Description
Eau D’Italie is not only a visiting card of the world known hotel, but also of the town of Positano and the whole carefree Italian south. All that are looking for an Italian fragrance, modern and antique, as all that is modern in Italy inevitably bears a mark of the history, or for the Mediterranean herbs and recreation in its odorous forests, have to get to know Eau D’Italie.
Eau D’Italie has captured the richness of the Southern Italy coast and the fine charm of Le Sirenuse. Salty sea breeze brings the aroma of orange in bloom, magnolia, unavoidable bergamot and black currant. Italian fragrance has to be sensual, and for that, spices, musk and incense are added to the composition.
Eau D’Italie is an unusual fragrance the composition of which is built around mineral and soily accords. The accord of soil or the mineral accord of clay (argile in French) is the central note of the composition. Witty perfumers have created this note of tuberose, or more precise, of its mineral part, by leaving the floral component aside. Thus Eau D’Italie is an original fragrance of a strong character, for both women and men.
The unusual opening of this composition is built of the notes of frankincense, accompanied with bergamot and balmy black currant buds. The dominant clay in the heart is surrounded by the floral notes of magnolia and tuberose. The uniqueness of this fragrance is accentuated by its base notes: amber, Island moss, cedar, patchouli, honey, sweet yellow carnation and musk.
Apart from eau de toilette, Eau D’Italie is produced as eau de cologne, and with matching body care products – body lotion, shower gel, shampoo, hear conditioner, bath salt, and soap. Therefore, Eau D’Italie can be sprayed, applied, and foamed to relax and soften us, and make us feel just like we are on vacation.
See more in the article The Smells of Italy by Le Sirenuse Hotel
Visit Eau D’Italie web site.
The nose behind this fragrance is Bertrand Duchaufour.
vaja_vaja32 – :
I reviewed this when it was cold. Now in the dog days of Summer, this is so fresh!
The bergamot and florals make it great and refreshing in Summer. Yet it has so much depth, it’s smooth and beautiful.
One of the very best hot weather fragrances.
This one started the whole line, and I think it’s still the best.
kain83 – :
The eponymous Eau D’Italie. It opens up with a strong clay note that is highly reminiscent of the ‘clay courts’ note in Imaginary Author’s Soft Lawn. However, this one goes down a green/floral route, making it more feminine that its IA counterpart. The magnolia and clover are the notes that carry this fragrance once the clay note subsides a bit (without ever disappearing). Overall it reminds me of my grandma’s home and the garden beside it, a pleasant memory, but not something I would wear day-to-day. Eau D’Italie lasts about 6 hours with a moderate projection turning quite soft quite quickly. It is a solid scent and I would recommend it to a woman, for a man…well, Soft Lawn would be a good alternative, as it is more masculine.
P.S. Not sure what @gedlive is talking about. It is not discontinued. You can get it on the official website, Escentual, or Amazon. The last two have only 1 in stock each though.
xXKOSTYAXx – :
The Blooming Meadow by Viktor Baturin
Miha2525 – :
Some of the most sought after classics were not understood when they came out and became disscontinued, like Givenchy Insense’.
I think this original D’Italie is a masterpiece and the best one in the series.
It is beautifull, subtle, transportive, the green clover, light citrus, florals, and then you get the awsome contrasting warmer, richer notes well balanced and blended, the clay Terra cotta adds a beatifull earthy smell.
This fragrance whispers softly. It’s relaxing refreshing truly transportive to a wonderfull place.
It’s a bit like Duchaufour’s Timbuktu, with freshness, floral aspect, and balanced complexity added.
I’v tried many Duchoufour’s fragrances, this may be his best.
Great Spring fragrance, performance is good.
Rating: 9.5/10
God bless. John 3:16
molats – :
The eponymous Eau D’Italie was a fun one to test. I would never wear this on a regular basis, but in the name of perfumery it is very original and interesting. Smells like actual dirt and vines. Nary a hint of sweetness or flowers, it simply smells like gardening in the spring, before everything is in bloom. Tested dabbed. It is not long lasting at all, and was mostly gone after 2 hours. Very linear throughout.
c180403 – :
smell like Watermelon peel !
fresh sweet green lovely perfume
araz11 – :
I was initially reluctant to try this perfume due to its packaging. I’m glad I changed my mind.
This is a wonderfully blended mix of blackcurrant, bramble, clay and a touch of citrus rind to make it sparkle, just a little.
As a young boy growing up in the tropics, I remember going regularly to a particular public garden in the evenings. This was not your primped and preened garden, but one with overgrown trees and faded artefacts from a colonial past.
Walking through the garden, you would experience a whole host of smells. From that harsh synthetic smell bouncing off the sun beaten tarmac to freshly mown grass. Alas, those weren’t the smells of this perfume.
As you continued walking, you would stumble upon these shaded clearings. In there, you would find a fountain which had seen better days. The tropical heat meant that it remained humid, but in here there was a dampness which made the air slightly cooler. Looking at the fountain, you could see algae floating on the water, moss clinging on the cracking white surfaces and in between the grooves of the crumbled brick pathways. On top of this damp air, you could smell wafts of the greenest leaves and the sweetness from what I thought back then to be jasmine flowers.
This perfume reminds me of that place and time, beautifully done but perhaps a bit too much nostalgia for a full bottle.
I’ve never smelt another fragrance quite like this and it should be a must try if you like green scents which are a bit odd. Quiet but with good longevity. Should work well in all seasons maybe save for winter.
Update: Has the same vibe as Hermes Eau de Gentiane Blanche but a bit more dense and less fizzy.
Vasjan – :
Received a sample from Lucky Scent yesterday, and was eager to try L’eau D’Italie. Not sure if the sample was ‘off’, or if I’m anosmic to it. Spent the hour progressively pouring the entire sample tube on my arm, and barely registering any scent.
The small amount that I *do* detect is magnificent– a combo of ‘wet pottery clay’ and ‘dry terra cotta shards’, mixed with grassy-citrus-floral accords. The aforementioned clay accord might be due to the slight metallic feeling. It’s absolutely _gorgeous_. Hoping that L’eau D’Italie releases an “Intense” version of this fragrance.
Smells great! Turn up the volume.
guttibignee – :
6/10
kwq604speagoessenda – :
This just be the best spring scent out right now. I’m glad this isn’t hyped Bc I wouldn’t mind wearing this the rest of the summer!!!!!
nionit – :
Soooo Different but soooooo nice , it is green perfume , i felt for a moment there is Ivy inside , giving it that greenish , it is noticeable perfume , smell it before you think about ingredient , i never experience clay in perfume , but i can tell it adds a nice identity to the perfume . I love it and i suggest it for anyone who like green clean happy present perfume . Adorable for spring time .
qc2qc2qc4 – :
A very likeable oddball scent. Grassy fresh and with a hint of sweetness. Really good for Spring/Fall weather. If anything it reminds me of some of the quirky Imaginary Authors scents. IMO the clover,magnolia and black currant play the biggest roles while some of the others keep it from becoming too feminine.
wakula – :
This is really a weird but good perfume.
the opening is very strange. It smells green-clay-clover.
It gives you weird sensation. It ends in a flowery scent. And in the middle it is hard to describe. Black current and tuberose gives a bit a metallic kind of scent.
if y would describe this perfume it is really as weird and twisted as the house of Sergey Lutens. And that makes this perfume special
How when and where to wear is not easy to say.
Its for casual use safe.
And I agree with former reviewer it is a state of mind.
nitro1 – :
A summer breeze, fresh and clean. This is not a perfume, it is a state of mind. It reminds me of L’Eau de Serge Lutens. Ingredients of excellent quality. Pleasant.
папанага – :
First of all, this review is for the splash cologne, which has EDC strength.
It really resembles colognes of the past, with a little something added to make it a bit weirder and more unusual. The fragrance pyramid has a prominent bergamot top, well made but not really naturally smelling, with small dose of frankincense lurking in the back. That incensey undertone makes a slight difference, but, make no mistake, the bergamot aroma is dominating the opening. Later I get a solid amount of flowers, with added sourness from the top and a dash of dust – maybe that’s the clay note mentioned
here. The base is woody and with a slight metallic undertone which I cannot really explain – it is just here, and I have no idea where it came from.
Incense in the opening, clay(?) in the middle and a metallic accord in the drydown differ Eau d’Italie from another similar creations, but not in a great amount, really. It is still rather safe citrus-based cologne, with just a little more character. That being said, it is a versatile perfume, with a good correlation with summer sun – it lasts longer and projects better in the warm weather, and is more of a summer perfume, after all. It is a good choice for an office or casual wear.
As I said, both longevity and projection are better when it’s warm, but are still nothing spectacular – four hours of longevity and maybe two or three feet of aromatic cloud, at most. It is good enough, though, for an EDC.
This scent doesn’t really play to my taste, as I prefer a different type of citrus perfumes – not to mention that citruses are what I like the least. However, if you want an EDC with a little twist, you can really dig this one.
7.75/10
vps126 – :
Eau D’Italie EAU D’ITALIE opens with an appealing bouquet of mixed flowers. They are an odd assortment, odd enough to remind me fleetingly of L’Artisan Parfumeur FLEUR DE LIANE (perhaps not coincidentally also composed by Bertrand Duchaufour…). However, after a couple of minutes, EAU D’ITALIE becomes identical to the scent of an organic chemistry lab in which I worked while I was an undergraduate student. Seriously, I cannot wear this composition without thinking of that lab. Could it be the scent of benzene? It’s definitely a solvent used in reflux distillation. Let’s hope that it’s not benzene, which is carcinogenic.
The next lurch made by EAU D’ITALIE is toward the aquatic realm. I am not an aficionado of aquatic fragrances, to put it mildly. In fact, the only truly aquatic fragrance which I can claim to like at this point (I did wear Calvin Klein ESCAPE a long time ago, but those days are over…) is in fact L’Artisan Parfumeur FLEUR DE LIANE. I realize that most people do not think of FLEUR DE LIANE as an aquatic composition, but to my nose it is midway between floral and aquatic, close enough to aquatic to count, given that straight-up aquatics are not even wearable by me.
I’d say nearly the same about EAU D’ITALIE: this seems more aquatic than aromatic after a few minutes, but not aquatic enough to be unwearable by me. Still, by the drydown the flowers have faded to such a degree that I’m left thinking that EAU D’ITALIE is more aquatic than floral, and though it is just a touch over the boundary, it’s enough to make me doubt that I’d ever seek this creation out.
On those extremely rare occasions when I feel like wearing an aquatic floral, I can reach for my small bottle of FLEUR DE LIANE. That said, I’m sure that EAU D’ITALIE would work better for men precisely because it is less floral.
karalkin2012 – :
There’s something incredibly compelling and daring about any fragrance released by Eau D’Italie. Only a few niche brands had the courage to build such a strange line as this one. It’s like they gave Bertrand Duchaufour the maximum freedom to experiment, to dare…What came out is a range of fragrances that strike as extremely bizarre and, sometimes, very hard to appreciate but, hey…this is one of the many meanings of niche.
Eau D’Italie is basically a green woody/citrus composition but, as all the other deliveries from this house, it has a twist. In this case Duchaufour introduces incense as a top note and a watery, sort of metallic, accord that brings to mind of Secretions Magnifique. Don’t get me wrong, Eau D’Italie shares nothing with the infamous composition by Etat Libre D’Orange and it’s by no means disgusting or even provocative but, at the same time, I can’t deny that the aforementioned accord is just as weird. It has the same WTF effect.
With that said what really saves the eponimous fragrance by Eau D’Italie from precipice, is Duchaufour’s ability to dose weirdness to never cross the border of pure experimentation and become pointless. Do I like Eau D’Italie? Not completely because in my opinion it still lacks some concreteness, but I definitely respect it (as well as the whole line) for being so pleasantly daring and artistically innovative.
Rating: 7/10
vladimeer – :
I am embarassed to say that I have just begun exploring the Eau D’Italie line, years after its release. I am immediately impressed with quality of the ingredients used, and the concentration…even in the Eau de Toilette these perfumes last many hours.
Eau D’Italie from Eau D’Italie is a true unisex scent, a modern version of the ancient Eau de Cologne style. A fresh burst of dry citrus in the top is quickly joined by the essence of pine resin. Blackcurrant adds just a smidgen of sweetness to prevent the whole composition from souring, but this can in no way be considered a sweet scent. There is a discreet waft of sensual roundness as the blackcurrant meets the magnolia-dominated floral notes.
Twenty minutes in, very unexpectedly, the resin morphs into the lynchpin of this fragrance- a strange gasoline note that unpredictably meets with the base (primarily comprised of the noted cedar, moss and carnation). Very unique. I love the benzene notes of Bandit and other vintage leather scents. These can come from synthetic bases (as Germaine Cellier used), or from tree resins such as birch. Whatever the exact resin is here, it works delicately and perfectly to add a sharp edginess to the composition. The sensation brings to mind some indigenously gathered tree resins that I just brought from the mountains of Mexico, with their subtle green/sweet/sharp notes.
Excellent longevity and decent sillage for a scent of this style.
I would love to smell this on my husband on a hot summer day. It does not flourish as it should in today’s arid winter air, but luckily I tried Eau D’Italie in 3 separate climate zones (all in one day, thanks to United Airlines) and so am able to report on its full potential.
paxygaica – :
Eau d’Italie is quite an easy-to-wear and interesting perfume. However, I don’t find it chypre at all, maybe there should be a summer chypre group and Eau d’Italie will fit in perfectly. It has the classic cologne kinda charm in it with a tiny bit of Timbuktu-type-of-spicy modern touch.
However, I would prefer it on a man, or I would love to wear it when I’m alone instead wearing this to public. Eau d’Italie is darker, and has more depth than a typical cologne, but much closer to nature than most of those newly launched perfumes for men.
It starts weirdly but really good mouth-watering sweet spicy/sour (think about citrusy) and fresh in a comfortable way, not the modern aquatic way. I love the start a lot and decided to give it a go.
However, after the lovely start, it gets more and more conventional masculine in a citrusy cologne way, which isn’t bad at all. Then it goes quite woodsy with some aromatic hint, and it reminds me a lot of Dior Eau Savauge, which I wear occasionally.
Later on it gets cleaner, and a tiny trace of Aqua di Gio pour homme type of aromatic aquatic scent dances around til the end; I personally find the aqua ending weird. At the mean time, some classic mountain-y, green cologne type of spice stays faithfully; which is a big plus and makes the scent more grounded and deep.
Any perfume that’s aquatic or slightly aquatic turns me off, however I’m sure many others might enjoy this perfume.
rena – :
Finally another scent appart Paestum Rose that I like from Eau d’Italie.
Fresh complex floral with a nice touch of bergamot in the opening. For a unisex floral, I like it. Maybe enough to buy a bottle one day. I don’t know, but this is nice.
7/10
Алллуся – :
I tried a beautiful citrus from another company and reached immediately for my wallet to make the purchase. In the time it took to get the credit card out the scent was gone. I had to put my credit card away, and hope to find something with more longevity.
The first burst of Eau d’Italie is similar. Bitter fruit, fresh and brimming with life. But then it does something unusual. As it develops it plays with the sense of hot and cool. Sun warmed citrus fruit and leaves and then gray stone in shade, it actually smells of pebbles, and the smell of pepper- both red bell peppers and ground black pepper.
It is not a big scent that will fill every room you enter but it is tenacious and that I believe makes it a good value. It smells beautiful and evocative of the place for which it is named.
alex1104 – :
Last summer when I was trying to find a cologne for my husband I ordered many samples from Eau D’italie. His parents are both from Calabria, a southern region of italy. I remembered my mother in-law mentioning Positano and so I ordered this fragrance hoping it would appeal to my husband through his ancestral roots.
The only impression we both get from this fragrance is that of earth and trees. Evergreen trees to be exact, almost like Juniper. The Frankincense is recognizable in the beginning (but not overpowering thankfully)I can almost feel the moss creeping over the stones blanketing them in its green fuzzy warmth. My husband prefers woody fragrances and finds this one a bit too ‘green’. An interesting fragrance to be sure, but i prefer ‘Magnolia Romana’ from this company.