Pélargonium
Aedes de Venustas (2017)

The opening smell great! Zesty lime and sweet mandarin with subtle spices. As it develops, a nice peppery vetiver note is growing together with the geranium which brings a herbaceous/minty aroma. In a way it reminds me a bit of a mojito.

Omg, is this fantastic. At first.

Imagine if your Grandmother were the attractive, insanely chic, wealthy, Chanel-wearing muse of a famous artist. This is what you'd smell in the garden of her estate in Connecticut. Or maybe this is what Iris Apfel smells like.

The Pelargonium/Geranium note takes center stage here, with pure powder taking a bow from stage left. And that's really all I get from this one. But it's more than enough. Simple and beautiful. Bold and soft at the same time. The powdery element dulls the prickly whoosh of the Pelargonium, and it totally works.

The problem is, it just doesn't last. I sniff my wrist a few hours later, longing for a whiff of this sensation in a bottle, and it's just gone. But I'd still purchase it, because it's just that good.

The main problem with previous Aedes de Venustas offerings has been that they skated rapidly through their pretty creative opening and heart phases and then subsided with a disappointing whump into lacklustre bases.
Can Pelargonium do any different? But perhaps that is the wrong question when its opening statement is one that is so firmly trad that one begins to wonder why this is a new release. A burst of juicy citruses spiked with the classic accompaniment of black pepper is well-rendered but ain't going to win any prizes for originality. And when the evolution is towards sweet but blurred florals (the geranium being the main player), we're in the territory of AdP's Colonia offerings. Zesty and refreshing for sure but a well-trodden path by now.
However, Pelargonium has a major plus up its sleeve – it has an endearing ever-so-slightly powdered floral throw and as time wears on the impression of lying among meadow flowers forms in the mind. Just the thing, I'd say, when you want a light yet lasting, soft-focus floral.