Vilhelm Parfumerie Basilcio and Fellini via Vilhelm Parfumerie

Swedish-born Creative Director Jan Vilhelm Ahlgren of Vilhelm Parfumerie now makes his home in Paris, according to his website – but wherever he dwells, it is clear that he is a bona fide bon vivant and storyteller at heart.

Jan Vilhelm Ahlgren of Vilhelm Parfumerie

His perfumes are akin to aromatic vignettes, always inclusive of a plot twist which retains your interest. He has chosen to work with highly-regarded Robertet Senior Perfumer Jérome Epinette (the nose behind several Atelier Cologne, Floral Street, Frapin, Olfactive Studio, Jovoy and Byredo perfumes, among others); the union is a sympathetic one, judging by their fragrant collaborations. Vilhelm Parfumerie Basilico and Fellini is one such brilliant exemplar.

Federico Fellini was born in Rimini 100 years ago, January 20, 1920 via New York Times

It is said that Jan’s inspiration for Basilico and Fellini correlates with rumors that the renowned Italian director favored the herb basil, as it was touted to be an aphrodisiac. Fellini enjoyed cooking, not unlike the perfumer himself, Monsieur Epinette. Despite the copy offered on several websites (and being a cook myself), I don’t smell risotto blanco with basil leaf wilting atop. For me, it feels more like the joyous comic/dramatic semi-autobiographical landmark (1973 Oscar and Academy Award-winning) film Amarcord by the great master: candid, open-hearted and larger-than-life.

Movie Poster for Amarcord

Amarcord is poignant – an amplified, elaborate portrait of rural 1930s Fascist Italy as seen through the eyes of a pubescent boy on the verge of prurient manly curiosity. Fellini’s village near Rimini (where he grew up) is populated by a colorful cast of characters, as only Fellini can: worldly, naive, young, aged, foolish and wise – each has his/her role to play. Humor and pathos co-exist and tug at the emotions throughout – but it is the overwhelming joie de vivre which one feels, a sense of the fullness of ordinary life – which lingers. Even the looming shadow of Mussolini cannot mar it.

Fig and Basil via Unsplash

Like the film, Basilico and Fellini celebrates the simpler pleasures of la vie quotidiènne: it smells like an amalgam of the wealth of the summer kitchen and garden, the breathing heart of a home. What could be more Italian than “the kingly herb” and the sappy verdancy of fig? They are made for each other, yet one doesn’t instinctively think to combine them. This fragrance opens with the ebullient greenness of freshly snipped basil, just chiffonaded under your glistening blade: tonic, anisic, full of enthusiasm. It fills the senses. The limpid tropical note of dragon fruit gentles basil’s vigor (which is immense). Somehow basil shepherds us to fig – a very different hue of green, redolent of sap, leaves and bark – but it never quite vanishes, playing hide-and-seek with the slightly salty, semi-bitter fig in the noonday sun. Violet sidles up to them, softly cool and even-tempered.

 Federico Fellini Amarcord

In the base more verdancy reigns, as balsamic vetiver and a fresh hay tone provide grounding, prolongation of freshness and an open-air quality to the entire composition Vilhelm Parfumerie. Basilico and Fellini is a symphony in green in which everything smells as nature intended. It’s brilliant. When you need Italian Summer In a Bottle in any given season, it’s one to reach for.

N.B. – I find that Vilhelm Parfumerie Basilico and Fellini plays very differently, depending upon one’s skin. On the men I spritzed it read as more musky (not gauzy-musky, more earthy) and less floral/herbal/green than on mine.

Notes: pitahaya (dragon fruit), basil, wild fig, violet, vetiver, green hay

My tester flacon was generously provided by Eden Square (formerly Europerfume) – many thanks for this beauty! My nose is my own…

~ Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor

Vilhelm Parfumerie Basilico and Fellini by Ida

Thanks to the generosity Europerfumes/Eden Square, we have a 100 ml tester bottle of Basilico and Fellini for one registered reader IN THE USA ONLY. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what interests you based on Ida’s review. Draw closes 10/14/2020

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Editor Sebastian Jara has reviewed Morning Chess here

Sr Editor Lauryn Beer has reviewed Vilhelm Parfumerie Dear Polly here

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