Tuscany per Donna 
Estée Lauder (1992)

This is a scent for an emotionally evolved soul. Vintage Tuscany Per Donna is, in my opinion, the essence of femininity. Everything about it is sensuous, and womanly, from the beautiful bottle to the creamy sandalwood-jasmine juice within. I could wax lyrical about the excellence that is Tuscany Per Donna, but no words can conjore up the emotions this brings about. This is the smell of the mother that loves you, feeds you, and think about you day and night. This the smell of the woman that you respect and admire. One that radiates calm, serenity, love, and kindness. We can talk about reformulation, yes all perfumes have gone through it. But Tuscany Per Donna smells as wonderful and opulent as always to me.

It feels familiar, because...sandalwood (even if most perfumes use a synthetic rendition of it nowadays, no matter how perfected the accord is), without a hint of screech. The opening is fresh and bright strong fruity presence. Then it cools to right away to lily, citrus and green notes. The scent develops into flower heart but it does not get too sweet, as rose and jasmine duo is balanced by cool and distant notes of violet. This creates very pleasant tranquil flower combination. It is strong but it is not loud or distracting. The woods are not sharp and heavy on the dry down, like recently falled trees, but softer, rounded, as if they had fallen years ago and are weathered and a bit of mossy and subtle styrax. Totally It is an oriental woody, but in daylight, perhaps after a light rain.

I got a bottle of this way back in 1994, and loved it. Even when it ran out, I kept the bottle, because there was a teeny tiny bit left in it (which I couldn't get out) because I just loved the smell of it so much. I was most upset when I went to get another bottle and I found out that it wasn't being made any more. Then several years ago, I found out that Estee Lauder were making it, so I went looking on the net and found some. The box and the bottle were identical to my old bottle, and it smelled exactly as I remembered - awesome!! I haven't worn this for a while, so I hauled it out this morning and then wondered why I had neglected it. It's just lovely. While I get a bit of the fruit at opening, it very quickly becomes a soft cloud of beautiful, warm, spicy vanilla-amber-sandalwood, with a touch of sweetness from the carnation. There is something so deliciously warm about this – it's very feminine, without being girly. It makes me think of a sexy little black dress, and champagne glasses, backlit by a toasty warm fireplace, just waiting to be picked up and sipped. Don't ask me why – that's just what springs to mind whenever I smell this. I do understand why some people think of Tresor when they smell it – they have a lot of notes in common. This, however, is more spicy. I still love it as much as I ever did.