Rubj Voile d'Extrait
Vero Profumo (2013)

You know those images you see after an oil spill, the sick birds coated in oil? Rubj reminds me of that, except it's wonderful, expensive-smelling floral essences being asphyxiated by an all-smothering sludge of shampoo, cheap soap, fabric softener, and fake citrus.

At first, it's almost bipolar, simultaneously calling for attention, resplendent in its finery and hiding in its janitor's closet hoping not to offend anyone with its wild luxury.

Eventually, the mundane ingredients win over, with little sparkles barely poking though, until somehow everything comes together to make a truly wonderful mimosa smell, honeyed and draped in spiced pineapple. The laundry musks come back in for the base, but this time tempered and adding thickness as opposed to all-consuming sludge.

Given all this, Rubj has been a bit weird for me. That mimosa in the middle is really amazing, but the shampoo death sludge is really bad. I suppose that Rubj's biggest sin is that it tries to fly too high and falters, which I very much favor over bland mundanity, so I'm giving a very qualified thumbs up. I don't think Rubj is all that good, but it's certainly interesting and it has its moments.

Vero Profumo Rubj Voile d'Extrait is a laundry-fresh-herbal-hesperidic-musky-aldehydic naif chypre (neo-classic in style, a somewhat Victorian style), more than vaguely conjuring me the Oriza L. Legrand's somewhat barber-shop vibe (the more aromatic Chypre Mousse New jumps for instance on mind and partially Deja Le Printemps New). The musky-sparkling (fizzy-cool) aroma (initially angular, influenced by a royal citric accord, freshly grassy, slightly detergent-like and humid) settles down over a beautiful spicy accord of tuberose-jasmine-aromatic herbs-orange flower. All the aroma, decidedly influenced by jasmine nectar (with its vaguely honeyed undertone), aristocratic bergamot, neroli and tuberose, plays the game of contrasts between the vegetal herbal-citric dominant chord and a sort of almost medicinal-soapy chypre "cologney neutrality". Along the dry down a more evident oakmoss rounds and compacts the elements. Anyway the perfume is extremely classy, floral, articulately evolving and sophisticated. Manneristic english madamoiselles in their exotic colonial dresses jump on mind as well as a left back disappeared exotic "ambience" with its little colonial villes, the white large rounded hats and the cocktail meetings surrounded by a luxuriant nature. Recommended to all the nostalgic lovers of this retro (marvellously démodé) genre.

Superb scent. A splendid, beautiful and dense opening, a bucket of tuberose and jasmine, some juicy fresh bittersweet citrus slices and leaves, a soft, rich, mellow, dusty, slightly aromatic and cozy base of vanilla and musky notes. Bold, aerial, lively, opulent, vibrant flowers blowing in a balsamic breeze – the pulsating heart of this amazing scent. All is so simple yet so rich, unique and cozy you can not come back to smell this and hope it will never end. This is like one of those late-spring "perfect evenings" that could last forever. After a while it emerges more clearly a mossy/balsamic side with a slight aldehydes feel. The quality and the craft are so stunning that this scent literally blossoms up and captivates you in a heavenly, impredictable, wavy cloud of nuances and faces. Again: perfect. The persistence could be slightly better, but apart from that, just beyond irresistible.

9/10