New Stars by Tiziana Terenzi: Tyl Assoluto & a Secret Hint of What's to Come

by: Sergey Borisov

Fragrantica continues to announce Esxence 2016, the Milanese art-perfumery and cosmetics exhibition. Today we`re going to tell you about one of the new perfumes that the Italian perfume House Tiziano Terenzi is going to launch there in March. We found out a few details: there will be four new Tiziano Terenzi perfumes, and the brand will continue the theme of constellations, as started in previous collections. Before their official presentation in Milan, we have contacted Paolo Terenzi, and smelled one of the new perfumes, Tyl Assoluto by Tiziano Terenzi.

Paolo Terenzi: Collection Assoluto was born in the fire of memories that warm and light our previous collection, Tiziana Terenzi Luna. The different moments of life, as precious pieces of the puzzle of the stars, inspired us to create these magical fantasies. With creative impulses and a demand for excellence, Tiziana Terenzi mixes the tradition of fine, Italian jewelry with innovative design, setting the tone for the entire collection. This visual style, in turn, is fused with the exciting olfactory genius of the perfumer [Paolo Terenzi] in search of new frontiers in a journey that will never end.

So, Assoluto: unique, precious, a limited collection of two aromas: TYL Assoluto and ADHYL Assoluto. Both of these truly precious fragrances are enclosed in stylistically perfect bottles with handmade jeweled designs, spirits of light extracted in the wake of cosmic parables, drawn from the stardust from which they are named.

After studying the constellations of Andromeda and the Dragon in the previous fragrances, we continued our cosmic journey, focusing research on two of the most enigmatic stars of the constellations. The bright dots in the infinite universe have now been captured in the perfumes of the Assoluto collection.

“Here comes Tyl, rising star of the constellation Draco. The fragrance arises from the evolution of Draco, and it reaches a border never explored before, realizing a unique and totally new fragrance. The precious scents of Musk emphasize and reverberate the notes of golden amber, made sparkling by citrus fruits, but sweetly balanced by the grace of flowers and by the generosity of vanilla. A stellar symphony able to lightly glide over the body like a gentle caress, and to lull the soul of the child that is in us!” (Tiziano Terenzi press-release)

Sergey's impressions: Tyl Assoluto is devoted to the Epsylon of Draco, one of the Draco constellation stars. I am happy to have received about 10 ml of this precious absolute (recommended retail price of 650 euro per bottle), and will try to describe this special perfume here.

Tyl Assoluto is a very gentle and light perfume, it's a hint of aroma. Judging by its power, it is intended to be perceived only by very close people – as a real extrait de parfum, it is not loud, it smells very delicate but for a very long time. Remember the phrase about the light of extinguished stars that are still flying through cosmic space, although the stars themselves are dead? If I remember correctly, usually the extraits' trick is the "head-heart-tail" approach that increases the base notes accord (compared with an EDT).

Of course, it`s quite impossible to remove all of the topnotes – lemon, lavender and transparent neutral synthetic material remain, but this chord of Tyl Assoluto does not recall the expected effect of a typical cologne, but the scent of lemon butter cake, or lemon-vanilla marshmallow. And then – there`s less lemon, more vanilla, cream-soda and light amber. Cool and weightless flower petals of slightly sweet flowers on the lemon-vanilla meringue background becomes white-pink and yellow-white stars of tropical flowers: frangipani-plumeria have a lot of different varieties and species, which can be smelled with citrusy, rosy, soapy, and coconut nuances. And then a lot of musk, huge white and fluffy clouds – for some people it`s an imponderable caress, for others it`s an unbearable torture. So it happens with sweets: one will delight by a delicious cake, and the other will suffer from sweet torture. Tyl Assoluto is a very fine perfume, if compared with most other perfumes; and its intensity is really like a distant star's light, compared with the sun's light.

It seems that the trend to replace the saturated, oriental composition now introduces other families of perfumery, and other properties of fragrance. The pendulum of perfume trends can swing toward weightless and subtle aromas that still manage to maintain a presence throughout the day, e.g. TYL Assoluto Tiziana Terenzi. Perhaps if we are tired of the powerful powerful Eastern perfumes, we might embrace the finest, weightless veil?

TYL Assoluto

Top notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Lavender, Oxygen;
Heart notes: Rose, Jasmine, Golden Amber;
Base notes: Vanilla, Precious Musk, Ebony

Paolo Terenzi: However, Assoluto is not our only new collection. Our other project that we are going to present at Esxence 2016 is a brand new perfume that is not associated with our previous collections. It is linked to the distant history, to the deep roots of perfumery. We have spent a very long time working on it, without telling anything to bloggers, it`s a long-term Tiziano Terenzi secret.

I can offer this hint: Ambrosia, Nectar, a fragrance worthy of the gods ... It is a very sophisticated and expensive collection, but let’s talk about it at the Esxence 2016 exhibition in Milan, OK?

New Releases from Tiziana Terenzi: interview with Paolo Terenzi

by: Evgeniya Chudakova

Evgeniya: Hello Paolo! Finally we can talk about Tiziana Terenzi's novelties more in depth. During Pitti Fragranze I've been able to try all three. I did like Al Contrario for it being full, opulent and very elegant at the same time.

Paolo: Oh, thank you! This perfume is really made for very educated people [smiling]. It's not easy to wear, not easy to understand. It's on the edge of the niche and artistic line in my point of view. You see, I feel that unfortunately I matured in a certain way and these three new creations are like some kind of a new breath of my world, of the experience I now have, because I feel different from what I've done in the past. It always stays within my signature way of working of course, but this is something that is more cosy and it's also, I'd say, a little bit ironic. So, playing with this slight gourmand touch and balancing Al Contrario with malt, which is such an uncommon raw material in perfumery, brought this fragrance in the bitter gourmand area. It’s balanced with birch wood and sandalwood in the drydown, which are responsible for the perfume to be long lasting... I think it's a nice creation.

Evgeniya: And I experience  - though it can be just a trick of the imagination – a certain light animalic note here, as well.

Paolo: Yes, you are right, because the woody part of the base accord has this animalic touch. And also the malt during its maturation gives these animalic notes. So, your feeling could be correct. I'm very proud of this creation.

Evgeniya: What I like about it - is it's structure. It's really very supple, homogenic and perfectly balanced. I also have a question about your other novelty - Orion. If I'm not mistaken, I see a recent trend for some thick, pulpy and juicy fruity accords. And such accords are evident in your perfumesCassiopea and Andromeda as well.

Paolo: And Draco too, I think. The idea is that for me this fruity part really comes from my heritage. Because my grandfather was a perfumer and he created his own perfumes with the ingredients he extracted himself. Fruity accords were the most frequent ingredients that he used, along with flowers. He used pear, mandarin, grapefruit, apple and pineapple as well. So it's easy for me and quite logical to play with fruity notes, it's part of my childhood. I remember the time when my grandfather did the distillation, so, using these fruity accords is like playing with my boy-toys.

Evgeniya: What is interesting is that previously, most fruity accords were of a different structure – I’m used to fruits in perfumes that feel less juicy with a more grainy touch, often powdery, and these ones are more like expressionist paintings with thick lines, very raw and even wild. Do you use a special technique of extraction (if I understand correctly and these ingredients are all-natural)?

Paolo: Yes, these components are natural and you noticed it right. Expressive is the right word. I always wanted to use some ingredients that are different. For me it's  not important to keep the perfume sounding the same with every batch - I think it's important to let Nature speak for itself. I just follow Nature. If I take a pear, I have a pear. And if the juice is different with the same pyramid of the previous year - I don't care. I take a risk to move in this direction without any compromise. And yes, it's an  expressive way, a splash even maybe. Of course I do some fine tuning of the perfumes, but it's not of the ultimate importance. So, we just use what Nature gives us and if people like the result of our job, they buy it.

Evgeniya: Could you just in a couple of words tell us what is behind each scent? The nature of the juice itself comes first, but it's also interesting to know what inspired you.

Paolo: Of course, there is always the story behind every perfume. So, Kirkè - it's an image of the south of Italy, not far from Rome, where there is a beautiful place, a natural park that is called Circe. It's very famous because in the past, during the Roman period, a witch named Circe was said to live there, attracting sailors. It was she who attracted also Ulysses. This lady was famous for transforming all men in pigs. And as I said, this perfume is also very ironic - it depicts a fatal lady, so it's sexy, and also you can feel the landscape of a summer night close to the sea, there is an evident marine effect, the feeling of a sea breeze in Kirke. At the same time, you can feel the warm sand. I'm sure that if you close your eyes and sniff Kirke, you can imagine a night at the sea-shore.

View from Cape Circe

For Al Contrario, which means Opposite side, the story is as follows - I always used to talk about my journeys and my stays far away from my home; this time I'm coming back home. I wanted to create this particular feeling when you are happy and sad at the same time. Sad - because you have left some place you enjoyed, but happy since you are coming home with confidence and something new in your soul. So, your mood is harmonized with a new experience and at the same time you have eyes again for your countryside, the roof of your house, the trees around it. And you feel at home, you feel love in you. That's why Al Contrario is gourmand, because it feels warm. When I would come back from my journeys, my grandmother would be cooking an apple cake, so, this is the feeling of the fireplace, the feeling of my home.

And Orion is something very special for me, because - you know that the Luna collection scents are related to my childhood, when Tiziana and I went on journeys with our grandfather  - and this particular one is very important to me as I love sailing, thanks to my father, who told me a lot about the sea, about how to sail, about boats. We would stay on the boat of my father and sail to Ancona, not far away from my home town, and there is a very nice mountain named Conero, surrounded with fruity trees and flowers descending to the sea, and there is a bay where we would moor our boat and look at the stars. Those nights, our grandfather spoke about Orion, the very famous constellation. And there was a  breeze coming from the mountain, because at night the temperature of the sea differs from the temperature of the ground and it creates a breeze that blows from the shore. This breeze brings the scents of nature around you - you feel the scent of fruit gardens and it's fantastic.

Evgeniya: I know that with Al Contrario there is another interesting fact...

Paolo: Yes, with columns. It's some kind of an apothropaic sign of our collection. You know we have now five 'columns' in the building of our brand and this one 's made like an upside down bottle, which is not coincidental. In Roman architecture, there was a tradition in building temples and houses to put all the columns in the right position and one was put upside down.

Evgeniya: Thank you Paolo! And finally what about these new candles?

Paolo: These candles with gold finishing are dedicated to the Luna Collection - they repeat the scents of its fragrances. They have also gold plated cups , which looks really nice.

Evgeniya: Thank you so much for this conversation, Paolo, and good luck!

Tiziana Terenzi Chimaera

by: Serguey Borisov

"She was the mother of Chimaera who breathed raging fire,
a creature fearful, great, swift-footed and strong,
who had three heads, one of a grim-eyed lion;
in her hinderpart, a dragon; and in her middle, a goat,
breathing forth a fearful blast of blazing fire."
     —The Theogony of Hesiode

The Chimera in Greek mythology is a wonderful and frightful creature: the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a serpent (dragon), breathing fire. In another mythical embodiment, the Chimera is a three-headed creature, with the heads of a lion, a goat and a serpent. The monster has a difficult ancestry. It was the successor of Typhon and Echidna, which leads us to the goddess Gaia through Typhon and Echidna through Tartarus. But just as all myths developed and changed in different hystorical circumstances, each mythical character has several different biographies. The Chimera is as complex as it is unbelivable.

Just imagine what perfume would match such a complicated myth. Chimaera by Tiziana Terenzi is a total surprise, too. Chimaera perfume was created after Paolo Terenzi's visit to the Lycian region in Turkey—this is where Chimera was born. There's the forever burning mountain of the same name near the Kemer resort. It's one of the unique attractions of the region.

After all, it was burning in the days of Pliny the Elder, being the natural source of the Chimera myth, and it still burns after a few thousand years! Allegedly the Greek hero Bellerophon defeated the Chimera, saving Lycians from grief and suffering, and buried it under this mountain, but the Chimera still breathes fire from underground ...

Bellerophon riding Pegasus (1914) wikipedia

Fire is a particularly important thing for the Terenzi family, because the main business for the Tiziana Terenzi brand is devoted to decorative and fragrant candles! Therefore, perfume inspiration from a fiery phenomenon is quite natural for Terenzi. But this kind of fire is different from the Italian ritual fires (XIX March), from a bright fire on the snow (White Fire), and from the night bonfire of Arabian Desert travelers (Gold RoseOud).

For example, Paolo Terenzi, perfumer of the house, included the earth note in the description. In the mythological sense of the land, personified by Gaia and Tartarus, it is appropriate to create a Chimaera. The fire from the ground, the burning land—I do not know how successfully this idea came from a practical point of view (Indians have long been doing a similar smell, distilling pottery shards in sandalwood oil and getting Attar Mitti and there are synthetic materials to make it easier)—but one could smell the earthy accent in Chimaera. This dry smell is created and enhanced by black pepper, Cashmeran, patchouli and saffron. There is even a strange tart-like smell that reminded me of natural gas leakage.

The most notable and characteristic part of the perfume is warm balsamic sweetness. Benzoin, Cistus labdanum, Tolu and Copaiba balsams, pine resin and leather—they are meant to reveal the good side of fire, fire as a gift of the gods and the blessings of heaven.

Paolo Terenzi: “The power of fire is something special. It is the history of human-being. They follow the big fire and they gather around it. Fire is life, fire is power. People who can dominate fire have the power. To me fire represents the life. And also fire used to attract me when I was a kid. I used to play with it. So I wanted to catch the odour, the perfume of the fire.”

By those balsamic notes perfumer Paolo Terenzi offers us a real ascent to Mount Chimaera, through thickets of grass, shrubs and trees, with the warm and intoxicating scents of sage, rockrose, thyme, pine and laurel, and other aromatic nectariferous plants. Thus, the Chimera fires make the surrounding smells of nature stronger. All this natural aromatic sweetness is enhanced by a caramel cream accord and a powdery iris and carnation accord—a perfumer's gesture that makes Chimaera fragrance more human-like and very pleasant. Difficult to analyze, multilayered and a very lasting perfume.

Finally, the third part of Chimaera should have to be water or sea breeze—but apart from lemon flower's freshness at the start of the composition, I did not notice any prominent aquatic component. The Chimaera's fire wins over water.


The fragrance was released for the first time in 2014 as a part of the Anniversary Collection, in a limited edition of 1000 bottles. Each bottle had special luxury packaging: a black cube with elegant illumination inside—this perfume is clearly a nocturnal creature. According to the new fashion, the fragrance exists only as Extrait de Parfum, and only in 100 ml bottles.


All of the 2014 edition is already sold out and I did not get to try it. My descriptions apply to the new issue of 2015, which has already been released with the same formula, but it may smell a little different because some rare natural ingredients such as iris, benzoin, tobacco and balsams in the current year already have slightly different characteristics. But the real rarity of the perfume is frankincense from the Anatolian region of Turkey, which has some Boswellia trees which are pretty rare for Turkey. The Anniversary Collection is based on the same principles as wine—the grapes are always the same, but the wine's taste may vary from year to year depending on weather conditions. The same with Anatolian incense: a small harvest is not enough to last for two years. It would be interesting to know how Paolo Terenzi refers to the fact that his perfumes are great objects for purchasing in mulitples?

Tiziana Terenzi Chimaera 2015 Anniversary Collection

Black pepper, Lemon, Saffron, Red earth, White leather, Hydrogen, Tolu balsam, Thyme, Bay leaf, Iris, Pimento, Carnation, Peony, Honey, Black magnolia, Sage, Incense, Patchouli, Cashmere wood, Labdanum, Benzoin, Caramel, Agarwood, Tobacco, Copaiba balm, Leather, Pine.