Review of Illusione Eau de Parfum by Pia Pedersen

The BV’s Distant Cousin The newest addition to my BV family is Bottega Veneta Illusione. She must be a cousin, since at first sight and smell both bottle and scent are different, and you do not see the family bond between her and “the siblings” right away. Not before wearing a few times. Then suddenly you get it. The siblings are, by the way, Bottega Veneta EdP, Eau Sensuelle and Eau Légère. I adore the original BV bottle design, the chubby, heavy bottle with the tag around the neck. It is quite delicate and looks great on the shelf. BVI comes in a cubic design with no metal details. Colourwise it is more to the feminine side whereas the siblings are significantly unisex. The faded orange fits the scent, which I regard as feminine. The scent is also far more feminine than the other three. The show starts with berries, sweet and citric. Then the flowers appear and soften the edges, making the scent deeper and more faceted. During the next hours it slowly turns into an even deeper scent due to the tonka bean. When looking at the notes, this is up a totally different alley than the siblings. But then something happens. A slightly dry note evolves and exposes the blood line between the cousin and her relatives. I wore it a few times before noticing, mainly because I focused on how different it smelled. Perhaps I was surprised that it was so different, a bit embarrassing since I do not expect all my Diors or Chanels to smell the same, do I? It is a reminder to myself to keep my mind - and my nose - open. So what do I think about the cousin? I really like her. She is a keeper like the others. She offers something totally different. More fruity and sweeter. And feminine. The bottle is nice, though it does not look as classy and expensive as the original design. Too little metal and too much plastic. I do admire when a House invents a great design and use it for all their bottles - but I do like to look at my bottles as well as sniffing the juice and wearing it. So I enjoy whenever I find a new interesting design. Illusione does not have that.