212 VIP Black Gift Set
Give Carolina Herrera 212 VIP Black Gift Set to somebody with a taste for strong fragrance and it will be worn out; give it to anybody else and it will sit in a drawer.
You get the Eau de Parfum at 100ml with a 100ml shower gel and a 10ml spray. The scent is unapologetic. Absinthe stands alone at the opening, green and bitter with an aniseed bite that announces itself immediately. Lavender takes the middle in a dry, darkened form, and black leather runs alongside it, smooth and glossy, the smell of a new jacket rather than a saddlery. Vanilla arrives late and heavy, a burnt sugar sweetness rather than a milky one, and musk fixes the whole thing to the skin for hours. Anne Flipo and Carlos Benaïm are credited, and the fragrance dates from 2017. Five materials in total, so it is a short, deliberate composition built for impact rather than for study.
As a gift it works best for a man who already wears sweet or dark fragrance and will recognise what he has been given. It is a night scent and a winter one, so the giving season and the wearing season line up neatly, which is more than can be said for most boxed sets. Someone who prefers citrus or something light for the office will get little use from it, and that is worth knowing before you buy. At eau de parfum strength it is also a long lasting present, eight hours or more from a couple of sprays, so the box will see out a good many evenings. Everything comes presented in the house's gift packaging, ready to hand over without further wrapping.
The name began on a New York runway in 1981, in the hands of a designer who came from Venezuela. Perfume arrived in 1988 as a licence with Puig, and the Spanish group has owned the fashion company since 1995.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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