La Perla
La Perla
196 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The nashi pear hits with its characteristic crisp juiciness, but the Guinea pepper immediately distorts it, adding a tingling, almost effervescent spice that makes your nose prickle. Grape blossom weaves through with its odd, slightly fermented sweetness—more grape skin than actual flower, lending an unexpected purple-green cast to the fruit.
The night bloomers unfold with almost predatory intensity—black orchid's rubbery, indolic depth merges with Queen of the Night's heady, intoxicating sweetness, creating a floral wall that's both seductive and slightly suffocating. Jasmine and Christmas rose add complexity: one creamy and diffusive, the other green and faintly medicinal, preventing the composition from collapsing into a single-note floral bomb.
Cashmere wood and amyris create a soft, almost powdery woodiness that feels more like scented skin than actual trees, their gentle soapiness tempering the amber's resinous warmth. The florals have retreated but haven't vanished—they linger as a memory, a faint indolic hum beneath the woody-amber cocoon that remains.
La Perla's J'Aime la Nuit is a study in contrasts—a fragrance that juxtaposes crisp, almost aqueous fruit against the darkest, most narcotic florals. The nashi pear opening possesses an unexpected sharpness, its watery sweetness punctuated by the volatile bite of Guinea pepper, whilst grape blossom adds a peculiar green-purple haze that hovers between fresh and fermenting. This isn't polite fruit; it's fruit on the edge of overripeness, teetering into something more complex.
The heart reveals where this scent truly earns its name. Black orchid and Queen of the Night—both notorious for their heavy, almost rubbery indolic qualities—create a dense floral blanket that verges on the narcotic. Christmas rose (hellebore) adds an unusual medicinal-green facet, its slightly toxic character preventing the jasmine from becoming too pretty or polite. There's something vaguely unsettling here, a gothic romance written in petals that only bloom after dark. The sweetness never fully dissipates, but it's now tempered by shadow, by earth, by the slightly musty scent of night-blooming things.
Add fragrances to your collection and unlock your personalised scent DNA, note map, and shareable identity card.
3.7/5 (129)