Giorgio Armani Si: fragrance review

It wouldn't be inaccurate to claim that Sì, the latest feminine fragrance by Giorgio Armani, is L'Oreal's (the parent company of Armani parfums) answer to the commercial success of Lancôme's La Vie Est Belle from the previous year. Both are competent but rather forgettable perfumes that are sure to capture and retain the demographic they're aimed at: 35-50 year old women seeking something a little more sophisticated than the average fruity floral at department stores, while still not shocking anyone with their limp-wristed, yet persistent, wake of scent.

They're the Empire State Building rather than the strikingly asymmetrical Reykjavík’s Harpa Concert Hall & Conference Center. The tousled hair rom-com heroine rather than Irene Dunne. And a predictably lyrical novel that reads like a self-help book by Paulo Coelho rather than Orhan Pamuk. No, strike the last aphorism out: the fragrances in question are not Coelho-bad, surely!

Several small details point to the correlation between the two scents, Sì and La vie est belle. I mean.
The blackcurrant top note revisits a theme that was forgotten for long (First by Van Cleef & Arpels brought it into the scene and it's famously giving the piquancy in niche cult L'Ombre Dans l'Eau by Diptyque). They share a small fruity lactonic chapter (reminiscent of peach and pear). They both are buttressed by the familiar contemporary patchouli with woody-smelling Iso E Super and musks, plus a cotton candy vanilla note that -especially in the Lancome fragrance- instantly references Angel to anyone's mind. In Sì, the feel of a nouveau chypre (see our article for more on those) is enhanced by a cosmetics-smelling chord that is feminine and subtly intimate: the rosy note is simply put buoyed by soft, powdery violets like in many lipsticks and face powders.
Giorgio Armani's Sì is less sweet overall, with a drier, less cushion-like ambience. The cleaned-up feel and powdery abstraction recall segments of Knowing, a forgotten 1980s perfume by Estée Lauder. As per the perfumer, Christine Nagel of Mane, the base of Armani Sì includes Orcanox, which is another name for Ambroxan or Ambrofix (an aromachemical with an abstract woody-ambery scent aiming to recall natural ambergris), that gives great diffusion and tenacity to modern fragrances; indeed this Armani is one of them.

The official fragrance notes for Guorgio Armani Sì include blackcurrant, freesia, rose, vanilla, patchouli, blond woods, orcanox.

The choice of actress extraordinaire Cate Blanchett as the fronting woman for Armani's latest fragrance ("Cate Blanchett says Sì" -i.e. "yes" in Italian- is the motto of the campaign) has created the expectation of something truly exceptional and smart, like she is herself -the modern equivalent of Katherine Hepburn. Maybe the stakes were just too high. Sì just couldn't possibly live up to it or the "chypre reinvented" perfumista-nod on top of this. That doesn't mean it's not a pleasant fragrance; you could do much worse in the department store circuit, I'd wager.
Lovely bottle (in 1, 1.7 and 3.4oz of eau de parfum at major department stores), reminiscent of the Armani Privé perfume bottles aesthetic, a nice bonus.

Below, watch the official film for Giorgio Armani Sì (rather uninspired if you ask me, though beautifully shot by director Anne Fontaine) and a small interview with Christine Nagel where she explains the fundamental blocks of the perfume composition.

Idole d'Armani commercial: I have been searching all my life for a woman like you

~I have been searching all my life for a woman like you!
~Are there any other women like me?
~You fascinate me.
~Like all others...
~You're my idol.
~That's my idol! (ie.Idole d'Armani)

[translation from the French by Perfume Shrine]

Featuring Kasia Smutniak and the classic hit "I put a spell on you" (best known by Screamin' Jay Hawkins).
I can't say I am overbowled with enthusiasm (I had voiced some concern before), are you?Although it looks rather good on the whole, it seems very unimaginative! Kasia looks a lot like Keira Knightley here (the bone structure, the mannerisms to highlight it and perhaps the hair shade): I call it the "mold effect" ;-)

Originally uploaded by modelstvcm2 on Youtube

Idole d’Armani: new fragrance

"Every man has his muse and for Giorgio Armani there have been many. With his latest fragrance, Idole d’Armani, the designer wanted to celebrate the women who have influenced his life, both professionally and personally".(http://www.com/) The perfume is described as a spicy floral scent created by Bruno Jovanovic of IFF . Idole "opens with [notes of] Sicilian clementine, juicy pear, ginger and Indian davana. Its heart is of absolute saffron, Egyptian jasmine, and loukoum rose, and the drydown is of patchouli and vetiver."

"Giorgio Armani seems to find women fragrances a more difficult field to tackle, due to the notoriously fickle character of women consumers vs men (Might I here remind him and everyone else in the industry that fragrance companies have successfully detered us from having a signature scent, much like it had been the vogue for generations of women before us, in light of the marketing concept of a "fragrance wardrobe" which would purpotedly boost companies' sales?) "It's much more difficult," he said. "Women are very unfaithful -- psychologically speaking. Maybe it's because I'm a man and I know what men like. [They] like fragrances that [make them] feel like a man. Now there is too much promiscuity between a female and a male fragrance. [...]American women like a certain kind of fragrance, stronger and very personal. I sometimes say it's a little bit like an elevator fragrance. When a woman gets onto an elevator, you can smell this fragrance. It's a bit too much."...
Hmm, not exactly the best possible quote when every perfume company is trying to lure the American market which accounts for the lion's share of revenue. But we will see how it will play out. The new fragrance launches next September.

Sculpture L'eternel idol by A.Rodin