Note Pyramid
Especially
Jean-Michel Duriez composed Escada Especially Eau de Parfum, and the restraint is the point: five materials, arranged so that each one is audible instead of blended into a general impression.
Pear opens it, juicy and crisp with a green edge, and ambrette sits underneath. Ambrette is the seed that smells faintly of musk and skin, warm and slightly powdery with a hint of pear like softness of its own, and pairing it with the fruit is the clever part of the composition. The two materials reinforce one another from the first minute. Rose and ylang ylang make up the heart. The rose is full and honest, slightly jammy, not a modern transparent one, and ylang ylang beside it is richer and creamier with a heady, almost custardy sweetness that gives the middle real warmth. Together they are more opulent than the opening led you to expect.
Musk alone finishes it, soft and clean and close to the skin, picking up the thread the ambrette started at the top and carrying it to the end. The circularity is deliberate and it is what makes a five material fragrance feel complete rather than short.
Six hours or more is the usual return here, with moderate projection early on and then a long, quiet close afterwards. It reads feminine, it works all year round, and it suits daytime and evening equally well, which is rarer than it sounds.
A German house, this one, set up by Margaretha and Wolfgang Ley in Munich during 1978 and built on womenswear in bold print and unapologetic colour. Ownership of the fashion business passed to the Mittal family trusts in 2009. Perfume for the name is handled by a licensee.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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