Benetton
Benetton
118 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Raw cocoa hits immediately, rich and slightly bitter, with an almost pharmaceutical warmth that cuts through any presumed sweetness. Within minutes, creamy vanilla elbows forward, but it's a vanilla that clings to the cocoa rather than displacing it—they're intertwined, inseparable, like cream stirred into espresso.
The composition settles into an amber-tinged cocoa-vanilla blend where the patchouli becomes increasingly pronounced, pushing upward from the base. This middle phase is where the fragrance reveals its true character: neither purely gourmand nor purely earthy, but a tense, compelling negotiation between both sensibilities. The sweetness has depth here, shadowed by woodsy undertones.
Patchouli dominates entirely, the cocoa and vanilla receding into whispered memories beneath dark earth and soft wood. What remains is more powdery amber than gourmand—a gentle, slightly dusty finish that clings close to skin rather than projecting, transforming the fragrance into something intimate and quietly animalic.
Stimulating Aqua arrives as a study in contrasts—a fragrance that wears its gourmand heart with unabashed enthusiasm whilst simultaneously grounding itself in earthy restraint. The cocoa opening doesn't announce itself with cocoa powder's dusty intimacy; rather, it presents as something warmer, more roasted, as though someone's toasted dark chocolate nibs over low heat. This immediately softens into a creamy vanilla that resists saccharine excess, refusing to become dessert-like despite the accords suggesting otherwise.
What prevents this from becoming cloying is the patchouli's insistent earthiness—a dark, slightly animalic undercurrent that prevents the sweetness from ever feeling frivolous. There's something decidedly grown-up about this composition, despite its obvious gourmand DNA. The woody accord (at 52%) adds a subtle dryness that tempers the amber's sweetness, creating an almost medicinal quality that makes one think of cocoa pods drying in the sun rather than a chocolate confection.
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4.0/5 (181)