Around the time I became a regular browser on the fragrance board at Makeup Alley, nearly a decade ago, there was plenty of discussion about gourmand fragrances. One board favorite, the sort of thing you only heard about on Makeup Alley or other fragrance chat sites in those days, was La Perla Eclix, a musky-sweet blend of citrus and vanilla. I swapped for a sample of Eclix and enjoyed it, and whenever I spotted its metallic alien-eye bottle in a store, I’d give it a spritz. Eclix was discontinued sometime around 2007, however, and I gradually forgot about it.

I happened to try two new citrus-gourmand fragrances within the past month; neither of them is an Eclix-alike, but if you’ve been craving something along those general lemon-vanilla lines, you might want to try Perla from Farmacia SS. Annunziata or 25:43 from Lush’s Gorilla Perfumes. The former line is a bit of mystery to me. It seems to be associated with the church of Santissima Annunziata in Bologna, or rather with the pharmacy originally affiliated with the church, which now exists as a separate business and storefront. (I’m piecing this together on my own, so I hope I’m correct; and I’m reminded of Santa Maria Novella, of course.)

Perla includes notes of lemon, osmanthus, amber and vanilla. It begins like a lemon drop, slightly sour but dusted with sugar…

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