Early in the song “Paradise By The Dashboard Light”, Meat Loaf sings this line, “and we’re glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife”. I’ve always found that to be a wonderfully descriptive phrase of both the simultaneously brilliant shine of the razor-sharp edge of a switchblade. While I understood it intuitively as a concept when applied to a weapon, I never thought it would be appropriate to describe a fragrance. Then I wore the eleventh fragrance by Profumi del Forte, Versilia Platinum and experienced a fragrance with a number of brilliant sharp edges which left me exhilarated.
The perfumer at Profumi del Forte was also inspired by the transitions between opposites as well although his inspiration came from the geography around him:
"That day I almost reached the peaks of the Apuan Alps, lost in contemplation of the sea. I was caught between two very different worlds, that I embraced in one glance: the burning sun of the beaches and the glassy reflection on the marble mountains behind me, the intense blues of the Tyrrhenian sea and the powerful greens of the chestnut woods; the fleeting beauty of a beach-side summer and the eternal austerity of this fiery part of Versilia. I imagined the charm of a perfume recalling that landscape, heir of distant moods, ductile and mysterious, familiar yet different from any other perfume. A unique fragrance, as unique as the most precious metal, platinum"
To achieve this the perfumer at Profumi del Forte uses the three phases of Versilia Platinum to capture the three aspects he observed on that day in the Alps. The top is full of the brightness of the shore, the heart is the flowers growing on the mountain side before walking into the trees higher up which is represented in the woody base. What also adds to the impact of Versilia Platinum is the intensity with which each of these phases has on my skin.
Versilia Platinum begins with an intensely astringent grapefruit and bergamot they are joined by an arid mix of pink and black pepper along with a dusty myrrh. These notes are loud and sinus filling, they have such aromatic character that it has an almost mentholated feel in my nose when I take all of this in. On first sniff, on a strip, I was convinced there was some camphor in the top. The more I wore it the more I realized this grouping seems to occupy every nasal nook and cranny. This character makes the opening almost too austere and if the heart didn’t provide some release Versilia Platinum would not have been a successful fragrance for me. The heart is a lovely grouping of green floral notes starting with geranium and lily of the valley followed by freesia and magnolia. This is a very greenly floral grouping and it is the appropriate progression from the opening phase of development. It isn’t as challenging as the beginning but it also has enough edge to it to make it fit with the whole which has been created. The woodiness of magnolia transitions Versilia Platinum into the base which is a mix of cedar, oakmoss, vetiver, and patchouli. Early in the base it feels very woody but like a surprise, immortelle and vanilla add their uniquely sweet aspect to the final stages of Versilia Platinum.
Versilia Platinum has outstanding longevity, almost 24 hours on my skin, and average sillage.
Versilia Platinum has a unique construction that one could find challenging. I found it to be exhilaratingly daring and beautiful. To finish with another line from “Paradise By The Dash Board Light”; “It never felt so good, it never felt so right.”
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample of Versilia Platinum supplied by First In Fragrance.
-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor