Launched in 2013 by Italian niche house La Via del Profumo, Venezia Giardini Segreti is one of the most gorgeous jasmine fragrances I have ever worn.

Venezia Giardini Segreti opens with jasmine – intense, indolic and green. It smells like jasmine that is alive - growing and thriving – lemony/celery aspects make me smile. A note of lush rose is here and it heightens the floral aspect of the jasmine. They swim above my skin, until a note of pungent, woody, resinous myrrh surfaces and anchors the flowers and makes Venezia Giardini Segreti darker and drier. Then, the smell of warm, salty skin starts to come up through the flowers. It’s not sweaty or dirty - it just smells like I’ve been sitting in the sun. It’s the effect of ambergris that I am experiencing.

Abdes Salaam says ambergris is “…the magical ingredient that renders the fragrance three-dimensional, the noble pheromone with a scent of leather, of sea and of mother’s milk.” I must confess, that I get the leather and I get the sea, but not the mother’s milk.

Oh, I suppose I could keep dousing myself with Venezia Giardini Segreti to see if I can find that whiff of mother’s milk, but treating it like a challenge instead of the wonderful sensory experience it is would, I think, ruin it for me. I think I’ll just think of it as a secret ingredient for now and enjoy Venezia Giardini Segreti as one of the most gorgeous jasmine fragrances I have ever worn.

As it is, Venezia Giardini Segreti is a beautifully-nuanced skin-scent that transports me to a serene garden oasis. And, really, isn’t that one of the cornerstones of a great fragrance? It is for me.

Venezia Giardini Segreti is listed in our Decant Store. Decants are $6.00 for 1 ml.

Notes: jasmine, rose, myrrh, ambergris

Type: EdP

Parfumeur: Abdes Salaam Attar (Dominique Dubrana)