I tried another fragrance (in addition to Tom Ford—Bois Pacifique—Sharp, Woody And Hostile) at the store last week: BDK’s Impadia. I’d heard good things, but Impadia falls flat in the originality stakes.
The Parisian outfit’s best work came early in its existence, with its first release in 2016, and over the years, it’s produced hits like Gris Charnel and Rouge Smoking. My favourites are Wood Jasmin and Crème de Cuir. I own Wood Jasmin. Unfortunately, the brand saw the dollar signs and became a Social Media darling, hobnobbing with birdbrains and airheads. And of course, you’ll need to dig deeper than the YouTube algorithm will allow to find their finest fragrances. Indeed, with the odd exception, there’s been a marked drop in originality, which has seen the introduction of a line of extraits riffing on existing scents, and a move towards heavy sweet profiles to appease the masses. Impadia does little to arrest the downward trend.
I don’t need to say much, except that Impadia smells very similar to Amouage’s Guidance (albeit less nuanced) and, to a lesser extent, Parfum de Marly’s Delina. The fruity pear note at the top smells like it’s been dipped in sugary water, creating a diluted aquatic effect. It’s a thin and unconvincing fruit accord. The rose note smells sweet, somewhat artificial. Then, to ram home the point, vanilla adds further sweetness, making me think of a cheap body lotion. And, in a final act of indignity, we endure the boundless humdrum of a synthetic woody base.
It’s sweet, sweet, sweet! And, better fruity/rose fragrances exist for far less. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Indeed, imitation might have been the better name for this fragrance. Ironically, Amouage already took that name, though. If you like Guidance or Delina, you’ll probably enjoy Impadia. Then again, if you like either, you probably already own one or both. So what’s Impadia got to offer? The only thought that comes to mind is that it’s significantly cheaper than Delina and Guidance. Guidance smells like it has more layers, though. As for the perfumer, without looking, I’d have guessed Quentin Bisch. It’s actually Jordi Fernández. He would have been my second guess. Something I won’t be second-guessing, however, is wearing Impadia again. One and done!
Have you tried Impadia? Any favourites from BDK?
Note: Bottle image from BDK. All other photos are my own. Below are some more roses I had growing in my garden.
