Bvlgari
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Italian citrus cuts sharp and zesty against coriander's warm spice, establishing an almost peppery freshness that feels unexpectedly savoury. The synthetic base reveals itself immediately, lending the opening a glassy, almost aldehydic quality that prevents softness.
Cypress and vetiver settle into a lean, herbaceous chord where greenness predominates and mineral notes emerge. Benzoin begins its patient sweetening work, but never dominates—instead it adds a subtle warmth that keeps the fragrance from becoming austere or cold.
Cedarwood tightens its grip as citrus and spice fade entirely, leaving a pencil-sketch quality of wood accented by ambergris's faint animalic whisper. The fragrance becomes increasingly abstract and skin-close, a whispered woody whisper rather than a declaration.
Bvlgari Man Wood Essence arrives as a deliberate contradiction—a fragrance that weaponises woodiness without descending into the suffocating dark forests of typical aromatic woods. Alberto Morillas has constructed something leaner, more architectural. The coriander opens with a subtle spice that prevents the Italian citrus zest from becoming merely bright; instead, there's a savoury quality, as though you're standing in a sunlit Tuscan grove where herbs grow wild among the orange trees. This is where the synthetic accord (88%) becomes crucial—it strips away any cloying naturalism, leaving you with an almost crystalline clarity that feels unexpectedly contemporary.
The heart reveals cypress and Haitian vetiver in conversation rather than competition. Vetiver typically carries earthiness; here it's greener, more herbaceous, speaking in the same architectural language as the opening. Cypress adds a mineral coolness, like stone warmed by Mediterranean sun. The woody accord dominates (100%), but it's a controlled, measured woodiness—cedarwood that's pencil-shaving sharp rather than forest-floor deep, supported by benzoin's subtle sweetness that prevents austerity.
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3.5/5 (153)