Il Bacio Borghese for women

The other reviewers said it very well. It's lovely- warm, creamy fruit and flowers, however it's a bit too sweet for my current taste in scents (which always seems to be changing). PM me if you're interested in my almost full bottle.

Just as "a bit vintage" posted, I too wore Il Bacio in the 90's (I loved and used Princess Marchella Borghese cosmetics too) I decided to buy a bottle from Amazon. I was SO excited when it was delivered yesterday. I ripped the shipping box open to find that the perfume box did not have a cellophane over wrap on it. I saw that as a red flag. The box was slightly damaged, another red flag. I spritzed some onto my wrists, and OMG!!! It was nasty and rancid. The dry down only slightly smells like the old Il Bacio I know and love. Luckily, Amazon has awesome customer service reps. They are going to refund my money, and told me I can dispose of the perfume as I see fit. Sure wish I had a different outcome. Anyone else have this problem with Il Bacio fragrance lately?

this is the type of perfume that reminds me of heavy brocade curtains from the past. there is something i like about it, yet something i don't. i smell the fruit, but its the florals and freesia that really come thru for me. it can be a bit heavy and a bit dusty. i use with a light hand. i own a small bottle and thats just enough for me.

I agree with previous reviewer's descriptions: heavenly, ladylike, joyful, mature. But not mature as in old-fashioned, but rather mature as in elegant.

It reminds me of something my classy mom might've worn in the late 70's, and she did use some Borghese facial cleansers and lotions, so I'm wondering if maybe the same scent palette was used back then for those products that is in Il Bacio.

Although it is undeniably beautiful, for some reason I cannot sink my teeth into it the way I'd like to. I think my olfactory sensors must be tweaked by all the vanillic and woody orientals I've been inhaling recently. "Hello, my name is candymarie and I'm addicted to vanillic and woody orientals." "Hello candymarie."

One word only: HEAVENLY!
I don't know if it's helpful, but this is what I think about this perfume. I ADORE IT!
I had doubts about it from the first time I bought it, as it was a blind buy. When I sprayed it on my wrist, it really 'slapped' me but with a very possitive surprising way.
So feminine, ladylike, joyful and COMPLITELY floral...THE ultimate floral perfume.
It lasts really long, it is not heavy at all but it can be, if sprayed too much. One or two spritzs are enough.
I think it would be nice for everybody, even younger girls, but it is rather a mature scent. But what a nice mature scent!
I have to say that I like honeysuckle very much, maybe this is why I like this perfume so very much! It definately worths buying though.
Only negative: The bottle. Is rather cheap and not very nice compared to the perfume itself, which smells really expensive.

My second favorite perfume. So sensuous and feminine. I prefer to wear this scent in the evening because it is stronger (but not overwhelming) than my usual scent and long lasting. European luxury!

Edited to say: What happened to this once gorgeous perfume? I ordered it from a reputable online company November of 2011 and threw it away. I don't know if the perfume was a knock-off, had gone bad, or was reformulated. This is not the perfume I once knew and loved. If anyone knows anything specifically about a reformulation, please let me know. Thank you!

Original Review:


The first time I ever smelled Il Bacio my eyes flew open and I was 'home'. It's sharp floral attributes went right to my brain and stayed there.

Imagine a floral bouquet...reds, pinks, whites and greens with a magical current of electricity running through it. That is Il Bacio. What starts out as a heady, full floral perfume graduates into a fresh, clean, gorgeous fragrance. I would say its unique elixir is comparable to Alfred Sung's Sung perfume.

I usually have good luck finding this at TJ Ma**...not very expensive for such a special perfume. I don't see it there very often, but when I do, it is all mine!

It's like a cross breed between Sunflowers and Mackie, more Sunflowers, but without the chemical notes of Sunflowers.
Very pleasant and easy to wear, but nothing to be extremely excited about. For me it's something to put on in the morning or to wear around the house.
It would be probably great to wear it out on a hot summer day.

Wow, there are a lot of very good reviews, so I ordered a miniatur bottle on ebay.
It opens with a strong blast of unpleasant alcohol. When the alcohol disappear, something sweet - no idea what it is - appear and holds on me centuries for sure.
I did not wait centuries, after 15 minutes I scrubbed it off - with bleach-cleaner, because the liquidsoap did not work. Big disappointment in the kind of smell, a miracle in the staying power.

This perfume will get you many kisses and compliments if you asked me. Two sprays and the whole room will smell of florals and lily of the valley. I believe its very romantic, and perfect for special occasions and evenings. It does dry down to a peach smell but its inoffensive. I Love it!

Took a risk and bought this unsniffed, based entirely on the good reviews here and it was a good decision. I am loving Il Bacio - it is a deliciously seductive scent and I am very pleased with my purchase. There is something warm and beckoning about this fragrance that beguiles the wearer in towards it.

When I first spray it, I get the beautifully blended florals and I love this phase. And right off the bat, I can also detect the fruit, although the florals predominate early on. At this point, what comes to mind literally, is a lovely big creamy bouquet of flowers around which are grouped the luscious fresh fruits including plum, melon and passionfruit.

The base notes are really muted for me and I also find that the longevity is not that great, but then I always wonder if that is because my bottle was sitting for a long time at some online retailers store before I purchased it. But you can always re-spray if needed.

All in all, it is a creamy compote of lovely flowers and subtle fruits, a sophisticated scent that makes you feel like a beautiful, sexy woman.

Now this was nice, had it years ago and remember it. Scent holds deep, sophisticated. When you can find, great cheapie deal.

I purchased this blind based on the reviews here and the exceptionally low price. It is very nice - thick and rich in the beginning then it gets a but softer. Very well done.

What can I say....? As I am a lover of orientals, I thought I'd try something out of my norm.. as I do every now and then... is not like I have the money to burn, but my perfume addiction is unrelentless...lol..
Another blind purchase on the reviews from here...
I think fruit, violet, iris, honeysuckle and cream lured me in, but "the thought of no vanilla", how could I like such a fume. There are a number of reviewers on here that I respect their opinions and I hope they know who they are.....
First spray, as I usually do not sniff it, thank god, cause 30 seconds later I did sniff it, due to my "I want to know now attitude" and i thought , ewe.... way too floral for my liking...I was going to put it in the get rid of lot, so wrong I was. But like a good wine, it developed over time, 15 miututes or so and it is a stayer of devine opulence.
Reminds me of Michael Kors, which I love, a floral that no one thought I would love in my perfume realm......................
Il Bacio is beautiful, give it the time it deserves and you will be rewarded...x

This is how to make a fruity floral! The fruits are tart, juicy and literally make your mouth water. The florals elegant and well blended. Pretty, refreshing and very feminine.

This is a light floral that is quite pleasant. I had high expectations after reading so much compliments about it, but it is not so special as you might expect. It's simply a good floral - well balanced and for the daytime or office. I had problems with the staying power. The perfume was almost not discernible on me.

Love this,
Il Bacio is one of the best perfumes I ever had. This is a classic but ever modern frag with a elegant and nice sent. I wear this since 30 years and love it since I got it first time. A great perfume. Whish Borghese would made another one with this quality. The lasting power is very good.

Was debating on this and then was bought for me last evening by a wonderful friend who wanted to make me feel better as I'm going through a very bad time. That alone makes it a valuable, precious thing! But it's also wonderful! It changes throughout the day - always a pleasant surprise!

Il Bacio ("The Kiss") is passionate! I picture Sophia Loren wearing a fragrance like this. This is one strong perfume, with excellent sillage and longevity - easily passes the "overnight test". Fruity, spicy, sexy, it is good to wear for an evening out. Definitely a heavier, mature scent, not so good for young girls. Could be too strong for those around you, so you should apply with a light hand. This is one of those fragrances that could give some a headache because of it's strength. You will feel "perfumed" when you wear this, because of the fruit and honeysuckle, but there's something tart and spicy in it too, a peppery kick (perhaps the cedar basenote?) - thought it's not unisex - it's definitely womanly. Maybe it's because I'm Italian, but Il Bacio works great with my chemistry, so I'll keep it in my collection. It mellows into a nice, soft drydown. A great bargain (you can get a 3.4 oz bottle for about $15 on ebay) for a quality perfume.

This is such a unique scent. I have had someone smell this fragrance from the bottle and tell me they didn`t like it, and smell it on me and tell me I smell wonderful. It is a mature scent, not for a young girl but definitely for a sexy night out on the town. It is definitely "the kiss" a sweet sensual kiss that makes you long for more.......

This truly is like retro sunshine in a bottle! And no wonder its name is Bacio, which means 'kiss' in Italian--very reminiscent of a prolific honeysuckle bush full of delicately sun-kissed blooms.

I imagine a youthful Hayley Mills, Rachel McAdams or Meg Ryan standing next to that honeysuckle bush on a hot day, biting into the most deliciously ripe peach--juice dripping all down both arms and into a puddle onto the ground... bees buzzing around it enthusiastically and gratefully drinking in the heavenly nectar.

I can detect the slight tartness of the passionfruit and the depth of the plum too that gives a knowing wink of 'I'm-not-really-quite-as-innocent-as-you-think.'

Warms right down to a sweet, earthy roundness that lasts and last. A little bit really goes a long way.

I do agree with cottoncandice however that the packaging could use some updating. Perhaps it was relevant in its time, but I think so many more women would gravitate toward this today with a more contemporary look as the scent is timeless.

This is what a passionately, unadulterated kiss should smell like--memorable in every way.

This is another one that's been hanging around in the back of my mind (next to Mariella Burani) begging to be sampled. I guess I need to listen to my subconcious more often!
I love this stuff!
The top is a very fresh floral green (wait a few seconds before you sniff due to a slight alchohol burn-off) verging on carnation but not quite.
The fruit makes it's appearance right away, just-ripened (not heavy or syrupy at all) and is backed up by a strong cedar background.
I do pick up some violet sweetness but it blends in well, not too sugary or overbearing.
I will admit, the top and middle are slightly mono-tone but the note combo smells delicious and isn't boring at all.
I have a feeling this will be a go-to scent I can appreciate for many years to come.
Nice job, Borghese!

Take 5 plums & 2 peaches.
Mash them with amber & cream.
Warm it on medium heat.
Then pluck out 8 honeysuckles and add them to the creamy fruit compote.

Simple but delicious recipe for a refined, classic, sweet floral perfume. LOVE IT!

Also checked the missing notes in one of my vintage books, which are the following:

- Orchid
- Pear
- Osmanthus
- Iris
- Violet

So now it is clear that all the notes mentoined + all these add ons, make it quite a complex creation!! WELL worth the money for sure!

This has been my signature fragrance since I was 15 years old. I am now 32 and love it just as much now as I did back then. I have tried other fragrances but have felt that there is always something lacking. Never have I found Il Bacio to be overwhelming despite having a very sensitive sense of smell. Over the past 17 years I have been complimented countless times about the way I (or my coat, car) smell. I hope that they continue to produce this fragrance for many years to come.

This fragrance grows on you. It gets better through out the day. At least that was my experience. I love plums very much.

Oh, for God's sake ~nyoka~, how can you expect the fruity cocktail to be classy????? I find your statement about the fragrance being suitable only for those with not yet fully developped olfactory skills pretty offensive.
If you're looking for a classy juice - use Chanel No.5.
If you're looking for a fun, everyday fragrance - use Il Bacio.
I don't get some of you, do you always review fragrances using CLASSY as the only criterion?????
I am sure Princess Borghese did not have ''Classy'' in mind when creating Il Bacio.
What she meant was a delicious fruity elixir, seductive one, with a great lasting power and noticeable sillage, good for ladies at ANY age.
The plum and peach make it feel like summer all day long and the exotic melon and passionfruit make it feel so mouthwatering and tropical!
Borghese proved that it does not have to be all about flowers to make the perfume special or feminine and appeal to the masculine part of our population :-)
My husband loves it just as much as another fruity genius - Delices de Cartier!
No doubt, Il Bacio will be my FFF (forever fruity fragrance).
The bottle is not as posh as Delices but simplicity seems to be better, I have no problem fitting the bottle into my handbags' pockets!
P.S. For an unknown to me reason - although the fragrance is a really great quality, it only costs approx 20.00 including delivery in UK. Isn't it a steal?????
For that price, I'll be damned if I don't get myself the 100ml bottle :-)

Oh my!Two little words come to my mind when I've worn this- FRUIT COMPOTE!That's it in a nutshell.Very sweet, cooked fruitin heavy cream. I get almost no floral with Il Bacio, but I DO start to crave plums lol.
it's a fun scent if you're into fruit, just beware of the bees!

On second wearing ,I find it more to my liking.the honey suckle is more pronounced and dreamy.On a rare cool summer night the notes come together in a creamy swirling plum pudding.I think this is a seasonal fume,no suited to hot dry weather.would b even better in colder mths.Lasts a good while,and worth the money.

I love some well developed fruity florals but,this isnt one of them.VEry faint and all fruit.LIke a can of fruit cocktail.Not of much intrest to me.Too much all one note.MIght b good for the very young who have not fully developed their olfactory senses.Nothing meant ugly about youngsters.Its just not very classy or sophisticated.

I dearly love this fragrance. However, it does not hold on me very well. I need lotion underneath. Since this basically does not change much from application to end, I can carry it in my purse and reapply. Despite it not holding well, I intend to keep on buying this beauty.

This is a very adult floral. It would go well with a little black dress and pearls.

When I came into the room after my first spray of "Il Bacio," my 15-year-old son asked "What's that smell?" However, he thought it was "orange and cat pee." But 15-year-old boys think everything smells like either shampoo or cat pee. Without taking his opinion too seriously, it *did* make him take notice.

My first impression was of overwhelming, choking honeysuckle. I live in the Deeeep Southern US, where honeysuckle starts to smell overly ripe for a few weeks every summer, and it's not very nice. But that lasts only a minute or so. When it's gone, it smells very smooth and lightly fruity, without powder or obvious musk. I find myself craving it when I'm wearing something else! It starts to fade after an hour or so, but keeps coming back with renewed vigor. I'm not sure whether it is really fading or if I just can't smell it on myself after a while. I have to put on more of it than I would of something else, but it lasts a solid 5-6 hours.

I think I really like this!

This is an adult very lady like floral. It smells much more expensive than it is. This is something you can wear to work or wherever. It will not offend. I like its soft floral adult fragrance. So many of the florals are still in their teens.

I was completely obsessed with IL BACIO for about an entire year, about a decade ago. I doused myself with the stuff constantly and could never get enough. I remember at one point I was packing up to move to a new state, and I realized that I had managed to amass an entire bag of empty IL BACIO bottles! Only my extreme fanaticism can explain why I had not simply thrown them all out, as the least interesting aspect of IL BACIO is its bottle...

I haven't worn IL BACIO for quite some time, but after an unfortunate testing experience earlier today I decided to set the Sugar Babies aside and take up this comfort scent and guilty pleasure again. Happily, it still seems nice to me, albeit not quite the same. Now I smell the flowers more, especially lily of the valley, and the composition seems less like a syrupy liqueur than it did back when I might have actually imbibed the liquid, so mesmerized was I under its spell.

No other perfume familiar to me smells anything like IL BACIO, it is truly sui generis: bursting with sweetness without any vanilla; bursting with both fruits and flowers and yet without being offensive; finishing in a deep ambery-musky-wood saturated with the fruity-floral aura.

Today I am happy to see the neat logical structure of the notes, though I do not believe that I perceive them in the tripartite division of flowers, followed by fruits, followed by amber-musk-wood. Perhaps my nose somehow understood intuitively that IL BACIO was a well-crafted frag.

Borghese makes excellent bath and body products, which I have used for many years. Why they continue to nearly pay people to take this elixir off their hands remains a mystery to me. It's so much nicer than the ridiculously low price would lead one to believe!

Although the notes stated here are beautiful, it is even a far more complex perfume than it seems with more notes even! It is sheer excellence and they are giving it away almost for free!! WONDERFUL!!!!

Ah my lovely Magie, Il Bacio is really one of my favorite perfumes when I want to feel happy about life itself!
Enjoy this treasure!!
Action

I am not a great lover of fruity florals.I usually prefer chypre, or oriental florals,but when Action recommended it,I thought I would give it a try. I love the floral opening. The freesia, and honeysuckle are delightful and then it warms up with a creamy floral/fruity heart, not too sweet, but sweet enough to be feminine.I must admit that don't smell the woods, but the amber at the end is nice. Pretty good lasting power, about 4 hours, and wears close to the skin, not a lot of silage, which is good for hot weather. So if you are looking for something a little lighter but still with presence, give this one a try. It isn't expensive and it smells lovely, sweet and creamy, very harmonious. I am really enjoying this new discovery. Thanks Action

Oh how I LOVE this one!! Bursting with fruit & cream! A MUST have for peach & plum lovers!

Il Bacio is a very sweet,feminine floral,sweet aroma.First comes an idyllic fresh-cut bouquet of flowers(lily-rose-honeysucle).Then
sweety melon and fruits.Ends with the soft smell of amber and musk.Sweety and soft.Very special aroma.

Very sweet, equally "fruity" and "floral". Not very juicy, creamy or steamy-for me, all of those descriptions might mean a satisfying scent. This is quite satisfying, but in a particular, imperfect way. The lack of citrus notes sets this apart from the usual crowd of floral fruity perfumes. The honeysuckle
and freesia stand out for me. Having such a sticky sweet fragrance satisfies my desire to be unabashedly, unashamedly pretty-girly....But people who don't care for perfume will probably especially hate this one, in all of its strength and hyperbole. I also would have hated this just a few years ago!
This is neither a day fragrance, nor a night fragrance-and you won't smell this on me every day, or every night--I will often need respite fragrances with more complex characters.

Update: My opinion of this fragrance hasn't changed. I should point out that I thought this was a bit much, causing a taste in the mouth during the summer. It is better in autumn, tastier fruit without being a perfume that sits in my mouth. But the staying power is not so great-it fades in leaps.

This smells lovely and feminine. It is quite strong after the initial spray with its all floral top notes but takes just a few minutes to dry down to a truly sweet and alluring scent that lingers on for hours. To me, this is an inoffensive white floral scent with a hint of fruits and mint(?) swimming underneath, very charming and poised.

It reminds me of Diorissimo a little, probably is the lily of valley they both have, definitely the more confident one of the two sisters.

I adore this perfume and I wish the marketing people at Borghese would give the packaging a makeover - it's kind of Marie Antoinette-esqe at the moment, isn't necessarily unattractive but it certainly looks too 'old school' to appeal to its possibly new perhaps younger target market. The scent its self is a jewel that has passed the test of time, a little polishing would surely make it shine.

I found this in 1993 and have been hoarding it ever since. If I could only pick one fragrance it would be this one. It is addicting and I get countless compliments whenever I wear it.

a bit vintage gave a most accurate review. Sweet, warm and creamy is the perfect description.

I wore this in the 90's and loved it's sweet, warm, creamy aroma w/ just a bit of spice. I enjoyed the creamy honeysuckle and plum that lingered with me throughout the day. Sadly, I have not been able to find this in a really long time.