FRAGRANCE REVIEW Acqua di Parma Gelsomino Nobile: Jasmine Queen + Summer Breeze Draw

 

 

 

When it comes to floral notes jasmine is one of my favorites and the main reason for that is the number of different ways jasmine can present itself in perfume. When jasmine is at its most intense it is almost narcotic and full of indolic glory. When jasmine has the intensity turned down a bit a hint of the indoles are still there but it is less heady. When jasmine is used where the indoles are almost completely removed; it allows the sweetness of jasmine to predominate and even allows the green quality, which the indoles usually squash, to come out. It is this versatility that I believe makes jasmine one of the favorite ingredients for a perfumer to base a fragrance on. Almost every major line of fragrance has a jasmine entry, or two or three or more.

Acqua di Parma has since 2004 in its Le Nobili collection been exploring a single flower and attempting to uncover the nobility of each. Iris Nobile and Magnolia Nobile have been excellent examples of this style of fragrance. Both of them have a sense of straightforwardness to them without getting too extroverted that makes them perfect for everyday wear. Now we have a new fragrance in the La Nobili collection, Gelsomino Nobile.

Gelsomino, according to the press release, is a special species of jasmine which grows in Calabria, Italy. Whatever the case may be the jasmine as it is translated to scent is the third kind of jasmine I described above. Gelsomino Nobile has very little indolic nature and is much more floral and green. The choice to surround this clean jasmine with some other cleaned-up white flowers and musk make Gelsomino Nobile a great end of summer fragrance.

 

Gelsomino Nobile opens with the give and take of orange and pink pepper. Sweet citrus and zesty sipice make for a refreshing opening and set the stage for the star’s entrance. The jasmine does come forward very quickly out of the top notes and it is sweet and green. Underneath the jasmine are also orange blossom and tuberose. These are also the cleaned-up version of these normally indolic white flowers, too. As I’ve worn Gelsomino Nobile the indole lover in me wondered how this would have been if these three notes were all present in their most intense form. I realized that would’ve made this a fragrance of extremes. What you do have in Gelsomino Nobile is a light fluttering breeze of flowers and it is a much more enjoyable experience for the choice to have these traditional powerhouse notes kept in check. The base is cedar and musk and it is mostly the musk which does the heavy lifting throughout the final phase of development. I liked the addition of the musk at the end because it ends up adding a bit of the rough sensuality that indoles do normally.

 

Gelsomino Nobile has average longevity and average sillage.

 

 

 If you just enjoy jasmine Gelsomino Nobile is something you should try. It is a jasmine you could wear on the hottest day of summer or into the office and it would be appropriate.

 

 

This kind of versatility is what might make those of you for whom jasmine is not a favorite note also consider trying Gelsomino Nobile as it takes jasmine and cleans her up and makes her noble in bearing.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Acqua di Parma.

 

 

We have a bottle of Gelsomino Nobile to give away. To be eligible leave a comment naming the next flower you would like to see get the La Nobili treatment from Acqua di Parma. Draw closes on August  20, 2011.

Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

"sweet days of summer the jasmine's in bloom

summer breeze makes me fine

blowing through the jasmine in my mind"

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60 comments

  • OOh…this sounds beautiful! I would love there to be a dark, wet rose scent next (the darker the better).

  • This sounds spectacular. The next flower, hmm, sounds simple but what about orange blossom? Although its in Gelsomino, what would they create if the orange blossom was the star? Surely it would be lovely.

  • I tried this the other day – layered with the body butter it is especially sensational.

    The next flower – I want to say hyacinth or lilac.

  • I would vote for Hyacinth and Lilac. Also Narcissus and White Tobacco flower. Maybe Olive flower.

  • The next Acqua di Parma scent should include the lilly with an ivy note. A sweet lilly layered with Ivy with a lingering musk. This is a very generous draw. I do not own a single scent from Acqua di Parma at the moment and I would love to have this little gem in my collection. Thanks.

  • I would like very much to smell their take on linden blossom-elusive and delicate, they should be able to pull it out
    I would be glad to be entered this draw, please
    thank you

  • Loved this article…i think i would love to see Lilac or a deep dark sensuous Rose to be the star in their next creation. Awesome draw….thank you.

  • Very useful review Mark. Would love to try this “summer breeze.”
    The next flower I would like to see get the Le Nobili treatment is rose.
    Thanks to Acqua di Parma and CaFleureBon for this draw opportunity

  • I searched the meaning of flowers and magnolia. lily and iris were all considered noble.Surprisingly peony was too, and since that is my favorite flower in a garden, that gets my vote

  • Tourbillion says:

    I’d like to see Violet or Mimosa. I think Orange Blossom is more likely to happen though.

  • Fantastic! Jasmin is a flower I have grown up sniffing the most. My choice would be Peony.

  • Gelsomino Nobile sounds like it would be a perfect work scent for me as jasmine is my favourite white flower and Sarrassins isn’t so office-friendly! I’d like Acqua di Parma to do a narcissus Nobili next.

    Thanks very much for the chance to win a bottle.

  • I had a chance to test drive this gorgeous ‘fume the other day at Saks. I’d love to see a Lily of the Valley or Violet Nobile.

    Thank you!

  • I would love an orange blossom fragrance by Acqua di Parma. Linden blossom would be nice too 🙂

    Thank you!

  • I was just thinking about how much I’d love to try this! Thanks for the generous draw. 🙂 I’d also love to see their take on my precious heliotrope. I can’t get enough!

  • Tuberose is my pick! It’s such a heady flower! I would love to try this Jasmine, though!

  • I’m always looking for a gardenia scent, that smells of gardenia, and not tuberose. Not that there is anything wrong with tuberose.

  • Linden blossom, carnation…. lilac… violet… ylang ylang… ooh osmanthus would all be nice =)

  • I love Jasmin so this sounds wonderful. I have a bottle of the Iris one, but have yet to smell Magnolia. Is it just me or do the Italian perfumes have a common thread? They all smell rich and sophisticated to me. I would love tuberose to get their treatment, but that doesn’t sound very Italian, so maybe violet?

  • I love Jasmin, so I think I would love this. The next fragrance should be a rose or gardenia. Thanks, please enter me in this great draw.

  • I would love to try an AdP version of narcissus! Please enter me into this lovely drawing. Thanks.

  • Evgeniy
    The nobile series celebrates femininity
    Just like colonia masculine
    Just a FYI there is no feminine or masculine flower IMHO just how it’s blended one may lean more to one gender or another

  • Thanks for entering me in the draw! I would love to see a Gardenia Nobile-most gardenia scents are such sorry things (lookin’ at you, Chanel).

  • I would like to see Verbena or Myrtle, but I fear that they are not noble enough. However, Camellia, Gardenia and Lotus are probably noble enough. My favorite of the three is Camellia.

  • Tuberose — to bring out the “gentler, fresher” side as AdP has done with jasmine — would be my choice, since I cannot easily wear Fracas and her sisters.

  • This sounds so beautiful. A lot of good suggestions, but I think I’d go with Narcissus. There is something noble about it, and it is such a fascinating and underused scent.

  • Would love gardenia, adore the flower. Thanks for the review and draw I love jasmine fragrances.

  • Well, this fragrance review sounds so promising to me, since I like soft, clean white flowers, but can’t tolerate too much indol in a perfume. I think a light, fresh, true-to-life rose (or rose-peony) fragrance would be perfect, as the next perfume in the Le Nobili-line.

    Thanks for the draw, please enter me in.

  • I know that there are a million different rose fragrances out but I’d love to see their interpretation of this one. My second chioce would be orange blossom.

  • Lavender seems to be a difficult, or shall I say inconsistent note. I would be interested in La Nobili’s take on it.

    The Jasmine giveaway is wonderful!

  • Narcissus, Frangipani, Orange Blossom would all be wonderful, but I wonder what Acqua di Parma would do with Passionflower! I didn’t bond with Iris Nobile, nor Magnolia Nobile, but Jasmine is one of my top favorite notes, so I still have high hope for Gelsomino Nobile…

  • What a spot-on review.
    I love white florals and this is the office-friendly and hot summer’s day appropriate jasmine version. I especially love that in the beginning orange blossom and tuberose (two of my other favs) are present.
    If they ever wanted to do a flanker of it (which I don’t hope, as flankers bore me…) and called it Gelsomino Nobile Tropicana the’d only add some frangipani and tiaré hints…
    And i love the quote at the end of the review.
    The song is one of the few real romantic things Type O recorded 🙂

    As a next scent in Nobile line I’d choose Lily as well, lily lover here but as there are so many new lily scents i vote for frangipani as well. Fell in love with it in the Caribbean.

  • Stephanie says:

    It would be lovely to incorporate Bougainvillea or Del Papa or Oleander to the line. These are other beautiful, colorful flowers of Italy. Ahhhh 🙂