Valentino
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Bourbon vanilla arrives first, honeyed and almost gourmand, immediately flanked by amber's warm resinous glow. The combination is disarmingly sweet but structured, with no green freshness to cut through—you're plunged directly into amber-tinted softness.
Jasmine emerges gently, its creamy florality anchoring the sweetness and preventing drift into pure confection. The benzoin becomes perceptible here, adding a powdery, almost talc-like transparency that softens the vanilla's intensity and creates a more sophisticated, skin-scent quality.
The composition settles into a fuzzy, warm embrace where benzoin and powdery floral notes dominate. Vanilla lingers as a subtle undercurrent, the whole thing fading into a soft, intimate skin scent that feels simultaneously creamy and slightly dusty.
Donna Born In Roma Intense is a fragrance that doesn't apologise for its sweetness—it leans into it with the confidence of someone who knows exactly what they want. Amandine Clerc-Marie has constructed something deliberately indulgent here: amber and bourbon vanilla collide in the opening moments with an almost syrupy warmth, their caramel-tinged sweetness immediately establishing this as a composition for those unafraid of sugar in their scents. What prevents it from becoming cloying is the jasmine heart, which introduces a delicate, slightly creamy florality that threads through the dense sweetness like a silk ribbon through velvet. The benzoin base amplifies this effect, contributing a soft, almost powdery quality that makes the whole thing feel less like a dessert and more like a sophisticated indulgence—think amber resin clinging to warm skin rather than spun sugar.
This is a fragrance for the maximalist; for someone who gravitates towards fragrances like Hypnotic Poison or Black Opium but wants something marginally less aggressive. The synthetic accord (at 64%) adds an interesting plasticity to the composition, preventing it from becoming entirely naturalistic or comforting. There's a modern, almost architectural quality beneath the sweetness—something that keeps it from feeling retro or dated.
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3.9/5 (79)