Never, never ever discount a note. Experience, trial and error have shown me time and again that there is an interpretation you are going to like, of every note imaginable.
Don’t like jasmine? Try By Kilian Love and Tears or Ormonde Jayne Sampaquita.
Don’t like vetiver? Try Hermessence Vetiver Tonka or Parfumerie Generale Cedre Sandaraque.
Don’t like Tuberose? Take a look at By Kilian Beyond Love and take a long hard look at this Mona di Orio creation.
You might be swayed. I know I was.
Created in 2011 by Mona di Orio, Tubéreuse includes notes of pink pepper, bergamot from Calabria, green leaves, Indian tuberose absolute, Siamese benzoin, heliotrope, amber, coconut milk and musk.
Before we dive into the review of the scent, here is a little bit about the creator – Mona di Orio. Mona was a pupil of the great Edmond Roudnitska (whose ode to his wife Le Parfum de Thèrése is very dear to my heart). She studied with him for years and ran his laboratory after his death.
She started out on her own and created several perfumes under her name. Her new line is called Les Ombres d’Or, the golden Numbers, referring to the golden ratio, a mathematical set of proportions often used in the arts, especially in the renaissance. She tries to find the perfect proportion of ingredients in her perfumes, each centered around a single note.
On to the tuberose then:
Mona di Orio’s interpretation does away with the heavy, intoxicating headiness of this night-blooming flower and gives us a greener, fresher, but still very much sensual and seductive version of tuberose.
Tubéreuse opens fresh – bergamot and pink pepper give a spicy start to a floral note that is soft and green. The tuberose as we know it, is there, but muted, veiled, softened accented by green and sweet notes of benzoin and amber, an almond-y facet from heliotrope aided by coconut, give a faint tropical cast to this perfume without ever getting close to cocktail territory.
The freshness of the first half hour slowly fades and leaves us with a soft, warm and sweet floral fragrance that is understated and extremely wearable. I have no problem whatsoever, wearing this during the day.
Ines of All I Am – A Redhead is fully accountable for making me try the Mona di Orio line, her seductive reviews wouldn’t let go of me and I am very grateful for that. She was the one who swayed me…
And you know what? There is another note I really dislike, turns out that is because I (and chances are you as well, dear reader) never smelled the real thing – oud. Don’t like oud? Why don’t you try Mona di Orio Oud? But that is a story for another day…
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I’m not going to gloat (ok, maybe just a little bit) 😉 – it’s so good that you found a tuberose for you (and oud, but that’s another story).
It is my firm opinion that every woman should have a tuberose perfume in her wardrobe (in my case, more than one). 🙂
Inez, exceptionally I don’t agree with you…(see my commment below)
You are allowed to gloat! 🙂 You are right, a tuberose has been missing from my wardrobe…
I’m giving up with white flowers… I’ve never been a fan of them (in perfume!), and it looks like nowadays I’m even heading to a syndrom widely known as “white flower perfume intolerance”… “Beyond love” was a headachey no go, Elie Saab was a fastest wash-off ever…
BUT! A sample of di Orio’s Oud is already on its way to me and I can’t wait…
lady jane grey, I wasn’t even aware that there might be a “white flower perfume intolerance” – I keep thinking somewhere out there in the vast perfume land we inhabit, there might be a white flower perfume for everyone. 🙂
Have you tried Mayotte perhaps?
For me it is rather a case of “white flower fear” but I am getting over it. Every time I had to smell a white floral I had to run gasping for air (and running water). Trying Amouage Gold for Men didn’t help either: horrifying experience… But gradually I got over it. Sarrasins helped. Parfum DelRae Amoureuse helped. And form the sounds of it Mona’s Tubereuse is a must try.
The entire Nombres d’Or line is a must try. All of them are really beautiful and well made. As for the white florals, I understand that fear very well, there are some scary white flowers out there…
Oh yes, it’s also known as THE SYNDROM 😉 – I’m planning to establish a support group, even might write a book about (there are loads of people out there suffering, without ever being diagnozed, not to mentioned cured… – 🙂 )
I agree with Ines, there is one for everybody out there.
Let me tell you, the syndrome is not necessarily a chronic condition. Look at me, all cured! It just needs the right mood and the right perfume. Eventually it’ll “click” for you too. (Even if you don’t believe that now.) BTW, did you try Amouage Honour yet? They have a tester at Le Parfum already, if not yet the bottles. Maybe that is the one???? 😉
Liebe Birgit, I admit, I haven’t tried Honour yet. I also have to explain that while I always liked the scent of the living jasmin flowers, growing on the bush – I just can’t stand the smell of real tuberose flower either…. And there are loads of Muguet parfumes out there I really really like – so after all it might suffer from a special Tuberose & Orange blossom Syndrom (see Sweet Redemption=extrem wash-off !)…
Orange blossom is the final frontier for me. I am open to suggestions but I still haven’t found one that doesn’t smell pissy….
OK looks like I must try Beyond Love again! Glad you have found a tuberose to love. I haven’t tried any of Mona di Orio’s line yet but they sound great and I’m looking forward to further reviews from you. I found I liked oud after Rose Oud and Nuit de Tubereuse has been growing on me. You may well be depriving yourself in the long run by not trying any perfumes with a note you dislike – you just never know! It’s all about the quality of the material and the composition as a whole, I think.
Exactly! Quality plays a huge role and so does the part the note plays in a particular arrangement. Many Kilian and Orio reviews are upcoming… 🙂 And you reminded me of the beauty of Rose Oud…
I have been trying for over a year now to love Nuit de Tubereuse, but it just is far too strident on my skin, I feel like I’m turning into an android when I wear it! Oh well….
I can’t get into liking Nuit de Tubereuse either, it turns quite sour on me.
There you go again making a perfume sound Irresistible, I have just had to order this sample as curiosity got the better of me. I await the perfume with anticipation. I have been tempted to try Mona di Orio’s line so this one seemed like a good place to start with such a lovely review.
Ha, I’m happy my review made you try this. Unfortunately I have a few more Mona reviews in the works, a really satisfying line.
The only Mona d I’ve tried is Amyitis, and I was quite fascinated with it. So weird! So creepy, almost…. But it sort of took over the scenery, and I didn’t buy more than a decant. If this new line is more wearable, I very much have to order a sample set, Mona d is a very unique olfactory artist!
I think the new line is totally different from the old in terms of wearability, if not quality and creativity, that has stayed the same.
I was just thinking about the differences in the previous and Nombre d’Or line.
It seems to me that while Mona retained the actual perfumey feel of her perfumes, the Nombres seem more approachable to wider public in terms of appreciations and liking them.
It took me quite a while for the first line to grow on me (but it did), and this one was instant love.
Yep, she’s an excellent witchy alchemist. 😉
Witchy alchemist – I like that! The signatue line was a lot harder to “get”, I only know Lux and Nuit Noire better, the others I have just cursorily sniffed at Les Senteurs. The Nombres d’Or are accessible (instant love as you say), but not because they are simpler in any way. Somehow it is as if Mona tuned into our desires and satisfied them with her creations. 🙂
You and Ines shouldn’t be allowed to team up. No, not ever. (“Resistance is futile…resistance is futile!”)
(And worse, I know from some of Ines’s reviews and your hints that Tubereuse is just the beginning… Please don’t review that Oud!)
Seriously, though, I was hoping I could skip this one, as I already own more than a few luscious tuberoses and am currently fixing Vamp a NY with a come-hither stare. Maybe I can skip it, since I like the really sensuous and heady tuberoses best. 🙂
Together Ines and I are the “Great Enablers”, so watch out…
And you are right, this was only the beginning. You might get out of trying the tuberose, since there are lusher tuberoses out there, but don’t think you can skip the oud (or the musk, amber, leather or vetiver at that) 😉
Now I need to get to know Mona di Orio, Birgit, so I ordered some samples – and I’m still waiting for my By Kilian samples to arrive (soon, I hope). What an exciting adventure on the way 🙂
Isabelle, perfume is really an exiting adventure! There will be more Kilian as well as Mona di Orio reviews coming in the next weeks, I am very happy with both of these lines. Please let me know, how you get on with your new samples, once they arrive.
There is something potentially witchy about Mona di Orio and the way she composes perfumes, and I mean that in a good way. I love Tubereuse, in fact, I love everything I’ve tried of the new line. Needless to say, I’m VERY excited to try Oud. Some things are just worth the money, and I have a feeling that this will be one of them. Personally, I need a full bottle of Vanille as soon as possible. It’s outstanding.
I totally agree, some things are worth the money! I think of Mona as a magician, but a good witch is even more fitting.
Vanille is awesome, it is on my wishlist as well.
Calling Mona a good witch is actually a pretty accurate description. 🙂
A withcy alchemist, she definitely is.
Oh, and I’ve just fallen for the Ormonde Jayne line and Puredistance I, now I’m really want some M dO-samples as well! I’ve never been a fan of tuberose, but this sounds interesting and not headache-inducing like say Fracas. I’m curious about the vanille, vetivyer and oud as well…
No headache with this one (for me at least!) 🙂
I’m very impressed with Mona di Orio, Vanille and Oud are my other favorites form the line. Watch for reviews of all seven of them…
Only slightly on topic, but I haven’t tried either of the vetiver scents you mention. Glad to know these that get thumbs up from you. Love the Dean Martin video, too 🙂
This sounds pretty- but I cannot wait for your review of the Oud..I do love many other aoud based fragrances too (including the By Killian ones and some of the Montales(specifically Black Oud)), so wondering if I would still love this oud?
That Oud does sound enticing, doesn’t it? 🙂 I think you will like it, the question is how much you will still like the Montale after smelling MdO Oud… Review is coming next week.
really?..lol Ok- then I am glad I’ve held off buying black aoud and should maybe plonk $$ for the MdO Oud split..The thing is what I like about ‘Black Aoud’ are the rough edges and the ‘difficult’ notes which I find strangely comforting when I am craving ‘Thunderstorm scents’..(I don’t know if any of that made any sense..lol)
“Great Enablers”, now there is understatement if I ever read one. I could add a couple of others to this list. But seriously this just went somewhere high on my list, haven’t written it on there yet 🙂
The eternally growing “to sniff” list…
The most dynamic document I have. 🙂
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This is a serious candidate for THE BEST of the newest releases I have smelled lately.
To me it is BY FAR, even better than OIRO.
The Musk is a safe, lovely nice scent…
But this is definitely the one I’m considering to get more from you CERTAINLY and in the forefront!!!! This almost ‘sweet honeysuckled’ Nectar make me swoon… (I have big honeysuckle in the garden that blooms twice a year from May up to late September, but flowers in bursts throughout most of the summer, and to me is the most fragrant pleasure I usually get in whole year, from which I never get tired of -it attracts me like if I were a hummingbird…-)
This is a beauty of scent that grows incredibly on me, always close to my skin and never overpowering the senses.
And it’s a TENDER tuberéuse, wtff!!????, I guess it has to be one of the few ‘Tender tuberoses’ ever to exist……..??!!!!!!!!!!! Has it ever been done before…??? 😀
It’s difficult to say…, but I think I love this even more than the By Kilian Sweet Redemption. Yes… here’s no childhood memories, no flashbacks, no sentimental effect… but after all, although I’m usually so damn romantic for a while, most of the time I’m not wearing perfume to get involved in a emotional spiral, but just to get extremely pleasure (above all, I’m hedonist!!) and if there’s one thing I like even more than the tenderness, that is sultriness…. This perfume has the TWO freaky things at once!
Anyway, I’ll sleep on the issue and coming to the right conclusion (I hope you’ll have this available, too?! oooh pleaseeeeeee say yes).
You seem to be getting on quite well with Tubereuse. 😉 It is one of Mona’s beauties…
I have a little bit to sell, yes. So no worries. Take your time and when you are ready just shoot me an email.
I’d love to try this perfume…and Fracas…. and Carnal Flower…..I’m not sure how I’d choose which one is the best, though, it’s so difficult to spray a bit on in a shop and then come home and decide. Hmmmmm … there’s a Harvey Nicks in Bristol, I hope they have all three in stock. Thank you for a beautiful blog.
Hello skyonfire,
welcome! It is always a good idea to sample extensively before committing to a full bottle. You seem to love Tuberose, and those three perfumes you mention are very different renditions of the note, but all three are beautiful.
Thank you for the welcome… I had NO idea that there were perfume lovers out there like me!!! It is blissful looking at your blog. I’ve been trying since I last posted to get the Tubereuse…..any links to where I can get it? I think I should go for this one, first, and see how I go. It’s so infuriating, I used to live in Paris, but I’m out here in rural Oxfordshire and there is a distinct absence of good perfumeries around and abouts. Hmmmmm….
It is so lovely to discover the hidden virtual world that is Perfumeland, isn’t it? 🙂
The Mona di Orio perfumes are available through Les Senteurs in London, or First in Fragrance in Germany who ship samples throughout Europe. Also there is the possibility to order minis (7ml) directly through the Mona di Orio website (www.monadiorio.com) from Amsterdam.
It must be quite a culture shock to move from Paris to rural Britain…
Oui, en fait! And how does one go about getting echantillons, which are always available (thrown at you) in Paris? Is it by order? Or perhaps do we get them once we have purchased something. I went to Harvey Nicks in Bristol and bought the Balenciaga Paris, on a whim… I have to say, how unhelpful and frosty the sales people were. What a far cry from “Je vous parfume, Madame?”…. so with only the very biggest names available to me, I need to set up a little supply line of goodies. Thank you so much for your help and once again for this beautiful blog x
Over here it is not much better unfortunately, which is sad.
But if you come to London now and again, Nick at Les Senteurs in Marble Arch is amazing, the most dedicated and knowledgeable SA in existence.
this might be an option: http://www.monadiorio.com/shop/perfumes/discovery-box
That is a fantastic option, especially since the other perfumes in the line are great as well.
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You are right! I really don’t like tuberose perfumes, Carnal Flower leaves me cold, don’t want to try Fracas, but Mona’s tuberose is beautiful. FB worthy – if I had the budget…
It is a most unusual tuberose indeed. Glad you like it too!