Dama Bianca is a classic case of: attractive bottle drawing in shallow perfume blogger.
Aside from the eye-stabbingly dangerous looking top, this bottle and even more so the packaging are gorgeous! Or are they? The strange thing is, one moment I’m bewitched, the next I think it looks tacky and over the top. Whatever it really is, however you see it, it successfully reeled me in in any case and I’m glad I followed my eyes. And even if my aesthetic sensibilities are of two minds here, my nose couldn’t be happier.
Dama Bianca includes notes of lime, Chinese kumquats, Florentine orris, Egyptian jasmine, lily of the valley, violet, lilac, Indonesian sandalwood, cedarwood, Zanzibar vanilla beans, ambrette seed, white musk and burnt malt.
“Dama Bianca, the White Lady, is a story of a lady trapped within her dreams as high above the vistas, she gazes out into what lay beyond. Locked behind walls of jealousy and deception, her only escape is the fragrant notes of fruits and flowers outside her reach. Daily bounties are brought to her by a mysterious figure as her only sense of what the outside holds.”
-from the PR material via MiN
Um, yes. Be that as it may, Dama Bianca smells pretty good.
Opening with a quick citrus burst, it soon shows the fruitier, fleshier side of limes and kumquats before fully falling into an opulent white floral heart. The real star here is the base though. A totally sumptuous vanilla holds court for hours, artfully accompanied by woody notes and an almost treacly-chewy booze note that is probably to blame for the perfume’s addictive potential.
Dama Bianca is lush and full, sweet and rich, but not heady or cloying in the least. It is similar in style to its golden colleague in the Casamorati line, Lira, and both are reminiscent of the great vanilla-centric Guerlains like Metallica or Mon Precieux Nectar.
Dama Bianca is like a white fur stole, warm, soft, enveloping and slightly too much for going to the corner store for a pint of milk.
This Dame needs a glamorous venue, possibly even a stage, to match her own allure.
Well, a girl can dream and Dama Bianca definitely helps with that.
Right now I’m even more curious to try this one🙂 I like Lira a lot, so I presume I could like Dame too if they share the same style… Thanks for sharing, Birgit!))
Dama unites glamour and comfort, which is quite a feat! Rather like a fur coat, but without the animal cruelty issue.🙂
I couldn’t find any note in this not to like it. The box is gorgeus Art Nouveau I always fall for. Unfortunately the prices of the house Xerjoff are out of my range.
The price is the one deterrent here unfortunately.😦
Sounds gorgeous! I’m with you on the bottle by the way, although I think I possibly lean more to the over the top side of things😛
Nooo! You are the picture of restraint!😉
It smells gorgeous indeed, it’s totally your kind of thing I think.
Hehe!
It does sound very glam, I may stop by the HP tomorrow to try it😀
I don’t think the HP carries the Casamorati line…😦
Have a great evening tomorrow, I’ll be with you in iris-wafting spirit!
Oh do they not? No worries, I’ll add it to the sample list anyways.
Yes, we shall think of you as we sniff our irises!
I like the Xerjoff’s that I have tried so far,Ii just haven’t loved any that I have tried enough to buy a full bottle yet, the nearest that I came to full bottle worthy was Oesel but this thirst was quenched by Le Fleur Male.
Not that it is a bad thing considering the hefty price tag.🙂
Dama Bianca is actually reminding me of Ylang in Gold by Micalleff, which I’ve tried today, courtesy of you. So between that and Metallica in your collection, you are probably good.
This was my first step into the Xerjoff perfumes! Love it as you know. Thank you!
I’m so glad you are happy with your Dama.🙂
Oh no – what have you done? Here I was innocently reading away: “Xerjoff – meh never been tempted, lime – bleurk, kumquat – why bother, phew this is easy…” and then you hit me with a vanilla base that you compare to Metallica – WHAT?!?!? And the burnt malt has me intrigued. Now I want to try this….
Never mind the lime and kumquat, this is ALL about the vanilla.😉
I am developing a dangerous soft spot for grown up vanillas…
I completely understand.🙂
Yummy! Like the sound of that burnt malt note. I bet it is very addictive. Glad the whole effect is not cloying though.
We can all do with a bit of glamour now and again.
It is addictive indeed. It sounds like a bit much, but it is really easy to wear, very comfortable despite the glamour.🙂
Dama Bianca is a beauty. I wanted to buy it last September at a beautiful fragrance store by Lake Garda, but they had not received it yet, so I spritzed myself with Bouquet Ideale -which I adored- and with the incredible Damarose -alas, fleeting on my skin. Thank you for another wonderful review, dear Birgit.
Caro
Thank you for your kind words, Caro.
I’m glad you like Dama Bianca too. Bouquet Idéale is also a very well done fragrance. Great line.
Well, few weeks/months ago there was quite a fuss about Dama Bianca, so I ordered a sample of it. It was then as it often comes when expectations are too big : I didn’t found it that impressing. I’m just as Andrea mentioned : so far there hasn’t been any winner among the Xerjoffs I tried and I’m not entirely sad about it (considering their price tag…)
If the bottles were not that questionably designed, I’d probably have a few by now.🙂
It is a good thing for both our budgets that we don’t go for Xerjoffs, if for different reasons.
Hm, the bottles are not my cup of tea either…
Dama Bianca is gorgeous. I love the kumquat note! It’s just so beautiful. I don’t love Xerjoff’s prices, I do have to say that this has been the only one that made me briefly consider allocating perfume savings to!
Another fan, yay!🙂
BTW, did you get my email? Maybe it got stuck in the spam folder…
Got it, yes! A little behind in replies . . . but catching up fast! Hope that you had a great Thanksgiving!
You too!
Joan Crawford always said that when you go out you should dress like a star. So …go ahead and wear that white fur to the market…and your fabulous new perfume Dama Bianca too. I loved reading about it but better yet would be to smell it.
You are right, I will. (Maybe not the fur, but surely the perfume.)🙂
I hope you get to smell it soon!
Sounds just about right for what I’m wishing for in perfume at the moment.🙂
Good! We all need a bit of glamour!🙂
You make this sound gorgeous! And ‘Dama Bianca’ – such a lovely name. I have tried to stay away from Xerjoff (just thinking of the price of this is exhausting..), but now I think I have to order a sample, secretly hoping not to like it (the price, again.). Thank you for reviewing!
You are very welcome! I hope you enjoy the white Dame as much as I do, Julie!
I tried it today, NK the big department store in Stockholm have gotten a much more interesting selection of fragrance lately (Diptyque, L’Artisan, Armani Prive, Penhaglion, Etro etc and now to my big suprise Xerjoff!). From my brief testing I found it very pleasant, especially the dry-down. I think I’ll try to get hold of a sample to explore it further…
That’s great that you have a better selection at your fingertips now.
I’m glad you like Dama, the drydown is very cosy.
I enjoyed your review but I have to say that I really do not like these bottles. This is the case when, to my eye, of course, they look better on a picture than in real life (can you imagine – I don’t like it even in dark blue/cobalt color?!😉 ). It doesn’t mean though that I’d refuse to test/wear (or if I like it even buy) the perfume. But this bottle leaves me cold (which I could wish for many others – since a decant of those would be more than enough for me if it weren’t for the bottle…)
You are – as almost always – totally right. The bottles do look a lot better in pictures than in real life, which is a bit of a disappointment. But all that aside, Dama Bianca is a fantastic vanilla.