Etro
Etro
208 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Bergamot arrives with its characteristic bitter-bright citrus, immediately grounded by cardamom's camphoraceous warmth and the green, almost cat-piss tang of bruised blackcurrant leaves. There's an instant duality—fresh yet spiced, bright yet shadowed—as pink pepper adds tiny detonations of heat across the top.
Ylang-ylang blooms in full tropical splendour, its banana-cream richness tempered by jasmine's sharp indolic facets, whilst the pink pepper continues its prickling dance beneath. The florals here are full-bodied but never soapy, held in check by that persistent spice and a hint of the patchouli's earthy darkness creeping in from below.
The composition settles into a powdery, almost talc-like veil where patchouli's dry woodiness merges with vanilla's soft sweetness and ambergris adds a subtle marine salinity. What remains is skin-close and intimate, like expensive body powder dusted over warm skin after a bath—sweet but never sugary, with just enough spice memory lingering in the creases.
Paisley unfolds like a silk scarf drenched in spiced tea, where bergamot's sharp citrus edge collides with cardamom's eucalyptus-green warmth and the frosted-leaf bitterness of blackcurrant. This is Etro at their most overtly floral yet somehow restrained—ylang-ylang's custard-like richness threads through jasmine's indolic sweetness whilst pink pepper adds a fizzing, almost metallic counterpoint that prevents the composition from sliding into cloying territory. The patchouli here isn't the head-shop variety; it reads as finely milled powder, almost iris-like in its dryness, whilst ambergris lends a saline minerality that keeps the vanilla from becoming confectionery. There's something distinctly Italian about this—the same hand that embroiders intricate patterns onto fabric translating into olfactory detail, where each accord overlaps without muddying the next. It's for those who appreciate floral scents but bristle at anything overtly feminine, who want jasmine with its edges intact rather than smoothed away. Wear this to gallery openings in converted warehouses, or whilst reading on a sun-drenched balcony overlooking ochre rooftops. The powdery quality gives it an almost vintage bearing—imagine rifling through your grandmother's scarves and finding they still hold the ghost of her Guerlain, mixed with cardamom pods from the kitchen drawer.
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3.7/5 (90)