Doir Tendre Poison

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The more of the Poison line I discover, the more I puzzle over the fact that the original Poison, released in 1985, has eleven flankers. No matter what fragrance you’re talking about, that’s still a lot of flankers.

Tendre Poison

Tendre Poison

In Bottle: Fresh, sweet and woodsy with a hint of spice and a bit of ambery quality.

Applied: Tendre Poison comes out right away with a big hit of fresh citrus that rolls with a sweet opening that takes you on a trip down to floral and woodsy in no time. There’s a bit of amber quality to this, perhaps a result of the honey warming up the scent as it combats the blast of cool citrus that came out from the opening. The fragrance hits a floral chord in the middle stage with a nice tuberose making a rather grand entrance to my nose. The tuberose gives the rest of the florals–and the scent as a whole–a very nice creamy quality that compliments the woodsiness that settles this fragrance down and takes it into its base notes. Tendre Poison ends with a smooth woody and spicy fragrance.

Extra: Tendre Poison is a rather old showing when it comes to the Poison line of flankers. It came out in 1994 and seems to be a bit difficult to find in the general market these days. At least, I haven’t seen any of it kicking around store shelves. You may have to hit up eBay for this one, but be careful, there’s a sizable counterfeit presence for the Poison line of fragrances.

Design: The shape is generally similar to the original Poison bottle. It’s still a very nice bottle and I still think it’s a lovely use of the apple shape that imparts a certain level of playfulness while maintaining an aura of luxury at the same time. I’m not too wild about how bright green this iteration is, but the general aesthetic is all right.

Fragrance Family: Woodsy Floral

Notes: Bergamot, tangerine, mandarin, galbanum, rosewood, honey, freesia, orange blossom, rose, tuberose, musk, heliotrope, vanilla, sandalwood.

I rather liked this one. It’s unique in that I haven’t quite smelled something that’s progressed in this way before. It also smells modern, despite its release in the early 90s. But then, it’s earlier release date might help it steer clear of the more recent releases that tend to smell a little generic to me.

Reviewed in This Post: Tendre Poison, 1995, Eau de Toilette.

Etro Heliotrope

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Etro’s Heliotrope is one of the more unique florals I’ve encountered and makes me question why it took me so long to try an Etro fragrance to begin with.

Heliotrope

Heliotrope

In Bottle: Rich vanilla and florals. I want to think that heliotrope is the prominent flower, but I’m actually getting more ylang-ylang.

Applied: A bit of almond and powdery heliotrope to start off the scent followed by a mellowing vanilla note that sweetens the fragrance a bit. I get the florals rather quickly, and for some reason ylang-ylang is quite prominent for me. Etro’s Heliotrope smells of powdered vanilla and ylang-ylang. It reminds me of vintage things and powder puffs with delicately scented blooms sitting in a pot of earth nearby. The florals smell natural, the vanilla adds a touch of oriental and smooths the fragrance. It’s overall a very pleasant experience.

Extra: Heliotrope is actually a fairly old release from Etro, having been released in 1989. It certainly explains the different approach to composition.

Design: Bottled rather simply, but still elegantly in a glass bottle with a nicely designed silver cap. It looks luxurious without being over the top and feels great to hold.

Fragrance Family: Oriental Floral

Notes: Bergamot, orange blossom, petitgrain, almond, iris, jasmine, heliotrope, rose, ylang-ylang, balsam, tonka, musk.

Etro is a great niche house with a fairly good representation of fragrances. You can find their stuff on StrawberryNET.

Reviewed in This Post: Heliotrope, 2000, Eau de Toilette.

Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers

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Sunflowers has perhaps develop something of a bad rap. Maybe it’s just me. But every time I saw Sunflowers, it was sitting in a bargain bin of fragrances at the thrift store. I always wondered about it, but was never swayed to try it because it sat in the same bin as the likes of other “has-been” celebrity fragrances. Serves me right for being judgmental.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers

In Bottle: A surprisingly pleasant clean floral scent with a nice underlying woodsy amber scent.

Applied: Floral, I get the jasmine and the rose rather quickly with a slight clean bite from the citrus notes. Then I get the cedar and the other woods. The cedar in this is a bit strong and can get kind of loud if I overdo the fragrance but it’s a pleasant reminder that where you find a fragrance shouldn’t let you color your experience with it. Shame on me. Anyway, Sunflowers has a very nice progression to it, there’s nothing overly childish about it and at the same time it’s not trying to be anything artistic. It’s just nice and unassuming, if somewhat strong for my tastes. The cedar gets a bit too loud for me as the fragrance wears on, but I do enjoy the mix of florals and ambery woodsiness that mark the end progression of this scent.

Extra: Sunflowers was released in 1993. It is an extremely accessible fragrance, so if you wanted to give it a try, it should be available almost anywhere.

Design: A rather plain bottle, but then Sunflowers isn’t really about being loud or garish. I don’t particularly like the feel of the bottle or the appearance. It’s a marked step down from other more high-end fragrances, but it isn’t without it’s charm. The little sunflower icon is cute and the bottle is otherwise functional.

Fragrance Family: Woodsy Floral

Notes: Orange blossom, mandarin, lemon, bergamot, melon, cyclamen, osmanthus, orris, jasmine, rose, rosewood, sandalwood, amber, musk, moss, cedar.

Sunflowers was a pleasant surprise. Very nicely done scent with a strong woodsy floral showing. Get it for the fragrance if you like it, but don’t worry too much about the bottle.

Reviewed in This Post: Sunflowers, 2009, Eau de Toilette.

Yves Rocher Ming Shu

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Sadly I’m running low on the classics department for fragrances earlier than the 80s. When I first started doing these reviews, I was skeptical about how good the old classics could really be. And sure enough, I fell in love with the old perfumes. Ming Shu, on the other hand, isn’t even that old of a fragrance, but even it has been toned down.

Ming Shu

Ming Shu

In Bottle: Very floral, the water lilies are making quite a loud entrance.

Applied: Funny that the peach doesn’t factor into this at all because I immediately get water lily. Lots and lots of water lilies. They’re slick and floral and fresh. In fact, they’re a bit too fresh and a bit too loud. It’s like I can hardly focus on anything else because Ming Shu is cramming water lilies into my nose. The cedar note comes in a bit later, but cedar to me as always been a bit heavy-handed and it only serves to add to the loudness of the water lilies here. I’m not a fan of this, unfortunately. There’s only about two notes to my nose and neither of them are getting along with me. They end up too overwhelming to me, and too basic at the same time.

Extra: Ming Shu was released in the late 90s. This version and it’s other iterations are a little tricky to find, but not impossible.

Design: Bottle in a pagoda inspired style. I’m not sure how much I embrace this kind of design as the bottle on the one hand looks like a pagoda, and on the other it looks like a pylon or traffic cone. Perhap’s it’s both. I’m not a bit fan of the design.

Fragrance Family: Fresh Floral

Notes: Peach, water lily, cedar, musk.

Another fragrance casualty of the toning down movement. Ming Shu in the 90s was reportedly a much nicer, much more complex, much more likable a fragrance than it is now.

Reviewed in This Post: Ming Shu, 2011, L’Eau de Toilette.

Heidi Klum Me

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If I were ever in the position to have a fragrance made for me, I’d probably be unimaginative enough to just call it, “Me”. It’s really too bad Heidi Klum already beat me to it.

Me

Me

In Bottle: Fresh is probably the one and only word I’ve got for Me. The melon is pretty prominent to my nose along with the clean florals in the middle.

Applied: It’s got a nice blast of fruitiness that mellows into this juicy, clean melon scent which does a nice job eventually moving into an also pleasant and clean floral mid-stage that’s marked with a bit of sparkle and shine. There’s nothing so bold as an aldehyde in this, but the musk couldn’t be anything but white and the woods and vanilla couldn’t be anything but scrubbed with all impurities removed before being bottled. Me is quintessentially young, clean, and fresh. It’s a nice, mild-mannered scent for everyday wear.

Extra: Me was released in 2006 and hasn’t really garnered as much success as some celebrity perfumes. It seems to occupy that dark corner of celebrity fragrances where the lesser known perfumes with celebrity names hang out.

Design: Me isn’t very pretty. It’s actually rather bland in aesthetic and a little bit clunky too. It’s bottled in this roundish container with a standard baby pink cap that doesn’t do much for it’s appeal. It’s not ugly, not pretty, and ultimately not very memorable.

Fragrance Family: Fresh Fruity

Notes: Blackcurrant, apple, melon, pepper, violet, water lily, jasmine, plum, woods, sandalwood, vanilla, musk.

If you want a well done fresh melon and floral scent, then Me is your stuff. You can actually buy this stuff on the Heidi Klum website. Enjoy.

Reviewed in This Post: Me, 2006, Eau de Parfum.

Jovan White Musk

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Jovan White Musk is like the quintessential fragrance for those who just enjoy smelling clean.

White Musk

White Musk

In Bottle: Musky in that clean and crisp way that only synthetic white musk can provide. This can smell like anything from freshly washed skin, to soap, to detergent. It just smells good and pure.

Applied: White Musk is largely a one trick pony. It has a good trick though. The cleanliness that White Musk provides can be attributed to various things by different people. I like to compare White Musk to a soft floral soap that’s been run through a lot of focus groups. Others have likened it to laundry detergent, lotion, powder, and any number of other smells that generally project the idea of clean. And there’s nothing more I can say about White Musk aside from the fact that if you want to smell soft, fresh, a little flowery and clean then this is the stuff to go with. Make sure you test it out before you buy it though because while white musk can work on most people, some have reported it to smell chemical or even plasticy. The best way to avoid a regretful purchase is to test first.

Extra: Interestingly enough, most consumers believe musk–all musks smell awful or–“musky”. In actuality, white musks tend to be the pinnacles of clean smelling.

Design: The bottle looks like it was designed for function rather than form. It looks a bit outdated, but it’s serviceable and not garish even if it’s somewhat plain.

Fragrance Family: Clean Floral

Notes: Honeysuckle, jasmine, ylang-ylang, amber, musk.

Probably one of the best things about White Musk is the fact that it’s incredibly easy to find and very affordable for what you get. It’s an excellent fragrance that won’t burn a hole through your wallet.

Reviewed in This Post: White Musk, 2012, Eau de Parfum.

Ed Hardy Love and Luck for Women

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Hearts and Daggers was something of a flop on me, but I also had a little bit of Love and Luck for Women by Ed Hardy. And while I haven’t grown to like the packaging in any capacity, I will admit that Love and Luck for Women was a bit of a surprise.

Love and Luck for Women

Love and Luck for Women

In Bottle: Citrus and fruity, quite nice in a fruit bowl sort of way. If you want fruity and fresh then this is the stuff for you.

Applied: Initial flare of citrus followed by a peppery kick thanks to the pink pepper present in thsi fragrance. The scent has a nice clean edge on opening that does rather well when it starts to move into it’s fruit bowl stage. I smell the currants and the nectarine with a mild creamy plum in the middle. The scent is rather pleasant. Not too strong and while it’s generic, it does the fruity genre of fragrances rather well. Love and Luck is a decently blended fragrance and while it won’t win any awards any time soon, it’s one of the better fruity scents I’ve smelled as of late. The dry down gets a bit woodsy but not too much that you would mistake this for anything else but a fruity perfume. Overall, nicely done and extremely wearable with decent longevity.

Extra: I’ll admit, I had initially been interested in reviewing this fragrance once I saw the proposed design for the new Ed Hardy fragrance, Skulls and Roses. Mostly I was inspired because the proposed design was so bad. You can view it for yourself at Fragrantica. Keep in mind that the image is currently a composite of a 3D model and a 2D rose so if the image looks a bit odd, that’s why. Hopefully someone at Christian Audigier realizes that the design looks kind of funny and tones it down a little.

Design: Love and Luck features the tattoo inspired artwork indicative of most Ed Hardy products. I’m not a fan of the design and I find the plastic cap that covers the glass bottle thing kind of annoying to use.

Fragrance Family: Fruity

Notes: Bergamot, blood orange, pink pepper, blackcurrant, nectarine, plum, jasmine, sandalwood, cedar, musk, patchouli.

Love and Luck for Women has a male counterpart that I haven’t tried yet. I rather like this version and think it’s a competent fruity fragrance. Granted there are a lot of competent fruity fragrances out there. So if you’re shopping for a fruity perfume give Love and Luck a sniff, but don’t worry if you don’t fall in love with it. There are many more fish in the sea.

Reviewed in This Post: Love and Luck for Women, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Annick Goutal Ninfeo Mio

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Been a while since I’ve done an Annick Goutal fragrance. I actually really miss the often soft, feminine fragrances available in this line.

Ninfeo Mio

Ninfeo Mio

In Bottle: Citrus and herbal. A very fresh interpretation and very green and leafy smelling. Quite nice and really natural. Doesn’t smell like a perfume, but rather like the concept of a dewy citrus leaf.

Applied: Initial flare of tart citrus the orange and lemon in particular are noticeable. They give the opening a bit of a bite–in a good way. After the opening the fragrance takes on a pleasant fresh herb and green leafy scent with a nice woodsy undercurrent. As the scent ages, the greenness dominates and the woods come up a bit more. To me, this is a very refreshing scent. Almost like droplets of water pooling in a forest after a light shower. It’s quite agreeable and very beautiful.

Extra: Ninfeo Mio was released in 201o, was inspired by the gardens in Rome, and is still widely available.

Design: Bottle like most other Annick Goutal fragrances in a ribbed bottle and tied with a ribbon. Annick Goutal bottles are easily reusable in that you can unscrew the sprayer and refill the bottle. The design is nice and elegant, a little vintage and quite lovely.

Fragrance Family: Aromatic Woodsy

Notes: Citron, lemon, petitgrain, bitter orange, galbanum, lavender, lentisque, fig, wood, musk.

This is one of the herbal fragrances that I really like. I’m not a big fan of herbal scents usually but Ninfeo Mio is a lovely scent.

Reviewed in This Post: Ninfeo Mio, 2011, Eau de Parfum.

Vera Wang Princess Night

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Really? Another one? At this point, the Princess line has become this heart-shaped, sugary thing I find myself inexplicably drawn to. Like I can justify smelling its many iterations in the hopes that something about the whole lot will strike my fancy. So here goes nothing.

Princess Night

Princess Night

In Bottle:Fruity with a distinct sweet vanilla fragrance. There’s a creamy quality to it too. Smells a lot like a warm berry dessert.

Applied: Fruity opening with a slightly tart berry personality that pretty much bursts out of the bottle and attaches itself to your skin to attack you while it has the chance. The berries are rather shortlived and end up devolving into this anonymous “fruity” smell that mixes rather nicely, but also rather blandly, with the florals in the midstage. The staple jasmine, rose, and orange flower combination does what its always done–create a benign floral twist that behaves in the presence of fruits and vanillas. The dry down isn’t too much to write home about either. Sweet vanilla, layered with a hint of woods to give the fragrance a warm, sweet finish. The warmth in this one shouldn’t be confused with the warmth you might get from an amber note, this is all mild warmth. Kind of like dipping your toe in lukewarm water as opposed to wrapping yourself in a plush sweater.

Extra: Princess Night, presumably after the success of the Princess line by Vera Wang, was released in January 2012.

Design: All right, who green lighted this thing? I picked up the bottle and had glitter all over my hand the instant I came into contact with it. Now I’m not as big on glitter as some people–in fact, I kind of hate glitter. Regardless, the glitter makes the already garish bottle look even more garish. Princess Night was sitting next to a bottle of regular old Princess and the former made the latter look like a baccarat masterpiece. I’m sorry, the look doesn’t appeal to me and the glitter just turned me off completely. On more technical terms, Princess Night is shaped exactly like the rest of the Princess line with a removable ring you can wear on your finger. It’s two chief differences being the dark purple glitter that covers the entirety of the bottle and a metal tag hung from the neck to identify the fragrance.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Oriental

Notes: Red berries, raspberry, watermelon, orange flower, jasmine, rose, sugar, vanilla, musk, woods.

Kind of had to stretch to call this an oriental but what else stands out from Princess Night but it’s fruity opening and vanilla finish? Maybe the next Princess flanker will work out for me a bit better.

Reviewed in This Post: Princess Night, 2012, Eau de Toilette.

Estee Lauder Beautiful

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A pleasant surprise arrived for Christmas 2011–a book of perfume samples. Many of the fragrances were new and I was just thrilled. Estée Lauder’s Beautiful was one of the first I pulled out and giddily peeled back the flap to smell.

Beautiful

Beautiful

In Bottle: Extremely floral and a bit powdery. There’s no floral standing out, it’s just a big homogenous bouquet at the moment.

Applied: Initial hit of citrus then the floral bouquet rolls into town and takes over the whole operation. From then on, it’s all flowers all the time. Now, I love a good floral fragrance. But the key is balance and moderation. It seems like those are the two things missing from this iteration of Estée Lauder’s Beautiful. I heard the original Beautiful is a far different animal. So don’t turn yourself off from the classic based on what I say about this contemporary version. The florals in Beautiful really do smell like a confused mish mash that doesn’t quite know what it wants to do with itself. The scent seems to suffer a bit from over composition where there are too many ingredients vying for space and there just isn’t enough space to go around. The result is a fragrance that people can distinguish as “flowery”, but no one can truly say what kind of flower. I’m not the kind of person who just likes smelling like a bunch of flowers. I wanted more depth to it than this, but Beautiful settles into it’s explosion of florals in the midstage then ends it all with a bit of cedar at the end as my nostrils continue to burn from the florals thrown at me earlier.

Extra: The first iteration of Beautiful was released in 1985. It has since gone through a few cosmetic changes and some formula changes. I do not have any access to classic Beautiful, which is a real shame as I’d love to see how it compares to this.

Design: The bottle is reminiscent of Calvin Klein’s designs. I want to say Obsession for Women comes to mind when I look at this, but Beautiful is a little easier on the eyes. It’s metallic cap really helps pull it together a little more.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Bergamot, lemon, cassia, fruit, blackcurrant, galbanum, mimosa, magnolia, carnation, chamomile, tuberose, orange blossom, freesia, lilac, narcissus, jasmine, neroli, clary sage, violet, iris, lily of the valley, ylang ylang, marigold, geranium, sandalwood, myrrh, vanilla, vetiver, cedar.

As I looked up the notes list for this one, I found every single source listed an enormous amount of stuff. I just ended up picking out what I thought I could get out of this. In the end, I’m sorry, Beautiful, but you really just smell like flower stuff.

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