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vinnySagCasia – :
my fave of SMN. I even have backup bottles! This is a powdery, sharp, unique, gorgeous scent. It’s mostly cyclamen and orris with some tobacco, vetiver and green notes to balance it out. I would not call this fruity in the least. If anything, it is more soapy.
Jangol – :
It was a really hot summer day in Florence and I was running a bit late for a museum booking. But – as soon as I went in the Santa Maria Novella shop, I forgot about all the heat and the stress.
An exquisite building, almost like a museum, and in it amazing perfumes, lotions and potions! It was heaven. I was in a hurry, though, so I spritzed a couple of scents on my arm, bought Melograno on the first sniff and left.
During that stuffy hot day, every time I sniffed my arm, I felt a comforting cleanliness and elegance.
Now on to the perfume itself: Melograno is powdery, dry, spicy, resinous and has a bit of a bite. No fruit here, let alone pomegranate. It does smell clean and soapy, but in a rich way – if that makes any sense? It’s a very classic, elegant scent. Yes it evokes connotations of “mature” to me, in the sense that were I 10 years younger, I wouldn’t have cared for it. But tastes and preferences evolve.
Melograno is now in my top 3. I have worn it every day since I cracked open the bottle. It’s appropriate for the office, for the weekend, for day and for night. Very versatile. I would perhaps not wear it in extreme heat, but judging from that afternoon in Florence, maybe I should.
Other SMN I tried: Ginestra and Caprifoglio – both lovely. If I ever go back to Florence, it’s their turn.
mihail_11 – :
Must confess…. Bought this one because of the Vesper Lynd character from Casino Royale. Hit and miss…
Well, may be Melograno suits her, but I only smell some old barbershop and spilled sweet soda that dried on the floor.
*dislike*
artemchik73 – :
One of my favorite perfumes at the moment. Although it is just a cologne, it has a very nice longevity, leaving a nice, persistent scent of oakmoss and amber. I also have the terracotta pomegranate made by SMN. Love it!
seriouse serge – :
I’m puzzled by a couple of the reviews here. Some Fragranticans feel this veers masculine; I completely disagree. SMN seems wise to qualify many of their creations as unisex. Melograno may be unisex, but first let’s acknowledge that few topics are more subjective than fragrance. For me this clean, powdery iris chypre has much in common with Irisia and Cristalle. Could a man wear these? Certainly. Could a woman wear these? Absolutely, they’re listed as women’s fragrances. This is one of those compositions that qualify as sophisticated: 31 RC, Crepe De Chene, Deneuve, Oil Fiction, Chamade, Iris Prima… you can’t go wrong!
chipas – :
Melograno is my preferred one from SMN. I cannot identify the single notes because this fragrance is just well blended. I love it. It’s a great man’s fragrance for the warmer season.
vlad559 – :
I love love loooove this perfume!! I haven’t used it in hot/sunny weather yet but it’s perfect for cold weather, the colder the better. It’s perfect for layering perfumes. Very expensive, but so worth it in my opinion.
Drucha – :
SMN Melograno is an extraordinarily, cleverly balanced fragrance – the exotic union of chypre and powder, sweetness and freshness without ever coming off as desperately fleeting or cloying…. and I don’t understand how this is possible. It is like the very best of Chanel Exclusif (I will also use 22 as a parallel) but with a sweetness added to it that is an intelligent and light but never evaporating quickly.
Once it settles and warms on your skin it becomes a womanly brilliance that only continues to enchant throughout wearing. This is absolutely a scent I noticed and was swooning over every time I was in a small confine such as a store and had the chance to smell it alone and apart from the many scents out on the street. The pomegranate is luscious and almost herbal and the vetiver is only just there… but probably saves it from coming off as too austere were it not to have its fruit accords included.
As someone mentioned below, this is a wonderful Medieval kind of scent, totally something that could be envisioned on Guinevere or, hell, Morgan Le Fay, if she was so inclined. It has the ability to be exquisite and proper as much as seductive and to bewitch.
My favourite part is once it has settled, I would say about an hour into wearing and it begins to give off this gentle yet stunning aura.
To add lastly, that I just realised it a product of the 60’s… and for some reason, this makes a whole lot of sense. It is a classic like Quelque Fleurs is with its definitive retro-ness but also maintaining a real class to it… Man is it good, and knowing its heritage I love it that little bit more.
ZiGaN – :
Yes, definitely soapy, but in a good way. I could imagine wearing this on a Roman holiday. This has a classsical beauty. I’m pleased I purchased a decant, and I’ll reach for it on occasion, but it will not replace my workhorse top shelf fragrances in my affection. This is a nice, pretty fragrance to contrast with my usual powerhouse choices.
Alex_Bell – :
This is a real medieval fragrance, the one that Guinevere or Isolde could have worn before meeting King Arthur or Tristan… I like it, it´s soapy and clean though maybe a little dry.
Marusya08 – :
Green-gold beautiful chypre; very femenine to me; in the same vein as Chamade.
I was surprised to see it has so many notes. It smells simpler, well-blended.
Would absolutely repurchase. Love this house.
n-dj – :
A gentleman in Florence.
A calm, clean and little bit reserved fragrance for a proper English gentleman who finds himself in Florence – exploring the beauty of the South, Renaissance art, glorious food and drinks, old Italian barber and artisan shops, sunny streets full of easygoing and optimistic men and women who freely express their feelings of love for life and for each other.
Splash your body with it and then watch A Room with a View, you’ll understand it perfectly (or even better, read this beautiful novel by E. M. Forster).
I don’t trace a pomegranate in it, but with this beautiful Italian vision, who cares?
5/5
sawabobrov – :
Really good one. Starts nice, green and soapy and in the dry down a soft incense appears. Quite a different scent and for certain one to try out. For a cologne it has a decent longevity.
raliya1 – :
And where pomegranate went?
nazaron95 – :
It’s unusual (it’s very classic-smelling). Melograno opens with a sharp, spicy-green, soapy powder with a sweetish/bitter tinge. The green is a dry, spicy green, not a lush verdant one. The citrus is barely there in the top notes if at all. The rose/orris root is cool and soapy. The patchouli and vetiver are earthy and sweet, but run no risk of obscuring the other elements. Love it!
ClapMFff – :
My favourite. I wear it all the time. It dries like incense on me, similar to Nag Champa.
Added more to this review since…
This fragrance just gets better and better, I am so glad I bought another bottle, luckily it is available in London South Kensington area. Theres a little SMN shop there. It has a real powdery, green and deep wood story. Completely classic smelling, some folk may say old fashioned and even general old nanna’s loo house soap smelling but yes, I like that. To me it spells academic, honesty, gutsy and sensual. Secret but delivering, nothing coy and it lays all the cards on the table. Great for business, pleasure and just sniffing to say ahhhhh. Definately not a scent for those who like fake vanilla pop scents endorsed by whatsit’sface. This isn’t sweet in that manner at all. It’s bold with a sensual whisper. All in all, it’s an experience, but be patient… maybe not… I like the fact I wear a scent not common to the department store flower arrangement. 😉
boohymn – :
If Kratos is the God of War, then this is the God of Soap. Pomegranate, I think not (although it does smell similar to a pomegranate hand cream I used before, but even that didn’t smell like the fruit).
It smells like a 80’s barbershop fragrance. It’s actually very similar to the original Chaps by Ralph Lauren.
I wouldn’t even classify this as a cologne, as I find it to be more between an EDT and EDP (it’s that strong), and it lasts quite a long time.
Extremely clean smelling in a masculine way.
I’d also like to comment on the bottle. It comes as a splash, but you can remove the little plastic top and screw on a spritzer, a very nice touch! I wish more houses would do this.
dpp502speagoessenda – :
Melograno . . . . Vesper Lynd’s fragrance of choice.
ejif – :
I have been wearing Melograno for years but never attempted to describe it. It was gifted to me by a close friend and was one of the first fragrances I ever owned, so I was wearing it well before I understood doodly squat about thinking of fragrance in terms of classifications like chypres, note pyramids, and the idea of notes in the first place.
Instead I thought of all fragrances in terms of the colors they evoked in my head. Since then, I have learned a little more, so I’ll give it a shot. Melograno is no longer just the powdery opalescent white layered over burgundy fragrance it once appeared to be. Now when I smell it, I see rainbows. That may sound sentimental, but I really do.
Melograno opens with a sharp, spicy-green, soapy powder with a sweetish/bitter tinge and the characteristic richness of oakmoss. The green is a dry, spicy green, not a lush verdant one; it’s very classic-smelling. The citrus is barely there in the top notes if at all. The rose/orris root is cool and soapy. The patchouli and vetiver are earthy and sweet, but run no risk of obscuring the other elements.
A trace of warmth comes through from the amber, ylang and tobacco, but this fragrance is so well blended and has so much dynamism that it really just IS. Though its notes are not so easy to separate, and are not “true to life”, they aren’t trying to be. Melograno smells like itself, and nothing else. It smells calm, wise and stern.
There is an entire world living inside Melograno, and in that respect I think it actually is very much like a pomegranate, though I am generally not too concerned with names and their accuracy. It fuses seamlessly with my own skin’s scent, but there is also so much complexity that I feel like I can peer into it and never get bored.
Melograno is like a woman who has seen it all. I could sit around admiring her all day.
gogastar – :
Don’t let the name fool you. Melograno means “pomegranate” in English, but this smells nothing like pomegranates in any way, shape, form, or even concept. This is straight powder. It’s not soft, it’s a sharp-tongued powder that is potent enough to make your eyes water. It’s elegant, bitchy, and doesn’t suffer fools. It reminds me of the powdery scent of a Cabbage Patch Kid who has grown up into a seductive and difficult woman who smokes cigars on the veranda. Her Gatsby-esque lovers often wonder…who is this Xavier Roberts?
Reyms – :
Steady, elegant and mature-smelling chypre of the best kind.
I can see some of the Chanels (No. 22 especially) as a possible role models for this one, but executed without the prickly aldehydes in top notes and soft and powdery feminine sweetness in the drydown.
On the other hand, Melograno’s dry soapiness (prominent vetiver + opoponax?) lingers making this composition very formal-smelling and somehow demanding – with the exception of remarkably soft, beautiful spicy-sweetish drydown.
Since this is one of the most popular SMN fragrances, I suspect the problem of not loving it lies in me.
As I learned previously, I have some issues with prominent vetiver, so I cannot fully enjoy Melograno nor can I enjoy Chanel 22 – sadly, the vetiver is giving me heart ache, literally; chest pain followed by melancholy.
So I guess this is a case of unrequited love 🙁
mto645bedyWelty – :
A tangy note of pomegranate makes its debut along with its powdery top notes, like many classic Italian colognes, but from there Melograno is a drop-dead gorgeous chypre. It became full-bodied; a true perfume in the classic sense of the word loaded with woods, resins, oakmoss, and vanilla while maintaining a powdery base. This is one of the most likable and potentially crowd-pleasing chypres I’ve ever smelled. It’s so rich and elegant that I would consider using this at night while on a romantic date. Very highly recommended as one of the best from Santa Maria Novella.
tunec141 – :
What a surprise: Santa Maria Novella MELOGRANO is a glorious green chypre! The green is so intense as to be almost galbanum-like. The oakmoss is also quite detectable. Despite the name, what is not readily evident is the pomegranate. I’ve spent some time with my nose to my wrist attempting to find the pomegranate, but my commitment to truth in reviewing obliges me to confess that I cannot tease out any pomegranate from the intense chypre elements of this perfume.
Maybe I could imagine pomegranate as detectable here, if I really, really tried, but I would never, ever, have guessed that it was present in a mystery scent vial trial. No, this is unequivocally a green chypre! It may as well be called grapefruit or banana or cherry or melon–all would be every bit as appropriate as pomegranate, it seems.
But enough about the name. This smells great! I definitely recommend MELOGRANO for testing by anyone who loves classic chypres. People who are looking for an intensely red-pomegranate-stained perfume may, on the other hand, be disappointed.
kpokpot – :
I had bought a bottle in SMN Antwerpen (Belgium) for my mom and she loved (and still does) it. Later I also bought another bottle for myself (because I love the scent) but soon I realized that it’s too mature for me, and hence I gave it to her (that has made her real happy). Maybe someday it will be just as nice as it does for my mom….