Omnia Crystalline Eau de Toilette 100ml

There is a case for owning one fragrance that asks nothing of you, and Bvlgari Omnia Crystalline Eau de Toilette 100ml is the strongest version of that case.

Nothing in it is heavy. The opening pairs bamboo, green and watery with the cool smell of a cut stem, with pear, which is pale and only lightly sweet. Lotus continues that watery softness into the middle, tea dries it out with a tannic edge, and cassia supplies a thin thread of warm spice. There is no point at which the fragrance becomes rich, and that is the design rather than a shortfall. Musk, guaiac wood and oakmoss hold the bottom. Clean warmth from the first, a dry trace of smokiness from the second, damp earth from the third. Eight materials, all told, composed by Alberto Morillas and on sale since 2005. The arrangement is simple and the effect is deliberately slight, which is harder to get right than it sounds.

The 100ml spray is the size that makes sense for something this light, because a light fragrance gets used more freely than a heavy one and a small bottle would not last the summer. Expect to spray three or four times without consequence, which is not something you can do with a heavier eau de parfum. It suits hot weather, travel and anyone who dislikes being noticed for their perfume, and it is sold as a women's fragrance while plenty of men wear it without comment.

Rome is where this house started, in 1884, under the Greek silversmith Sotirio Bulgari, and coloured stone high jewellery made its name. Shops across Europe and in the United States followed in the early 1970s, perfume arrived in 1992, and the business is part of LVMH.