Perfume review: Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au The Blanc, aka White Tea

Posted by Robin on 27 February 2006 30 Comments

Bvlgari Eau Parfumée au Thé Blanc, aka White Tea

Bvlgari followed up on the success of Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert with Eau Parfumée au Thé Blanc, or White Tea. It was created by perfumer Jacques Cavallier and released in 2003. The fragrance notes are artemisia leaves, white tea, ambrette seeds, white pepper, woody amber and musk.

Thé Blanc starts out mild, with soft citrus and a hint of aromatic bitterness from the artemisia. As that calms, we get the white tea and pepper as promised, but the overall effect is more that of a musky skin scent with woody undertones. It is clean, more warm than bright, and very smooth, with nothing like the refreshing crispness of Thé Vert…

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Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au The Vert Extreme fragrance review

Posted by Robin on 24 February 2006 21 Comments

Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au The Vert Extreme fragrance

Yesterday’s Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert is a very light fragrance, with minimal lasting power. In response to the demand for something stronger and longer lasting, Bvlgari introduced Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert Extreme, aka Green Tea Extreme, in 1996. Like the original, it was created by Jean Claude Ellena, and the notes are also the same: bergamot, orange blossom, cardamom, coriander, pepper, rose, jasmine, green tea, oakmoss, tonka bean, and beeswax.

As you would expect, the Extreme is a deeper fragrance than the original. It starts with the same mix of citrus and spices, but the spices are heavier, and I find the pepper to be much more pronounced in relation to the cardamom and coriander…

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Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au The Vert (Green Tea) fragrance review

Posted by Robin on 23 February 2006 45 Comments

Bvlgari Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert

Bvlgari released Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert in 1992. It is a unisex cologne created by perfumer Jean Claude Ellena, and the notes are bergamot, orange blossom, cardamom, coriander, pepper, rose, jasmine, green tea, oakmoss, tonka bean, and beeswax.

According to Chandler Burr,

Ellena and his wife Susannah are serious lovers of tea and usually bought at the house Mariage Freres, which at that point hadn’t become as famous as it is now. He went often, and loved the smells….and after making his purchases, he would go back to his lab and, all but compelled, write short formulae, the scents he’d been buying running in his head.

The result, Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert, was Bvlgari’s first fragrance release…

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Bvlgari Black perfume review

Posted by Robin on 22 February 2006 92 Comments

Bvlgari Black fragrance bottle

Black was launched by Bvlgari, the Italian jewelry line, in 1998. It was created by perfumer Annick Menardo, and the fragrance notes are black tea, rosewood, bergamot, cedar, oakmoss, vanilla, amber, sandalwood, and musk.

Black is one of those masterpieces of weird that you would expect to come out of an obscure niche design house. Bvlgari calls it a “supreme exponent of the metropolitan concept”, and the fragrance does have an edgy, urban, very modern feel. There is a short lived citrus top note; after that, the focus is on black tea, in this case lapsang souchong, which lends a smoky, almost earthy edge to the dry woods. It is mildly spicy, with hints of burning rubber and leather, and a whisper of something like tobacco leaf. The far dry down is smoother and softer, with an almost comfort-scent blend of vanilla, musk and woods…

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Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au The Rouge (Red Tea) fragrance review

Posted by Robin on 21 December 2005 42 Comments

Bvlgari Red Tea The Rouge perfume Eau Parfumée au Thé Rouge (Red Tea) was released by Bvlgari this month, and is the third in a series of tea-based perfumes following Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert (1992) and Thé Blanc (2002). It was created by perfumer Olivier Polge, and features notes of bergamot, orange, pink pepper, fig pulp, Roiboos red tea, Yunnan red tea, walnut and musk.

It starts with a heavy, rather sweet blast of citrus with a good dose of pepper. That calms into a sweet mix of tea, fig, and walnut. It is very well blended and none of the individual notes stand out; it smells vaguely figgy, vaguely floral, and has a subtle nutty undertone. The Yunnan red tea, which is simply black tea from Yunnan — in China, fermented teas (e.g., all black teas) are referred to as “red” teas” — is more noticeable than the Rooibos tea to my nose…

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a blog about perfume

Perfume review: Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au The Blanc, aka White Tea

Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au The Vert Extreme fragrance review

Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au The Vert (Green Tea) fragrance review

Bvlgari Black perfume review

Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au The Rouge (Red Tea) fragrance review