Lazy afternoon, Carner Barcelona Tardes

When I first read some positive reviews from the Spanish perfume house Carner Barcelona I was very eager to try their fragrances, they all sounded good to me and worth sampling. I found a way to satisfy my curiousity of trying all four perfumes that are currently in Carner Barcelona offer and I was impressed with all of them. I immediately fell in love with D600 which I now own. Tardes is the second perfume from the brand that I’m reviewing. Just like D600, Tardes was launched in 2010.

Tardes is a Spanish word that means “afternoon.” This fragrance is described at Carner Barcelona website as “a tribute to the peace and harmony of a late summer afternoon; a fragrance that is pure, serene and enveloping.” which pretty well captures the feeling this perfumes gives to the wearer.

Tardes unveils on my skin with a beautifully aromatic heliotrope that seems to immediately create a perfume cloud around the wearer. Very shortly the note transforms into something minimally powdery only to evolve into a magnificent scent of almonds. In other perfumes almonds are usually musky or sweet (too sweet often) which can be boring. In Carner Barcelona Tardes they’re done outstandingly well. This note isn’t sweet here but it’s warm and kind of crunchy. When I smell my arm I imagine the roasted nuts that turn golden-brown after a few minutes. Wonderful and delish!

Ten minutes later this delicious smell or warm, roasted almonds with a heliotrope veil becomes a little bit more spicy and this feeling grows during the next few minutes. Tonka bean blends so well with heliotrope and almonds that it’s irresistible. Not only it gives the charming spiciness but there’s also some creamy quality to it. The creamy feeling doesn’t appear immediately with the spiciness of tonka – you need to wait for it for another 5-10 minutes. At the 30 minute mark Tardes begins to change. The powdery heliotrope, sweet and warm almonds, spicy and creamy tonka subsite but they don’t disappear for good. They just take a back seat in the composition.

I think crispiness is the key to the rareness of this perfume. I have never smelled something similar to Tardes before and I’ve never experienced such unusual pairing of the fragrance components. Especially that their joined smell is amazing. Celery that was put into this Carner Barcelona scent is crispy, intensively green in color (but not in the smell) and it makes my mouth water. Right next to it is some tender musk. It’s warm, delicately spicy with tonka from earlier stage. It is also light and fluffy, like a cotton candy. In Tardes there’s also a plum note.

This particular note smells interesting to me. It’s not much fruity. Instead it’s rather smoked and kind of dry but still it has some qualities that describe plum in perfume. Along with a smoky plum Tardes offers a light rose aroma. It’s more like a rose water than the flowers but it softens the stage with a plum and adds some grace and melancholy to it. There’s something dreamy about Carner Barcelona Tardes in general and it’s especially highlighted at this stage of development. It’s like you weren’t sure if what you experience is still reality or is it a dream already.

The drydown of this fragrance is interesting as well. It refers to the entire composition wrapping it all together with some pretty solid notes. What my nose captures here is the crisp geranium, with stems and red petals, the smokiness of a plum is still present here too. I adore a woody finish to it – it’s a rosewood from Brazil. It smells awesome – dry and slightly rough but no splinters there. From time to time a spiciness from tonka awakens and brings a lovely wave of kind of balmy odour to your nose.

Tardes by Carner Barcelona is very unusual, pretty and sophisticated. They say it’s for women but don’t believe that – everyone can wear it and I’m a good example of it. I’m gonna have this perfume one day. It’s so beautiful and very my style. No surprise I’m head over heels for it, it was created by Daniela Roche-Andrier known for her creations for Prada that I cherish so much. Tardes is available in two sizes: 50 ml and 100 ml. The bottle is square, made of transparent glass. A cap is made of real wood. It has an outstanding longevity of more than 12 hours and the sillage is great, quite big.