My neighbour had gone on a vacation with her family to Italy. She had requested me to look after their pet dogs, two Golden Retrievers that were very well-trained. I had agreed without a second thought since I did like pet dogs a lot. They returned from the vacation about a month later. Upon their return, she presented me with a black Bottega Veneta bag containing a fragrance named “Illusione for her.” She said it was a thank you gift for looking after their pets for such a long time while they enjoyed having some time off from their hectic schedule. To say the gesture touched me would be an understatement.
The Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta was founded in 1966 by Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro. The fashion house was first situated in Vicenza, Veneto, when it was first founded. Currently headquartered in Milan, Italy, the home of Bottega Veneta offers products such as ready-to-wear apparel, shoes, accessories, handbags, jewellery, fragrances etc. The Eau de Parfum, “Illusione for Her,” was a collaboration the Symrise master perfumer Annick Menardo and Firmenich perfumer Amandine Clerc-Marie. It was launched in 2019 and had two sizes available for purchase – 50 ml and 75 ml.
After she took the dogs back, I went to my room and instantly opened the bag to check out my gift. I was very giddy about having something from Bottega Veneta since I had never tried that brand out before. The box was a rectangular cuboid. It has a blurred-out floral design, a light shade of sunset orange against a white background. The perfume’s name and brand were written in a simple, black font across the centre on the front side of the box. The bottom of the front side had the words, “Eau de Parfum – Natural Spray Vaporisateur”, written in a small, light orange text. The quantity on the box was stated as 1.6 fl. oz or 50 ml right below those words in the same font. The bottom side of the box had a list of the ingredients used in making the fragrance. The serial number and bar codes were also printed on the bottom side.
I quickly tore off the transparent polythene covering the box and opened it to reveal the small bottle nestled inside. The glass bottle, unlike the box, was square-shaped. It had a light sunset orange liquid contained inside. While the front side of the bottle had the name of the brand and perfume in a dark-brown font, the bottom of the bottle had the serial number of the fragrance in black text. The cap of the bottle was made of brown plastic and was shaped like a ring. The spray head concealed underneath the cap was rose gold in colour. I was a little disappointed by the design of the bottle since it was not too creative.
The perfumers had used only six ingredients to formulate the fragrance, which made me a bit sceptical. The top notes included black currant and bergamots, while the middle notes comprised orange blossom and fig leaf. The base notes were made of tonka beans and olive trees.
When I first sprayed the perfume onto my wrist, I could smell the distinct scent of the tangy and minty black currants accompanied by the citrusy and slightly spicy bergamots. It took a while for the top note to settle down before the middle notes showed through. The floral notes of the orange blossoms added some sweetness to the fragrance, which offset the tanginess of the black currants. It also helped in balancing out the bitterish notes of the fig leaves. When the base notes came into play, I first detected the tonka beans by their sweetness with a tinge of green grassy notes. The olive tree had savoury and woody notes. Altogether the perfume was not as bad as I had ended up expecting it to be.
I wore the fragrance to a night out with my friends the next day. It did end up getting me a few compliments but wore off after 5-6 hours of application. The silage is also similar to the longevity since I could not detect any traces of the fragrance in my room after I returned late at night. So, longevity and silage-wise, I would say it is an average perfume. I have, however, noticed that it lasts an hour or two longer during the daytime as opposed to the night. It is ideal for day-to-day usage, but you might want to keep the perfume bottle with you so you can reapply after it starts to fade away.
The fragrance is not suitable for high-end and important occasions like formal conferences or job interviews. If you are looking for something to strike a good first impression, I suggest you look for something else since Illusione is more suited for regular use and informal events.
Overall, the fragrance is lovely. It has reasonable longevity and silage. I would recommend it to people if they are searching for a perfume for day-to-day usage. I will repurchase it if I wish to wear something light, airy and not too overpowering. Keep in mind that the fragrance is better worn during the spring and summer.
Conclusion
Here are my preferred ratings for this decent perfume:
Fragrance 7.5/10
Bottle 5.5/10
Longevity 7/10
Silage 7/10
Overall 6.75/10
Here is a quick overview of my review of Illusione for Her Eau de Parfum (2019) by Bottega Veneta to cut a long story short.
The Pros are:
- It is from a renowned fashion brand.
- It has a decent scent that is not overpowering to one’s sense of smell.
- It is ideal for daily usage.
- It has reasonable longevity.
- The silage of the fragrance is pretty decent.
The Cons are:
- There is not much creativity behind the design of the box and the bottle of the perfume.
- The bottle is made of glass which makes it fragile and not travel-friendly.
- The fragrance is not suitable for all types of occasions.