Persolaise Review: Bottega Veneta Pour Homme Essence Aromatique (Amandine Marie; 2016)

Where’s the line between old-school masculines which are too… well… old-school and those which don’t feel out of place in a contemporary setting? Is it somewhere near notions of transparency: do we now read ‘opaque’ as ‘dated’? Or is it connected with legibility: do we require modern creations to present their constituents in lucid, easily-comprehensible layers? Wherever the boundary lies, I’d say Amandine Marie has found it in this latest addition to the solid Bottega Veneta range. A flanker of sorts to 2013’s Pour Homme, this Essence Aromatique takes a simple accord – patchouli and pine – bolsters it with a thigh-slapping, vetivert-heavy leather, and then lightens it with a dew-laden, woodland breeze to create an endearing ‘nouveau cologne’. It’s diffusive and long-lasting, but it’s also as weightless as a sliver of lemon zest floating on the surface of Lake Como. By the way, in case you didn’t know, 2 years ago, BV also gave us an Essence Aromatique rendition of their signature women’s perfume. A subtle ‘skin scent’, it places citrus and floral notes beneath a layer of gauze through which you can just discern the shape of full lips and alabaster cheekbones. Well worth checking out.