Roxana Illuminated Perfume Impromptu review

Impromptu is a fragrance riff that Roxana Villa put together as a result of blending various chords she had on her desk when she was meant to be tidying it up (hence the name, Impromptu). She ended up with a smoky, Chapparal-esque woody blend, to which she added geranium for a floral, rosy note, and then botanical leather notes (tarragon, basil, clary sage and mimosa). Roxana avoided the very costly ingredients like rose, jasmine, orris and oud, to see if she could create something beautiful without using these ingredients.

Did she succeed? Well, I finished the sample Roxana sent me and have bought the 3.75ml full size myself. Impromptu has the Illuminated Perfume magic (that smell of the wood and the wild) and is a lovely smoky, woody, spicy floral. It smells like the child of a marriage between Chaparral and Aurora, and my sample wore well over both Chaparral and To Bee solids.

The 3.75ml size costs $45 (about £30) and is about half the price gram for gram of the main line of liquid perfumes (which go for about £120 for 7g - and are beautiful enough to be worth that price). 1g vials are also available for $15 (about £10). Links to the Etsy listings are below:

Illuminated Perfume Impromptu 3.75ml from Etsy.

Illuminated Perfume Impromptu 1g from Etsy.

This is a limited edition, although Roxana has indicated she might do something similar again in the future. It's a lovely way to experience Illuminated Perfume liquid fragrance at a lower price entry point.

Disclosure: sample provided without charge.