Yves Saint Laurent Belle d’Opium

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Belle d’Opium seems to have a dedicated following as well as a number of detractors who think it’s a blight. Me, I kinda like it.

Bell d'Opium

Bell d'Opium

In Bottle: The original Opium took me a while to like but Belle d’Opium is a simpler animal that’s, consequently easier to get into. It’s a spicy floral with a woodsy heart.

Applied: Goes on strong with a blast of peppery florals. I get gardenia under the huge layer of pepper and a few minutes later I get some jasmine. The lily is a backstage thing, as it’s such a light note that the pepper, gardenia, jasmine and whatever else is in Belle d’Opium is drowning it out. This fragrance goes on strong but it’s not room-clearing, smell-you-across-the-football-field strong. It’s got a good amount of power but also has a sense of restraint. As you let Belle d’Opium progress it takes on a woodsy quality of perfumed sandalwood and spiciness. There is a bit of spiciness in the end stages as the lingering pepper imparts some more itself throughout the fragrance’s lifespan but there’s something to be said about a well done perfume that doesn’t resort to fruity floral territory. While this is no Opium, it’s still a pretty daring flanker.

Extra: Belle d’Opium is a fairly new fragrance, having been released in 2010. It was composed by Honorine Blanc who did fragrances such as Twilight Woods for Bath and Body Works, and funny enough, Someday for Justin Bieber. She was aided in this endeavor by Alberto Morillas who composed such greats like Acqua di Gio and Mugler Cologne.

Design: Belle d’Opium borrows a similar aesthetic to the new Opium bottle design. Only this time, it’s got some blue and purple in it. I’m still a bit sore from losing the classic Opium bottle but this redesign looks very nice and is rather suitable for the type of fragrance Opium projects itself as.

Fragrance Family: Floral Oriental

Notes: Pepper, lily, gardenia, jasmine, sandalwood.

The comparisons between this and original Opium are inevitable. To me, aside from being from relatively the same fragrance family, Belle d’Opium is a distant echo of the original fragrance. It’s been updated a bit, but still maintains a certain old world style. It’s strong but no where near the power that was Opium. It smells pleasant but probably won’t become the iconic success that Opium saw. It’s just a nice flanker, and that’s about all that can said for it.

Reviewed in This Post: Belle d’Opium, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Betsey Johnson Perfume

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Betsey Johnson’s fragrance is a polarizing affair with fans and dissenters alike. I just happen to be on the dissenter side. Even though I see what Betsey Johnson is trying to do with the kitschy design and equally kitschy fragrance, I just  can’t say that I like it.

Betsey Johnson

Betsey Johnson

In Bottle: Incredibly sweet and floral with a bit of musk. A rather discordant fragrance with a fruity hint and a strange medley of scents that don’t play nice with my nose.

Applied: Opens with a very sweet blackcurrant and citrus fragrance that quickly introduces the florals and a very sweet and very obvious freesia note. The apple wiggles in with the midstage and turns up the fruity side of this fragrance a few notches. It’s sweet and flowery and smells a bit synthetic and cheap and very cloying as the fragrance just continues to amp up on the sweetness the longer it sits on my skin. When the base notes arrive there’s a bit of sugary woodsiness that mingles with the equally sugary floral.

Extra: Betsey Johnson’s style has always been bright and colorful and pop artsy. I can’t say I’m a big fan of it, but the fragrance and the design itself do reflect these aesthetics. This particular perfume was created by noses Mathilde Bijaoui and Bernard Blanc.

Design: The bottle for Betsey Johnson is just about everything I don’t like in a design. It’s big and girly and flashy and bright and pretty much the epitome of kitsch. I don’t like the aesthetics and think they are a little ridiculous but rest assured, the bottle was designed to look like this. I just don’t like the look at all.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Grapefruit, blackcurrant, tangerine, pear, freesia, lily of the valley, apple, sandalwood, amber, musk, cedar, praline.

So all in all, this fragrance just isn’t for me but that shouldn’t stop someone else from looking this one up. It’s got a nice fruity floral with a very sweet tooth. If you love fruity floral and sweet scents, try this stuff out.

Reviewed in This Post: Betsey Johnson, 2008, Eau de Parfum.

Balenciaga Cialenga

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I hate it when I reach for a sampler, smell something, decide that I love it then find out that it was discontinued or is now incredibly rare. In Cialenga’s case, it was discontinued and now only exists on eBay. Thankfully, the prices aren’t sky high. Unfortunately, supplies will run out sooner or later. It’s such a shame for a fragrance so classically beautiful.

Cialenga

Cialenga

In Bottle: Smells rather familiar, like an aldehydes based fragrance but softer. I get the crisp green citrus and the floral notes, most notably ylang-ylang, rose, and lily.

Applied: Crispy green opening with some aldehydes rolling in. The aldehyde element isn’t too strong in Cialenga. It adds rather than dominates as it tends to do. The fragrance ages very gracefully into a midstage marked with a prominent rose, ylang-ylang, and lily bouquet that has elements of the powdery, soapy aldehyde composition. The clove mixes in this general area too giving it a bit of spiciness to work with. The fragrance then starts to age into its dry down with a bit of woodsy earthiness coming through and a marked green richness with a hint of powder and spice.

Extra: Cialenga, if you get a whiff of this stuff is a really well-balanced and very well composed fragrance that harkened from a time when classical perfumery was still somewhat celebrated. It was released in 1973 by perfumer, Jacques Jantzen.

Design: Cialenga’s design reminds me of the 70s but also seems to borrow some design elements from the 1920s or 30s. Something about it is is very Art Deco. Maybe it’s the straight lines. Whatever it is, the design itself is a bit aged but then again, the fragrance is discontinued. It’s not something I’d like aesthetically but it is lovely in a very vintage way.

Fragrance Family: Chypre

Notes: Citrus, black currant, green notes, iris, jasmine, ylang-ylang, rose, lily, clove, vetiver, sandalwood, oak moss, patchouli, cedar.

I can only presume this stuff was taken off the market for its oak moss content. A real shame because Cialenga is a very approachable aldehyde. I can see it as the aldehyde primer for someone uncertain or afraid of the note.

Reviewed in This Post: Cialenga, ~1980, Eau de Toilette.

Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh

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Daisy Eau So Fresh is the 2011 released flanker to Marc Jacobs’ wildly popular Daisy. I was a little leery going into this one because I saw they had taken the fruity floral angle up a few notches. But Daisy Eau So Fresh is actually very nice.

Daisy Eau So Fresh

Daisy Eau So Fresh

In Bottle: Litchi seems dominant with a fresh grassy quality. It’s otherwise a very nicely done fruity scent that reminds me of a fruit smoothie on a hot summer day.

Applied: I’m smelling litchi and fruit punch. I’m able to separate the litchi since it’s pretty strong to my nose but the rest of the fragrance is mushed together in this amalgamation of fruits. It’s sweet, a faint echo of Daisy in the brief grassy glimpses I get in the opening as the scent evolves into a fruity floral with the fruits still being the dominant players. As Daisy Eau So Fresh ages it leads away from the fruity opening a bit and evolves into more of a clean floral with a slight powdered quality to it. The dry down is noted with a clean musk and a hint of cedar. Overall, a more pleasant experience than Daisy. And I already liked Daisy to begin with.

Extra: Seems like ‘boggling at the advertising’ should be a regular feature on this blog. The ad for Daisy Eau So Fresh said that it was a whimsical interpretation of the original fragrance. I don’t know about anyone else, but if someone had told me to describe Daisy, I probably would have used the word ‘whimsical’ to begin with. How else do you describe a scent that’s supposed to be the smellification (now a word) of a daisy?

Design: Daisy Eau So Fresh is bottled in a similar shape and style as the original Daisy. Just think of the original bottle for Daisy, then stretch it out a little so it’s a bit taller, introduce some light dusty pinks, a little pop of yellow and you got the bottle for Daisy Eau So Fresh. I have to admit those rubbery flowers grow on me. Just don’t leave them out for too long because they collect dust like crazy.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Grapefruit, green notes, raspberry, pear, jasmine, rose, violet, litchi, apple blossom, musk, cedar, plum.

Overall, I actually think Daisy Eau So Fresh did a good job being a flanker. It smells pleasant enough, easy enough, and if someone liked Daisy by Marc Jacobs they should probably give this a try to see if it jives with them too.

Reviewed in This Post: Daisy Eau So Fresh, 2011, Eau de Toilette.

Lancome Hypnose

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Lancôme does rather well with his mostly grown up fragrance line toting woodsy florals and orientals. I’m starting to warm up to them a bit more and Hypnôse does a good job of swaying me more toward the Lancôme side of things.

Hypnose

Hypnose

In Bottle: Citrus and clean mixed with a fruity sweet scent blended rather well into a bouquet of florals to form a pretty well-balanced fragrance.

Applied: Despite its sparse official notes list, there’s more to Hypnôse than meets the nose. I get a pretty obvious citrus note up top before something fruity rolls into the fragrance. Hypnôse is a very sweet fragrance and I actually really like it’s extremely sweet personality as the fragrance edges into the midstage where I swear I smell anise in this even though it’s not on the list of notes the anise serves to sweeten up the fragrance a bit more, giving it a licorice-like quality as it blends in with a creamed rose and jasmine bouquet making the fragrance smell a bit like a grown-up version of a fruity floral fragrance thanks to the anise. The scent then hits the drydown smelling a bit woodsy and earthy with a vetiver and vanilla base.

Extra: Hypnôse, in addition to being a fragrance, is also a mascara produced by Lancôme. And, if you really loved the fragrance, it comes in a handy set with lotion and shower gel for you to enjoy all day.

Design: Hypnôse is bottled in a twisted blue glass cylinder. The design itself isn’t something I’m wild about but it’s functional for what it is, looks all right and is easy enough to hold. In the end the aesthetics aren’t my cup of tea but it’s a well-designed bottle that while I don’t like personally, I can still appreciate it for its simplicity and twisted (hah!) take on the classic rectangular bottle.

Fragrance Family: Floral Oriental

Notes: Citrus, passion flower, rose, jasmine, anise, vetiver, vanilla.

It should be noted the above notes list is not official and is an amalgamation of the official list and what other notes I think I’m smelling in the fragrance.

Reviewed in This Post: Hypnôse, 2009, Eau de Parfum.

Calvin Klein Eternity

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Eternity is one of those classic smelling Calvin Klein fragrances with a ton of ingredients that kind of sends em off into ‘meh’ territory for some reason.

Eternity

Eternity

In Bottle: Spicy carnation with rose and lily notes there’s a hint of citrus up top with a bit of earthiness too.

Applied: Citrus opener that follows with a sharp green and clean note that fades away rather quickly to reveal very spicy carnation with a bit of sage and a lily and rose flowery midstage. This stuff smells like a spicy flower bouquet and if you let it keep aging on your skin, you’ll be treated to a woodsier interpretation near the end that falls into a warm spicy and earth fragrance that finishes itself off with a faded carnation note.

Extra: Eternity was composed by Sophia Grojsman who also did fragrance such as White Linen for Estee Lauder and Lancome’s Tresor.

Design: Eternity is bottled rather simply in a tasteful shape and with subdued design elements. It’s a rectangular glass bottle with a metal topper. Very nicely done, Calvin Klein. But then again, CK has always been pretty good about its bottle designs. Kudos.

Fragrance Family: Spicy Floral

Notes: Citrus, mandarin, green notes, freesia, sage, lily, carnation, violet, rose, jasmine, lily of the valley, marigold, narcissus, heliotrope, sandalwood, musk, amber, patchouli.

I’m not wild about this fragrance for some reason. Maybe it’s because I used to smell this a lot when I was around this one woman who swore by her Eternity and wouldn’t wear anything else. It’s been almost a decade since I was around her but maybe that’s why I feel like Eternity just isn’t exciting to me. You smell a perfume for a certain amount of time and it just ceases to be amazing, I suppose.

Reviewed in This Post: Eternity, 2002, Eau de Parfum.

Kenzo Amour

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Kenzo Amour was probably designed around romance, passion and love. The shape of the bottle is certainly interesting as is the bottle design but the fragrance itself, as usual, has little to do with its ad.

Amour

Amour

In Bottle: Like with all perfumes that use frangipani, I end up smelling that the most. It’s sweet little flowery self dominating the majority of this scent but there’s a bit of other stuff going on here too like this slightly powdery floral scent and an equally dominating vanilla note.

Applied: Initial flare up of frangipani with a warm, creamy center. The fragrance gets a bit more floral as you keep wearing it as I presume either the heliotrope or the cherry blossom in this is trying to peak through. I get a slight powderiness in the fragrance, maybe it’s the rice? Not entirely sure what that is but it’s not strong and easily ignorable if you’re not looking for it. As Amour ages, the vanilla note gets stronger and comes up, bathing the whole fragrance in this creamy, milky, flowery concoction. Very nicely done actually. Amour is a rather comforting scent, not sure if I would associate it with passion but comfort is definitely there. The dry down is marked with a clean and still creamy vanilla scent.

Extra: Kenzo Amour was composed by Daphne Bugey (Rose 31 for Le Labo, A Scent for Issey Miyake) and Olivier Cresp (Dune for Dior, Angel for Thierry Mugler, Elle for Yves Saint Laurent).

Design: Amour comes in three colored bottles. Each of the colors represents a different amount. I believe the pink one is 30ml, the white is 50ml, and the orange is 100ml. The shape of the bottle reminds me a bit of Cashmere Mist by Donna Karan in that it has that swan-like shape. The bottle is easy to hold and manipulate despite is funky shape and the spray nozzle works just fine.

Fragrance Family: Floral Oriental

Notes: Heliotrope, frangipani, tea, cherry blossom, rice, musk, vanilla.

Amour is a well composed bit of fun. Very feminine and a good choice for most people (it leans a bit closer to the feminine side) of any age. It’s actually a great fragrance. But if you’re looking for passion, I’m not sure you’ll find it in this sweet milky flowery substance.

Reviewed in This Post: Amour, 2009, Eau de Parfum.

Cuir de Lancome

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When Jen from This Blog Really Stinks dropped by my Lancôme Trésor review and recommended Cuir de Lancôme, I decided it was time I stopped being afraid of the Lancôme machine and find myself some of this mythical juice. The quest for Cuir de Lancôme was not as easy as I thought it’d be, but it was worth it in the end.

Cuir de Lancome

Cuir de Lancome

In Bottle: A slight hint of citrus with a strong saffron presence and this buttery leathery scent that’s very attractive.

Applied: Once again, slight hint of citrus up town and the saffron rolls in giving the fragrance this extra bit of luxury as Cuir de Lancôme takes on this creamy, buttery leather scent. You know the joy of getting a new, leather handbag or jacket? That awesome warm, comforting smell? That’s what Cuir de Lancôme reminds me off–except better. There’s a floral wave that comes on in the mid-stage and helps smooth out the leather further. I get mostly jasmine tempered with ylang-ylang from the florals. The flowers give the fragrance a more feminine and delicate quality and they blend beautifully with the saffron. It’s like I’m smelling a vintage perfume that’s been modernized for appeal. It’s one of the nicest modern leathers I’ve smelled in a while! As Cuir de Lancôme dries down the leather evolves and blends with a soft sandalwood and vanilla and this green note that I hadn’t noticed before. This fragrance is fantastic, it’s like a light floral perfume dressed in a soft leather jacket. It’s longevity is actually quite good while it’s projection tends to stick closely to the skin.

Extra: Tracking down some Cuir de Lancôme was ridiculously difficult. I had done some research on it before hand, knew it was a part of a collection called–rather aptly–La Collection. My first mistake was assuming that because it seemed to be a part of an exclusive collection that a Lancôme counter would be more than happy to push off a spray on me in the hopes I’d shell out the premium cash for a full bottle. I mean, that’s how Chanel and Guerlain and pretty much every other fragrance house with an exclusive collection seems to work. Apparently not even Lancôme counters know what La Collection is never mind what I mean when I stand there and mangle the French pronunciation for what I want.  Long story short, I bought a decant online and everybody was happy.

Design: The bottle design for Cuir de Lancôme and other La Collection bottles are just beautiful! They have a clean shape for the flacon and cap with a band around the bottle’s neck that’s a little reminiscent of vintage perfume aesthetics. The labels even remind me of vintage perfumes. I just love the design.

Fragrance Family: Modern Chypre

Notes: Bergamot, mandarin, saffron, jasmine, ylang-ylang, hawthorn, patchouli, iris, birch, styrax.

So here’s what I don’t understand with Lancôme, they have this beautiful perfume sitting in a collection. Only they’ve made it near impossible for you to buy the perfume from them directly and you actually have to go to a discounter in order to procure a bottle at at average of $40-60 a go. What happened with Lancôme’s La Collection? Why isn’t it being proudly displayed and sold at counters? It’s just a perplexing mystery to me. But I suppose paying $40-60 for what should be a highly sought after exclusive fragrance is nothing to complain about.

Thanks again go to Jen for convincing me to try this out. If anyone has any suggestions for fragrances I should smell feel free to leave a comment! I’m always looking for new smellies.

Reviewed in This Post: Cuir de Lancôme, ~2007, Eau de Parfum.

Victoria’s Secret Pear Glace

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Pear Glacé is like a strange little nugget from my younger years. It was the thing that convinced me I didn’t much like pear scents way back when this fragrance was still being sold by Victoria’s Secret. Even thenl, I thought this was too sweet. So why not uncap and dust off the old body mist and see if my mind has changed?

Pear Glace

Pear Glace

In Bottle: Sweet pear with a slight herbal quality to it.

Applied: Extremely sweet pear opening that’s reminiscent of cough syrup for children. There’s a hint of violet in this, further sweetening the scent as well as imparting a slight powderiness as well. The pear gets extremely sweet as the fragrance wears on to the point that it reaches cloying levels. This just takes me back to the time when I first tried this and decided it wasn’t for me. Evidently, it still isn’t for me though I am amazed the fragrance seems to have held up well over the years considering it’s a synthetic fruit-based fragrance, and a body mist that’s contained in an unsealed plastic bottle. Granted, I could be remembering the fragrance wrong as well but it seems to me like this was exactly what it did before. Anyway, the pear scent sticks with the fragrance as it ages but the longer I wear this, the more that cassis and violet thing gets stronger and stronger, imparting more sweet herbal scent. At this point I’m thinking the cassis used in this is the leaf as opposed to the berry since I’m getting that herbal quality as opposed to a currant-like scent. Whatever it’s doing and whatever is making this smell herbal, I am not much of a fan. The fragrance ends up with a less sweet finish but with a still present herbal fragrance.

Extra: Granted, perfumes (and body mists) can do some strange things when they go off but I think this was actually how Pear Glacé smelled years ago. I wonder if I’m just imagining that herbal note or if something in this stuff actually went off. The one thing I do remember of this scent was the cloying pear and how much it reminded me of cough syrup. In either case, Pear Glacé has since been discontinued by Victoria’s Secret but is still available for purchase online from fragrance discounters, eBay, and third-party sellers on Amazon.

Design: The bottle for this doesn’t differ much from other Victoria’s Secret body mists–I’m sure the perfume is bottled in a similar fashion as well. The bottle I actually have is considerably older. It’s a plastic bottle with a plastic sprayer nozzle. It works for what it is, there’s nothing really fancy about it.

Fragrance Family: Fruity

Notes: Pear, cassis, violet.

So I’m apparently still not a fan of Pear Glacé though this fragrance tends to polarize people and I seem to be the only person who thinks it smells a little herbal. Tell me I’m not crazy, or am I?

Reviewed in This Post: Pear Glacé, ~2000, Eau de Parfum.

Victoria’s Secret Bombshell

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Bombshell is one of those runaway success stories of fragrance that has all the right components. Relatively affordable, accessible, and easy to love.

Bombshell

Bombshell

In Bottle: Fresh and clean with a little bit of fruity. Smells like fruity shampoo which is pretty much a goldmine when it comes to mass appeal.

Applied: I’m a little frustrated with the notes in this one because while Bombshell does smell generic, it hits that ‘just right’ sweet spot where something can smell generic but be great at the same time. This fragrance can easily go with me on whatever occasion because it just smells clean, fresh and a little bit fruity. It’s the just stepped out of the shower fragrance with it’s opening of fruity cleanness. I’m getting more than just passion fruit in this. There’s a bit of something citrus-like that I want to say is a sweet grapefruit note or a mandarin note and a bunch of other fruits that I can’t even begin to pick out. It’s nicely blended together, at least. If you let it get into the mid-stage the fruity opening turns into a soft, clean floral with a hint of vanilla. Let it dry down and you get less florals and more vanilla. It’s so straightforward and simple and uniform that it’s hard not to like this because it is what it is–your standard shampoo-smelling perfume, but the thing with Bombshell is that it does this shampoo smell so well.

Extra: Bombshell was the 2011 winner in the Consumer’s Choice category at the FiFi awards. I can see why this fragrance is so popular as it’s simply easy to love.

Design: Dressed in pink with a ribbon even. Bombshell has a pleasing enough shape though the look of her isn’t ultra luxurious, her design gets the job done. The stripes on the bottle can be a bit much but she’s a lovely bottle, very easy to hold, and equally easy to use.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Passion fruit, peony, vanilla orchid.

While I do like Bombshell a great deal, I don’t know if it was award worthy. This kind of fragrance is incredibly pedestrian but you can’t argue with the fact that it’s widespread appeal is the direct result of it being so generic.

Reviewed in This Post: Bombshell, 2011, Eau de Parfum.