Maria Candida Gentile - Exultat

Picture: Panoramique de Sienne, Italie

Photo: Jean-Christophe Benoist (cc), Wikimedia Commons, some rights reserved

This time I don't have to be wordy as usual. especially when it come to perfums that I highly appreciate or sometimes even love. Exultat by independent perfumer Maria Candida Gentile, whose somehow ethereal perfumline has moved me, is the inverse version of Sideris reviewed in May 2012. Where Sideris is manily warm but with cooler elements (the medivial stonechurch at the townsquare in the mediterrian heat of the summer) Exultat is the same square and church but in the winter. Where Sideris performs some obscure, almost decaying sweet elements, the impression of Exultat is cleaner, cooler and much drier. Exultat emphasize the dry, woody aspects of incense at some stage the wood in Exultat smells as it's just sawn. A light supporting violetnote is also distinguish Exultat from Sideris and there is also an obvious note of vetiver in the woody base that contributes to the green, woody, dryness of Exultat. To me Exultat from the later part of the middlenotes and further during the dry down could count as an vetiver fragrance. It's a really green and brisk vetiver, not smoky or plate-powderish in character. On the masculine - feminine spectra (if someone cares), Exultat is the masculine and Sideris the feminine one, even if they both are unisex. Personally I prefer Sideris a little over Exultat as I find it a bit more interesting with it's "obscure notes" lurking in the backgrund, but both are excellent, inspiring fragrances, far away from the mainstream boredom. As the perfumer was inspired by a certain stonechurch when created Exultat, this is a perfect fragrance for celebrating the Good Friday.

Rating: 4+

The MCG fragrances could be bought in 15 ml travelsprays for 25 EUR from the MCG website http://www.mariacandidagentile.com/ . The perfumes are concentrated, a few spritzes goes a long way, this is great value for the money. The frags are also avaible in 100 ml from Aus Libe zum Duft.

Picture: Exultat by Maria Candida Gentile
Photo: From promotion Maria Candida Gentile (c)