Vivara (new) (2007)
by Emilio Pucci

I got a sample card of this from Sephora, and HAD to have it!
The bottle looks like a little psychedelic mushroom. Kinda groovy!
It smells like summer at the beach. It starts out green and herbal, but the patchouli in the dry down lingers on, and there is something like salt water or (forgive the crass comparison) Sea & Ski that's in the bottom note as well.
Not sure that I will wear it much now that the weather is turning cooler; but it will be the first bottle out of the cabinet when I am getting out my summer clothes next year.

I was surprised by Vivara. This is a very lovely and a very very "green" smelling scent. I see fresh cut grass with white and purple flowers all around when I smell this. It does last a long time on skin. You can detect the patchouli way later--hours later. I really like it.

A classic herbal chypre in the old-school style. The richness and depth of the ingredients are apparent immediately and, like so many others of the 1970s, are no longer available to the perfumer's palatte. This is an odd perfume by today's standards. It is a combination of dry, bitter, green, herbal, cypressy notes expertly overlayed on a golden, sweet labdanum base. Probably the closest one could come to it nowadays is Estee Lauder Azuree, which is soapier and less herbal.

I had to sniff the bottle because I love it; it looks like a glass paperweight with the Pucci print beneath the domed top. At first sniff I pulled my head back - "Whoa! Smells like celery, smells like a Bloody Mary". Then I took a second sniff..."Wait a minute...smells like gardenias. Must try on skin." The SA at Nordstrom made up a sample for me (I love that place), and this morning I am testing it on my wrists. I love it. I'm very pleasantly surprised because I'd read a few negative comments about Vivara, and as it turns out it is an utterly lovely green/floral retro chypre. It reminds me of my mother as a beautiful young woman in the 60's, when she actually wore Pucci prints. I didn't think you could buy a fragrance like this anymore unless you found a vintage bottle of something. It has a bitter green start, then gorgeous white florals in the middle take over, supported by the woody basenotes - yet it's not "woodsy". As Ubuandibeme noted, the fragrance unfolds through that classic progression of notes (it reminds me of Y or Givenchy III), and yet it has a fresh modernity. There is often something weighty and staid in vintage chypres that is lacking here and I don't miss that. This is airier. There is that little bit of powderiness too as iMaverick notes. It is elegant. It's not austere, but not warm & cuddly either. I detect no patchouli, thank God. I love this. If it lasts longer than a nano-second on my skin, I will definitely purchase a bottle.

A dry, "modern woman's" chypre, containing only a tiny bit of sweetness. The progression in the opening is distinct - which I love. I'm fascinated by the way a particular note can open, then completely close allowing yet another totally different note come forth. The top and middle notes in Vivara do this - in full force! This is not a soft pink girly-girl type fragrance. (By the same token it may not be all that distinct on a man's skin.) I feel it's for the confident woman, such as Sharon Stone or maybe Glenn Close and/or Meryl Streep. Do you get my drift? Vivara comes across as a more up-scale version of say Coco Mad. or Miss Dior Cherie. It is a fragrance of wealth and good taste.

Looking at the notes, I just couldn't understand why it didn't appeal to me smelling it. Granted, I smelled it only on a blotter and prior to that the tester's spray nozzle. The impression I got was a white floral bouquet, a fresh chypre with a slight powdery undertone from the iris. I enjoy scents with a sensuality, but Vivara seemed devoid of that. It marked a presence, but lacked a note that defined its personality--a cord that bound this bouquet together. I was expecting something more bold and unusual, much like the patterns offered in their clothing line. Then again, I haven't smelled the original to compare to its re-hash.

Interesting bottle...seemed to remind me of a jellyfish for some reason. I'm happy that this wasn't intended to become some young, hip fruity-floral fad. To some, this can be a cult classic that will withstand time.