V&R Flowerbomb La Vie en Rose 2011

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I decided to give Flowerbomb, or rather its flanker line, a chance hoping that after the very un-floral like contraption that was the original Flowerbomb, they would add some actual flowers to the perfume so it smelled a bit less like a very expensive Pink Sugar.

Flowerbomb La Vie en Rose

In Bottle: Still smells foody though the caramel note in this one is significantly more tame than in the original Flowerbomb. I’m noticing a smooth almond note mingled with that same scent that I got from Flowerbomb. That sweet, nothing-else-but-candy scent that I wasn’t too sold on in the original.

Applied: A flare up of bergamot with sweet tangerine leading the way. It’s typical of perfumes and this citrus opener didn’t happen with the original Flowerbomb that veered right into sweet territory. After the citrus digs itself out, the original Flowerbomb scent comes through with a milder caramel note riding on the waves of an almond scent that adds a bit more foodiness to the fragrance. The florals are still largely absent behind the huge wall of obnoxiously sweet candy-like accords that add nothing to this flanker’s originality. It is, essentially, Flowerbomb with some bergamot and almond. I’m not impressed. The dry down is a similar affair as Flowerbomb. La Vie en Rose is hanging on to some sweet candy scent dotted with a scrubbed clean patchouli until it has faded completely.

Extra: So this version of Flowerbomb’s La Vie en Rose flanker was released in 2011 and toted as being the same floral fragrance everybody’s already loved. I really wish the fine folks who keep producing this stuff would stop kidding themselves and admit that there’s very few flowers in Flowerbomb. I haven’t tried any of the other Flowerbomb flankers yet so hey, maybe they managed a floral one somewhere in there.

Design: Designed much in the same way as the original Flowerbomb. Same shape. Same basic premise. La Vie en Rose has a notable deeper pink though with smaller geometric squares on the flacon’s surface. I like the design. I think it’s cute and clever. I just wish this stuff actually smelled like flowers or at least admit that it doesn’t smell like flowers at all.

Fragrance Family: Gourmand

Notes: Bergamot, pink pepper, tangerine, freesia, lily of the valley, almond, raspberry, red berries, cashmere wood, patchouli, amber.

Flowerbomb La Vie en Rose  irritates me a little bit. It’s like the convenience store I go to sometimes that gouges me for instant noodles. So Flowerbomb La Vie en Rose is the instant noodles. I know it’s not gourmet, I know it’s got very little nutritional value but the convenience store will still gouge me for it anyway.

Reviewed in This Post: Flowerbomb La Vie en Rose, 2011, Eau de Toilette.

PS. For all my geeky perfume lovers out there, happy Captain Picard Day!

Donna Karan Pure DKNY

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So here we go, Pure DKNY was slated to be one of the finalists for the 2011 FiFi Awards. Now, I don’t put too much weight into the FiFi awards as a means to determine “best” and “worst” as fragrance preferences differ a lot from person to person. But the FiFi’s certainly are a spectacle. But when Pure DKNY popped up in the ranks I set the spectacle aside for a bit and had to wonder why. Why Pure DKNY? There were other Luxe fragrances released this year that did things so much better.

Pure DKNY

In Bottle: Waifish is probably the best word I can come up for the in bottle experience. This is a light airy vanilla floral treatment that lacks body and personality.

Applied: Bit of creamy sweetness to open up with the vanilla note that quickly devolves into a floral breeze. There’s not enough words in the English dictionary to describe how light this fragrance is. It’s so light that there’s barely an opening, a mid-stage, and drydown. I got the impression of vanilla opening and there is vanilla there but it’s so fleeting and light that it might as well not be there–just like the rest of this fragrance. The mid-stage has a hint of jasmine, something rosy with that bed of vanilla and the drydown is a single burst of air from someone fanning a branch of sandalwood at you. Everything about Pure DKNY is light and waifish. It’s not just a delicate, quiet, little lily of a fragrance in the bottle but it’s also an invisible force on the skin.

Extra: The interesting part about Pure DKNY is the use of Ugandan vanilla which is sourced by a humanitarian organization called CARE that fights poverty. The CARE organization’s goals and visions are fantastic. This perfume is not quite so fabulous.

Design: Pure is bottled in a clear bottle with a clear liquid and the simple word, “Pure” written on the glass. It resembles a bottle of water and the design of the fragrance is fairly decent for what it is and definitely imparts the concept of “pure”.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Floral

Notes: Ugandan vanilla, flower petals, lotus, Bulgarian rose, jasmine, freesia, orchid, amber, sandalwood, vanilla.

Now I like light fragrances but Pure DKNY, for what it costs, should at least smell like something more than vague sweet flowers and vanilla. Make no mistake that while I’m not at all partial to Pure DKNY, I appreciate the humanitarian visions that CARE strives to achieve. Check them out, but skip this fragrance.

Reviewed in This Post: Pure DKNY, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Calvin Klein Euphoria

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I know Calvin Klein’s been curiously overlooked in this blog for a while and here’s why–I don’t really like anything in their line. Even the hallmarks of Calvin Klein fragrances; Obsession and CK One. But I kept seeing Euphoria around and I’ve smelled it a few times before and decided to just get a few reviews out there because I know a lot of people love CK.

Euphoria

In Bottle: Sweet synthetic apple and berries smelling up top. The sugar isn’t mixing well with the pomegranate or the berries to my nose and it’s turning things into a bit of a cough syrup factory.

Applied: Syrupy sweet berries and a really obnoxious synthetic apple note on the opening that digs into the middle with the same syrupy sweet quality. The middle stage is marked with a series of banal florals, all of which are sweet and clean and try to clean up the sugary mess in the opening but all I get is sugar florals, sugar violets particular, trying to do what they can with a dewy green and clean note supporting them. Peaking up in the mid-stage is also a woodsiness that makes the mid-stage even more appealing. I think I would have liked the mid-stage of Euphoria a lot more if it was just the florals. Cut out the fruity sweetness in the opening and see how things go from there. But since we’re playing up the sweet, Euphoria’s end stage heads into a floral, warm and woodsy closer. Rather nice closing on this fragrance, actually.

Extra: There, I know a lot of people really like Euphoria but it did nothing for me. While the sweetness did not get to cloying levels, I felt the sugar in this fragrance was largely unnecessary.

Design: Euphoria’s bottle always manages to get knocked over every time I go hear it. The bottle itself is a purple glass shaped into a sort of abstract leave. The cap is a tall metallic rectangle that sticks up from the leaf. The design is interesting but the cap and how tall it is really annoys me.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Apple, berries, green leaves, rose, lotus, orchid, violets, woods, amber.

Euphoria’s not bad when you consider its mid-stage elements and dry down. It’s a pretty good scent if you can ignore the sugar. I just found the sugar particularly irritating in this fragrance because it really didn’t need to be in this. Or maybe I’m just bitter because this didn’t work as well on me as I had hoped.

Reviewed in This Post: Euphoria, 2007, Eau de Parfum.

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle

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All right, it was bound to happen. A review for Coco Mademoiselle, possibly the most popular fragrance amongst perfume consumers today. True, she doesn’t have the history of Chanel No. 5 but she’s undeniably pretty with a very appealing personality. So let’s cut to the chase already.

Coco Mademoiselle

In Bottle: Strong, very sweet lychee on top with a layer of very sheer florals you really have to focus in order to detect.

Applied: I know what the notes list says but there’s lychee in this and it’s the tippy-top of the notes pyramid. Coco Mademoiselle opens with a blast and a loud announcement that you’ve just arrived and you feel fabulous. It’s sweet, very loud, and predominantly lychee with a faded florals sort of scent lingering in the back. As the lychee settles a bit you get a hint of sweet orange flower and equally sweet mimosa. The fragrance starts to age into the mid-stage and that’s where you get something a bit more exciting. There’s a sheer white florals scent that keeps Coco Mademoiselle from being completely ridiculous as it blends so beautifully with the sweet notes in this fragrance. The rose note in this is particularly beautiful, it masks itself well with the florals and the lingering fruitiness of the opening, but it’s very, very modern rose. I might be a bit crazy here too but there’s something to Coco Mademoiselle that smells a bit like powder to me. Chanel giving me powder in a fragrance this modern? Kudos, Chanel! The dry down is lovely as well, when Coco Mademoiselle flings off the last of her silly lychee and embraces a warm, very clean, vanilla scent. Coco Mademoiselle, like most Chanels, projects and lasts a long time so go light on that sprayer.

Extra: Coco Mademoiselle was composed by Jacques Polge in 2001. It has consistently performed well in terms of sales since its release. Due to the popularity of Coco Mademoiselle, it is often one of the most counterfeited perfumes out there. In fact, I did a quick look on eBay and there’s at least three counterfeits on the first page of results at the time of my writing this. Definitely beware if you plan on buying this online.

Design: The eau de parfum version of Coco Mademoiselle sports the beautiful Chanel No. 5 style with the squarish glass bottle and cap. The cap for Coco Mademoiselle is a frosted glass. The shape is beautiful, the design is fitting and I simply love it. I still abhor most of the eau de toilette versions of Chanel’s fragrances though.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Floral

Notes: Orange, mandarin, orange blossom, bergamot, mimosa, jasmine, turkish rose, ylang-ylang, tonka bean, patchouli, opoponax, vanilla, vetiver, white musk.

All right so what do I think of Coco Mademoiselle? Well, its’ a very popular fragrance. I think it consistently shows up in top perfume sales so I doubt it’s going away any time soon. I actually own a bottle of the stuff but I rarely use it. It is very strong, has very good longevity but it is everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. There’s no exclusivity to Coco Mademoiselle. The fragrance is highly recognizable and it’s a household perfume at this point. Couple these two facts with the realization that a lot of people love it and you get a perfume that pretty much haunts you no matter where you go.

As for me? I’ll be happy spray this on when I feel like it, but Coco Mademoiselle isn’t an every day thing and certainly not a perfume I’d wear if I wanted to avoid smelling like everyone else.

Reviewed in This Post: Coco Mademoiselle, 2009, Eau de Parfum.

Hilary Duff With Love

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As of January, I have officially aged out of the demographic for this fragrance–according to their ad anyway that said With Love by Hilary Duff has an age range of 15-24. So I’m a few days too late to be in with the Duff crowd. With Love still smells okay.

With Love

In Bottle: Fruity, tropical, sweet. The hallmark of most celebrity perfumes. Sometimes they’re tropical, almost always they’re fruity and sweet. With Love doesn’t bring anything new to the table here.

Applied: Blast of tropical fruit, that mangosteen note seems to be working overtime. It takes a little while for the fruitiness to settle down where we’re treated to a warmed up woody fragrance with a surprisingly interesting deep milky amber quality to it as well as a spicy note with a hint of clove. This is a shocker, given what I was experiencing in the opening. It’s still sweet, but it’s warm, smooth woodsy sweet now. This is a few steps above sweet fruitiness which is what everyone else seems to be doing. The fragrance further ages, leaving more sweetness behind as it dries down to a respectable but somewhat dull woodsy scent, losing some of its warmth and amber in the process but retaining the smoothness. Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised by the mid-stage, bored by the top and dry down though.

Extra: With Love was surprising to me. I fully expected fruity floral going in and there’s some of that but it’s a rather competent scent for a celebrity perfume. One of the better ones out there, I’ve got to say. With Love was launched in 2006, it is also a song by Duff and has a flanker called Wrapped With Love.

Design: Something about the bottle’s design reminds me of Parisienne by Dior. Anyway, the bottle is attractive enough. It’s got a neat texture on its glass with an interesting gold head ornament. It sort of looks like an earring or a pendant. Not ugly, not the nicest bottle. It’s just okay.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Woodsy

Notes: Mangosteen, spices, chai latte, mangosteen blossom, cocobolo wood, balsam, incense, amber milk, amber musk.

I might not like her music but her perfume is okay. Surprisingly okay, in fact.

Reviewed in This Post: With Love, 2008, Eau de Parfum.

Chanel Beige

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Beige is a member of Chanel’s Les Exclusifs line. It’s an agreeable perfume that, like most Chanels, has that “smells expensive” (often is expensive too) quality to it. It’s also a fantastic little office number that can be worn almost anywhere.

Chanel Beige

In Bottle: A pretty little floral fragrance that floats and moves like a gentle, calming breeze. If you’re used to Chanels smelling heavy, too sweet, too heady, then Beige’s sheer first impression will surprise you like it surprised me.

Applied: That sheer floral accord up top again, gentle and soothing. Something I never thought I’d say about a Chanel was that it was soothing. Chanels are bold and usually bright. Beige is quiet and reserved. Still utterly elegant but she doesn’t shout her presence, rather, she reminds you of it by sitting in the corner and smelling rather pleasant. My friend tuberose comes up light and wispy dragging with it a sweet powered honey scent that lays itself over the fragrance and stays there for the rest of its lifespan. Tuberose has the bad habit of being too obvious in perfume but Beige gives its tuberose just enough lead to be noticed but not enough to overpower. I’m surprised at how well-behaved it is, and how well-behaved it keeps being as the fragrance evolves into a warm frangipani cleaned up with a sweet freesia note. I particularly appreciate how nice the freesia and tuberose are playing together. The dry down comes on a bit quick, Beige doesn’t project much or have very good longevity, I get a bit of bitter green in this that creates an interesting mix with the honey powder.

Extra: Of interest is Beige’s history or rather, the history of its name. Its moniker was borrowed from another Beige, a vintage fragrance by house Chanel that lived many decades ago.

Design: Beige is bottled similarly to the other members of Chanel’s Les Exclusifs line. A big glass rectangle. Excellent to hold, has a great weightiness to it, totally minimalist in style that completely suits the perfume and the icing on the cake is that addictive metal cap.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Floral

Notes: Hawthorn, freesia, frangipani, honey.

What I love about Les Exclusifs is the fact that the bottles come in 200ml. They are expensive for sure, but you get a lot of perfume for your money. Beige is a great choice for Chanel if you feel their mainstream attractions are too strong or too boring. She’s sheer and easy to work with.

Reviewed in This Post: Beige, 2010, Eau de Toilette.

Paco Rabanne Lady Million

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I was hoping Lady Million would hit it off with me a little better than 1 Million but it was a sad day as my hopes were dashed. Lady Million

In Bottle: Fruity, sweet, and slightly cloying, with a base of earthiness that draws the sweetness away from pink girly happy fun hour. Only a little though.

Applied: Ah sweet fruitiness, cloying it up in my nose upon spray with that distracting cleaned up earthiness that I wish hadn’t been introduced into the  mix as all I smell upon application is Lady Million’s very cloying dirt. I think the best part is when the opening finally fades after what seems to be an hour and goes into a slightly more sophisticated sweet, warm honeyed amber fragrance. Though I wish it had reached that point a lot sooner. The cloying note in the opening is still present here sort of ruining the honeyed aspect and just making it smell like a fruity woodsy floral. Highly depressing, though not repulsive at all. In fact, the raspberry note that keeps wading in and out with its cloying syrup-drenched fruit reminds me a bit of Guerlain’s My Insolence. A fragrance I actually liked. As Lady Million proves to be true to her counterpart as her strength clings to you with impressive stubborness. Once again I had tried to wait for fade but ended up having to wash her off. She’s a little less insistent after a shower but there were still faint traces of her the next day.

Extra: All right, so that’s two for two striking out in the million category. Lady Million’s not something I’d even consider trying again as it smells like so many other things that I have smelled before and on top of that, it does this weird and annoying cloying routine on me.

Design: Lady Million is gold on the outside with a significantly less hefty weight than 1 Million. I was actually disappointed that this thing wasn’t heavier. Its shape was reminiscent of a gem. Upon lighting my eyes on it for the first time my initial thought was, “Looks like a diamond, I guess”. So bravo for a concept well executed. the handling of the bottle is not too bad either, despite its unconventional shape.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Floral

Notes: Citron, raspberry, neroli, orange flower, jasmine, gardenia, patchouli and honey.

Honestly, there wasn’t that much floral going on in Lady Million but there was no way I could truly describe the strange, and slightly nauseating mix of syrup, raspberries, woodds, and random flowers. I am just not a fan, Lady Million. Sorry.

Reviewed in This Post: Lady Million, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Britney Spears Radiance

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I’m still perplexed about the popularity of Britney Spears fragrances. The only scent I could take from her line was Midnight Fantasy which has its on and off days and became too synthetic and sweet for my tastes near the end of its 30ml bottle lifespan. Still I went into Radiance hoping for a surprise. I always approach celebrity scents hoping for surprise and always end up a little disappointed. Radiance

In Bottle: Sweet tuberose scent with a slight tart berry top note that isn’t particularly interesting but does remind me a bit of other sweet tuberose based scents. Namely, Baby Phat Dare Me.

Applied: Berries up front with a slightly tart treatment that is mildly reminiscent of Tommy Girl with less zing. The berries fade into the mid-stage where the tuberose amps up and leads a mild jasmine note in with it. The two create a sweet, and creamy tuberose-heavy floral heart stage that smells like it can’t decide whether it wants to be sensual and sophisticated or sweet and fun. But Radiance pitches an interesting middle ground and ends up smelling okay. Not great. Just okay. The orange blossom flares up now and again in the mid-stage but aside from that Radiance is a quicker fader into the base with a clean, very sheer ending.

Extra: Britney’s perfume line is one of the most popular fragrances for young women and girls. She’s got the market pretty much cornered with her fragrances. And this goes particularly for Fantasy with its huge fruity sweet personality.

Design: Not a fan of the bottle. I think it looks a bit garish to be honest. It’s a heavy glass bottle with a colored jewel motif that reminds me of Bejeweled, the Flash-based game. As stated, the bottle is glass but the cap is a blue plastic jewel that fits over the sprayer. I just can’t get on board with these types of over the top designs and I have yet to really like a Britney Spears perfume line bottle design and Radiance is no exception.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Floral

Notes: Berries, tuberose, jasmine, orange blossom, iris, musk.

Keep doing whatever it is that you do, Britney because it’s obviously working out for you. As for Radiance, it’s not my idea of a good time.

Reviewed in This Post: Radiance, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Paco Rabanne 1 Million

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1 Million is a love it or hate it fragrance. In my case, I hate it. Just as a forewarning. It’s been lauded for its sillage, longevity and sweet, woodsy personality. All I smell is citrus and wood. One Million

In Bottle: A nice, pleasant and slightly sweet citrus mixed with a reassuringly sheer spiciness.

Applied: Maybe I was a little heavy-handed with this stuff but it’s hard to see how one spray could go so wrong. I spritzed a little on my hand, enjoyed the sweet spiciness of it then walked away from the counter thinking it was an interesting twist for juice that came out of a gold bar. Then the woodsiness started to amp up, and keep amping up. Amping so much up that it overtakes everything and turns the scent’s mid-stage into a sharp, synthetic, spicy wood affair with a lingering amber cloying quality. This juice reminds me of Versace Versense slapped with a hint of spice. I tried to wait this one out for its fade but it took hours upon hours and eventually I had to take a shower. At which point, 1 Million was still detectable. This stuff is strong, it’s got huge projection, fantastic longevity, and it is a head turner–though it’s a nose turner for me. The dry down is a difficult thing to pin down due to what the scent had already gone through by the time it reached that point. I got more woods blended with a sweet amber as far as I could tell.

Extra: 1 Million won three fragrance awards in 2009 and judging by how this acted on me, I think I have some broken skin or something because I just can’t get on board for this. It was a mess to me. An men’s fragrance that overindulged in the wood notes department and slapped in some spicy sweetness to try and figure itself out.

Design: This design is garish and tacky and it doesn’t care! 1 Million is a glass bottle, with a gold plate that’s made to look like a brick of gold that you’d find sitting in cartoon versions of Fort Knox. It’s a rather heavy and hefty bottle, feels a little too heavy but then I can only assume its weight gives the allusion that wearing it would make you feel like a million bucks.

Fragrance Family: Spicy Woodsy

Notes: Grapefruit, red orange, mint, rose, cinnamon, spices, blond leather, blond wood, patchouli, amber.

Maybe I’m being too harsh on 1 Million. Maybe I’ll give it another chance sometimes but I don’t see the appeal of it right now. Heck, maybe I even  sprayed too much.

Reviewed in This Post: 1 Million, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Dior Poison

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Poison by Dior is one of those classics from the 80s that I don’t give a whole lot of run time to. Because I don’t like it. I tried to. I came around to Opium and eventually cultivated a reverence for Jicky, but when it comes to Poison, I am still left wondering why. I guess I just don’t like it! But I’m going to review it anyway because it is a well composed beast of a fragrance that remains one of Dior’s most popular perfumes. Poison

In Bottle: Smells sweet in the bottle, almost like cough syrup with a slight spiciness to it that layers over a faint woody presence.

Extra: Whew, Poison! You sure came in loud. There’s nothing quiet or gentle about Poison. She’s big, she’s bold, her volume’s all the way up and she isn’t afraid of share what she thinks. Poison starts off with a sweet plum and blossoms mix with a spicy blast that projects like crazy. The top notes are guaranteed to clear quite a bit of distance around you and create a Cone of Smell sort of thing as the mid stage comes in with a added dollop of spice that’s coated in jasmine, rose, and heliotrope. My favorite friend, tuberose also makes an entrance here. Dragging behind it is a very irate cedar scent. Amusingly enough the cedar in Poison is the type that teeters into loud and obnoxious territory but the rest of Poison is so loud and bold that the cedar smells almost tame on me. Once the sweetness and fruitiness of the opening calm down we get into the end stage where Poison is a spunky lady that smells of incense and sophisticated florals holding onto cough syrup in one hand while she applies lipstick with the other.

Extra: Poison was the original in a rather lengthy line of flankers. In addition to the original, we’ve got Poison Tendre (green), Hypnotic Poison (red), Hypnotic Poison Eau Sensuelle (also red), Midnight Poison (blue), Pure Poison (white). And that’s not including the elixirs. Clearly when Dior decided to go bold and different with the first Posion in 1985, they really hit it big.

Design: Poison’s bottle is in the shape of an apple and the glass is purple. Seems to be a popular motif for perfumes here, apples and forbidden fruits and whatnot. I do like the design of Poison’s bottle, even the blatant use of the symbolism is okay with me because the bottle is beautiful, feels nice to hold and is decently easy to handle.

Fragrance Family: Spicy Fruity Woodsy

Notes: Coriander, cinnamon, orange blossom, honey, pepper, plum, rosewood, rose, tuberose, wild berries, cistus labdanum, carnation, jasmine, heliotrope, cedar, vetiver, musk, vanilla, sandalwood, opopanax.

I’m pretty sure Poison’s tendency to smell a bit like cough syrup is what’s keeping me from this fragrance. But don’t let that stop you, she’s  big and brass and if you’re looking for that, definitely give her a try.

Reviewed in This Post: Poison, 2007, Eau de  Parfum.