Ananda
by Martine Micallef

Top notes? Let’s see: raw alcohol, ylang-ylang, citrus, green florals, and aldehydes. Pretty appealing actually, except for the alcohol, but that goes away quickly. What remains is a pleasant, if also very familiar, cheerfully tropical green floral scent. A little bit of Beyond Paradise, a touch of Le De, maybe even a faint echo of Fleurissimo…you get the picture. Ananda may not be terribly original, but it is charmingly transparent, and scores points for smelling relatively natural, for speaking in a politely modulated tone, and for the clarity of its structure. I’m just not certain why anyone would go out of their way to obtain it, given so many fine and easily acquired alternatives in the same general style.

11th December, 2009.