Bois 1920- Agrumi Amari Di Sicilia

The Italian affair continues, which calls to digging up all the Bois 1920 samples I have, chanting a spell and hoping to be transported to a place where the sea is blue, the air is sweet, and you can leave the house without a jacket in late April. Sicily sounds like a good option.

"Agrumi amari" means bitter citrus. In this regard Bois 1920  Agrumi Amari Di Sicilia delivers on its promise. It opens with a tall glass of tart juice, pretty realistic and satisfying when I'm in the mood for that kind of thing. It feels like sitting in the garden of a beautiful boutique hotel right on the coast, breathing the scent of the citrus trees, the herbs growing nearby, and taking in the beautiful view. It's relaxing and delightful, a sensation that increases as  Agrumi Amari Di Sicilia takes a turn and morphs into a sweet lavender scent.

The sunny day continues, but the perfume becomes sweeter, musky-woody, and frankly: laundry-ish and a bit generic. It's a nice fragrance, wearable, friendly, and utterly free of gender conventions. But I just can't help feeling a bit cheated when the promise of an adventure in Southern Italy turns into a day at the laundromat. I know that I'm not the biggest fan of cologne-style citrus perfumes, but my little list of Citrus Top Picks has quite a few fragrances that manage to keep both the Mediterranean mood and my interest (and have a better longevity).

Notes: Sicilian bitter citrus, hesperidium berries

Bois 1920- Agrumi Amari Di Sicilia ($205, 100ml EDT) is available from Luckyscent, MiN NY, and Barneys.

Art: Leif Nilsson- St Ambrogio lemon tree garden - morning, 2012