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Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic
Light citrus scents are used up faster than anything else in a collection, and that is the plain argument for Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic Eau de Toilette Refill 200ml rather than another small bottle.
The fragrance is a four material composition and it is the better for being that simple. Mandarin orange gives sweet, round juice, basil cuts across it green and aromatic with an aniseed edge, green tea follows dry and faintly astringent, and sandalwood sits underneath it, creamy and quiet. There is nothing else in the bottle, and nothing else is needed.
On a hot day this is the sort of fragrance people reapply at lunchtime, because four or five hours is all a composition this light can be expected to give. Multiply that by a summer and a 50ml bottle does not go far. Two hundred millilitres at refill pricing turns it from an occasional pleasure into the thing you reach for every morning without thinking about the cost.
There is one practical caution. Citrus materials degrade faster than woods or resins, so a large bottle wants storing in a dark cupboard rather than on a sunny windowsill, and it is worth decanting into a smaller atomiser for daily use rather than carrying the refill around. The scent itself reads unisex and suits mornings, heat, travel and work. It is cheerful rather than serious and has never pretended to be anything else, which is part of why it has stayed in the range for as long as it has. Thierry Wasser is named as its perfumer.
Guerlain is a Paris house, founded in 1828 and owned by LVMH, which counts more than 1,100 creations in the catalogue it inherited.
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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