Ninfeo Mio is one of my “I´m certain this smells differently on me than intended” – fragrances.

Do you know what I mean? There are perfumes that have a wonderful concept behind them, are beautifully executed (in this case by Goutal´s resident perfumer Isabelle Doyen in 2010), smell divine on a paper strip, everything is perfect. Then you wear it – and something is off. Your unique body chemistry gets into play and things change. That is at once the beauty and also the bane of perfumery, that perfumes are made for living beings, with different chemicals, hormones and skin types. Let us have a closer look, shall we?

Ninfeo Mio was inspired by the beautiful and mysterious Giardino di Ninfa in the vicinity of Rome. Official notes are:  bergamot, citron, petitgrain, bitter orange, galbanum, lavender, fig leaf and lemon tree wood.

On paper Ninfeo Mio means bracingly tart citrus notes, a herbal whiff, followed by first green, later sweeter figs, all on a backdrop of very green, woody freshness.

On my skin everythings fine for the first five minutes, the top notes do their happy dance, fig peaks through and then – bam! – smoke, dark, grey almost impenetrable incensy smoke is creeping up (fog in the garden, maybe? Hopefully no smog 🙂 ). I suspect the galbanum and lavender are conspiring against me here, since lavender often tends to be very harsh and screeching on me (Serge Lutens Gris Clair – don´t remind me!!!).

I can still wear it, it is not unbearable for me or the people around me, but it is decidedly different from the scent I smell on paper or other people, at that. I wish it would be softer, display less of the harsher aspects of green woods, more of the fig aspect. But what I like about it, is that is is like a breath of fresh air in a stuffy room, it wakes me up and makes me more alert.

The drydown is softer, a little sweeter, but green, green, green to the end. It is quite tenacious and lasts for at least six hours on me, impressive for an Eau de Toilette.

It is available in 50ml and 100 ml Eau de Toilette in both the ribbed (feminine) and the square (masculine) flacon.

As a side note, I am very impressed with the service at Annick Goutal´s online boutique, there are many special offers and they carry the entire line, which can be hard to come by, if you are not near a brick and mortar Annick Goutal Boutique. It is worth checking out!

Picture source: http://www.compagniagranducato.it, annickgoutal.com some rights reserved, thank you!