Asphaltblume

The main character of Summer Hill is definitely floral!
The top note is of jasmin and freesia. These flowers are totally clear, white and a little bit of yellow. If you spray it on and walkoutside you should by rights be surrounded by dancing butterflies like a princess in a fairytale.
On the way to the heart note the bright floral fragrance becomes deeper and somehow darker due to the lime tree blossoms coming out to play. They are neither heavy nor distinctly sweet and not numbing at all.
The overall effect of this is that for my nose Summer Hill smells of lime-tree blossoms. This is the scent of a lime-tree avenue on a warm evening in june, when the trees art in full bloom. Just like this.
And that's why I love Summer Hill.
Later on, the fragrance becomes warmer and a little woody and the flowers are not quite as dominant anymore.
To me it is a fragrance of simple and contained elegance, romantic and well-groomed.

Summer Hill is quite noticeable and has a fairly good longevity, but it is never obtrusive or oppressive due to the natural and light character of its blossoms. This is one of my favourite fragrances for summer.
(Lime or linden-tree)

Before she topples for good I'll quickly review this unnumbered lady from the house of Betty Barclay. She is a pretty one after all.
The citric head note has turned already in my bottle and is rather piercing now. The hyacinth must be a water hyacinth, at least I can't explain the clear aquatic freshness otherwise. The only contribution of the peach seems to be a general airy fruityness that does not at all recall a fruit salad. Cassia is difficult as it is ambiguous: It can refer to Chinese Cinnamon (smells intensely of cinnamon, a bit sharp and with a slight hay-note of coumarin) as well as to Needle Bush, the blossom of which is used in perfumery, but I have no idea what it smells like. But as I can't detect anything like cinnamon, I suppose it must be Needle Bush in this fragrance.

The heart note continues the fresh, light and airy character of the fragrance. I cannot identify jasmin and lily, there is only a general light and airyly fresh floral scent. The whole fragrance is slightly aquatic and a bit green. In addition to this florality (slightly synthetic due to the aquatic note) I smell something a bit fruity, raspberries perhaps? Maybe half a hint of Williams pear?
The base note stays just that, a base, nothing to sniff out individually, apart from tonka bean maybe, as there is a little of a bright scent of vanilla and hay. The rest of the base note is just soft and warm and supplies a foothold to the etheric florals notes.

"Woman" is a scent devoted to freshness and airiness. It is contained (apart from the very distinct aquatic note maybe) and surrounds the wearer with a feminine and well-groomed air of delicately flowery freshness.
For this reason I can picture this fragrance as a utility scent for shower gels, washing detergent and such. It is suitable for the office as well.

Right. Grapefruit and pepper, it smells a bit masculine at first. Mint is there right away, too. Pleasant. A bit acerbic, fresh and herbal, neither aquatic-fresh nor like tooth paste or even chewing gum, but herbaceous.

The warmer base starts to show through quickly as well. The pepper is slipping away or maybe merging with the cedarwood, difficult to decide. Mint is astonishingly tenacious, especially as mint usually doesn't stay for long.
Grapefruit is restricted to the top note, once we reach the heart there is nothing left but a hint of bitterness. But mint is still going strong. It is borne by warmer woody notes. At first I recognize the cedarwood I noticed in the top note already, after that there is the acerbic and medicinal scent of birch bark. A little amber adds warmth, but that does not mean that the mint is gone, oh no!
Coming to the base note, the woody and warm spicy ingredients and also leather take prevalence, but a hint of mint stays until the very end.

After the first few Minutes "Cerruti Image Femme" reminds me of "Acqua Allegoria Herba Fresca".
To my mind this fragrance is at least as suitable for men as it is for women! It is not intrusive at all (not on skin, anyway) and not unpeasantly tart or acerbic either. It breathes a dignified and well-groomed freshness that smells more of freshly washed with soap than freshly showered with shower gel.

I had an old tester tube when I wrote this but decided to buy a larger bottle which I did. And it smells still the same. Fortunately, as this scent made me think of a very relaxed holiday in Sweden.

There was a meadow strewn with birch and alder trees sloping down from the chalet (a red timber house with white corners as becomes a swedish hytta) to the lake and a small, slightly muddy sandy bathing place. Next to it was a boardwalk with a slightly leaking old fishingboat, and then a thick reed zone interspersed with purple loosestrife and water mint...

The first thing I notice after applying Soleil de Rochas iscedarwood accompanied by a mixture of fruity and flowery scents that is hard to pick apart. I can identify pear and a bright and tangy citrus note - mandarin.
The flowers are more difficult. Rose is easy to recognize, tuberose and orange blossom stay undercover for now.
The cedarwood is still obvious, by the way.
Now I recognize the orange blossom: It's not freshly bloomed but dried! That takes away the prickly tangyness and makes it softer and enveloping.
All these notes combine again quickly into a serene, softly enveloping fragrance of a light sweetness that is gently powdery. Mellow, not sugary. And then it stays like that for a while.

Patchouli withholds itself and just contributes a slight shading, a gentle melancholy. Vanilla holds back as well, contributing only to this powdery softness and serenity. Something - the light woods listed? the pink pepper? adds a warm, enigmatic whiff of balsamic and resiny reliability.

The tuberose I perceive as an occasional brightly floral flash, otherwise it intertwines smoothly with the background.
The balsamic pepperberries, cedarwood and patchouli keep the airy composition grounded and give it a subliminal melancholic earnesty and thus keep Soleil de Rochas from being interchangeable.
Soleil de Rochas is not bright but serene, young but for all ages.
It is not a demanding or strenuous scent, but a cahrming and serene companion that makes me smile whenever I catch a whiff.
Its longevity is not impressive, after half a day I have to sniff it out conciously, otherwise I would not smell it anymore. Or you could spray it on more boldly than I usually do.

Even the oval-shapes bottle filled with a light orange liquid is serene in spite of its clear-edged shape that has nevertheless an element of playfulness: The bottom is not straight but rounded so that it rocks!
I also like the promotional film that sports a playfulness that is more dreamy than romantic.

To me, 1881 is impossible to pick apart, I simply can't sniff out any of the components. 1881 is very rounded, soft and inobtrusive but present at the same time. Not polished, more like soft suede, a pliant blend of warm, not overly sweet blossoms, light wood and just enough citrus (or maybe just citrus blossoms?) to give this scent a subdued and well-groomed freshness. To me it is a kind of cosmetic fragrance that merges with my skin scent perfectly. On some days I think it smells of hair somehow. Groomed hair of course, but not freshly washed, rather the day before. On those days I think it smells a bit synthetic, too, as if the old fragrance of the Herbal Essences shampoo wafts from the hair while at the same time you can already smell the scalp a bit. I happen to like that.
1881 can be worn anytime anywhere, adapting to just about any situation. The only thing you can't do with it is stand out. Or rather it doesn't distract from the wearer's daring dress, outrageous hairdo or extravagant appearance. It forms a harmonic base, like a good make-up, like a perfectly primed canvas. Or no, it is more like the rosewood-coloured lipstick that's no more than a shade deeper than the natural lip colour.

Insofar it would be a candidat for the question: If you could have one fragrance only, which would it be? But I think I'm not the only one who in such a case would pick an edgier fragrance that is not quite as devoted to obligingness. Could I pick two, though, 1881 would most likely be one of them...