Temple of Aesculaplus, Villa Borghese, Rome, by Jean Christophe Benoist
I got an email from a long-time best friend a while back excitedly telling me that she had found a ‘forever fragrance’. It's called October 1st 6pm Belvedere Villa Borghese – Roma. She said the moment she smelled it, her memories of the Villa Borghese came alive again.
We two are joined at the heart and tell each other everything so of course, I knew exactly what she was talking about.
Long before there were husbands and kids, houses and mortgages, there was us. I recall the autumn she went to Rome to attend a conference when she was just starting to build her career. She told me all about it over dinner when she got back. She talked about how well-received her seminars were, how much she learned, how much she enjoyed making new connections – especially one connection. I ordered more wine while she talked.
The last day of the conference was a half-day, so she decided to explore Rome on her own for a few hours before flying home. She meandered around and ended up at the Villa Borghese in the late afternoon. She told me how walking in the gardens was like stepping into a giant, green living room - architectural wonders, plants, trees, fountains and breathtaking views of Rome. After a while, she noticed someone was following her. She paused and he came up and stood beside her. He was well-dressed, handsome and eyes the colour of her favourite olives. She said an instant connection deepened as they stood trying to speak in the other’s language. She reported it vividly: daylight moving to dusk, the rustling of leaves as a soft breeze blew through them, carrying the smell of oranges and leaves. She said she was ensorcelled and followed him to a quiet, shaded part of the garden.
And I remember blurting out: ‘You had a tryst with a handsome Italian stranger in the Villa Borghese?’
‘I sure did’, she said, sounding pleased with herself.
It’s no surprise then this EdP from Italian niche line Made in Italy is a forever fragrance for her. Their tagline is ‘Emotional Olfactive Landscapes’ and this brand is the best at creating scents linked to a memory of a specific place and time.
October 1st 6pm Belvedere Villa Borghese opens with a bright, elegant note of bergamot backed by a note of sweet, sunny Mandarin orange. A delicate note of elemi adds a piney freshness to the citrus fruits. As it settles, powdery, earthy orris root creates an erotic mood that is heightened by aquatic accents, that give the impression of a cool, caressing breeze. A rum note adds boozy warmth to the heart, while green, woody olibanum places us in a mystical garden. But there are woods in this garden: cedarwood, vetiver and patchouli. The vetiver here is a veil of earthiness, and the patchouli is dark and sensuous.
The drydown is elegant and intimate and there’s enough room in the fragrance for each impression to lead one to another, creating a sensory sequence that pulls me in deeper and deeper. It starts with a sunniness that transitions to dusk, moves from the erotic to the mystical, and evokes summer moving to autumn. The way this scent is paced is a marvel
My friend moved to another country years ago, and we rarely see each other but wearing October 1st 6pm Belvedere Villa Borghese brings me closer to her, but truth be told, I love wearing this fragrance and linking new memories to it.
October 1st 6pm Belvedere Villa Borghese – Roma is listed in our Decant Store. Decants are $7.00 for 1 ml.
Image - wikipedia,com