Essentiel Elegance

Essentiel Elegance reaches for Brioni's Eau de Parfum Essentiel, a refined and unusual green fougère. It opens with that signature trick - a green, almost effervescent tomato-leaf note (the stem, not the fruit) lifted by bright bergamot and a flick of cardamom, mossy-green and faintly aromatic rather than citrusy. The heart smooths into velvety patchouli and soft tonka bean, baby-soft and mannered, before a quiet base of ambergris, frankincense and creamy sandalwood gives it a warm, understated finish. The Brioni is itself an intimate scent bubble - close-wearing with arm's-length sillage - so this dupe is in similar territory, but it loses some of the lively, dewy-green effervescence of the tomato leaf and reads a touch flatter and more synthetic through the drydown. It remains a smart, distinctive green-aromatic that wears beautifully day to day and in the office - a clever, affordable nod to the Brioni's quiet sophistication.