Margaret had two very strong negative reactions to scents (so far). She was dubious about Essenza di Colonia. She used ‘perfumey’ to describe it, and found it too sweet. I too was put off by the flowery scent — white flowery, like lily or jasmine in my imagination — and soapy impression. The description ascribes a citrus fragrance to it, but I couldn’t detect it. I tried it for a couple of days, but she gave it a firm thumbs down.
I followed that by trying out Maison Crivelli’s Oud Stallion. I thought it was agreeable, but Margaret had a strong, immediate negative response — again, it was too ‘perfumey’. It may be the jasmine; the jasmine laid in the background to my perception, but perhaps too strong for her. I turned away from it after one day.