La Perla (1987)
by La Perla

I really fell head over heels for La Perla, which I first encountered last year when a fellow fragrance traveler sent me a generous sample of this gem. I had never even heard of this perfume, much less seen it anywhere for sale. To me, La Perla, like Moschino's first perfume, is a made-in-the-1980s classic which deserves to live on and on and has been severely underappreciated, passed over by the masses lured in to the major counters to buy the latest new big thing (whatever it may be, and however it may smell...) by massive attention-getting marketing campaigns. Meanwhile, La Perla has been shrouded in relative obscurity--I presume because the company has lingerie not perfume as its primary focus? More evidence for this "other priorities" theory would seem to be the cap on the La Perla bottle. It's probably the cheapest one I've ever seen, more akin to something that you'd find on a stick of deodorant than a luxurious perfume. But it wasn't the ugly, tacky, five-cents-to-produce cap that kept me and so many others away. It was the near total lack of any significant effort to promote or sell this beautiful perfume!!!!!

Why do I love La Perla? In part, because it is a sophisticated yet comfy modern chypre, which was amazingly created between two patchouli fads. On the one hand, there was the hippie era, when (I'm told...) dark patchouli oil mingled with old faded, not-washed-for-months jeans. On the other hand, we continue to witness to the present day the post-Angel deluge of sweet patchouli frags. Somehow La Perla manages to avoid both excesses, being rich in patchouli and moss but neither very dirty nor very sweet. Instead, this perfume is soft and sultry: a perfect piece of silk lingerie, in fact. I love to sleep in La Perla, I really do.

24th September, 2011.

Opens as an 80's floral.
I continues as a soft oriental with low sillage. The flowers are crushed under for of that one BIG 80's note. The flowers turn to dust, smelling powdery. Not for me!

8th April, 2011.

I discovered La Perla through a great thread on Basenotes about underappreciated perfumes. This is a 1980s perfume that is in the same rose chypre vein as Paloma, Diva, Scherrer and Knowing. To my nose it’s closest to Ungaro’s Diva, which, of those I’ve just mentioned, is the one I like least. A bit too much sweet honey for me. La Perla differs from Diva in just the right places, though, and I really like it. The honey is toned down, the rose is a touch darker, the patchouli is amped up substantially and the spices seem more integrated. As the scent progresses, it gets drier and the honey fades. The rose and the patchouli come together; the patchouli makes the rose drier and the rose warms up the cool, earthy patchouli a bit. Long lasting drydown.

29th November, 2010. (Last Edited: 9th March, 2011.)

This is the only perfume which I have bought for the third time now. Because of its woodiness, for me this is a winter-perfume. Over time I've collected the bath foam, body lotion and the refillable miniature spray. I have worn this since I started working and never ever considered it too sexy for the office, though I did use the body lotion for day and added EdP for the evening (nowadays I just adjust the dose).

20th October, 2010.

I revisited this perfume after a few years absence. I wore it religously for several years in the early nineties and always, always got a complement from somebody! As time went on, I became a bit fickle and have moved around sooooooooo many different fragrances. Looking for inspiration at lunchtime today and suffering from the winter blues, I picked up a bottle of La Perla - amazed at how cheap it is these days - obviously no longer 'trendy'. Having said that, it was never a name that everyone knew, like Eternity etc. I had a quick spray from the tester before heading on to a meeting this afternoon and the guy next to me was positively drooling! I'd forgotten how wearable this one is. Other reviewers talk about it being a sexy or heady fragrance which I guess it must be judging from today's reaction, but I find it really wearable. Its one of these that works with a business suit or a pair of jeans and its sexiness is definitely understated. It never gives me a headache or makes me feel nauseous which some fragrances sadly do after a while. I went back to the shop after work and bought a bottle. I think I'm going to stick with this one (again!) for a while!

27th January, 2010.

This is such a pretty perfume - reminds me of Cabochard, but with a lighter, brighter top note. Lasts really well.

3rd September, 2009.