Sol (Sun)

My experience is as Descartes review before mine, I cannot add to that ;) This opens with an aquatic and fresh citrus both of which I love in a scent. They blend smoothly into a juicy orchid, sweet rose and soft jasmine. The drydown is very creamy woods and jasmine, yielding an incredibly sensual yet soft appeal highlighted gently by sugar cane. Really loving this one.

Ramon Molvizar Sol..... My wife has already enjoyed this lovely perfume in 2006 so the release year of 2009 seems to be incorrect. Nevertheless a masterpiece of Spanish perfumery.

It seems that this perfume’s gimmick and only claim to uniqueness is the inclusion of gold flecks of something, which are present even in my sample vial. The perfume itself is a fairly standard floral. I don’t get much citrus in the beginning, since it launches straight into a musky lily fragrance that reminds me of the fragrance used in Nivea cream and lotion. After a while it does develop a green note that’s not in Nivea, but it’s still pretty close. In the drydown, the musk becomes more prominent, and eventually what’s left is a nice oriental-type amber. Sol is moderate in strength and sillage, even during the early floral phase. Given the advertising photo shown here and the hype about “real gold flecks”, I would think that a bottle containing that much gold (at least 10% by volume?) would sell for more than the going rate for this perfume. If it were indeed real, then it might be worthwhile to buy a bottle, go panning for the gold, and sell it. If it’s gold glitter (which is what my vial contents look like), then it’s just tacky. Come to think of it, either way it’s tacky. Solid particles have no place in a perfume, if for no other reason because one would think that they might eventually clog the spray mechanism.

Ramon Molvizar SOL/SUN edp bears an unmistakeable resemblance to Guerlain L'INSTANT edp. Both are sweet, powdery florientals, and I find both of them appealing. Although the precise floral and oriental notes are slightly different in the two compositions, the end product is very similar. I find SOL/SUN slightly more sweet and less powdery than L'INSTANT, but they are clearly close siblings. A unique feature of SOL/SUN is that suspended in the perfume are flakes of gold! I doubt that they contribute anything to the olfactory experience, but they do add a visible touch of luxury to what is a sumptuous scent. Although benzoin is not listed among the notes, there is definitely a rich benzoin/resin quality to this creation, which I recommend for wintertime wear to those who appreciate florientals such as L'INSTANT.

I like this a lot. It feels sunny, warm, fresh and inoffensive. The jasmine is not indolic which I like, and the whole composition is well blended and pretty. Would I pay Ramon Molvizar prices for a full bottle though? Nah. It isn't unique enough to my nose and whilst I think there's a place in everyone's collection for a fresh pretty floral, you'd be able to pick up a designer scent similar to this at a fraction of the price. The bottle is super cute though, so if I had the dollars for the packaging, I'd totally buy it.