Gucci Bloom

Gucci Bloom, released in 2017, was the first Gucci fragrance developed entirely under Alessandro Michele's creative direction, and it was designed to break with everything the house had been selling. Michele directed the brief and designed the bottle and packaging; the fragrance itself was blended by the master perfumer Alberto Morillas, one of the most prolific noses of the last forty years. The intention was a scent of a garden in bloom rather than a scent of a woman being alluring, and Michele has been explicit in press material that the bottle was not designed to be feminine in order to seduce men. The composition is unusually short and unusually bold. Natural tuberose absolute from India, natural jasmine absolute and jasmine bud extract, and Rangoon creeper, a South Indian climbing vine that the launch material states was used in perfumery for the first time here. The plant is chosen for its behaviour as much as its smell: its flowers open white, darken to pink and finish red, which is the entire concept of the fragrance in a single image. Its scent is described as a slightly powdery feminine floral. On skin it is a wall of white flowers with almost no introduction. There is no citrus opening and no clever transition; you get tuberose immediately, green and creamy at the same time, with jasmine giving it lift and a faint honeyed weight. The Rangoon creeper contributes the powdery, slightly dusty quality that softens the tuberose and stops it becoming a 1980s soliflore. It stays broadly linear, drying down into something warm, powdery and skin-like without ever adding wood or vanilla to lean on. It is a spring and evening scent and it needs a light hand. In Highveld summer heat two sprays is plenty, because tuberose expands. In cooler air it is more forgiving and more beautiful. Nothing about it is subtle, and people who dislike tuberose will dislike this instantly. Performance is good: seven to nine hours, substantial reach across the opening pair, and clothing holds it. Gucci has extended the name across a large family of related fragrances since 2017, several of which soften or sweeten the original considerably, so make sure the box says Gucci Bloom eau de parfum if the undiluted tuberose is what you want.