywhere, and you can find something very similar for a fraction of the price.

Very feminine creamy white floral. I'd say it smells of tuberose, not really orange flower, with creamy and sweet undertones. Nice one.

a very designer-ish and mainstream sweet orange blossoms (prada paradoxe, my way etc) on a woody a bit smoky sandalwood base. feminine