Velvet Rouge
Arte Profumi (2013)

A mélange of handsome, enveloping aromas of things that smell best when roasted – coffee beans, raw cacao, and peanuts – chased by a buttered whiskey amber to soak it all up. In line with the Arte Profumi style, it is ostentatiously packed with enough naturals to rival a Lush production but cantilevered with enough woody ambers to make a cathedral float. The coffee amber pulls apart a little after the first half hour to reveal an Italianate rendition of Borneo 1834 with its velveteen cocoa and patchouli dust. I like that the opening creates the impression that it is going to be sweet and rich to the point of stuffiness, but then follows it up with enough earth and spice to give it grit. Ultimately, however, the metallic aftertaste of those woody aromachemicals means that I prefer Velvet Rouge in the air, where it smells like a room where the most delicious coffee has just been prepared, rather than on my skin, where it smells bitter and insistent.