Aqua Allegoria Nerolia Vetiver
A fig next to a vetiver root is not an obvious idea for a summer fragrance, and Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Nerolia Vetiver Eau de Toilette is the most interesting thing in the range because somebody tried it anyway.
Neroli is the material the name leans on and it earns the billing: clean, slightly soapy, green and honeyed at once, with the bitterness of citrus flower behind the sweetness. It gives the fragrance its brightness and most of its first impression.
Basil sits with it, green and aromatic with an aniseed edge, and the two together are sharper and more savoury than a simple blossom scent would be. Then fig, which is the material that makes this unusual. Fig in perfumery is not the jammy fruit; it is milky, green and a little resinous, closer to the leaf and the sap than to anything you would eat, and it gives the composition a creamy texture that nothing else here could provide.
Vetiver finishes it, rooty and dry and slightly smoky, and it anchors a fragrance that would otherwise be all green brightness with nothing to hold it down. Four materials, no long development, and the whole picture is clear within the first ten minutes of wearing it. As an eau de toilette it gives five hours or so, with a close and well mannered presence throughout. It reads unisex and it is one of the easier fragrances to wear in a shared office, it suits warm weather, daytime and travel, and it is a sound recommendation for anyone who finds sweet fragrances hard to wear. Delphine Jelk is credited with it.
The house behind it has been French since it opened in Paris in 1828, and it belongs to LVMH now, which counts its creations in four figures.
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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