Jacomo For Her by Jacomo {Perfume Review & Musings}

Notes: Top: Green of hyacinth, bergamot, muguet; heart: rose, ylang, hawthorn, heliotrope, almond-y notes; base: cedar, sandalwood, patchouli, vetiver, tonka bean.

Jacomo For Her by Jacomo is one of those fragrances that we like to call "closet-musk fragrances"(see Floris Malmaison), whose definite musky nature and erotic power lie further hidden within the folds of the perfume. They are not advertised officially as musk fragrances, but they possess the simplicity of purpose of their less subtle sisters who bear the title of a day or evening program of erotic approach on their packages. "Musk" is written in bold lettering on the box to help guide the shopping hand; it would flash and twinkle if it could. "Buy me, I will make you more desirable..." are the words whispered by practically every perfumes on earth, but musk fragrances, even more so than others, are born to seduce......

A subtler version of the admittedly all-too-glaring "Musk" fragrance is the one advertised as a "skin" fragrance. Jacomo For Her does just that. One could attempt to isolate the notes in the concoction to reveal its composition, but really, this is missing the point of the scent, which is to envelop the wearer with a long-lasting subtle sensual aura, as if a second skin made of a more ideal fragrant material had been weaved by the goddess of love and descended upon one of her loyal priestesses.

Jacomo For Her (2005) was created by perfumer Marie-Aude Couture-Bluche (Sherrer S, Guerilla 1...) and can be described as a light amber-y chypre with subtle exotic floral and woodsy facets ending as an ultra feminine and enveloping skin scent offering a noticeable erotic Salome-like "veil effect". Its modern sartorial equivalent would be, outwardly, an expensive, yet simply designed white T-shirt made of refined silk. But in the inner chambers of the scent, the scent evokes the archaic appeal and diaphanous sensuality of a mull veil trailing on the skin of a feminine icon such as Salammbô.

The perfume starts with a brief reference to the slightly aqueous floral musk of Narciso Rodriguez for Her, invites a comparison with Tann Roka Kisu, but quickly creates a different atmosphere that is deeper and woodsier while remaining eminently feminine and light in essence. A certain raw greenness in it is also reminiscent of Ellen Tracy, but here the blend is much more subtle. The fragrance seems to play with all the delicate nuances and right dosages of all the notes and in particular the cedar, sandalwood, and patchouli. The exotic indolic ylang-ylang brings its touch of eroticism soon confirmed by a particularly efficacious musky and amber-y development that feels like a secret weapon of seduction, all the more so since Jacomo For Her is a well-kept secret as far as desirable sexy perfumes go. Musk is not listed as an ingredient, but cedarwood naturally has musky animalic overtones. White musk can also be detected for the sensual near-tactile skin effect. Despite its light character, the scent is very tenacious in an extremely understated way, as the next day, it still arises from the skin and surprises with its prolonged presence. One could find a hint of a reference to Opium in the final softly spicy sweet amber. A subtle, sensual perfume for the woman who feels affinities with the erotic allure of the dance of the seven veils, but would rather keep it private.

Top notes are bergamot, green of hyacinth, lily of the valley. Heart notes are rose, heliotrope, ylang-yland, hawthorn. Base notes are cedarwood, amber, sandalwood, Tonka bean.

Jacomo For Her can be found at online discounters for a song.

Salammbô by Mucha from Brown University