V CANTO
B.B.
2022
bulgarian rose
bergamot
lemon
bitter orange
cumin
lavender
pink pepper
white lotus
ylang-ylang
sandalwood
birch wood
musk
myrrh
oakmoss
I had to pick B.B. for one of my PR collaborations with V Canto, as they are my initials and long time nickname. And frankly, I chose this one, because the color of the bottle was cool to photograph. The scent however, I went into completely blindly. Here’s how it went:
I read a description of B.B. that named ‘seduction’ and ‘playing outside’ and I think that is a good description of the sides that B.B. embodies. Fair early warning, cumin-avoiders, beware.
Because that cumin note here, while definitely more on the cleaner side for cumin, is very prominent throughout. This does not smell like your kitchen cabinet and it doesn’t smell raunchy, but it does smell like fresh, sweating skin.
What alleviates most of the potential challenge here is how bright and citrussy this fragrance is. Bergamot and lemon are all over the opening and it has a general floral air. There is also sweetness from the start and I really like how the sweetness plays with the citrussy tones here. I think the sweetness mostly comes from ylang-ylang, instead of being sugary or super vanillic, it’s more like a vanilla-light, creating sort of a lemon sherbet combined.
Texture wise it opens very airy and slightly watery; almost mineralic; like sitting by a (fresh water) pool. Later in the wear it feels a lot more woody and resinous though. The overall scent leans green and you get a clean, green woody base with quite a lot of sweetness, that still has a lot of the same qualities as the opening hour(s).
While the cumin also fades a bit more, it defines this fragrance in my opnion and that will likely make it divisive. I was caught off-guard for a moment, but there is a lot to love here. In fact, this may feel like the nicest quality V Canto/Terenzi that I’ve reviewed thus far. The cumin would definitely prohibit me to wear it to the office or most other occasions involving other human beings though.
