Bvlgari Splendida Magnolia Sensuel or as all the women in my house refer to it, “Magnolia” is one of my favourite fragrances at the moment. It was gifted to me by my sister in 2019. Because of my wide perfume collection, I tend to keep perfumes for a long while and only in quite extraordinary cases rebuy perfumes. Quite honestly, Chanel Number 5, Chanel Allure and a now discontinued Gianfranco Ferré fragrance have only made it to my repurchase list. I am now adding Magnolia Sensuel to that list. A recently purchased unopened box waits patiently in my cupboard.

This fragrance was created by French perfumer Jacques Cavallier. While you may not have heard of this man, you have definitely heard of, if not worn some of his fragrances. He is credited with the co- creation of Giorgio Armani’s Acqua di Gio (for men) and Issey Miyake’s L’Eau d’Issey (for women) as well as Carolina Herrera’s Chic, Yves Saint Laurent’s M7 and Nina Ricci’s Nina.

Bvlgari launched their Splendida Collection in 2017. They started the collection with Iris d’Or, Rose Rose and Jasmin Noir, and then in 2018 they added Magnolia Sensuel to their already popular collection. Magnolia Sensuel has sparkly, citrusy top notes of neroli and mandarin essence. The heart notes boast gloriously floral, Chinese magnolia essence, orange flower absolute and jasmine absolute. All of this rests on base notes of patchouli heart, musk and Tahiti vanilla absolute. This glorious mélange of some of the most exquisite scent profiles results in a warm and yes sensual fragrance that seems to move effortlessly through seasons, and events. I don’t usually separate fragrances into night/day, summer/winter, casual/sophisticated- though I appreciate why some people do. This fragrance shines anywhere and everywhere. It’s the kind of fragrance that somehow just smells like “me” and I wear it…a lot. I’ve worn it to the movies, to fancy lunches with butlers and silver cutlery, to Zoom meetings in my living room, while swimming in the Indian Ocean, and in the dunes of the middle east.

Splendida Magnolia Sensuel has without a whiff of a doubt become one of my staples and a fragrance that I will return to, again and again. It is elegant, sensual, and yet somehow just yummily divine- the fragrance foreshadows the woman? One hopes.