Chances are that if you're a regular reader of this blog you rarely use the word "bling", even in irony. Also, there's a high likelihood that you share my general suspicion towards perfumes with a mango note, green or otherwise (I can't even begin to express my dislike of Hermes Jardin Sur le Nil, second only to its sibling, Après la Mousson). Still, I urge you to give Bombay Bling, one of the trio of perfumes composed by Bertrand Duchaufour for Neela Vermeire Creations, evoking some of the many facets of India.
Bombay Bling opens very fruity. Surprisingly, even at its juiciest and flashiest, I find it fun and charming. It actually smells good and not cheap and artificial even in the slightest. This particular fruit salad is served in a chilled crystal bowl over shaved ice, and decorated with fresh and colorful petals. Colorful is a key word in this Neela Vermeire fragrance (actually in all of them, just using different shades and brush strokes). Bombay Bling is all about orange, bright pink, purple and yellow-- a cliche? Maybe, but such a delicious one.
The Bollywood fantasy Neela Vermeire envisioned is tastefully seasoned without letting any one spice take over until the creamy vanilla of the dry-down arrives, winking and flirting with the skin. Bombay Bling abandons the fresh fruit theme in favor of a full on oriental, again, well-blended and precise. It's ornamental and elaborately decorated but never juvenile, and the masterful composition ensures pleasure in wearing for the entire 24 hours the fragrance remains detectable.
Notes: Mango, lychee, blackcurrant, cardamom, cumin, cistus, Turkish rose, jasmine sambac, ylang-ylang, tuberose, plumeria, gardenia, patchouli, tobacco, sandalwood, cedar, vanilla
Neela Vermeire Creations- Bombay Bling ($250, 55 ml) is available from Luckyscent, but even better, you can do what my husband did when he was looking to buy me an unusual Valentine's Day gift. He ordered the discovery set, 10 ml of all three Neela Vermeire perfumes (90 euro) directly from the perfumer's website, neelavermeire.com (samples also available).
This was the only one of the 3 I liked, and I liked it a lot! I think it's the best mango perfume I've tried. Sadly, the mango lasted only 20 minutes or so. The drydown is a delicious brown sugar and creamy sandalwood, but so subtle, it could only be detected at very close range. I'd buy a bottle in a heartbeat if it were around $75 instead of $300....
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