![Ysbrand]()
Ysbrand
5
3-D carnation
Of all the luxurious Dolce & Gabbana Velvet Collection, Velvet Love is the most unusual and the only i would consider having (I liked Velvet Vetiver too, but as the others, it is a quite safe fragance, despite being executed with ingredients of a very fine quality)
Velvet Love contains a wonderful carnation. If i had to buy in this very moment a carnation fragance it would be a tough call between Velvet Love and Etro´s Dianthus, that i remember being greener. I have to say, the pink suede of the bottle (and let alone the name) is quite off-putting, and in my opinion, misleading, since you expect something tender and fluffy and ultra-femenine.
The scent of carnation is quite unique but sometimes in my head it blends with the (i had to look it up in the dictionary) hoary stock scent, that we call "alheli" here and it is a much prettier name. Now that both are growing in my terrace, i see that while they share a clove-ish spiciness, the carnation is warmer and deeper, while the stock is more high pitched and expansive. In Serge Lutens Vitriol d´Oeillet (that i like quite a lot, too) they come together, but Velvet Love is unmistakably a carnation fragance. I wonder if they have used authentic carnation absolute for this (it could be, considering the price) but if not, the construction of this note is wonderful.
The ingredients list is pretty eloquent by itself. Carnation, pepper, ylang. And heavy doses of all of them. The furious carnation has here some bright green facets, specially in the beginning (a chartreuse green ones, mind you) and settles in a very spicy white floral, smartly balanced with a dusty, caustic black pepper on one side, and the ylang enhancing the dense, intoxicating lily quality of the fragance. It is a strong perfume, good sillage, but despite its intensity, Velvet Love is extremely smooth, and wont catch you gasping for air. The peaks of each ingredient have been aligned so we have an even surface where all this materials are perfectly blended in an almost invisible creamy, doughy, slightly smoky, vanilla and heliotrope base.
