Diesel Loverdose

Posted on by

In between throwing out perfume bottles shaped like fists of varying thematic absurdities and milk bottles, Diesel comes out with Loverdose, an unfortunately named perfume for women in a somewhat tasteful flacon.

Loverdose

Loverdose

In Bottle: Wow, the anise is out in this one. It’s just about all I can smell at first until I realize the sweetness is masking some inane florals. Not really encouraging, sadly.

Applied: First thing I smell is anise and anise is just about all I can get out of Loverdose until it decides that it’s good and ready to let me in on something else. But what Loverdose does to its anise is unfortunate. If well blended, anise can lend a sophisticated sweetness to a fragrance. I associate anise with comfort and sometimes exoticism. In Loverdose, anise is like a sledgehammer and my nose is in its way. The midstage is marked with a sweet floral that reminds me too much of the failed perfume experiment I conducted when I was a child by mixing two of my mother’s fragrances together along with a few sprays of floral air freshener. The dry down isn’t much better, as the wood, amber and vanilla do nothing to temper the sweetness that’s been with this fragrance since first spray. Overall, Loverdose is a bit of a mess.

Extra: Loverdose was released in 2011 by Diesel. You might know Deisel from their popular denims.

Design: I wouldn’t say Loverdose is at the top of the design game here. But compared to the other designs from Diesel’s other fragrances, this one is a few cuts above the rest. It is not shaped like a fist. It is not shaped like a milk bottle. And it does not remind me that I have to spray for termites soon (I don’t know, I’m just strange). So what if it’s a big purple heart and I’ve made it well known what I thought of those? Loverdose is at least more aesthetically pleasing even if it is still somewhat ridiculous. It has a nice weight to it, it’s easy to hold and spray, and it’s made of good enough material. Good on ya, Diesel.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Mandarin, star anise, licorice, jasmine, gardenia], amber, vanilla, woods.

I guess I have to touch on the name of this stuff. I thought it was clever for about a minute, then had to groan because the name of this stuff just hits too close to pun territory. Sorry, Diesel, this one doesn’t appeal to me.

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

Playboy Play It Sexy

Posted on by

What classy digs I’ve found myself in today with one of the (surprisingly) many Playboy fragrances. It’s Play It Sexy, a fragrance for women that I guess women can use to seduce men. I’m not sure this will work the way it claims it’ll work but let’s give it a sniff and go from there.

Play It Sexy

Play It Sexy

In Bottle: Sweet citrus that doesn’t hit the right notes and ends up smelling a little synthetic right off the bat. I kind of get some of the licorice note up front too which doesn’t help the synthetic smell of this at all.

Applied: Citrus on opening with a sweetness to it that’s a little bothersome. That synthetic feel of the fragrance isn’t any better on the skin. The fragrance is rather quick to evolve as well as the citrus moshes itself into the florals where I get jasmine and what’s clearly a rose note. The sweetness mingling with the rose is a tad disturbing and is reminding me a bit of how Danielle by Danielle Steel smelled and I did not like that one bit. The licorice note–hilariously enough–is also present throughout this entire fragrance taking this to the next level of unappealing because it’s mingling with everything and in a really poor way. It’s kind of like you’re not really enjoying a discordant juice blend that you decided to make yourself one day and tried to add some random element to it in the hopes of improving upon your wayward culinary attempts. Only said random element only made things worse. The fragrance dries down into a pretty generic vanilla sandalwood which I actually liked seeing as the rest of the fragrance didn’t hit it off with me. I will give Play It Sexy one thing, it doesn’t reach cloying sweetness and it isn’t crazy strong. So while I didn’t like the fragrance, I didn’t feel like I had to run to the bathroom and scrub it off.

Extra: So I don’t think Playboy will be joining the hallowed halls of mainstream designer perfumes any time soon. But if you’re looking for some cheap thrills in perfumery, these Playboy scents are very affordable. They’ll run you a few bucks over an Axe bodyspray but they do smell better.

Design: I really can’t speak for the bottle design for this stuff. It’s like an amalgamation of things I don’t like. Weird animal motif, random gem, pink, bowtie. It’s cute, I suppose. The only thing it’s missing is Comic Sans font and a fairy. The aesthetic just isn’t sitting well with me.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Grapefruit, mandarin, pink pepper, jasmine, florals, licorice, vanilla, patchouli, sandalwood, tonka.

So these fragrances come in a three pack, which is a pretty good deal, but supposedly they are supposed to represent the stages of a woman’s seduction game. The other two fragrances I’ve got are called “Play It Spicy” and “Play It Lovely”.

Reviewed in This Post: Play It Sexy, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Bvlgari Jasmin Noir

Posted on by

Jasmin and almonds, two of my favorite smells combined into one awesome fragrance? That’s Jasmin Noir from Bvlgari.

Jasmin Noir

In Bottle: I get light florals and a heavily licorice-infused almond and jasmine scent.

Applied: Light jasmine on the opening as the fragrance quickly mixes the jasmine and florals with the warm, licorice-sweet almonds. I love the progression. It starts off no-nonsense and like the no-nonsense fragrance that it is, goes on to its mid-stage almost right away. Now the mid-stage is marked mostly to me as a floral almond licorice mix. Reminds me a bit of Lolita Lempicka but with less gourmand and more floral. A great mix, for sure. It’s sophisticated and different, a little discordant but in a good way. The dry down is marked with more licorice, faint woods, and a hint of something smooth that might be the tonka bean or even a vanilla at work.

Extra: Jasmin Noir was composed by Carlos Benaim and Sophie Labbe.

Design: Jasmin Noir is bottled in a dark glass flacon with the signature dip in front. It has a golden cap with the house name on the top. And the fragrance’s name and house are written on the glass on the low point of the dip. I rather like the design, it’s simple and the look has–to me–been distinct and popular enough that I do see this bottle a lot and it is immediately recognizable.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Gardenia, jasmine, almond, licorice, woods, tonka bean.

I really do like Jasmin Noir. It did the jasmine note very well and the almond note was just a bonus. I don’t like licorice much myself but the licorice is well used in this fragrance to the point that it may have swayed me from the licorice-haters club to the licorice-lovers club.

Reviewed in This Post: Jasmine Noir, 2008, Eau de Parfum.

Aquolina Blue Sugar

Posted on by

Blue Sugar, as you may have already guessed by now is Aquolina’s male version of their female fragrance, Pink Sugar. The basic gist of this stuff is Pink Sugar with a slap of woods thrown in.  Blue Sugar

In Bottle: Most people who enjoy Blue Sugar like the woodsy notes added in. I have to disagree as the mixture of candy and wood is a bizarre blend for me.

Applied: I smell the embodiment of Pink Sugar’s caramel and candy on initial application but give Blue Sugar a few seconds and you’ll start to notice the woods coming in to play. The opening is a slightly fresher interpretation of Pink Sugar as the bergamot gives the fragrance a slight hint of sophistication. Only a very slight hint, mind you. Now, I’m not a big fan of sweet, woody scents as it makes me think of medicinal herbs steeping over a fire. A nice visual but a pretty scary olfactory experience that makes me think of wilted plants, bark, and trees covered in caramel. There’s a slick sweetness to this that, I admit, does great when toned down and it makes me wish Pink Sugar smelled more like the lighter sweetness. AS it is, I can’t get on board with the sweet woody fragrance. The dry down is a fairly easy story of sweet wood with the woods coming up a bit more. I like the dry down, it strikes a more fair balance between sugar and tree rather than the slugfest the middle stage was advertisting.

Extra: Aquolina is most famous for their Pink Sugar fragrance but in addition to Blue Sugar they have a gourmand fragrance called Chocolovers which, you guessed it, smells like chocolate.

Design: Bottled in a similar fashion as Pink Sugar. Blue Sugar boasts a tall blue cylinder of scent and like the Pink Sugar bottle, it reminds me of packaging for a shampoo or a body mist rather than a perfume.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Woods

Notes: Bergamot, tangerine, star anise, ginger, licorice, patchouli, lavender, heliotrope, coriander, cedar, tonka bean.

Not much to be expected of this fragrance and sometimes I wonder if it was truly necessary to have a men’s and women’s version of a perfume that was largely straightforward in the first place. Between the two, I will stick (or stink!) with the pink girly version.

Reviewed in This Post: Aquolina Blue Sugar, 2009, Eau de Toilette.

Aquolina Pink Sugar

Posted on by

Pink Sugar is as simple as its name. It’s a sweet fragrance made for younger perfume consumers that’s not ashamed of admitting that it’s just a candy-like confection for people who like to smell sweet. And that’s about it. I can respect that. Pink Sugar

In Bottle: Sugar, caramel, and strawberry. Very reminiscent of Miss Dior Cherie but much more tolerable due to the lack of patchouli and the toning down of the strawberry note. This smells like the pink cotton candy you buy at carnivals and little strawberry hard candies.

Applied: Dominating the opener is the cotton candy and strawberry hard candies. If Pink Sugar were a food–it’d be aptly named. As the scent ages, it stays the same but for a caramel note coming up. The caramel note has been toasted a bit too much, smelling burnt. I have a suspicion there’s really only one caramel note shared between this fragrance, Miss Dior Cherie and Flowerbomb and it’s Burnt Caramel #2990. A pox on you, Burnt Caramel #2990! I’m convinced that due to this mysterious caramel note that these three fragrances are related in some smelly conspiracy. But they aren’t the same, Pink Sugar lacks the extreme sweetness and harshness of the patchouli and strawberry. The burnt caramel in Pink Sugar is more muted than in Flowerbomb. Pink Sugar has a not bad licorice note that makes brief appearances in the mid-stage. When Pink Sugar dries down, it’s a bit of vanilla and slap of clean woodsiness and then it’s gone.

Extra: Pink Sugar is consistently one of the most popular and well-loved fragrances among its target audience. If you were ever wondering what young people like these days, Pink Sugar is probably a good guess.

Design: Pink Sugar is bottled in a tall glass cylinder with pink crisscrossing lines on the glass. The presentation itself makes me think of cake. The lettering is playful, a bit messy for my tastes, but I’m not the target audience for the fragrance or–I assume–the design of the bottle.

Fragrance Family: Gourmand

Notes: Bergamot, sicilian orange, raspberry, fig leaves, lily of the valley, licorice, strawberry, red fruit, cotton candy, vanilla, caramel, musk, wood, powder.

From a choice of Miss Dior Cherie, Pink Sugar, or Flowerbomb, I will have to give props to Pink Sugar. It’s the most wearable, the least cloying and at least it’s upfront about what it is.

Reviewed in This Post: Pink Sugar, 2008, Eau de Parfum.

Lolita Lempicka

Posted on by

Something about apples just draws me in, I guess. One would think an apple bottle would a bit silly but Lolita Lempicka’s designs have always had these fascinating shapes with interesting textures and line work on them. The bottle for Lolita Lempicka drew me in, the fragrance kept me around. Lolita Lempicka

In Bottle: Sweet and spicy, almost woodsy quality in a way. I can smell the licorice in this along with a very fresh, almost fruity note right up top.

Applied: I smell apple opening this fragrance. I swear I do. I don’t care that the notes don’t list it, it’s right up there to my nose. Big inertial apple. Then it disappears within seconds to be replaced with this green sweet spice scent that is anise. As the fragrance ages, Lolita Lempicka turns into a vanilla spice fragrance with that faint sweetness of licorice. Despite all the gourmand notes in this one, the scent as a whole doesn’t strike me as a gourmand immediately. It needs to settle into its heart notes before you really start to see where it’s coming from. The fragrance dries down to a soft sweet vanilla scent.

Extra: Lolita Lempicka is a fashion house by Josiane Maryse Pividal who adopted Lolita Lempicka as her pseudonym.

Design: More truly apple shaped than the Nina by Nina Ricci bottle. Lolita Lempicka’s bottle is a purple apple with leaf and swirl linework in gold and muted colors. The design is whimsical, young, fairytale-like with a nice final touch of the sprayer that resembles the thin and delicate stem of the apple. I would have preferred the sprayer to be made of more sturdy material since it is so thin and delicate but it works just fine for what it is.

Fragrance Family: Spicy Gourmand

Notes: Ivy, anise, violet, amarise, licorice, amarena, vetiver, tonka, vanilla, musk.

I don’t much like licorice, or how it smells. But Lolita Lempicka makes it acceptable for me by mixing it in with other notes. It is one of the better done gourmands out there. Sometimes compared to Angel by Thierry Mugler. I personally don’t see the connection as Lolita Lempicka is drier and less sweet to my nose.

Reviewed in This Post: Lolita Lempicka, 2008, Eau de Parfum.