Valentino
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Crushed violet leaves hit first—vegetal, almost cucumber-crisp, sharp with green sap—immediately chilled by that distinctive mineral accord that smells like wet slate and ozone. The salt hovers at the edges, creating an atmospheric dampness, as if you've walked into a florist's shop after rainfall, condensation still clinging to the windows.
The violet shifts from green to purple as the actual flower emerges, softened by sage's herbal silver and ginger's warming spice. It's less aqueous now, more rounded, the aromatic elements creating a sophisticated halo around that persistent violet core whilst the mineral quality recedes to a whisper of stone.
Vetiver's earthy rootiness dominates, supported by moss that adds forest floor bitterness and woody notes that feel like sandalwood's distant cousin. The vanilla appears as a subtle sweetness, never cloying, merely rounding the rough edges whilst traces of violet linger like a memory, now more powdery than green, anchored to skin by that persistent, elegant woodiness.
Valentino's Uomo Born in Roma throws you into a violet vortex where mineral coolness meets surprising warmth. Antoine Maisondieu has crafted something genuinely bold here: violet leaf's bitter, cucumber-like greenness collides with actual mineral notes—that wet stone, petrichor sensation—creating an opening that feels like crushing violet stems against marble in the rain. There's salt in the composition too, not the beachy kind, but something more atmospheric, lending an almost skin-like quality to the violet haze.
As the mineral-violet accord settles, sage and ginger inject aromatic bite without veering into typical fresh fougère territory. The sage adds its silvery, slightly camphorous edge whilst ginger provides subtle heat, but neither overwhelms the central violet theme. This is where the scent reveals its sophistication: the violet remains omnipresent but morphs from green and aqueous to more floral and rounded.
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4.1/5 (18.5k)