All We Need is LOV! from Nabucco

by: Serguey Borisov

The new Gamma Phi Lambda Parfum Fin by Nabucco is the third creation from the brand and it completes the first collection named Revelation. We have already reviewed the first two fragrances, Nabucco and Amatys, trying to link them with legendary person Nebuchadnezzar (or Nabucco for short). The name of this new oil-based fragrance was inspired by the ancient knowledge that made it possible to build the Seven Wonders of the World.

Cyrillic Г (Gamma), Φ (Phi) and Λ (Lambda) look familiar to Russian eyes, and soccer fans immediately will see in ΓΦΛ their favorite word: “goal.” However, these Greek letters denote by their shape some ancient tools—angler, protractor and compass—known to ancient artisans. These tools were enough to build the Egyptian pyramids and ancient Greek temples, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. These tools were used by ancient builders in the same way modern sculptors used them in creation of the bottles for Nabucco.

By the way, the Hanging Gardens are particularly important to the House of Nabucco. In its perfumes, the House uses only those natural oils that were smelled in Babylon: Acacia and bergamot, almonds and cinnamon, coriander and jasmine, frankincense and myrrh, rose and pepper, vetiver and rosemary. It is also true for ΓΦΛ.

ΓΦΛ or Gamma Phi Lambda, is the third fragrance of collection, which removes the contradiction between the “masculine-like” Nabucco and “feminine-like” Amatys: here they met and fell in love with each other and merged into a single unisex perfume. By lucky chance, just as sports fans could see “goal” in the title, the perfume creators saw the Greek word ΓΦΛ reflected in a mirror and saw another word, “LOV.” And they decided to leave it as the main name, easy to read by all English-speaking people and easier to say and to remember.

Like most perfume oils, ΓΦΛ / LOV is a soft caressing perfume, not explosive or sharp. It even has citruses that come in like a lullaby played on a violin, gently and softly. In the ΓΦΛ / LOV lullaby of mandarins there is a pleasant, slightly sour and spicy smoky smell of Peruvian pepper. Seems like it is sort of fashionable now to start amber fragrances (e.g., in a similar smoky pepper way Olfactive Studio Chambre Noire opens the door into its amber darkness) by diverting from the main perfume content. So it seems that the smooth and woody fragrance of incense ΓΦΛ / LOVwould turn into unforgettable Gucci Pour Homme if it did not start with a spicy smoke of barbeque—but no.

Even working near the grill, it would not give up in courage or style. But any similarity between LOV and Gucci Pour Homme is fleeting. LOV also recalls the simple, pleasant and ironic perfumes made by Geza Schoen or the Odin New York fragrances—in the oil-based form of perfume, they would be as unobtrusive and charming. The woody-spicy amber trail recalls distantly the drydown of Xerjoff Nio of the Shooting Stars collection, and the last exhalations of Lalique Hommage a l'Homme.

I would not call the ΓΦΛ / LOV fragrance a "craftsman's workshop smell," but it has the elegance of simplicity. A perfect image of it would be a famous chef of an upscale restaurant who is mentioned in the Michelin guide and often gives interviews, but still gets up to the stove every day. I can compare it with something simple, something handy, from the ordinary world but made to its absolute form, to perfection.

Nabucco ΓΦΛ Parfum Fin

Top notes: Red berries, Green mandarin, Rose
Heart notes: Star Anise, Frankincense, Woody notes, Violet
Base notes: Moss, Fenugreek, Leather, Ambergris