FRAGRANCE Stash

I’ve already shown my make-up collection. Now, I think it is time to talk about fragrance.

I’m not a great fragrance collector – I usually buy one fragrance in the smallest packaging possible (30ml) which lasts for cca 6 months and then I switch to the new one.

My taste in fragrances has changed extremely – while I was little I loved heavy chypres. As a teenager I have switched towards orientals – but with a slight masculine note. In my late teens I liked woody orientals, while the appreciation of florals came only in my 20s, after an identity crisis.

On the tray you can see all the fragrance I have bought in my life (only Fragonard Miranda is missing). I have a rule that I never spend the fragrance completely – I always save several millilitres in case the fragrance is going to be discontinued.

MONTALE Intense Tiare EdP Review

The most amazing scent ever.

I have fallen in love with Tiare scent with the first sniff of Terracotta Eau Sous le Vent. Montale Intense Tiare is another perfection.

Montale is among cheaper niche fragrances. 100ml costs around $115 in my country, which is pretty similar to the price of the mainstream perfume houses.

The bottle comes in a black pouch. The bottle is made of aluminium and it is not transparent, so you cannot see how much of the fragrance you have left. The bottle doesn’t have a cap. You „open it“ by pulling out that silver vertical clamp.

Inside the bottle is the most amazing perfume ever. It is the pure essence of summer and tropics – beach, warm sand, sunset and warm breeze.

Like the name says, it is intense Tiare scent. Tiare (Tahitian Gardenia) smells really sweet. It is surrounded with the slight coconut smell. Luckily, the coconut isn’t too strong, it just gives the slightly tropical dimension to the tiare.

There really aren’t any more notes to describe – it is pure tiare. When you first spray it, the scent is so heavy and so overwhelming – I almost feel sorry for the people who have to share a vehicle with me after I spray myself. After several hours, the scent is more subdued and it can be felt only in the close proximity.

What I like the most is that this scent is so longwearing that it is almost impossible to wash off. I can try as much as I like to take it off, but I can still feel a slight trace of scent after shower. If this scent gets in your hair, it will be impossible to remove.I have washed my hair three times and my hair still smelled of Intense Tiare.

UPDATE: I love this fragrance even more. I wore it absolutely every day on my vacation – even to the beach (this is not my habit usually). I couldn’t help myself – it simply smelt so good in the combination with the smell of the sea and pine – an essence of summer.

Overall:

Obsession de la Semaine: Tiare

It has all started with a spritz of Guerlain Terracotta Eau sous le Vent. It is a moisturizing body oil infused with a rich scent of Tahitian gardenia flowers. It smells wonderful: warm, luscious, deliciously sweet. I’m in love ever since.

However, the lasting power of the scent is almost non-existent. Ever since, I’ve been searching for a perfect tiare scent like medieval knights had been searching for a Holy Grail

My quest took me to L’Erbolario store. There I have found a Tiare inspired collection, but the scent was far from perfect. Nevertheless, I got shower cream, hoping that it will be enough to sustain me until I find perfection.  

My next stop was a niche perfumery. There, I was introduced to Comptoir Sud Pacifique Tiare Aloha. The composition of this perfume did its best to make tiare repulsive. Desperate, I was asking if there was anything else. And here comes Montale Intense Tiare. Yes, this was what I’ve been looking for. Full, rich, decadent and utterly irresistible. My favourite.

 

 

Tiare flowers courtesy of Tahiti Tourisme. Other pictures are mine