JIJIDE
DENTRO
2025
PERFUMER
Edda Salvadori
Mattia Sorrentino
fig
coffee bean
incense
osmanthus
‘After years of explorations around the world and conversations with emerging perfumers from different cultures, which led to the creation of highly evocative fragrances, we have decided to turn our gaze to our home, Italy. Italy is known worldwide for many reasons: its millennia-old culture, the immense variety of culinary traditions, the warmth of its people, the breathtaking beauty of its landscapes and cities. Instead, we have chosen to go across the real country, through the eyes of the young people with whom Jijide has always collaborated, to discover new, authentic, contemporary inspirations and stories. We’re ready now to share with you our own snapshot of Italy: two new fragrances that embody the perspective of two highly talented debuting noses: Mattia Sorrentino and Edda Salvadori. Together with Edda and Mattia, we will be present at Esxence to introduce our two new Jijide fragrances of our Dialogo collection: Dentro and Oltre.’ – Jijide Milano
This fragrance threw me for a loop more than perhaps anything that I’ve smelled in a while. Going from one of the roughest first impressions, to it being my favorite Jijide release after the dust had settled.
When I sprayed it on, I forgot what the notes or direction was going to be and the opening minutes were… bordering on unwearable. Strong and dry, with a scent that’s simultaneously green and sweet. Among the most conflicting, harder to pull off opening minutes that I’ve experienced in a while, I think partially due to feeling lost in what I was supposed to smell.
Now, to be totally honest, I’m not sure if time saved this fragrance for me, or if simply reading the notes, made me make sense of what I was smelling, and therefore, the pieces fell into (a more pleasant) place. But after the first minutes, I started enjoying Dentro to some extent, and at least, I was intrigued by it. After the first hours, I was convinced that this was easily my favorite Jijide Milano (alongside Cin Fan). I definitely much prefer it over it’s companion, Oltre.
What you get here is dry, harsh, roasted coffee. Not a Montale Intense Cafe, not even an Akro Awake. A more dry, sharper coffee; like an airier take on the coffee scent from Strangers Parfumerie SM Cafe.
What makes Dentro so ‘strange’ and initially incoherent to my nose, is the combination it makes with quite green, sharp, fig. We often see coffee and vetiver (and patchouli) paired, for a greener take, but those note find each other in the earthy qualities. Here, the crisp green fig mixed with coffee makes for an unusual mix that definitely took me out of my comfort zone for a moment. In the mid, you get dry sweet coffee, with a shoe polish, rubbery, daring osmanthus leather.
The drydown loses the green and the daring facets, becoming a sweet earthy base with some lactonics. Late in the drydown I was reminded of the original Thomas de Monaco Raw Gold. As I type this review, it’s been 14 hours since I applied it and I can still clearly smell Dentro on my wrist.
I feel like I’ve always wanted to like the Jijide Milano fragrances more than I actually did and with Dentro, it finally clicked. I’m curious to see how I experience the opening hour, if I try it again now, but overall, I’m definitely impressed and intrigued by this release.