Gucci by Gucci (2007) {Perfume Short (Review)} {New Fragrance}
Its charm is unmistakable, yet understated. The femininity of the fragrance is undeniable, perceptible in the softness - even more than that - the tenderness of the rosy petals that seem to want to caress your skin. The fruity notes add freshness and a touch of discreet playfulness. It is a classical fragrance with a modern up-to-date edge. The style can be perceived as classic as it is all about restraint and discretion and it is at the same time modern as it plays with a light semi-transparent rose and patchouli chypre accord that is becoming familiar. The classic reference is felt also in the longer dry-down of the perfume, which then lets exhale the amber glow of the fragrance, one that is reminiscent of the delicious quality of the floral amber in Chanel No. 5. As it so happens, Frida Giannini has said regarding Gucci by Gucci that "What I want out of this fragrance is that it becomes a classic and that it has a long life. I want it to be like a Chanel No. 5 - OK, that's a grand dream, but it's better to think big,"
If the perfume charms you it will be due to certain nuances rather than to the discovery of a shockingly new accord. These nuances are a fresh rose with hesperidic accents as in Stella, the sweetness of the creamy rose and vanilla being counterbalanced by perky citrusy and fruity notes. All the effects are elegant, balanced, and subtle. The patchouli has the finesse and intricacy of a harem’s window. The dry-down is at first musky but later more ambery too. There is indeed a touch of Chanel No. 5 in it and of its conception of restrained elegance. The perfume feels like an exquisite floral mist gently wrapping your arms as you walked past a marble fountain and it scented you. It is also discreetly sensual in its evocation of the texture of a diaphanous organza wrap. It needs to be reapplied periodically more in the European fashion than the American one, but it is a pleasure to do so and it never gets over-applied.
The flacon is very heavy and this conveys a sure sense of luxury. It is a gorgeous perfume flacon. Frida Giannini explained that she researched antique French and English bottles from the 1930s and 1940s to produce this one. A duality may be revealed in the forms of the bottle of perfume, which is a mix of masculine angular lines and feminine ornateness with its golden charms, one of them equestrian, dangling down from the neck of the flacon like the jewelry of a lascivious odalisque.
The commercial filmed by David Lynch also makes references to both the masculine angular aesthetics of Art Deco and the feminine sensuality of women evolving in a gilded cage.
The three models chosen to represent different facets of the Gucci woman are Raquel Zimmerman, Natasha Poly and Freja Beha Erichsen. You can also watch a behind-the-scenes video.
A more intense version of this light chypre will be released in the next couple of months.
Top notes of guava, raspberry and pear; Middle notes of Tahitian Tiare flower, orange blossom and spider lily; Base notes are patchouli, honey and musk.
(Sources: Orientalistart.net, Gucci press release, Women's Wear Daily)
Previous Posts in Perfume Shorts:
Ilaya by Isabel Derroisné (2007)
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"It needs to be reapplied periodically more in the European fashion than the American one"
Can you explain what you meant here? thanks! R
Posted by: R | October 27, 2007
Yes, I think that American perfumes are, in general, known for having put more constraint on tenacity. European perfumes are, in general, less linear and play more with time, with modulated reapplications. The style of life being a little less hectic there, in general, it will not be felt as unpractical as in the US where, ideally, a good spray of perfume should last you all day. Some people here even do not like a perfume to change too much with time as it is felt to be an unpredictable and unreliable performance.
Posted by: Marie-Helene | October 27, 2007
I am noticing, and welcoming, what seems to be a (hopefully growing) tendency to legitimize fruity florals by enriching them with either a chypre or floral-musky dimension, or to paraphraze your spot-on observation, to prolong the dry down of a scent without resorting to vanilla, patchouli or candy floss. A case in point, besides the Gucci which I'm now looking forward to try :), is Versace's latest. Deceptively starting off as a ff, it develops into a dry sensual, very musky floral whose dry down gets better the longer it is on skin. I find this classically based fragrance to be a true gem amongst recent launches: feminine to a T (to an F :) ) and drop-dead sexy. Have you tried it, M-H?
Thanks for the lovely review and don't forget you and I share a love of Gucci Eau de Parfum ;) Fingers crossed this new one is just as breathtaking.
Posted by: Dusan | October 27, 2007
Thank you for your interesting comment Dusan. I tried the new Versace and it does start like a fruity-floral then becomes drier and honeyed. Reminded me of the new Shocking by Schiap, but need to try it again.
I think that Delicious Night was like a more grown-up fruity-floral but more in terms of darkening and deepening the notes.
The new Gucci is quite different from the Gucci you refer to. It makes less of a bold statement.
Posted by: Marie-Helene | October 28, 2007
I think this is a newfound classic cornerstone scent for Gucci. It smells simple enough that it can be a versatile year-round, all-occasion scent, which I think is keys to making it timeless. I was so pleased smelling this scent--it's obsessive to me. It was interesting that it did smell like a chypre, but lacked the normal oakmoss, but I smelled cardamom which I think created that chypre accord with the patchouli. It has the same feel as Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely, but Gucci is more lush, sweeter, and less understated. It also reminded me of the way Armani Attitude is composed with those patchouli and amber notes, sans coffee of course.
If Tom Ford were to create this scent it would have been more the femme-fatale side of Gucci, a woman of passion with no regrets. I'm glad Giannini decided to capture the more understated romantic side of a woman with a hidden kind of strength in the base notes, which I think makes this scent moving.
I think the price is a bit high for the juice, but I think one is paying for the more ornate bottle with its little charms, heavier glass and weighted cap to give it a more extravagant feel. Add the double 'G' web engraving on the cap and/or bottle and I'm sure people would buy it for the bottle alone as a status scent! :)
Posted by: Rob | October 28, 2007
Absolutely, the bottle is a big selling point and since Frida Giannini has experience developing all sorts of designs including bags and accessories, you can tell that for her it is important that a perfume look beautiful as well as smell beautiful.
This perfume will not awe, but as you noted its eminently versatile quality, understated romanticism and this sweet quality that is sweet without ever being obviously sweet will make it grow on you.
When I wear it I sometimes catch a very subtle scent in the air, like the suggestion of a perfume, the half-dreamt, half-perceived trace of a perfume, a scent you would be ready to follow on the street and perhaps dare to ask the name of, and there it is on your wrist.
Posted by: Marie-Helene | October 28, 2007
Does anyone know if the girl in the Gucci perfume ad in the April 2008 issue of Marie Claire is Heidi Montag from 'The Hills?' It looks so much like her but has no reference to the model's name at all. I would recognize that horse face anywhere...lol
Posted by: Veronica Haner | May 2, 2008