L'Arte di Gucci (1991)
by Gucci

Fresh, clear top notes. Spring bouquet, at its finest. Light. Truly feminine.

Mimosa takes the lead in the middle. It nearly suffocates the other notes but, lets them breathe enough, to be explored. I don't always enjoy mimosa as a note; here, it is delightful. Rose is subdued. It doesn't screech at me. The hint of patchouli in the middle melds well with the floral notes.

The base is amazing. Just enough of each note. Some animalic depth increases after time. Labdanum and sandalwood are slightly smoky. Best Gucci I have ever tried!

The top notes as marvellous: rose, muguet, jasmine and - just the right dose - aldehydes emanate to create a floral basket of delicious beauty. Just a touch boozy, the rose is medium-dark, rich and intensive, counterbalanced beautifully by the white florals. A fine web of coriander with whiffs of a soft patchouli add just a hint of spice.

In the drydown the white florals, emboldened by additional lashings of carnation and geranium, gorgeous! A floral fest extraordinaire!

The base takes a turn to the darker, with the soft patchouli more evident and a convincing dark musk too. More amazing is the underlying well-balanced top-notch oakmoss, which adds just the right amount of an harsher edge towards the end, with a touch of salty and earthy vetiver roots mixing with the faecaloid-mossy backgound seamlessly.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection and a splendid longevity of twelve hours on my skin.

This is a nighttime spring creation of great character, luscious with seductive darkness under a floral aura of great beauty. The quality of the natural ingredients is absolutely sublime, the nuances are breathtaking at times and the whole is one of the masterpieces this house has produced in its somewhat patchy olfactory history over time. For once the name is apt - this is classic olfactory art; a Turner for the nose 4/5.

A beautiful and dirty prominent rose with an unmistakable fecal note in the bottom. This is at once erotic and classy. Not for casual wear but rather those escapades...

"L'Arte di faccia tosta ...”

L'Arte, huh?... Well, what can I say? It matches its name perfectly. Art... The art of indifference and nerve! Because even negative aspects demand a certain artistry. And here, this snob Italian lands a blow! She takes no prisoners! Insolence and sass galore! Rose as a note in perfumery, is not something I am truly fond of. (When it comes to male fragrances especially, I find it almost impossible for rose to be harmoniously blended in the composition. Untill now, only Loris Azzaro's Acteur and Alain Delon's Iquitos have found a not just decent but stunning way to do the trick.) But here rose shines! And not in a usual and, more or less, expected romantic way. No! A dirty and marginally vulgar rose it is that drags you by the nose... It is the scent of a woman who, under her expensive suit ( a Gucci one doubtless), hides leather underwear and a stiletto. A stiletto that she shall not hesitate to use, if all else fails (most unlikely). She had the misfortune of being born in a fin de siecle. In an era when the loud and hyperbolic (nonetheless dazzling) enfants terribles of the '80s started walking the path to oblivion and the watery and optimistic voices of the '90s started to gather attention further still. But she didn't care about it. To tell the truth she NEVER cared about anything! And today, even after so many years have passed since her departure for the heaven of lost scents, she still remains a serious contestant for the title of the most "Fuck you!" and "In your face!" attitude of the last decades...

It's funny how L'Arte contains many of the same notes as it's (alleged) mother, Gucci No. 3 but manages to smell so utterly different. Whereas I find the aldehydes, coriander, and green rose notes in Gucci No. 3 give it a stiff-backed, formal feel, here these notes just provide a sparkling, rosy, warm push to the opening, ushering in a superb, dark, balsamic rose that vibrates at an almost embarrassingly sexual frequency. The salty feel of real oakmoss that simulates that smell of just-licked skin, the sting of a leather whip, the dripping of hot beeswax candles onto tender flesh, all the while that big, red rose whispering sweet words in your ear.....well, let's just say it's pretty sexy and be done with it. L'Arte is similar in feel and tone to Rose de Nuit by Serge Lutens, although with marginally less beeswax and a brighter, fruitier rose note up top. I think this is a phenomenal fragrance and can't believe that some fool thought it would be ok to discontinue this. Oh well, at least we still have Guilty on the shelves, right?