Carnations have been woefully ignored around here. I’ve said before that I love rose fragrances but don’t reach for them very often, and carnations fall into the same trap: if a soliflore rose has a something of an old-fashioned air, a soliflore carnation verges on fusty. Roses, at least, speak of love, and perhaps luxury; carnations speak of funeral wreaths and ugly prom corsages. It is simply not a hip flower.

It is a shame, because carnations smell nice. Today’s fragrance, Garofano, is not strictly speaking a carnation soliflore, but carnation is certainly the dominant note. It is part of Lorenzo Villoresi’s Classic Collection, and features lavender, floral notes, green leaves, carnation, jasmin, rose, cinnamon, cyclamen, ylang ylang, geranium, pepper, heliotrope, vanilla, musk and cedarwood.

Garofano starts with peppered florals and citrus over pale, slightly bitter green undertones. I would not have guessed lavender, but a surge of sharp herbal notes in the opening should have made its presence obvious…

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