Neroli Nasimba, from Maison Crivelli was released in 2023. The perfumer behind this creation is Paul Guerlain. It has the top notes of Cardamom, Mandarin Orange, and Pink Pepper, middle notes of Neroli, Orange Blossom, and Petitgrain, and base notes of Labdanum, Saffiano Leather, and Vetiver.
Neroli is already not a favourite note of mine, so I didn’t head into this with high expectations. Unfortunately Neroli Nasimba sunk even lower than this expectations, it’s simply an unpleasant scent. The idea on paper sounds great, amazingly unique and bold in its composition, but the end result is just disappointing. The neroli in here isn’t actually too bad, that’s not where my issue lies. The problem starts with the orange blossom, it’s so overdone that it becomes almost scratchy and far too thick, whilst the pink pepper seems to amplify this. Then in comes the leather, which is brave to combine with white florals and difficult to do right, which here it has not succeeded. It’s a shame really, I wanted to like this scent but I just can’t get along with it unfortunately. If you’re a lover of neroli I can’t imagine this is going to blow you away, it certainly left me feeling a little bit underwhelmed.