Jasmin T
Bruno Acampora (1978)

OH Glory BE!

This is stunning! I cannot hide my love for jasmine - I am heart and soul a jasmine lover. It is both beautiful and extremely sensual. Some can be assaultive on the senses, while others work me in a way I will shell out ridiculous sums of money. This is the latter.

I never would have considered cloves to be a great match for the beloved jasmine - it seemed wrong to pair such a powerful and possible harsh spice with such a jewel of a flower, but somehow, it works. There is a sense of beauty as well as sensuality in this vial of oil. Even the Ylang Ylang is balanced well, which in my opinion, is quite something. Not every perfumer does this little yellow flower the greatest honor; some have a heavy hand and that is truly unfortunate.

I am going to venture to guess that the cloves used for this lovely concoction are possibly vintage or even antique as they are much more rounded and not at all sharp like the stuff you would find in your spice cabinet.

For those of you on your hunt for THE jasmine, this is one not to miss - you have to test it at the least. It might become your Holy Grail!

I love jasmine. I really do. This jasmine is heavy and cloying. Doesn't remind me of a flower at all. Not fresh at least, but rotten and dead. It's a pity because I love Acampora. The idea of oil perfumes is great. The packaging and names, too.

The opening is powerful and sharp, jasmine on ylang, simple as a soliflore but beautifully complex because of the "freedom" Acampora skillfully left to the flowers to express all their depth and facets. The nuances are impressive and range from dusty tobacco, to camphor, to balsamic, to a materic, organic, botanical crunchy "greenness", to the silky, resinous, carnal, polleny (pollinous?) softness of the very heart of jasmine, ending with the airy and lively gracefulness of the sweet notes of the petals. Natural and shady, raw and springy, gloomy and invigorating. The majesty of a single material – that's perfumery at its traditional best. There is also a tiny, dense rose heart, tasty and almost fruity, and a general elusive melancholy, a slight cloudiness I felt in almost all Acampora scents I tested, which I link to the Italian heritage he was such a great representative – some aristocratic, understated, decaying Mediterranean melancholy, with an austere and respectful attitude towards nature – a nature that in fact, Acampora does not "play" with to create posh, refined, rounded, glossy floral bouquets: he just presents nature as it is, in its rawness and ambiguity. So basically this is an essential, earthy, even rough chypre, really dry and simple, almost monolithic, utterly noble and slightly stale. The way Acampora treats flowers makes me think of floral bouquets, not fresh but not dead, just slightly wet and sleepy, abandoned on a table in a closed room of a noble mansion on the sea. One of the very few "pure florals" I would wear with joy and confidence. Brilliant.

9/10

The more I test on the skin such incredible potions, guys, the more there is no way to find the right words to express my admiration for the Acampora's extraits and pure essences. Forget the ordinary approach in a huge part of the modern perfumery since in here all is indolic for real. Such minimalist liquids are incredibly natural and complex in their quality to projects the diverse nuances of specific highly natural raw materials. Jasmin T is nocturnal and poetic. Rattles and hums fill the silence of the starry tropical night. This fragrance combines an absolute of sambac jasmine with spicy ylang-ylang and pungent cyclamen over an extremely soft musk/balsams background. The latter are absolutely minimal since all you can get is pollen and serum of jasmine supported by deep cyclamen and enriched by a soft exotic ylang-ylang trail. The floral "essence" is so much realistic and intense to appear almost beastly, possibly carnal, dirty/dissonant and almost addle. I find it amazing, such an aroma of real floral patterns rubbered or almost "melted" down the skin. Mesmerizing. Jasmine is soft and vibrant, delicate and carnal all at once. The further floral notes complement and enrich the starring jasmine performance, the melancholic and obsessive cyclamen provides indeed a romantic vein while a spicy ylang-ylang imprints a more "opened" and sweaty/sultry tropical floral mark. An extremely modern and romantic jasmine with a natural multifaceted sophistication and an uncompromising sensuality.

By far the dirtiest, most potent & most animalic jasmine l have ever encountered. ln a good way! There are also hints of frangipani, spicy stems & leaves, eventually softening into ylang ylang with a little gardenia. Powerful, heady & skanky, with a headshop-hippie vibe. Use with caution!

By the way, this was simply called Jasmin when l tried it, & l see it is still called that on the Luckyscent site. l gather there is an EDP in existence, but my sample was of the oil. l would love to try the EDP, if anyone knows where l can get it?

Jasmine. Not just any jasmine, but that quintessential jasmine, a jasmine that stands alone in a world of jasmines of all shapes and hues, so rare and beguiling that after encountering her the world briefly stops and will never be the same. Is this her? Jasmine seekers know all about the quest. They speak of "the real jasmine" or "a true jasmine" as if it were a life mission. With that impossible standard I'm surprised anyone is ever really satisfied.
Bruno Acampora Jasmin T is an amazing olfactory experience. This is a fragrance rarely encountered. Heady. Deep. Dark. Rich. Dreamy. Narcotic. Quiet in the most sensual way: an asian girl with black hair, her head still with downturned eyes. I would find it hard to believe that any conscientious lover of fragrance could fail to be impressed by what has been created here. But.
There is another side. The very things that are in Jasmin T's favor here, the richness, the darkness, the stillness can cut another way. It may be a blessing that Jasmin T wears so close to the skin, otherwise it might be overwhelming. The intense rich deep floral headiness......think of the way oriental lilies can sometimes overwhelm, they can attract and repulse simultaneously....they can suffocate.
There's a heaviness here. A gloominess. A beautiful painting in dark oils with no glint of light. Do you believe there's a perfume for every occasion? This may be the fragrance of premature burial. This is what you'll be wearing when you wake up in your airless sealed coffin. Do I sound torn?
As it is the reticent projection makes Jasmin T a skin scent somewhat, albeit a powerful one. I sometimes wish Jasmin T had a more wafting quality but then I think to myself be careful what you wish for when dealing with such a beauty as this.
Bottomline an incredible sniff. To anyone who professes to love all things jasmine Bruno Acampora's jasmine offering could not be more highly recommended.