Originally created in 2018 by Manuel Cross at Rogue Perfumery, Mousse Illuminee is his take on a fougere. Zingari collaborated with him in early 2022 to create a matching soap and splash (I'm not sure if there is a balm). I personally am not too into fougere's as I prefer my 'greens' to be less Cologne like and more natural. So when this set launched earlier in the year, I wasn't too keen on getting it, even though the reviews were very favourable. Flash forward to a couple of months later, YouTube suggested the EdT review of the same and was very intrigued after hearing the reviewers thoughts. After scouring for more reviews, I decided to purchase the Zingari set. I was well informed but still a blind buy. Plus, this isn't cheap, the set cost me over 50$. Definitely on the upper echelons of what I'm comfortable paying for a soap and splash. The presentation is very minimalist but very classy according to me. The label is simple but evokes exactly what you're getting yourself into. It's designed by the mercurial genius that is 'Shaving by Raza', who's responsible for many of the best labels in the business. On opening the tub, you get an absolutely awesome aroma of fresh foliage. A very bright opening , as if you're smelling the green sap of a plant that's just been greeted by the rains. Can't stress enough how fresh this is ! The main notes are Artemesia, Cypress and Oakmoss. I'm not sure what Artemesia smells like , but if that is the prominent note, then consider me a fan ! Spectacular ! For the shave, I didn't try any other new products, my standard Henson +++ with a feather and the Yaqi Rocks brush. This is my third tub of zingari apart from the numerous samples, so I'm very familiar with what to expect. Lothur, Omnibus and Sego make up my top 3 bases. Usually Zingaris soaps tend to be around medium in scent strength, this is an outlier as the strength is definitely a few notches above. The scent stays true and doesn't deviate during the lather process. It will easily fill up your entire bathroom post lathering , sillage is quite potent. The shave went about as usual and the scent was just mesmerising. Just superb ! I even did a face wash with the left over lather as I wanted to bask in this delightful aroma. The splash was fantastic as well. Scent was the same maybe with a touch more of that opening fresh burst. The dry down has a wonderful interlude of oakmoss and the artemesia. Fantastic ! It's been around 4 hours since I applied it and the scent is still very much there with no signs of slowing down. Very impressive. Wrapping up, this has exceeded all my expectations and is a tremendous purchase. If you like your 'greens', go ahead and purchase this. You will not be disappointed ! Thanks for reading folks, have a great day ! Now time to source the EdP... 😁
