Mona Lisa
AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo

As blended by Salaam, these ingredients shed their stereotypical scent profiles and become something altogether different. Or perhaps, what they do is reveal their true selves: Mona Lisa isn't telling.

In particular, this is like no tuberose fragrance I've ever smelled. Forget the piercing, fruity "pink" sweetness of something akin to Fracas: instead, any fruitiness here comes from the mandarin mingling with the ambrette. Likewise, the civet takes on a warmer, less urinous dimension than in its common pairing with aldehydes. The ambrette never develops the cloying stone fruit quality that sometime puts me off it, while the tonka, absent the typical amber/vanilla dosage, imparts a gentle muskiness.

Like its namesake, Mona Lisa is at once subtle, sly and, intriguingly powerful. I feel as if I could wear this a dozen times and perceive a dozen different things. Of course, I'm certain it would make a spectacular feminine, but I would have no qualms about wearing this anywhere—so long as I was up for conversation, because it's the rare sort of fragrance that can make one seem vastly more interesting.

Having just re-engaged with my fragrance love, I had been researching La Vie del Profumo's entire line for a long time. Recently, last week, I decided to take the plunge and purchase a few that spoke to me the most based on the listed notes and user reviews posted on several sites.

While I love all three that I picked up in different ways, the one that remains most fascinating and curious to me is Mona Lisa.

This is such a complex, hard to describe scent that rightfully seems to have online posters comparing notes.

Decidedly, I'd say it has a citrus and tuberose top, and a civet heart. The dry down is some kind of smoky, incense accord. Again, very hard to describe and classify, but very distinctive and resilient. Many have complained that, while they love the scent, it doesn't last long enough. However, I got a good 6 hours longevity upon my first use.

The whole appropriation of the name juxtaposed with the notes is, again, so very curious. Referencing such an iconic feminine image and eternal work of art might have folks thinking is something really "feminine," like a "peachy creamy" or a "soft, white floral" or some such thing. But it's not like that at all. For lack of better words, I'd say it's a very smoky animalic scent...the latter owing largely to the civet.

Anyone agree or disagree? Again, I know I like the scent and would recommend it, but I'll admit that trying to "figure it out" (for lack of better words) is driving me nuts. :)

Much like its more famous namesake, MONA LISA stumps me with her enigmatic charms. I find it tough to peg it down as it switches gears as rapidly as a Formula 1 racer negotiating a series of bends. Spicy indolic floral one moment, soft animalic musk a second later, even dry black tea leaf-like notes at some point. I don't get the fleshy rubbery texture I usually associate with tuberose either. Maybe it is there, maybe it is not. Other than the composer himself, who can really tell what else is in this sniff-worthy fragrance? But I can tell you the civet is rather playful. And this is probably why Mona Lisa smiles the way she does.

Notes include: Mandarine, Tuberose, CivetOn paper, Mona Lisa has a beautiful citrus accord top that reminds me very much of petitgrain which is woody, fruity and fresh. It becomes creamy almost right away, not like the sweet orange-cream of ice cream, candy or soda, but creamy like a soft, inedible vanilla with a faint tinge of orange. The label says it has tuberose. I don't detect strong tuberose, but ML does start to develop a sort of chewy, almond-like note which is simultaneously sweet and bitter. This is something I can take very deep inhalations of--I wish it were a bit stronger and longer lasting! I think of all the almond-like fragrances on the market, and this blows them all away.On skin, and the civet note really blossoms, and I smell the tuberose more strongly. I have smelled this same tuberose note in Piguet Fracas, Malle Carnal Flower, etc. It is so subtle in Mona Lisa, not overpowering at all. It is a close to the skin scent, very personal. I love how the civet turns creamy and how it carries the tuberose and citrus into the drydown. Later, I get the almond-like scent that I smelled on paper.On full wearing, Mona Lisa smells of citrus and cream. The citrus is listed as mandarine in the notes, and indeed it does have an "orange with and edge" quality about it. It is not as sweet as orange, and is slightly more woody and bitter. The creamyness comes form the civet which is less overt at the start of the development. Soon after the fragrance dries, the mandarine becomes quite a bit more green, and this is facilitated by the emergence of the tuberose note. I have never smelled tuberose in isolation, nor have I smelled the actual plant. My only other exposure to this note has been in other fragrances, as I mentioned above. Mona Lisa's tuberose seems more dirty in comparison to Fracas or Carnal Flower, and it is almost smoky, with hints of slightly musty wet cardboard and bitter almond. The natural civet seems to play an important role, giving the tuberose and mandarine some hefty substance without weighing down the delicate top and mid notes.Mona Lisa develops very rapidly and wears close to the body. It is mostly a skin scent after about two hours. It is amazing how natural ingredients of high quality can have such complexity. In a way, I am at a loss for how to describe such fragrances--I smell mandarine, I smell civet, I smell tuberose. However, there is a synergy that occurs in this and most of the other perfumes I have tried from this house. I smell all the ingredients, but I also smell the whole composition which shifts to emphasize one or two of the component ingredients. Surprisingly, the mandarine stays strong for most of the development. The tuberose comes and goes, and moves from indolic floral to a bitter and sweet nuttyness. The civet, of course, remains to the end, and is a beautiful finish, soft, creamy and musky.