Roberto Ugolini
Roberto Ugolini
487 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Green apple crashes into mint with the force of biting into something ice-cold, that synthetic freshness almost electric on the skin. Geranium's metallic stems cut through, adding an astringent, slightly soapy facet that keeps the fruit taut rather than sweet.
Rose and jasmine emerge tentatively, filtered through iris's cool, rooty powder and cedar's dry pencil shavings. Those ozonic notes create a curious atmospheric quality, as if the florals are viewed through morning mist—present but diffused, soft-focus rather than high-definition.
The whole affair collapses into a hushed musky-amber base, powdery without being grandmotherly, woody without being austere. It's clean skin with a whisper of something floral-sweet lingering in the creases, intimate and close, the sort of scent you smell on your own wrist hours later and wonder what that faint sweetness is before remembering.
Giardino di Boboli reads like Christian Carbonnel's love letter to the Medici gardens after spring rain—crisp, verdant, and unapologetically modern in its execution. The opening volley of green apple and mint doesn't so much whisper as announce itself, that synthetic freshness turned up to eleven, creating an almost ionised quality that recalls expensive functional fragrances or the air inside a luxury car showroom. It's the sort of freshness that feels engineered rather than plucked, which isn't a criticism but rather an aesthetic choice. The geranium adds a metallic, slightly soapy edge that keeps the fruit from turning juvenile.
What makes this intriguing is how Carbonnel weaves rose and jasmine through cedarwood and iris without letting either camp dominate. The iris brings its rooty, earthy cool to temper the florals' sweetness, whilst those ozonic notes create breathing room—quite literally, as if he's bottled the petrichor hanging over wet stone paths. It's a fragrance that feels both transparent and layered, fresh without being sharp, floral without tipping into perfume counter territory.
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3.9/5 (87)