Susan

Silvana Casoli's fragrances always remind me of entire landscapes rather than their individual elements.....

Comparable roughly to a breeze that unites all the olfactory impulses of all the plants growing there and from them creates a completely "new" fragrance.....everything fits seamlessly into each other and unfolds according to its original nature into a balanced whole......

The role of "binding force", which in nature usually falls to the wind, is taken over in SILVANA by a feather-light musk......

A precious, unsweet iris and certainly other flowers combine to create a delicate, creamy, ethereal breeze.......supported by mildly peppery, subtly berry-like spice and - if my nose doesn't deceive me - a fine trace of soft and warm cedar wood (but I could be wrong here).....

Silvana is from the tendency rather dry....but not completely......as well as the wind, Silvana inheres a certain "humidity".....

The fragrance captivates with its extraordinarily delicate composition......it is wonderfully light-creamy, discreetly floral-sweet, moderately spicy, floating and elegant.....

The sillage is restrained, the durability itself, however, quite good......

Admittedly: The beginning of the scent scared me a little....

Citrusy and rosy notes tend to create an impression of tart spiciness for me.....especially when accompanied by a neatly raspy powder note......

But then, you've learned a thing or two over the years as a perfume aficionado......

Among other things, that the first spray of a decided powder fragrance just always IS riotous.....IMMER.!!!

That's kind of the "inherent nature" of a powder scent......it can't help it, and it doesn't mean any harm......

It's the testing threshold, so to speak, that separates the true powder warrior from the powder meme *grin* ;-)).......

Those who ultimately want to enjoy a cotton-soft cloud journey just have to get through it......

The powder-Jeanne d'Arc in me has mastered this first test of course sovereign (hihi) and now floats on fluffy-fine powder-sheep clouds over wide, white and delicately scented flower fields.......steht's umweht by a fine, fresh-spicy breeze.......

As the journey progresses, the climate becomes slightly warmer and sweeter.....but always remains powdery-dry......

It's an amazing long journey, by the way, that this POUDRE takes you on......only after many wonderful hours does it land quietly and gently on a soft-sweet and downy-soft amber/tonka bed..

Note: POUDRE is not a "squeaker"!!!! Not a Barbie doll or Pippi Longstocking scent....it's not nearly sweet enough for that.......if I had to give it a color, it would be milky white with light green and honey streaks......

That's the eternal question since the two have been on the market together......and to put it bluntly: I still haven't found a conclusive answer even after decades......I'd say yes and no.....

Yes....because they are two completely different fragrances

No.....because No.5 is clearly the more beautiful and sophisticated fragrance (at least for me ;-)..)

LIU is next to the old Chamade one of only two Guerlain fragrances, which I have ever liked......wenngleich LIU it has never made it into my collection........fortunately, I have the old LIU no longer concrete in mind and save me thereby possibly the usual comparison disappointment.......

So now I compare left LIU with right No.5/EDT.......

The direct comparison shows that they are ultimately just two completely different fragrances, which have only their fulminant aldehyde prelude in common.....

But even here, a direct comparison already shows significant differences.....

While in No.5 the aldehydes are wonderfully waxy and and flanked by a fresh citrus, they seem in LIU rather a little pungent and sharp-powdery.....whether this has always been so extreme, I dare to doubt ;-)....in addition, they are clearly longer present and leading than this is the case with No.5 / EDT......

Thus, in LIU the heart note announces itself initially also only subliminally and over a longer period......stets overlaid by the quite dominant aldehydes.......Rose and jasmine create only laboriously the way to the surface, and one notices their desperate struggle almost a little......

No.5 / EDT, on the other hand, glides almost seamlessly into its wonderful heart note and remains there for a long time in all its glory and splendor *sigh & gush* .......

When LIU is then finally arrived in the heart note, the rose comes to the fore.....although the jasmine only slightly more restrained appearance.....this perception may, however, also owe a bit to my aversion to all too clear rose ;-)......

This heart note is ultimately also, the LIU for me as a purchase candidate excludes.......she is too sweet-floral and rose-heavy for me.......even the slow-onset woods assets this impression for me not emphatically to weaken.......sumal now also the vanilla comes......Iris I perceive, if at all, only very quietly......perhaps it strengthens at this point the sweet impression a little....

Also the base of LIU I like so far not as good as that of No.5 / EDT.....

LIU I feel here as much more creamy and less airy-floating than Nr.5 / EDT .....she is woodier, denser and a little more "massive" (if you can say so)

Vanilla is also found in the No.5 / EDT base, but in a completely different way......less sweetish and clearly "refreshed by vetiver".......

Summa summarum: LIU is a wonderful, floral-powdery aldehyde fragrance of the old school.....elegant and feminine.......it is an independent fragrance that shares with No.5 only the aldehydic prelude and the floral-powdery basic character.......

While Nr.5 / EDT is cooler, more permeable, floating and mMn finely differentiated, LIU moves all in all in a sweeter and creamier direction......without being a "sweet" fragrance, however.....

PS: I refer here deliberately to the No.5 EDT, because the EDP is not the original No. 5 fragrance and is clearly different from this.....

Patchouli fragrances I rarely feel as graceful......mostly they come with this me unlovely and striking "I'm soooo wicked and mysterious" - Attitüde therefore.....

Emilie is different.....despite her darkly sweet appearance, she retains a certain amount of elegance and nobility........

The fragrance starts with moderately sweet and slightly chocolaty patchouli, which becomes somewhat earthier as it progresses.......fortunately, the berries do not appear in their cardboard-sweet sticky manner, but behave in a demure and "grown-up" way, ensuring that the patchouli, which becomes more earthy, does not lose its delicate sweetness and femininity ......

Pepper I perceive only very cautiously.....as do leather and woods.......they are present in just the right measure to keep the sweetness at a moderate level and give the fragrance a certain earthy "firmness"......

Emilie is a semi-dark, warm and creamy scent with decidedly impressive sillage and longevity........it melts beautifully into the skin, enveloping the wearer in an enveloping and subtly erotic aura.......

Who patchouli fragrances are generally too bulky, which could dare a test here......

THE NELKE: clearer & harsher

THE IRIS: replaced by rose ( :-/ )

GALBANUM : interferes

THE LEATHER: still there, but no longer so soft and elegant

THE TOBACCO ASSUMPTION: still there, but weaker......and more "intentional" than "naturally arising".....

THE DREAM BASE: gone

The new TABAC BLOND smells, all in all, a distinct hint "sharper"......the clove is less finely "ground" than in the original and lies rather than blends.....

For me personally, the worst is the use of tart fruity "rose" instead of the original soft powdery iris......this puts me off the scent.....

Ylang-ylang has always been there - though not mentioned.....

And what the Galbanum has to look for all of a sudden here, I do not understand......dabei I like Galbanum.....but here it just does not fit for me.....

Perhaps the biggest downer, however, is the "loss" of the "golden", warm-balsamic base....

Everything seems harder, edgier, less fluid in the transitions.....

Now it's not that I think the new Tabac Blond is bad.......you can also definitely tell that this is based on the "real" Tabac Blond.........

I just think that keeping the fragrance name may lead to disappointment for lovers of the original fragrance......in particular, because then quite a few ingredients have been replaced, added or taken away.....

Especially by the use of rose, the fragrance character (for my nose) is significantly changed.....even if you could not now say that it is present throughout and in a dominant way.........but it is there.....with its restrained fruity impression......and I do not like it.....

Perhaps one or the other possibly knows the degree of difference between CUIR DE RUSSIE EDT and CUIR DE RUSSIE EDP..? In this way in about the new TB differs from the old.....man recognizes the fragrance....but it is not the same ....

PS: I did a parallel test for this commi......of course that's always a bit nasty too ;-)...