Lavanda Imperiale

A lavender soliflore. When *settled*, it smells like its flower buds. Soft, airy, dry. Like sitting next to a lavender bush, with the scent traveling in the air. Or like wafting a dried bundle of lavender. (Jeremy515's description is accurate.) NOT like essential oil. Not like the smell of lavender leaves crushed to a mush between your fingers. God, why does every lavender note in every other fragrance smell like you've literally blended up lavender leaves. I've never before found a fragrance even coming close to being representative of the experience of lavender irl and you wouldn't think that it would be that hard. If you're looking for a lavender scent that isn't - a fougere - overpowered by a bunch of vanilla/tonka in the style of lavender scents today - or one that equates the scent of actual lavender to smelling like its essential oil then this might be one to sample. It's soft and stays close to the skin. It's linear and clean, I'd imagine that if you like that vanilla/lavender combo and want to fine-tune the ratio between the two, then this would play nicely layered with a simple vanilla.

This is a lovely lavender eau de cologne. It is authentic, simple and of very beautiful quality. Don't expect too much depth or structure: this is in the realm of effortless, genuine elegance. These notes are perfect together, if a bit soapy. I love it. The price might seem a bit high for a relatively simple composition and low concentration.. But due to the quality of the ingredients and elegant balance, I do not regret buying a bottle. It's just really well made. I hope they keep making it and that the new owners won't mistreat the venerable house as an investment commodity.

An impressive and simple lavender. This is not the scent of an essential oil. It more closely resembles a lavender bush. The simplicity of this cologne lends itself well to layering. A vanilla scent would work well with this. But also if you have a white floral that is just a bit too sweet for your liking, layering with Lavanda Imperiale might work wonders. For example, I also have SMN Cinquanta and while I love it, I like it even better layered with this.

I was looking for sophisticated lavender. However, this perfume smells of citrus and grass (natural, not to strong). I cant say much more because there is not much to say.

I ripped sprigs of English Lavender (green only, and separately flowers) to compare: Lavanda Imperiale hits the lavender note right off the bat. The notes are closest to the buds, not the foliage. The foliage is lavender and turpenic (pine); Lavanda Imperiale is completely absent of any turpenic quality. Instead, it is equally if not more complex substituting the one-two punch of lavender and turpenic pine with lavender, green and aromatic notes. To me, the biggest difference isn't actually these prominent notes, but the sweetness. A spring of lavender has a capacity for sweetness but is very dry. Side by side, Lavanda Imperiale is much sweeter. That said, the sweet note is very minimal - it's notable because it's a departure from the reference point of fresh lavender, not because it's a dominant note. Sweetness doesn't usually sit well on my skin, but wearing this the sweetness isn't evident. It seems more like it allows the herbal qualities of the fragrance to shine through. On my skin, I get lavender, aromatic, but then very gentle bitter herbal. Almost as if someone made a gorgeous, wildly unexpected cocktail of lavender tempered with the tiniest trace Bechrovka (honey, liquorice, menthol).