Bellodgia (1927)
by Caron

Bellodgia is still in production now. I happen to have a bottle of the formula that was in production in the late 60's or early 70's. It is marked Eau de Cologne Bellodgia.

Bellodgia starts off very musty and confusing so I recommend putting it on a couple of minutes before walking out the door. When this settles, it becomes THE epitome of what a carnation would smell like if it was a spice. Cinnamon, cloves and herbal spices mix with the soft rose-like accord of carnation and settles into a floral mossy and animalic musk.

This review is the vintage Bellodgia. I was a little disappointed by this one. It's a floral based on carnation, but has none of the sweet spicy-ness that carnation usually brings to a scent, and that dark, mysterious Caron base that I love seems to be missing. This smells like a bouquet of carnations that have been sitting in a vase of water for a little too long...a little sour. When I referred to one of my books to see what the top, heart and base notes are I realized that there is nothing in there that would have brought the note of slight sweetness it needed, so instead it ends up being a kind of bitter and flat floral without balance. I've found that layering flat, unsweet scents like this with just a little L'artisan's Ambre Extreme can somtimes round things out a little more.

UPDATE: I'm glad the editing feature is working again because I'm on my knees begging vintage Bellodgia to forgive me. I have to change my rating from a neutral to a THUMBS UP. What I've discovered in buying vintage bottles of perfume that have never been opened is that what you smell when you first remove the gold wire and the stopper, is often very different from the true smell of the perfume that will come if you wait a while (for the molecules to adjust...or something). I now let the perfume set a week or so (with the stopper on, of course) before I judge it. I don't know, maybe it's the same principle as allowing a wine to breathe a bit before tasting it. I just know that when I finally tried Bellodgia again it was one of the most richy layered floral scents I've ever smelled and that dark Caron base IS there. In my opinion Bellodgia is as seductive, mysterious and complex as Narcisse Noir, but a litlle more melancholy.

Caron’s classic carnation fragrance is softer than some of the others on the market, with the inherent cloves-and-cinnamon aspect of Dianthus smoothed and mellowed by a plush, powdery vanilla accord in the base. Where Etro’ s, Villoresi’s, and Comme des Garçons’ carnations can be prickly or even mildly astringent, Bellodgia is warm and reassuring - a big down comforter of a scent.

Once the basic vanilla and carnation accord comes together Bellodgia’s progress is linear, fading slowly to a cushiony sandalwood and vanilla drydown. The eau de toilette concentration is soft-spoken, rather than bold, and while it does leave a light veil of sillage, it will never overwhelm. In the last analysis I find Bellodgia pleasant, but I prefer more edge on my carnation and would choose the comparatively sharp, aggressive Comme des Garçons Series 2 Red: Carnation before it.

This is a lovely carnation scent, though I believe the clove or peppery note I used to love years ago has been removed in the current version and I miss that aspect. It is still wonderfully fresh and pretty, in some ways like Bulgari Pour Femme in its elegance. Bellodgia is my favorite Caron.

The first time I wore it my spouse commented immediately on the "florist shop" aspect of this fragrance. And it does go on quite fresh and floral. I was slightly disappointed as I'd wanted heady and powerful with carnation dominating. I used to love Roger & Gallet's carnation soaps! I love carnations in the raw. I wanted more...

Day 2: Enchanting. I can't stop sniffing my wrist. A Pied Piper of a fragrance. Sweet. Almost gourmand in sweetness but NOT gourmand. Vanilla fudge? No, too obvious, too crude. I would never have thought this was a fragrance with such a long pedigree. Someone has said it has a timeless quality and I think that's true. My Shalimar is of its time. My L'Heure Bleue also. I love them but they are "dated" (not in a bad way..) Bellodgia has made me curious about Caron. Next stop for me may be Yatagan.

I'm busy working my way through the Caron wardrobe of perfumes. Started with Narcisse Noir (gorgeous in the original formulation, quite nice in the new), Nocturnes (still trying to love it), then Bellodgia. Utterly gorgeous - big bunch of carnations - clean and spicy. I'm glad I went for the EDP as I've found the EDTs in the other scents don't last well. What next? Happy to follow any recommendations!