Nero Assoluto
Roberto Cavalli (2013)

I'm really mad for this one. If I'd guessed, I'd have pegged it as something that came out between 2005 and 2007. That was the time of Black XS and Black Orchid and Euphoria, and this feels like Cavalli's version of the dark fruity stickiness.

I've read reviews where Nero Assoluto is said to be similar to Madonna's Truth or Dare, and they're certainly in the same heady white floral Coty Prestige ballpark. It actually smells to me like a fragrance resulting from the same brief as Euphoria, but executed for the Cavalli brand instead of Calvin Klein. I love them both; side-by-side, Euphoria starts to seem positively steely, gender-neutral, and safe for work, and Nero Assoluto is warm and very femme on the spectrum.

I'd be interested in the full breakdown of notes; it's heady with white florals, and while I can't pick out a specific fruity note, it feels jammy and spicy to me as well as laden with vanilla and wood. Sometimes I think I'm picking up strong black coffee.

Speaking of black coffee, I haven't smelled By Dolce Gabbana in ages, though Nero Assoluto has the kind of big, warm, womanly Italian personality I always associated with that beloved discontinued fragrance. I don't mean to suggest it as a substitute - it's not - yet it's similarly provocative and unapologetic in an 80s kind of way.

A rather synthetic orchid opening leading into a woodsy vanilla drydown. Simplicity that is well executed with top ingredients can yield great results - this rather unexciting scent does not. I get adequate sillage and projection, but only a longevity of a couple of hours in my skin.
Not bad. Mediocre. 2.25/5

A first sniff and you exclaim.. good, really good, so modern, so glamour, such a more articulated sort of Tom Ford Black Orchid, equally sultry/carnal with an heady dark orchid but deeper, darker, woodier and finally balmy/vanillic in an almost edible way! Why my negative rating so? The aroma is utterly headache inducing and finally extremely cloying a la Marc Jacobs Lola or stuffs like that. Cavalli Nero Assoluto is supremely synthetic on my skin guys, something frankly unbearable.