Powder Flowers by Montale

*****
Year: unknown

Notes: osmanthus, rose, jasmine, tonka bean, Atlas cedar
Powder Flowers starts out with a slight sharpness, before gradually softening into an enchanting powdery floral haze. There are other fragrances based on a similar olfactory theme but Powder Flowers is the first to succeed where others have failed (such as Lorenzo Villoresi's Teint de Neige and its piercing artificial note).

It's soft, sweet and ethereal, with the rose being the most discernible floral accord. It also possesses very good longevity, reinforced by tonka bean. Thankfully, it isn't as sickeningly sweet as some of the other non-ouds and nor does it smell crudely synthetic. However, it does have one major flaw: the eventual talcum powder drydown (possibly courtesy of some heliotrope) is too clean, demure and uneventful to maintain one's interest.

However, regardless of this, one can imagine Powder Flowers having many admirers.


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