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Gabriella

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Ramon Monegal

Kiss My Name

Hello Junkies!

Hope you’ve had a great time sniffing since my last post. I had hoped to post a review of the Bex London range today, but sadly I’m not. London is my second home and I was really looking forward to talking about how these fragrances evoked my memories of the city, but they just didn’t work on my skin. So, I’m shelving that.

Instead of taking you on a trip to London, we’re going to go to Spain and look at one of the new perfumes by Ramon Monegal. Portia’s already reviewed one of his scents, Lovely Day, in her Sunday quicksniffs and today I am going to review the white floral in his line: Kiss My Name.

Photo stolen from Fragrantica

First things first, as Olfactoria has mentioned in her review, it’s a strange name for a fragrance with unfortunate connotations. I’m not sure whether it’s an awkward translation from Spanish, but just thinking of the following exchange makes me want to laugh:

“What are you wearing?”
“Kiss My Name.”
“Hmmm, ok then.”

Strange title aside, when I read the description of this perfume at Luckyscent, I was expecting a full-on tuberose. While tuberose is listed as one of the notes, this is not anything like the tuberose classics: Fracas, Carnal Flower and Tubereuse Criminelle. In Kiss My Name, tuberose plays a quiet supporting act to the main notes of jasmine, neroli and iris. Kiss My Name features notes of indian tuberose absolute, iris cedre, egyptian jasmine absolute, tunisian neroli and tolu balsam.

The perfume starts off very tropical and green, but it’s not the suntan-lotion-with-a-pina-colada kind of tropical, but rather that of a humid rainforest at the start of a blisteringly hot summer’s day. The sun is peeking through a lush green canopy, the humidity and steaminess warming up the white floral shrubs and releasing their narcotic aroma. A cool vegetal iris underlines the composition and is reminiscent of the moist dense earth of the rainforest floor. The jasmine and neroli are quite heady, but the iris becomes stronger and lends a sharp metallic vibe to the composition. The cool metallic note versus the warmth of the white florals gives a nice duality to the scent.To my nose, the three notes or neroli, jasmine and iris also combine to give a distinct ‘green mango’ vibe.

Photo Stolen LiFE

Kiss My Name is rather linear on my skin, although it has felt quite different upon each wearing. Sometimes it’s all about the jasmine and neroli. Other times, the iris is the dominant note, with the metallic element sometimes soft and sometimes overpoweringly screechy. It’s obvious that Kiss My Name is meant to be the diva of the Monegal line, but it’s not the sophisticated diva of Fracas et al. It is the scent of a diva at on holidays, happy and at play. When wearing it, I’ve been thinking of Brigitte Bardot at Cannes or Marilyn Monroe in chic capri pants and white shirt, complete with cats-eyes sunglasses and ruby red lips. It’s a joyous fragrance and one that white floral lovers and any iris fans should try. I’m not completely sold just yet, but I think I might enjoy this on the upcoming humid nights of a Sydney summer.

Photo stolen themarilynmonroecollection

One other thing: I love the packaging. The inkwell-style bottle looks really sophisticated and sturdy. One of the nicest bottles I’ve seen of late.

Have you tried Kiss My Name yet? Have you tried any others of the Ramon Monegal line? What’s your favourite happy summer fragrance?

With love till next time! M x