Bvlgari
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Bergamot absolute cuts through with genuine citrus snap, immediately softened by the powder-soft blanket of crystal musk and that unexpected raspberry sweetness. It's bright yet somehow muted—like smelling citrus through muslin.
Ylang ylang and jasmine materialise with surprising subtlety, each note politely maintaining distance. The musk intensifies into something cleaner, drier, whilst papyrus adds a faint parchment quality that lends structure without drama. A powdery sweetness consolidates throughout, making the composition feel increasingly soft and diffuse.
The amber barely registers; instead, patchouli and what remains of papyrus create a faint, whisper-thin base with a cosmetic dryness. The fragrance becomes progressively quieter and flatter, fading to skin scent within four to five hours—pleasant in its absence rather than memorable in its presence.
Goldea announces itself as a fragrance caught between two impulses: the restrained elegance of Morillas' classical training and Bvlgari's desire to create something luminous and approachable. The bergamot absolute arrives with genuine citrus brightness rather than the usual synthetic sharpness, whilst crystal musk—that peculiar synthetic accord—lends an almost soapy cleanliness that feels less like fragrance and more like the ghost of one. Raspberry threads through unexpectedly, adding a slightly jammy sweetness that prevents the composition from becoming austere, though it occasionally tips the composition towards the cosmetic.
What emerges is essentially a powdery floral rather than a true amber despite its nomenclature. The heart reveals ylang ylang and jasmine in careful conversation—neither dominates, both politely restrained—with an underlying musk that reads more institutional than sensual. Egyptian papyrus, that fashionable note of the 2010s, attempts to provide structural depth but instead adds a faint dryness that fragments rather than unifies. The amber base remains nebulous, more theoretical than present; patchouli lurks as an afterthought rather than an anchor.
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3.4/5 (95)