Les 4 Saisons : Automne by Micallef

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy the opening of Automne by M.Micallef. It's a very sheer accord of citrus and fruit. This house has a penchant for lucid accords sans any heavy handedness. The flip side to numerous Micallef creations is that, on my skin at least, the longevity is a factor.

The heart in Automne consists of saffron, nutmeg and cumin. Before the wearings, I was expecting either a little harshness or possibly some off putting moments, but it never transpired. All the movement in Automne is smooth and gentle and the heart rendition is set at low volume. It seems that once the opening dissipates, the presence of this fragrance takes on a shy persona.

The cumin-saffron is the most noticeable duo and nutmeg is content to contribute periodic whiffs. It's actually a very well done implementation and co-exists with the berry accord that's still hanging on. This spicy berry accord lasts a respectable amount of time and the overall fragrance hovers fairly close to the skin. Most of the Micallef releases I have worn so far have this in common. They don't possess very noticeable projection, yet I'm inclined to think that this is done by design and not because of any inferior technique or ingredient issue. I'm persuaded that this house simply tunes their creations in this manner. To be louder would possibly be less elegant? This is an educated guess on my part.

The base and drydown are as subtle as you would expect. I speak in terms of volume, not substance. A vanilla slowly inserts itself into the transition along with a passive wood note. There's patchouli listed, but it's lost on me. The vanilla is smooth and calm and doesn't have any of the candle associations that I find irritating. In the extended drydown, I get a musk note that's not listed, but there it is anyway......and it smells good.

In totality, Automne is a very nice scent that leans a little more towards feminine than shared. It still can be worn by men and I will wear it since I have a bottle. Spicy fruit ( berry ) that evolves into a vanilla woody with low projection but acceptable longevity. I get about 4 hours before I want to reapply. The downside is the price, but can be had on ebay auctions for very good prices if you pick your shots. I did and it's worth what I paid for it all day.

Thumbs up from Aromi for M.Micallef's Automne.