Product Review: Si by Giorgio Armani

I have heard multiple times that there are two people in the world: those who have only one signature scent, and wear it throughout their lives, and those who collect and try many scents.  (To be honest, there are plenty who don’t fall into either category, but as you’re reading post dedicated to perfume, you probably count yourself within one of these.)  I have always been a perfume “trier”.  I think I have been ever since I read Once Upon a Marigold, in which one the protagonists is a perfumer.  (But I digress….)  I have been collecting scents for at least a quarter of my twenty-two years (starting my grandparents’ classically unisex 4711).

 

 

I would describe Si as warm, sensual, musky, soft, undeniably feminine, and perfectly understated.  Some fragrances make me feel like I’m wearing too much scent, and that in turn makes me feel self-conscious in the negative sense.  That has never been the case with Si.

The description from the Giorgio Armani website says, “Sì is a tribute to modern femininity, an irresistible combination of grace, strength, and independent spirit. A modern chypre reinvented, Sì opens with deep blackcurrant nectar that softly recedes to airy florals. A base of musky blond wood adds lightness while grounding the fragrance for a lingering, distinctive trail.

Notes:
Chypre, Blackcurrant Nectar, Airy Florals, Musky Blond Wood.
Style:
Graceful. Modern. Unconventional.”

Funnily enough, I have heard of blackcurrant nectar, as it is part of the preferred dessert wine of the famous Belgian detective of Agatha Christie’s art deco-era mystery novels.  I admit my favorite fruits are the darker berries, like blackberry, and I can also feel a sense of the florals, which are usually more predominant in my other perfumes.  For me, I smell vanilla and musk, but the sweetness might actually be the dessert wine of crème de cassis (blackcurrant nectar).  A scent with a warm dessert note appeals to me far more than a sickly sweet candyish scent does.  It’s all down to preference:  a note of dessert wine blended with light florals and musk works perfectly for me, and defines a quintessential woman’s fragrance in Si.

Currently, Si comes in rollerball, 1 ounce, 1.7 ounce, 3.4 ounce, and 5.1 ounce spray form, although my introduction was in a limited supply of a larger sample in dab-form from Sephora.  This is relatively expensive fragrance in the perfume form, and I do prefer the perfume to the toilette (yes, there is a difference besides alcohol content).  The toilette is less warm, and fruitier.

Although previously I’ve always reached for floral oriental scents, I’ve had a fondness for the warmer fragrances intermittently.  Now I have been converted to calling not Shalimar, but Si, my favorite, most-reached for perfume.  Now I just have to pluck up the funds for the larger spray sizes (I still only have the Sephora premium sample in dab-form, and the roller ball!)  Si has found its way into my heart with its tender, warm notes, and I believe I will always keep a place for it on my bedside table.

(Note:  I am not being paid for this review, I love this perfume from samples I have gotten at Macy's and Sephora, and bought the rollerball myself.)