I love living in the NY metro area. We have everything and can find the best of the best from any category of items- food, fashion, culture and more. The one thing we don't have is figs.
I have a thing for figs. A huge thing. I can eat and eat and not stop until they are all gone (so does my mom. We've been known to polish off lbs upon lbs of ripe figs). The little plastic containers of six shriveled figs I buy from Whole Foods never ever come close to the real thing, but I still get them and inhale. The best figs I ever ate were in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. We were staying at a hotel overlooking Lake Albano. There were several old and beautiful fig trees on the hotel grounds and one of the employees hand picked and brought me a bowl. I was sitting outside, smelling the air, the figs and taking in the view while eating my favorite fruit. It couldn't get any better than that.
Figue Amere by Miller Harris is as close as it gets to that September afternoon in Castel Gandolfo. It's green and dry at the top, like smelling the tree and the clean air around it. There's no hint of the milky coconut note that is often paired with figs (not that I mind. I like coconut), so it's a bit less foody than expected, at least for the first hour or so of the scent. The sweetness arrives later, in the form of woody amber. My skin probably amplifies this facet, to an almost vanilla-like drydown. I adore it, of course. On a different chemistry I suspect the cedar would be more prominent, so Figue Amere can work as a masculine.
While the perfume has a modest sillage and will not announce one's arrival, the staying power is impressive. I get 16-18 hours easily, from only three sprays. While I could bathe in my bottle, there's no need for it, as the scent is really strong enough. But I just discoevered that they also make a Figue Amere body lotion, and that might be a must-have for me.
Miller Harris Figue Amere ($140 for 100 ml) is available from tLuckyscent/Scent Bar.
art: Three Figs by Craig Stephens
photo: view of Lake Albano from Hotel Villa degli Angeli by me. Sadly, the hotel has built a modern and fugly convention center on most of what used to be their garden. The magnificent fig trees are no more.
I have a thing for figs. A huge thing. I can eat and eat and not stop until they are all gone (so does my mom. We've been known to polish off lbs upon lbs of ripe figs). The little plastic containers of six shriveled figs I buy from Whole Foods never ever come close to the real thing, but I still get them and inhale. The best figs I ever ate were in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. We were staying at a hotel overlooking Lake Albano. There were several old and beautiful fig trees on the hotel grounds and one of the employees hand picked and brought me a bowl. I was sitting outside, smelling the air, the figs and taking in the view while eating my favorite fruit. It couldn't get any better than that.
Figue Amere by Miller Harris is as close as it gets to that September afternoon in Castel Gandolfo. It's green and dry at the top, like smelling the tree and the clean air around it. There's no hint of the milky coconut note that is often paired with figs (not that I mind. I like coconut), so it's a bit less foody than expected, at least for the first hour or so of the scent. The sweetness arrives later, in the form of woody amber. My skin probably amplifies this facet, to an almost vanilla-like drydown. I adore it, of course. On a different chemistry I suspect the cedar would be more prominent, so Figue Amere can work as a masculine.
While the perfume has a modest sillage and will not announce one's arrival, the staying power is impressive. I get 16-18 hours easily, from only three sprays. While I could bathe in my bottle, there's no need for it, as the scent is really strong enough. But I just discoevered that they also make a Figue Amere body lotion, and that might be a must-have for me.
Miller Harris Figue Amere ($140 for 100 ml) is available from tLuckyscent/Scent Bar.
art: Three Figs by Craig Stephens
photo: view of Lake Albano from Hotel Villa degli Angeli by me. Sadly, the hotel has built a modern and fugly convention center on most of what used to be their garden. The magnificent fig trees are no more.
I'm fig addict as well. They're definitely one of the reasons I'm so much looking forward to my holiday in South of France, where I can eat them ripe and lovely directly from the tree... Today I wear Jo Malone's Wild Fig, accidentally.
ReplyDeleteOh shoot - this is going to make me need to pull my little decant out and really give it a wearing. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteLady Jane, I'm jealous of your upcoming vacation. Enjoy your time away and the figs...
ReplyDeleteRobbie, definitely give it a good wearing, and if you enjoy it, try other fig scents. In my world there can't be too many.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, I am going to have to try this one, I love figs and fig scents!
ReplyDeleteI can eat a case of figs without blinking an eye, especially of the Kadota or Adriatic variety. My idea of Paradise is going to a place where they are available ripe and sun-warmed from the trees in all their honeyed perfection.
This is my favorite fig scent, and I have the matching lotion too. It actually smells a bit chocolatey on me (the perfume, not the body lotion).
ReplyDeleteOf the several fig scents I've tried so far, this is my favorite one. I didn't know about the body lotion - so I'm off to Google that right now! ;-)
ReplyDelete