Eau Parfumée au Thé Verte (1993)
by Bulgari

I really can't stand the majority of Jean-Claude Ellena's creations - they're so ethereal and transparent that they're more appropriate for admiring, like a piece of abstract art, than actually wearing (let alone investing in). There’s also no sense of practicality to his ideas and I often get the feeling that both skin chemistry and the general performance of a perfume on the skin is never his main concern (well, unless he assumes that his clientele is mega-rich and live in air-conditioned environments 24/7… which is highly probable).

Eau Parfumée au Thé Verte is one of his better releases and, at the time, was a groundbreaking creation. It's a pleasantly fresh green tea scent, with some citrus notes lurking in the composition, but it never succeeds in winning me over. The longevity is quite abysmal as well.

Just like Eau d'Orange Verte, skip this one and go for the ‘intense’ version (Eau Parfumée au Thé Verte Extreme). Well, that's unless you have money to burn like his mega-rich clientele…

Boring and bland. Compared to ck One? ck One is a vibrant citrus while Thé Verte is a blank, pale green wall. Several people told me that "it smells like perfume". How non-descript can you get?

Top notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Mandarin, Orange
Middle notes: Cardamom, Tea, Lily of the valley, Rose
Base notes :Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Musk, Amber

Bulgari's first perfume and (arguably) still the best. This is where it all started... the beginning of Jean-Claude Ellena's signature minimal accords. Ellena shopped this composition around in the late 80s early 90s, but there were no takers .. incredibly the composition was considered too off-beat for the crazy hairdo wielding populace of that period. Ultimately Bulgari took a chance on the composition, and used the juice to aerate one of its flagship stores in NYC. Rest as they say is perfume history..

TheVerte (TV) elicits the aroma and freshness of green tea, but as far as I know it contains no green tea note. Ellena uses a smorgasboard of notes to recreate the freshness of green tea. The juicy citrus opening is immediately followed by a (comparatively) more complex heart of florals and spices...but these are florals and spices suspended in space, their loudness barely audible. The spicy freshness of cardamom (a regular ingredient in Chai tea) is rendered soft by a dusting of jasmine and rose while the remnants of the citrus opening infuse the composition with a tangy element. The basenotes provide ample support in the form of cedar and amber. Its a quiet yet substantial scent and easily lasts over 6 hours on my skin. For a more impressive effect, use it as a room spray - the ambiance it lends to space is an olfactory experience to behold.

Nowadays Ellena maybe accused of riding on his past glory by regurgitating his minimal sweet and vegetal formula dressed up in fancy international marketing, but his classics have stood the the test of time. The Verte has been oft copied but never bettered. Put a bottle in your guestroom and the guests may never want to leave.

Rating: 8.5/10

I hate to say it, but this is just awfully boring. Too common, I do not care for it at all . . . Sorry :-(

My wife got a miniature of this fragrance as a gift in a fragrance store, and used it for the first time in our honeymoon at Venezuela. The fragrance worked very fine under tropical weather, with warm temperatures and high humidity.

Blended as an old fashion classic cologne, with top citric notes of bergamot, lemon and oranges, but don't fall in this category thanks to its middle notes of roses and jasmine, all around a main note of green tea. The base notes adds spicy notes of pepper and maybe soft wood notes like cedar and sandalwood.

The only drawback of this fragrance is its price, as it's a very expensive fresh cologne and for this amount of money someone would expect a very complex and sophisticate fragrance. As several unisex fragrances, I prefer to consider them like female fragrances. Very fresh and floral, its better aimed for office, daytime and evening use at warmer seasons or just simple evening events at more colder seasons. Don't seems to have a restrictive range of age, as it should be suitable for 20 years old teens and 60-70 years old women.

Gross. Heavy and overpowering on me, with a strong smell of baby powder.