Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Rosa Magnifica Review – Mathilde Laurent; 1999

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I learn at least as much from all of you as you do from me. The latest evidence of this was a comment casually left by a viewer on a recent YouTube video stating that, while she was at Guerlain, Mathilde Laurent composed Rosa Magnifica as a tribute to none other than Nahema. Cue: excited perfume critic raiding the web for a few drops of this Aqua Allegoria he’d never encountered before. A few days later, a pristine bottle arrived in the post, and so of course I had to share it with all of you in a broadcast. Here’s a link: Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Rosa Magnifica review.

I shall be forever grateful to the person who prompted me to make this particular purchase, because Nahema just happens to be one of my favourite compositions of all time, and the links between it and Rosa Magnifica are clear from the very first sniff. Nearly as sensual and tempestuous as her older sister, the rose in Laurent’s work is scenery-chewing, full-bodied and, as its name leads us to hope, magnificent. Indeed, so powerful is its personality that it’s difficult to believe it was released under the Aqua Allegoria banner. But then again, the original AA line-up – of which Magnifica was a part – also featured Herba Fresca and Pamplelune, and they’re not exactly wallflowers either, although they’re not quite as regal as this.

Where Rosa Magnifica differs from Nahema is in its inclusion of metallic notes. Perhaps thanks to the use of hyacinth – as well as some super-polished woods – it becomes increasingly light-reflecting as it develops, as though growing a shield of bronze armour right on the wearer’s body. At times, the effect is borderline disturbing, but never anything less than gutsy, striking and distinctive. If Nahema is the fire princess, ready to fling herself into the heat of passion at a moment’s notice, then Magnifica is a somewhat cooler version: equally emotional and equally capable of high drama, but perhaps more guarded and not quite as impulsive. Fiery or not, I’m delighted to have made her acquaintance.

Persolaise

[Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Rosa Magnifica review based on a sample obtained by me in 2023.]

—
If you’ve enjoyed this post, please consider supporting my work
by ‘buying me a coffee’ using the panel below.
Thanks very much indeed.

—