Perfume Review: Parfums de Nicolai Cococabana

Cococabana is the latest scent to be released by Parfums de Nicolai; it is a tropical perfume with notes of coconut, bitter oranges, ylang ylang, tuberose, cedar and palm. Its release is certainly timely in a sense that rarely does one crave an olfactory retreat to a land of eternal summer as much as in the midst of winter gloom. And yet, unluckily for Cococabana, it reached our shores more or less at the same time as Annick Goutal’s Songes. Though not exactly alike (for one, Cococabana is a sweeter, fruitier centered around a coconut accord), both paint a fragrant picture of a romantic, exotic place redolent with the smell of sultry tropical flowers, and, in my opinion, Goutal’s portrayal is more sumptuous and yet more subtle, and has more of that certain indefinable something that I can only describe as “charm”. Having said that, I do not want this to be considered a negative review. I like Cococabana. If I haven’t already fallen in love with Songes, I probably would have been much more enthusiastic about it. The bright citrus note in the beginning of the scent is very pleasing; when the coconut note appears, the non-sweet citrus accord balances it perfectly. Cococabana becomes increasingly sweater as tuberose joins the blend; with the arrival of tuberose, the fragrance also acquires a wonderful creamy quality. It becomes sultry and languid and oh so feminine. The fragrance reaches its apogee of tropical intensity when ylang ylang comes into a play. Personally, I would have been happier without ylang ylang in the blend, but it does add an exotic touch, and, fortunately for me, does not stay too long. The drydown of Cococabana is warm and sweet and somehow very “de Nicolai”. Vanilla and Tonka bean here are whipped into the same golden creaminess as in her Sacreblue or Vanille Tonka. Cococabana might not be as irresistibly appealing to me as Songes, but I do think it is a beautiful scent that certainly puts me in a summery mood, making me want to sing at the top of my voice: At the Copa, Copacabana The hottest spot north of Havana At the Copa, Copacabana Music and passion were always the fashion At the Copa....they fell in looooooooove. Cococabana is available at Beautyhabit, $70.00 for 50ml of Eau de Toilette. Tomorrow - Pure Purple by Hugo Boss.