Manakara

OUR VERDICT

Rose | Lychee | Syrup

Can fruit and flower mix in equal measure to provide something more than the sum of their parts? Well, they do in Manakara and the result is appetising.

The name derives from a region in the island of Madagascar, famous for its litchis (also known as lychees) whose scent is both delicate and refreshing; their pulp, pinky rose, is reminiscent of flower petals. Maybe that was the inspiration for the perfumer, who hereby married the delectable fruit to the fruity aspects of fresh rose petals from the best essences in the world, the Bulgarian and Turkish varieties. They smell like honeyed liqueur in their purest distillate form.

Big, bountiful and projecting far, Manakara opens like cherry liqueur then segues into an edible gigantic rose that surpasses the scent of traditional pot-pourri to become flavour, as it activates your salivating glands as much as your olfactory nerve. Soon the composition tilts into lush prunes and musk, beguiling the rosiness and the famed litchi, aiding the fragrance to gain sweetness and lasting power. Which are phenomenal, by all accounts, as we’ve had strangers stop us in the street to ask what it is hours after application.

The best of fruit and the best of flower therefore combine in a creamy pudding that has us sniffing and re-sniffing our wrists with the addicted expression of recent convert.

Top Notes: Lychee, Candied Berries, Rose Jam
Heart Notes: Rose, Coconut
Base Notes: Vanilla, Musk

Perfumer: Francis Kurkdjian

EAU DE PARFUM 50ML