I love fig fragrances. They are the genre that removes me from money the easiest and quickest. Fig fragrances are my “everyday” fragrances because they are light enough for work (usually) but still interesting.  And figs are my favorite fruit. They are very nostalgic for me.

At first Ninfeo Mio is herbaceous, sometimes I feel like I’m sniffing tomato vines. It is that green and humid. The humidity reminds me a little of Annick Goutal Un Matin d’Orage at the initial stages but the humidity in Ninfeo Mio is “dirtier” and “sweatier”. This is what I like about Ninfeo Mio. I also get lots of crisp citrus. You can easily describe the top as refreshing. The citrus blends with the humid greenness.The fig begins to make an appearance. It’s milky and fresh/green. It’s the fig leaf. The green fig mingles with refreshing citrus and herbaceous, cool lavender. The lavender used in Ninfeo Mio is very high quality. It lacks that camphor, medicinal aroma. It really smells like the real deal growing in my front yard, slightly sweet and loving the hot sun. The lavender is really not that noticeable. I admit that you have to be sniffing for it. It appears like a hot breeze blowing over cool, distant lavender plants. This “breeze” carries the lavender but you mainly get the “breeze” coming through greens and figs. All of the fig elements begin to coexist. It isn’t only the leaf. You get lots of sweet milkiness and warm woodiness mixed with the citrus and the herbs. This is very beautiful. I usually look for the “whole” fig when I decide to add another fig fragrance to my collection. I love the milky, fig woods in this fragrance. The dry-down is warm, milky fig, woods, and musk. It’s beautiful but not too heavy for summer wear. It smells of late summer with notes of fig and sweet lavender. Great memories…great fragrance.

Ninfeo Mio is a green and refreshing fig fragrance that isn’t too “clean”/aquatic. It plays on many aspects of the fig tree but it plays down the sweet, sticky fruit. This is more of a fig tree fragrance. It is about the greenness, the milkiness, and the bark. I love Ninfeo Mio. This is no surprise since I fall for about every fig fragrance. As a house, Annick Goutal was missing a fig fragrance and I’ve always thought they needed one. Annick Goutal Ninfeo Mio is a perfect addition. It’s fig but it does have a special Annick Goutal fragrance house touch. The Annick Goutal house knows how to do beautiful without being intimidating. The house realizes that nature isn’t perfect and that’w why I love the addition of “sweaty” humid notes. The more I wear my sample, the more I want a bottle of Annick Goutal Ninfeo Mio so I can spray it on lavishly. I seriously want to bathe in this. Could this be my favorite release of 2010? I don’t know. I just think it came to me at the right time. This is how I want to smell in the summer.

Ninfeo Mio is based on a Roman garden. I like to think of this as a more “off the beaten path” kind of garden fragrance, somewhere off the coasts of Croatia. Something about Ninfeo Mio seems unkempt, like fertile fruits and flowers growing savagely. I mean have you seen a how crazy a fig tree gets when not cared for?

Notes listed include: galbanum, citron, lemon, lentisk, petit-grain, orange, lavender, fig leaf, lemon-tree wood, milky note, fig, and creamy woods.

Give Ninfeo Mio EDT a try if you like fig fragrances or scents like Aqua di Parma Fico di Amalfi, Salvatore Ferragamo Tuscan Soul, Fresh Fig Apricot,  Versace Versense, Diptyque Philosykos , Tokyomilk Ex Libris and/or Amouage Dia Woman.

The 1.7 oz. retails for $105 at Luckyscent. Samples are also available for purchase.

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*Sample purchased by me. Product pic from the brand.