Pure Bliss

Pure Bliss is the most balanced of the brand's newer mini sprays, mostly because its base is built properly rather than being a quick sweep of vanilla and musk. Pear blossom and bergamot open it, a light and slightly watery pairing that gives a clean, softly fruity start with no sharp edges. It is a gentle opening and it sets expectations low, which the fragrance then quietly exceeds. The heart is gardenia and heliotrope. Gardenia brings a creamy, faintly mushroomy white floral richness, and heliotrope adds the powdery almond quality that recurs across this brand's compositions, the two combining into something soft and slightly old-fashioned in a comforting way. Only two notes, but they are well matched and neither overwhelms the other. The base is where it separates itself from its siblings: sandalwood, cedar, tonka bean and musk. That is a proper woody structure with tonka providing warmth and sweetness, and it gives the drydown a smoothness and a staying power the shorter-based minis lack. It is the one fragrance in the newer six with a real finish. Expect four hours or so with soft projection. Spring and autumn, daytime, and easily office-appropriate. The quiet pick of the newer collection.