Carmen Miranda's Hat: Mbucuruya by Fueguia 1833

Mbucuruya means "passionflower", and the scent by that name is meant to smell of passionfruit. I don't know exactly what passionfruit smells like, alas, but Mbucuruya smells like a creamy, fruity milkshake: the fruit notes suggest pineapple and mango and papaya, and I'm sure there are other tropical things in there as well. It is vividly sharp at the very top, with a fleeting top note giving the suggestion of a just-peeled mandarin orange and a strange hint of vitamin B, and then it relaxes into a lush milkshake of tropical fruit and vanilla ice cream, sweet but never cloying. It lasts an extraordinarily long time, hour after hour of this creamy-fresh concoction.

Mbucuruya calls to mind a Comptoir Sud Pacifique scent such as Vanille Peach or Vanille Pineapple, but far more complex and varied. It is pure joy, one of the brightest, most ecstatic things I have smelled in quite some time, miles beyond the standard fruity floral of today, and the first thing I've smelled from the Fueguia 1933 line that I really thought was worth what they were asking for it.