Peoneve Eau de Parfum PENHALIGON'S

Love, love, love this. I usually stay away from florals AND roses as I can't see myself wearing it very often. But when I compared this to other similar peony fragrances from L'occitane and other numerous rose fragrances, this somewhat leaves me wanting more! It's simply addictive. It's got a distinctive rose scent but not over-the-top rosy.
There's something about the blend that makes it a really well-balanced fragrance. It's fresh and at the same time sultry.

The only downside is that it doesn't seem to last on my skin. Not much sillage either. For the price it doesn't do justice because I want to keep smelling this on me. I keep asking my friends if they can smell me because I can't. They say they can and I hope they're right. I keep thinking maybe it's the body chemistry or acidity but when I looked it up online, it could be my brains getting "immune" to the scent. Another comment I read online commented on how Penhaligon's fragrances are usually light and fleeting. So, maybe, that's just the way Penhaligon's fragrances are. Just wished it was stronger and had more sillage.

Penhaligon's Peoneve offers an interesting combination of bright rose with smoky vetiver. In the opening I feel that there is a cigarette ash-edge to the composition, as though a smoker is wearing a big rose perfume. That may not sound all that inviting, but it's really quite nice and an unexpected combination these days what with all of the clean abstract "pink rose" perfumes being launched.

The peony is to my nose only an embellishment to the rose. For me that's a good thing, since I often have trouble wearing peony. Perhaps this creation contains mostly natural ingredients, and that's why it smells so natural. I've now reached the end of my second generous-sized house-carded sample and must say that I would not mind having a bottle of this at all. It definitely covers new territory, and I love both rose and vetiver, so why not?

The longevity and sillage are both good on my skin

This must be one of the best soliflores of all time, even though it is too new to yet be a classic. But I am sure it will someday be acknowledged as one. I have never smelled a perfume that could replicate and recreate the scent of a flower so accurately and so naturally. There is nothing artificial or unrealistic about it. It is simply gorgeous and luxurious and fresh! What a treat!

One of the things that makes this scent so realistic is the fact that the smell of leaves and greenery is not neglected. It opens with a pungent top note of violet leaves followed by rose and peony. I hardly can feel the jasmine but I am sure it is there enriching the gorgeous floral brew. Then it settles down to an ever so slightly more woody background. It is simply like sniffing in the scent of a freshly cut lush bouquet of flowers! And the lovely experience repeats itself with every breath. What could be better than that?

I am generally not too much into flowery scents. My main love is orientals and more spicy fragrances. If I would just have read the description of the notes of this fragrance I would have said that probably as lovely as this is it cannot become one of my favourites. But low and behold this little gem has become my favourite and I even don't shy away from it in the middle of the autumn. In these cold and dark days nothing can cheer me up more than a sniff of freshly cut flowers to remind me of those bygone days of the summer and spring which I miss so much!

The scent is quite heady in the beginning, but it quiets down after a very short while and projects to a close range only. I must say it doesn't develop much either. What you smell after a couple of minutes of dry down is what you get. But what you smell is already so realistic, beautiful and naturally complex that actually you won't want the scent to change. You just want to sniff it over and over and over again. On me it lasts about 4 to 5 hours. It is light and cheerful enough to brighten any day and light enough to be worn in the office, but it is also gorgeous and luxurious enough to be worn to the opera or on a romantic night out. I simply love it!

I got to try this in Penhaligon's in Chester today. The SA told me that it's not going to be in shops until August, all they got in was the one bottle to put out to test. (But they can e-mail you when it comes in if you'd like)
The SA told me what was special about this one was that it is apparently 25% vetiver and has Bulgarian rose. Which are by far the most predominant notes.
It opens with a strong smokey vetiver and a hint of green violet leaf, which is surprising at first for what is a floral fragrance. The rose and peony do come forwards in the middle, still with a haze of vetiver in the background. This gets a bit sweet with musk towards the end and by then the vetiver is pretty much gone oddly.
This is one of the Penhaligon's scents that doesn't have amazing staying power; about 5-6 hours. Nice, but not a typical floral.

Penhaligon's Peoneve opens as a dewy and fresh combo of pink rose and peony, along with a green, herbal touch of violet leaf. This stage lasts about 1 hour, after which the fragrance makes an unexpected turn as an earthy yet clean vetiver comes through. The vetiver is quite prominent on me, sometimes even overwhelms the peony and rose. But the overall effect is a wonderful illustration of a garden full of vegetation and blooming pink flowers.

The sillage is relatively soft and the longevity is around 7 hours. I really appreciate the surprising prominence of vetiver in Peoneve, as it adds a natural earthiness to the flowers while keeping the fragrance clean and fresh, which makes it stand out among other limpid 'clean' florals. I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.