Katy Perry Killer Queen

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So work is starting to pick up and I might have a little bit of cash to drop on some niche and vintage goodies. And I say this with all the love I can muster for dime a dozen, easily accessible department store celebuscents that tide me over when I don’t have a decant of a rare fume on hand. Unfortunately for me, most celebuscents have lost their luster since I’ve smelled so many of them and most have the unfortunate habit of being really, really, really generic.

Killer Queen

Killer Queen

In Bottle: Sugar and berries. Almost smells like a collection of liquified jelly berries. You know, these things: Haribo Gummy Candies. Don’t get me wrong, I love those gummy berries. I just expected more out of a fragrance that’s going to call itself Killer Queen.

Applied: Smells like sweet berries, rolled in vast amounts of sugar. Killer Queen is so sweet, I’m going to assume the killer part of it is from a sugar overdose. From what I’m smelling, there’s very little else other than the berry smell. I don’t get any jasmine, I can’t smell any patchouli or anything more sophisticated than really sweet berries. The midstage does get a little flowery. But it’s that sugary-sweet frangipani flower. The dry down is barely any different from the midstage. The sugar is still very prominent, the entire fragrance is quite one-dimensional and I mean, I guess I shouldn’t expect much from a celebuscent at this rate. But I will say I was pretty disappointed that they chose to name it something pretty awesome and then did something really lame with it.

Extra: Killer Queen was the title of a song by Queen, written by Freddie Mercury and released in 1974. The fragrance, Killer Queen by Katy Perry was released earlier in 2013. I’m going to have to throw it out there that someone else ought to take the name and make a more appropriate fragrance with it. I imagine something more powerful and unique. Maybe a number with leather, roses, a touch of sleazy civet, frankincense, tonka and amber. What about you?

Design: The bottle design isn’t that bad, though I’m noticing more bottles going for the “can’t stand it upright” design approach. Not sure how I feel about that particular choice yet, but the bottle itself is pretty attractive, if somewhat lacking in creativity.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Gourmand

Notes: Fruits, plum, bergamot, celosia, frangipani, jasmine, praline, cashmere, patchouli.

I will admit that I picked up Killer Queen and decided to give it a shot at the store because of its name. This, and I somehow managed to miss the large and very prominent poster of Katy Perry with the blasted thing on her scepter posted right above the bottle display. I’m not very observant apparently.

Reviewed in This Post: Killer Queen, 2013, Eau de Parfum.

Katy Perry Purr

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Lovely. I get a little splodge of the most anticipated Purr by pin-up girl by day and pop star by night, Katy Perry, but I can’t get my hands on a vintage Chypre de Coty? Slap a sad face on me and let’s review Purr by Katy Perry.  Purr

In Bottle: Sweet peaches and a mix of florals that I’ve smelled pretty much everywhere by now. It’s a celebrity fragrance so I didn’t expect genius.

Applied: Initial flair of fruitiness up top. I get mostly peaches, sweet and ripe and big with a vaguely familiar synthetic apple note tossed in there with a tiny dash of tartness slathered with a thin coating of sweetness and dipped in a hint of creaminess. That creaminess sticks with the fragrance throughout its cycle. Now the peach in Purr isn’t grown up peach like Mitsouko. Actually, I can’t imagine why anyone would think they’d get any sort of Mitsouko out of Purr so I’m not even sure why I bothered to mention this in order to discern that no, you aren’t wearing this to meet the Queen. The peach in Purr is this is fuzzy peaches candy thing. Fun and girly and not at all serious. After a few minutes the fragrance takes its fruity opening and shifts into the midstage where you’re greeted by a banal blend of jasmine and gardenia. The sweetness is still lingering there. It’s a light sweetness though, not heavy and obnoxious but nothing to phone home about either. The mid-stage blandly shuffles along, smelling pleasant enough, and hits a rose note near the end of the mid-stage’s lifespan, falling headfirst into the very predictable sandalwood and vanilla base with traces of the mid-stage florals hanging about.

Extra: I don’t think Purr is anything to jump up for joy about as I didn’t expect much else from Katy Perry. Nothing to her as a person or a singer, this is just your run of the mill fruity floral celebuscent that hasn’t changed its formula since every other recent celebuscent. It’s an average fruity floral at best, with a variety of other fruity florals doing this tired fragrance genre much better justice. And as much as it pains me to say it, you’d probably get a better reaction scent from the Paris Hilton line. Me? I’ll wait and see what Lady Gaga does.

Design: Purr hasn’t been released where I live  yet so I haven’t handled the bottle, but I have seen photos of the bottle and I have to say it’s not my style. It really, really isn’t. The bottle  is in the shape of a purple cat with a heart hanging from its collar and jeweled eyes. You take the cat’s head off to gain access to the spraying mechanism as far as I can tell. I mean, it’s cute, but way beyond my demographic.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Peach, bamboo, apple, gardenia, jasmine, freesia, Bulgarian rose, vanilla orchid, white amber, sandalwood, skin musk, coconut.

Purr smells like so many different generic fragrances that I don’t think anyone should really bother with it if they’re looking for that sweet fruity floral. Unless you love Katy Perry’s work, her perfume is passable but highly uninteresting, and you are better off looking elsewhere for a fruity floral fragrance.

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