Scentrack:
Thomas
Dutronc – Comme Un Manouche Sans Guitare
I came across Bella Notte by an accident
on a boring rainy evening in Munich. It was very nice at the first sniff.
Polite, semi dark and extremely spicy like a bazaar.
1881 Bella Notte has an extremely short
citrus phase, and then the spices are introduced. This Oriental interplay of
spices is the main theme in this composition. Black pepper, cardamom, strong cinnamon,
coriander, nutmeg. All these spices are mashed together in one intensive soup
that is sometimes hard to isolate a separate spice. Personally, I prefer less
spices and more pronounced to feel all the depth separate notes. After this
spicy heart the base is somehow shy and mellow. The strongly artificial vanilla
note takes the lead, similar to another blue bottled scent – Hugo Boss Dark
Blue. This vanilla (like note of vanilla-flavored coke) is accompanied by some
musk and woodsy notes. In spite of the strong spicy character of the heart, the
composition is very balanced. Even too balanced to my liking. I feel the
composition has a potential to be darker and more intensive, unfortunately it is
just another middle of road designer fragrance. The spicy heart and vanilla
drydown are really nice. In fact, Bella Notte is very enjoyable. I prefer it
during summer nights due to its extreme shyness. The main issue of 1881 Bella
Notte is poor performance. It lasts only 2-4 hours on my skin with minimal
sillage. This is very unfortunate for this solid composition. What a pity, and
could have been a designer winner. Still, it possesses a very nice blue bottle,
and the face of the visually attractive campaign was a famous French gypsy jazz
guitarist Thomas Dutronc, the son of Jacques Dutronc and Francoise Hardy.
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| Source: ruiniemariotti.com |
Longevity / Projection
Poor (2-4 hours) / Minimal
Suggested wearing
Summer / Night
Alternatives
Hugo Boss Dark Blue – an artificial vanilla
coke designer scent
Although I have not tried it yet, possibly
Mercedes Benz Infinitive Spicy (similar notes, same perfumer, released a year
later)
Pros
Nice spicy scent
Easy to wear, nice on summer nights
Polite and likeable
Nice bottle
Cons
Abysmal performance
Rating
6/10
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