Omnia Crystalline Eau de Toilette 100ml

Two decades on from its release, Bvlgari Omnia Crystalline Eau de Toilette 100ml has become the reference for what a transparent fragrance should smell like.

It was composed by Alberto Morillas in 2005 and the restraint is the achievement. Bamboo is the material people remember, green and faintly sappy with the coolness of a freshly cut stem, and pear beside it is thin and pale rather than sweet. Lotus brings a watery softness, tea a dry and slightly bitter edge, and cassia a small warm spice that stops the middle going flat. Eight materials and not one of them pushed forward at the expense of the others, which is the discipline the fragrance is admired for.

The close is quiet by design. Musk gives clean warmth, guaiac wood a dry smokiness, oakmoss an earthy damp, and the fragrance ends up sitting on the skin instead of in the room. There is no dramatic second half to it, which is exactly the appeal for anyone who has had enough of dramatic fragrance.

If you have worn heavier perfume for years and found it has started to feel like too much effort, this is the sort of thing to try next. It works in heat, it works in an office, it works on a plane, and it is the rare scent that nobody ever complains about. A 100ml of the eau de toilette is the standard way to buy it, and it is the size that actually gets finished.

As for the house, it began in Rome in 1884 when Sotirio Bulgari, a Greek silversmith, set up shop, and coloured stone high jewellery became its signature. The company put down roots across Europe and in America from the early 1970s and entered perfumery in 1992. It is owned by LVMH.