Florence

[Ina Garten Davita]

Florence:

 

The pearl of the Italian Renaissance. Elegant iris, bright berries, gilded amber and velvety spices.

 

First Impression: Iris, but not overpowering.

 

Second Impression: Oh, goodness another gorgeous, evocative scent. I bought this scent purely for the name, it's the city in Italy I most want to visit. And this conjures up the images of sitting in a window sketching the a gorgeous view of the city as warm, gentle breeze blows in. Better yet, this is the scent of a tryst with David. Spices, amber and iris all blend wonderfully together. Not getting the berries at this time.

 

Final Analysis: The name called to me and so I bought a bottle unsmelled, I'm thrilled that I did. A keeper.

[nevermore]

I, too, bought this one based on the name alone (Florence just happens to be my last name). Of course, it doesn't hurt that some of my favorite notes are in here too - amber, iris and spices. When first on, Florence is predominantly iris, but as it dries, the amber and spices come out. After an hour or so, the iris is mostly gone, and I was left with amber and spices and a touch of berries. Also, it lasted very long - 12 hours at least (I washed it off this morning so I could try something new). I think I'm going to buy a bigger bottle of this very soon.

[Reinaluna]

Florence, This one is kind of nice! I can smell the amber and berries real good. This one is almost kind of too candyish like Old Madrid to me but not quite. The drydown after 2 min the velvetyness starts to appear. I dont know about a bottle yet, I will know for sure in about a month.

Edited December 24, 2004 by Reinaluna

[lorajc]

I usually don't like to post reviews until I've actually worn the fragrance for an entire day, but I had to post on this one from just testing. I'll update in the future if necessary. This went on spicy and floraly...(iris)...and then it mellows into a gorgeous spicy berry on me. I love this and I'm glad I got a 5 ml strictly from the notes listed. I love berry scents and spices so I figured it would be a winner and I'm quite pleased.

 

ETA: After wearing this all day today, there is a spice in here that goes a bit acrid on me for a while and then dissipates. I noticed I get this with some of Beth's blends she describes as "middle eastern spices". Even so, the drydown is gorgeous.

Edited January 5, 2005 by lorajc

[jj_j]

I'm a fan of iris - Hiris was a favorite in my pre-BPAL life - and the combination of iris and berries was too much to resist. I went straight for the 5 ml. of Florence, and I'm delighted that I did.

 

When I first put it on, Florence is all iris, with a distinct earthy note. Beth's single note of iris always smelled to me like it included leaves, root, and flower, so it's no surprise to me. It's not the heavy earthen and root-like smell of vetiver, more the scent of dirt clinging to your gardening gloves as you plant bulbs; subtle but grounding.

 

It doesn't take long for the berries and amber to wind their way into the blend, and my expectations for the berries are met and exceeded. They're a bit tart and very juicy, and when you add the warmth and liquid tones of the amber, you have a scent that's out of this world.

 

Spices aren't dominant at any point in this scent, at least not on me. They're very much a background note, and they get melded into the amber and heighten its effect. When I let my mother try Florence, the spices and amber turned baby-powderish on her at this point, so that may be something to consider if you know your body chemistry plays that particular trick with those notes.

 

All in all, a fabulous scent. Not the full-blown grandeur of Old Venice, but all the expensive richness of it. Florence is about luxury, heady and obtained at any price, with only the finest and most lush in texture being good enough. For me, Florence was about texture, where Old Venice was about color - the difference in velvety purple iris petals and softened, candle-warmed amber versus bright lemons, red currants, and the most vibrant of flowers.

 

I have a feeling I'll go through this bottle very quickly, and will have to re-order.

[Caitfish]

In the Bottle:

Dominant notes: Uh-oh. Those spices they talk about? A bunch of them. That may not mean anything for you, but to my skin, that can spell ruin for a scent. I can also smell sweet amber and perhaps a bit of Iris, but it isn't overpowering. No berries.

Impressions: A bit concerned about those spices, but the underlying notes are beautiful.

 

On:

Mmm, yummy. The spices are definately present, but they aren't overpowering as I expected. I really had hoped for some berries, but I can't detect any. The iris has softened even more, it's barely apparent, in fact. Lots of amber. Spicy amber is basically what I'm getting, and it's lovely.

 

Overall Impressions:

Great strength, and a very attractive scent. Spicy, but unique. I really do like this one.

[Astarte]

Initially on myself, all I can smell is Iris after dabbing a little on. Its very strong and after the initial intensity of the Iris has died down, it blossomed out into a slightly sweet floral/fruity scent, with a base note hanging in the background.

 

Its very lovely and while I couldnt stand the strength of the initial iris note, what Florence eventually became is absolutely lovely.

[shadow]

Now I know what people mean when they say they smell like those old Strawberry Shortcake dolls. It's not quite like that on me, but it does smell like some old childhood toy.

 

I generally have bad luck with berries (get WAY too sweet on and drown everything else out) and amber (soft golden powder). So I kinda suspected going into this one that I might have bad luck. I tried it anyway, because you just never know when something might work out despite funky chemistry. It's actually not unpleasant on, but I do get the berry, the powder and something slightly plasticky. Since it reminds me of something I played with as a kid, I might keep it around for sentimentality's sake.

 

I can tell by smelling the imp that it must be wonderful on people who don't have my problems.

[Northernminx]

Desperately wanted to love this one, the berries and amber with a touch of floral were GORGEOUS when I first applied. Rich and yet refined and I was totally thrilled. Something in this powders out on my chemistry though and I now smell like rather expensive baby powder. It's not an unpleasant smell but I want the first phases back so this one goes off to swaps much to my dismay.

[Belladonnastrap]

I'm not getting any of the iris that others have mentioned but I HAVE gotten a bunch of juicy berries and amber that definitely make this a keeper for me. It smells like a more playful version of my dearly departed Carnivale which makes sense. Carnivale had that whole hedionitisc thing going on. It's definitely more lighter then that though. The amber really holds it all together in this sort of golden red haze. Very lovely and a bigger bottle is on tap

[VorpalBunny]

Ooh, this is lovely. Out of the imp, I wasn't so sure, but I tried it, and it is a nice juicy berry scent without being too sweet or too bitter. The spices are faint and just add a nice roundness to it. On me, it smells a bit like commercial perfume, but this is one of the few that turns "perfumey" on me that I actually really like. I get a slight reminiscence of Desire for some reason, maybe there is a similar note somewhere?

[darkling]

In the bottle: I smell the resin of Cathedral but a bit watered down.

 

On my wrist: Is this Cathedral? Does my imp have the wrong label? No. There are some subtle differences. The resin scent is weaker in Florence and has a touch of cinnamon spice.

 

Drydown: The scent evaporates quickly. It is almost completely gone within a few hours.

 

I tried this one about four times to be sure that my nose (or my body chemistry) wasn't confounding the scent. However, Florence remained the same.

[Donnababe]

Florence

 

This is unbelievably sweet. Instead of a floral this is a smell very similiar to a British candy called Dolly Mixtures. In time the amber does come along to warm and soften the proceedings but this is far too sweet for me.

[TheDarkMother]

In the Bottle: Sweet berries and musk. Delicious!

 

On Me: Slightly peppery and musky, the amber is actually coming through on me more than the berries when I smell my wrist. Off of the wrist is a sweet sugary berry scent that is just gorgeous. It reminds me of cranberries dipped in powdered sugar and frozen like that.

 

Very gorgeous and well blended. I need a big bottle of this one too when the imp runs out. Yum!

[diabolique]

i'm not getting anything out of this scent except PINE. when it was drying down, i got a whiff of the berries, but that was it. i don't know if this is the combination of amber and "elegant spices," but UGH! PINE!!

[pkwench]

Sniff: soft, perfume-y florals

Wet: Something woody comes out immediately. And then something creamy follows it.

 

After 10: It’s sweetening up and the berries are emerging to play. It’s held down to the arena of sophistication and elegance with the amber and the spice. Keeps it from being just a silly berry scent, I suppose. Elegant is the word that keeps coming to mind here. I very much approve!

[tempete]

There's something sharply green in the wet stage of Florence that is slightly headache inducing. It gives way to a lovely combo of amber and berries with a touch of green as the scent dries down, but unfortunately, morphs into the baby powder scent that Northernminx mentioned in her review. Bewitched remains my favourite berry BPAL, so Florence is off to swaps.

[SoapyRN]

Sweet creamy musk. It is the smell of warmth, like the walls buildings in the sun-baked city.

 

Very nice.

[Gin]

I smell the iris, and something like pine. How odd. The pine scent lifts a little and I can smell the berries. As it mellows, I think the pine I was smelling was actually a combination of the spices and the berries, and now that I recognize that, I like it much better. It reminds me of the incense at a Catholic Mass.

[HappyLoveJoy]

Florence- If you love Black Pearl (and I do) you just might love Florence. It's deeply tart and so rich. Mouthwatering! The amber is clearly present and the spices are softspoken yet still have an impressive whisper. This has 5 ml possibilities, it's like a brighter and lighter cousin of Black Pearl. I can hardly do this one justice with my description. This one glows.

[oatmealneko]

Florence smelled lovely at first. Iris & sweet berries, with a touch of musk (maybe those were spices, wrong oil, wrong scent, try again?). Then it dried. Ugh. Berries disappeared. Iris & amber. The iris was strong initially, but then the amber popped up. Amber & iris blended, but then it smelled weird. Almost like burning rubber. I had to wash it off after 15 minutes, horrible horrible, & it started out so well too! Amber's been an iffy note on me, too.

[Korki]

This one was a gift from the lab.

 

It smells nice in the bottle but once it hits my skin it is pine. That is all I got out of this and it isn't even listed in the blend. From start to finish it was pine. It didn't last a long time on me either. But that was okay since I don't want to walk around smelling like a pine tree. Unfortunatly this one is destined for the swap pile.

[sarahjay]

mmmmm berrylicious! I was worried that this would be too like Venice, but it's not at all. the spice/berry/amber combo is lovely on me and although it didn't last really long, it's done very well in my scent locket. no pine for me!

 

am thinking of buying a bottle

[shelldoo]

ahhhhh

 

the amber, and spices perfectly balance the iris and keep it from being an overly floral perfume, this one is very complex and blened gorgeously the berries sweeten up the background just a touch and perfectly complete this one! going on 5ml list

[tinyvulture]

this is really interesting. i love amber, and it's strong here. there's pine, spices that remind me of incense, and full, fruity but not overly sweet berries. all of these different things swirl over each other. on first sniff the spices are strongest. then i get a whiff of amber. next, the pine reveals itself. then i get a mixture of berries and amber. what a great, complex mixture.