Usually in autumn I’m drawn toward woodsy, smoky, leathery fragrances. Not this autumn. Go figure. Despite the rain and falling leaves, it’s the floral, “girly” perfumes that have pulled me in lately. When I came across a full set of Masque Milano testers last week, I had to ask for sample vials of the line’s floral scents, Romanza and L’Attesa.
First, a quick word on the Masque Milano line. The fragrances are grouped into four “acts” that make up the “opera of life.” The acts are: experiences, places, discoveries, and journeys (no, that’s not all four acts, just one); interior monologues, emotions, deep thoughts and inner reflections, lights and shadows of human nature; sentimental relationships, romance and love, affections and betrayals; and dreams. Romanza and L’Attesa are part of Act III, the one about sentimental relationships.
Perfumer Cristiano Canali developed Romanza, a complex narcissus. Its notes include absinthe, orange blossom, angelica, French narcissus absolute, violet leaves, jasmine, vetiver, cedarwood, patchouli, amber accord and myrrh. Romanza is a wispy, shimmery, sexy narcissus that walks the line between white lace innocence and dirty stable.
Am I right in thinking that there aren’t a lot of fragrances starring narcissus out there, other than straight narcissus soliflores? Off the top of my head, I come up with Parfums de Nicolaï Le Temps d’une Fête, Amouage Myths Woman, and Caron Narcisse Noir. Of these, Romanza is probably closest to Myths Woman in its mix of purity and filth, although Romanza sparkles with jasmine and juicy orange blossom with a coyness that makes Myths Woman feel like a country girl.
Hay, civet and a whiff of skunky oakmoss run under Romanza’s prettiness, reminding me a bit of an ashtray in the groom’s room in the stable, and I like it. Romanza’s floralcy fades after a few hours, but instead of plunging into amber and woods, the fragrance seems to let up on the brakes and transforms into a light yet persistent waft of moss and earth.
Luca Maffei developed L’Attesa, a soft iris. Its notes include Italian bergamot, Moroccan neroli, Champagne accord, Italian iris absolute, Italian iris root butter, French iris root butter, tuberose absolute, ylang ylang, Mysore sandalwood, oakmoss and leather accord.
I’m a sucker for iris, and L’Attesa’s initial iris hit is everything I love: soft without powder, floral without popsicle sweetness, and earthy without rancid hair or turnips. It’s an elegant, silk velvet iris that smells like a million dollars. Carrot seed keeps the iris’s feet on the ground, and jasmine and ylang ylang stretch it skyward.
Alas, L’Attesa’s sharp iris glory softens into a merely lovely iris after a quarter hour. It’s an iris I’d happily wear regularly, but it’s hard to beat L’Attesa’s initial stellar hit. Other, cooler floral notes move in to share the stage and pull the fragrance into a nice floral alto harmony, which all too soon fades away. To me, L’Attesa is the Charvet shirt of iris: beautifully tailored of nice material, but unlikely to make the fashion pages. (That said, I’d love a Charvet shirt.)
The Masque Milano bottles are gorgeous. They have nice heft and balance, and under the sculpted cap — also satisfyingly heavy — a silver-toned metal ring covers the bottle’s shoulder. The atomizer is a dream. It sprays an ultrafine mist.
Unlike Masque Milano’s other fragrances, which come in 100 ml bottles, Romanza and L’Attesa Eaux de Parfum are only offered in 35 ml bottles. They sell for $165 each. For information on where to buy them, see Masque Milano under Perfume Houses.
Great reviews! Romanza wasn’t really my kind of things but on the contrary, L’Attesa was one of my favorite releases at Esxence this year and will definitely make it high in my yearly ranking
It really is lovely! I’m looking forward to seeing your yearly ranking.
I am wearing Romanza today and find it perfect for the fall; in summer its a little too rich for me. And I adore L’Atessa, which has much better lasting power on me than it sounds like for you. I too love the bottles and atomizers. Thanks for the review!
Romanza is so intriguing to me–I love smelling its progression. And, yes, the bottles are so nice!
@(%&*%^.
I’ve been trying to ignore Romanza. Now, looks like, I can’t. (Shouldn’t?)
How did you feel about Myths Woman? If you don’t like the animalic-narcissus thing, you can pass on Romanza. But if you do, you really should give Romanza a try….
Well, I like Myths W, but honestly, every time I start to reach for the decant, my hand moves over to LTdF instead. I dunno. Maybe I should just buy another 4 backups of LTdF and a bottle of Dame Narcissus for amping up the later versions* and be done with it.
*The early stuff was perrrrrrfect. PdN kept shaving it thinner and thinner before ditching it. I’m still POed.
My bottle of Le Temps d’une Fete is 6 years old–I guess I’d better hang onto it, from what you say. Yikes.
Yeah, it’s gone. I emailed PdN last fall asking if I could buy some, and the answer was nope. (@*%& IT.)
I mean, I have a stash. I have *quite* the stash. But I’m sorry that there won’t be more, because I love it so. I suppose I’ve been looking for something that makes me feel the same way. Which is utterly dumb, because I do have that stash, and even the way I wear it, it won’t run out in the next ten years. (eye roll at self)
I completely understand. I’ve done that “eye roll at self” more times than I can count!
(For some reason, NST doesn’t have a reply under some comments and I’ve often wonder: why? For instance, there’s not a reply under MALS86’s comment from 5:05. Is it just me? BTW, NST can do no wrong, so I’m not complaining!)
“I mean, I have a stash. I have *quite* the stash. But I’m sorry that there won’t be more, because I love it so. I suppose I’ve been looking for something that makes me feel the same way. Which is utterly dumb, because I do have that stash, and even the way I wear it, it won’t run out in the next ten years. (eye roll at self)” — Mals86, you have summed that up SO WELL! I do that a lot, too!
I think once the nested comments have reached a certain level, you can’t respond directly to a comment. (Not that it ever stops me! As I prove here.) And I heartily agree with the sometimes irrational fear of running out of a beautiful perfume. I feel that way about old Miss Dior, even though I have a whopper bottle of it.
As soon as I get back to work on Thursday I am going to sample the Romanza which is hidden in my desk because of your review Angela!
I’d love to know what you think of it!
These both sound absolutely lovely! And you have no idea how happy it makes me to read the lists of notes and NOT see “… and musk.” I hope to be able to sniff these soon.
Thanks for a great review.
There might well be musk in them, but it’s not dominant. It’s so nice to smell things that are “pretty” once in a while.
Yes I’m going to ditto that b/c I can’t stand the overly voluminous musk that is in EVERYTHING these past few years and is just getting lazy for developers. (I’m giving the skunk eye to the new No 5 “l’eau” for being a musk bomb that smells like someone miss labeled the bottles and put Infusion d’Iris in the No 5. Grrr.)
I’m no fan of that sort of plasticky-woody musk that seems to be used by the gallon now, too. I get a hint of it in L’Eau No. 5, but it sounds like it’s a lot worse on you.
Doesn’t Pd’E Tabac Tabou have a lot of narcissus? That’s one I enjoy.
Yes! Vol de Nuit does, too, but they feel different than a more floral narcissus-starring fragrance, you know what I mean? I’m starting to realize that narcissus can be a shapeshifter.
I was going to mention Tabac Tabou, too! Plenty of dirty stable in that one, or at least overheated horsey-ness. And I mean that in a good way.
L’Attesa sounds *wonderful*. Iris, iris, iris, neroli, tuberose, champagne, oakmoss, and leather? If I was going to ask someone to whip me up a custom fragrance, that sounds like exactly what I’d request! Must try.
I love “over-heated horsey-ness” as a description! Maybe I’ll get out my sample and wear that one today.
This sounds very gorgeous. My favourite perfume narcissus fragrances are LTduF and Ostara. Both sadly discontinued. Apparently only perfume fans love daffies.
I’m so disappointed that they’re discontinued. I’d have thought they were both popular enough to live on, but what do I know?
I tested both when I was in Paris this summer but haven’t tried either since. Loved Romanza, less so L’Attesa.
And don’t forget Ostara as a narcissus-centric perfume!
Good point on Ostara! Such a nice one, too!
Interesting reviews, thanks. I thought I would love L’Atessa more than I did/do but I am glad I have a small decant. I prefer Naomie Goodsir Iris Cendre. As for Romanza, d*mn it, have been wrestling with myself over a decant of that one. I love narcissus. How about Bruno Fazzolari Au Dela Narcisse?
Iris Cendre is hard to beat. I love its hint of smokiness. As for Au Dela Narcisse, I’ve never tried it–I’ll have to rectify that!
Thanks for the thoughtful reviews – I’ve never heard of this line yet and it’s nice to know that someone is doing something complicated, with a gorgeous bottle to boot. I’m not really a big fan of narcissus – the only fragrances I have with whiffs of it are vintage Montaigne and Vol de Nuit. Just enough to keep things interesting. The second one you review with the iris sounds like just my thing.
You’re welcome! I was skeptical of this line–there are so many new lines! Overwhelming!–but it seems like they’re worth checking out. They seem thoughtfully done.