Avon Eternal Magic

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I don’t know why so many people think Avon perfumes aren’t any good. They, like any other place that has a line of perfume, have hits and misses.

Eternal Magic

Eternal Magic

In Bottle: Powdery iris with a sweet rose note mixed with a dusty woodsy background.

Applied: Powdered  iris up first with a bit of green bitterness that blends in nicely with a sweet rose note. The two are blended in with some less obvious florals–or they turn into a less obvious floral. Either way, it’s a pleasant powder and floral fragrance that hits a woodsiness near the end of its midstage and takes on a more vanillic personality as it ages it on the skin. The vanilla comes up nicely between the florals, complimenting the fragrance rather than distracting from it. Nicely done, if somewhat dull.

Extra: Avon’s Eternal Magic was composed by Ellen Molner who also made such fragrances as Tocca Florence and Guess Seude.

Design: The bottle is a bit underwhelming. You know how some fragrance makers have a signature look? Avon’s got that for some of its bottles. If I see a rounded, squat bottle with a round cap I immediately think of Avon. Eternal Magic’s design itself isn’t bad, it’s not great either. I only think it looks rather plain, but it is otherwise functional.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Iris, rose, woods, vanilla.

So in the end, what about Eternal Magic and how it smells? It’s all right, I guess. Nothing to phone home about certainly, but it’s still better composed than a lot of other fragrances out there.

Reviewed in This Post: Eternal Magic,  2010, Eau de Parfum.

Escada Magnetism for Women

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Magnetism by Escada is an easy to like and easy to wear sweet floral oriental with a stroke of pure fun.

Magnetism

Magnetism

In Bottle: Sweet vanilla blended with a fun fruity and juicy opening coated with flowers.

Applied: Sweet and green rather crisp and juicy up top with a distinct fruitiness that blends well with the fragrance. The scent delves into this floral mish-mash that comes out smelling distinctly flowery but keeps a rein on its strength. There is a sweetness throughout this fragrance that doesn’t take away from the fragrance’s purpose. In the end, it is a sweet sandalwood with an earthy vibe and a strong sweet vanilla finish.

Extra: Magnetism for Women was introduced in 2003. It’s a fairly decent fragrance though it’s not in any way groundbreaking. It does smell good and does the Escada brand some fine justice.

Design: Not too wild about the design of the bottle but then Escada’s bottle designs have always seemed a bit off to me. Magnetism is a hot pink curved glass bottle. It’s vaguely unpleasant and looks a bit too suggestive for me to take it seriously.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Floral Oriental

Notes: Pineapple, black currant, melon, berries, cassia, litchi, magnolia, orris, green leaves, freesia, basil, jasmine, caraway, heliotrope, lily of the valley, rose, sandalwood, amber, patchouli, musk, benzoin, caramel, vetiver, vanilla.

So in the end, Magnetism isn’t attracting me, but it is doing a good job of trying. If you want a nice, wearable floral oriental with a dollop of sweet then this might be good. As a bonus, Magnetism can be purchased from several discounters for a rather fair price.

Reviewed in This Post: Magnetism for Women,  2010, Eau de Parfum.

Al Taif Rasasi

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Not sure how I ended up with a little sampler vial of this. Not that I’m complaining. It just looks out of place sitting with the likes of Acqua di Gio and Creed’s later releases. Al Taif by Rasasi is an exotic creature that gives the Amouage house a run for its money.

Al Taif

Al Taif

In Bottle: Beautifully blended rose with a bit of oud and sandalwood. It’s sensual, complex and very warm.

Applied: The rose is what I smell the most upon application. It warms up very quickly as the fragrance takes on this dense and dark oud and a light curtain of sandalwood that seems to stick around for hours on end. It’s hard to describe what Al Taif is exactly beyond a nicely done rose and oud blend. This is something you might have to grow into if you’re not used to complex scents (and definitely if you aren’t used to strong ouds) because the perfume is so well blended but it is also very rich in its oriental personality. The longevity is excellent and the projection, on me, is moderate. This being a perfume oil, you wouldn’t expect any less anyway.

Extra: Rasasi is a United Arab Emerites based company that was founded in the late 1970s. It seems their full bottle fragrances are a bit of an adventure to track down if you live in North America. When people talk about a taif rose, they’re referring to a type of Arabian damask rose. In terms of product accessibility, I’ve found a bottle on eBay but you will have far more luck contacting Rasasi to see where you might be able to score yourself some perfume.

Design: I’ve never held or seen a Rasasi perfume bottle. All I have is a little sampler vial. But based on some images, their bottles are distinctly middle eastern with its intricate designs. They all look luxurious and quite beautiful.

Fragrance Family: Floral Oriental

Notes: Rose, florals, oud, sandalwood, resin.

Aside from the rose and the oud, I cannot give you a more solid estimation of what else is the notes for this fragrance. It’s listing on Fragrantica says ‘rose, florals, resin’, but there’s more in Al Taif than just those three notes. So treat my list of notes as an estimation of what I got out of it as it is not an official list by any means.

Reviewed in This Post: Al Taif, 2010, Perfume Oil.

Prada Infusion de Rose

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Ah, Prada and their infusions. Simple, light and usually easy to wear. Infusion d’Iris is still one of my favorite scents. And I absolutely love rose–if done right. So I gave her a try.

Infusion de Rose

Infusion de Rose

In Bottle: Big old Bulgarian rose right in my face with a splash of refreshing mint.

Applied: This smells like Bulgarian rose with a little squirt of mandarin. I don’t really detect much else aside from that until the mint comes up in the initial stages and gives Infusion de Rose this sort of crisp, watery quality to it. The fragrance keeps aging with the rose taking a dominant role and continuing to play a dominant role until the endstage. I get no wax or holly and have no idea how to detect the smell of beeswax anyway. All I know is, this is a very simple, very crisp and refreshing rose fragrance. Far from interesting or unique but still does a good job.

Extra: Infusion de Rose is a member of the Prada’s infusion series. There’s an entire series of this stuff where Prada takes a fragrance concept and runs with it. They’ve done Iris, Tuberose, Vetiver, and more.

Design: Infusion de Rose is designed in the same way as the other Infusion fragrances except it’s main color is a very girly pink. If lined up in a row, these bottles look absolutely beautiful. I’d love to collect them just to put them on display. The glass is clear, the bottles have a nice weight to them. The design is classic and simple but still very functional.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Mandarin, beeswax, holly, rose, mint.

I would buy this only so I can say I’ve got it for my collection. But as a fragrance, Infusion de Rose isn’t very interesting or new. You could get dewy modern rose in almost any modern rose-based fragrance. It’s just not unique but it does follow the style of Prada’s infusion series rather well.

Reviewed in This Post: Infusion de Rose, 2011, Eau de Toilette.

Elie Saab Le Parfum

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Elie Saab is a famous Lebanese fashion designer so of course the man would have a pretty perfume too.

Le Parfum

Elie Saab Le Parfum

In Bottle: Orange flower, clear and feminine and very beautiful with a floral backdrop that adds rather than overpowers.

Applied: Orange flower up top with a warm, sweet honeyed fragrance that leaps up almost immediately too. I get a bit more florals was I wear this further, getting a rose and jasmine mixture in the middle that mingle with the orange flower. Normally a jasmine and rose thing would be pretty banal but the honey really helps to deepen this fragrance and make it a bit more unique. I really like it with that one extra element that managed to make all the difference. The dry down is marked with a faded florals and honey affair and a slight powdery woodsiness. Very nicely done.

Extra: There’s a type of honey I have that’s purportedly infused with a more floral fragrance from the honey bees that collected the stuff favoring certain types of flowers. I think the science of bees and honey making is fascinating. And the taste of the honey is a bit different than what I normally get. There was a hint of cleaner florals in there. That honey is what Le Parfum reminds me of, except instead of florals inspiring honey. This one florals inspired by honey.

Design: The bottle design is rather simple, it’s easy to hold, it’s not garish in anyway but also does not particularly stand out either. It’s just a simple, easy to like design. It reminds me a bit of Hilary Duff’s With Love bottle and–dare I say–Victoria’s Secret Bombshell, except done in a more subdued fashion. It’s nice. Period.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Orange flower, jasmine, rose, patchouli, cedar, honey.

Fairly nice entry into the fragrance market. Easy to wear, good for a debut, nothing classic but is very enjoyable and good for women who are looking for a subdued floral.

Reviewed in This Post: Elie Saab Le Parfum, 2011, Eau de Parfum.

Givenchy Very Irresistible

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I remember when my mother first got this fragrance and promotional ads of Liv Tyler and her funky black hat where all over the department store. It seemed to me–back then–that this was thefragrance to have. These days, it seems everyone’s moved on to other things but my mother used up every last drop of her bottle so it surely had something going for it.

Very Irresistible

Very Irresistible

In Bottle: Bright florals with a little bit of sweetness. I get the rose (it’s modern) and magnolia which blend together fantastically.

Applied: I should have known better than to doubt my mother’s taste in perfumes. Very Irresistible has this optimistic, bright quality to it. Something that’s missing from my life and being replaced in little spritzes from a fragrance sampler. It’s all florals with a little sweetness, and so well blended too. The initial application is marked with a clean lemon berry-like scent that evolves quickly into a bed of roses and magnolias. The peony is well mixed into the bouquet so that it doesn’t stand out and doesn’t remind me of bathroom spray (an unfortunate associate I have with peony). The floral notes are nice and crisp, distinct enough that I can pick them apart but not so distinct that they smell discordant. This is a very nicely done floral though given the releases of today, there’s very little that sets this fragrance apart from other bright florals in its category. It is still probably one of the best contenders, however.

Extra: Very Irresistible has inspired a long line of flankers since its release. You have an eau de toilette version and an eau de parfum version along with a number of flankers such as Very Irresistible for Men, Very Irresistible Fresh Attitude (a men’s version), Absolutely Irresistible, and Very Irresistible Sensual.

Design: Very Irresistible–much like its flankers–is bottled in a tall colored glass tapered prism flacon that sports a slight twist to its design. The bottle is a bit awkward to hold when you want to spray it because it’s heavy glass, a strange shape, very tall and slender, and I’m worried I might drop it. The design itself–however, is a nice echo to Givenchy’s aesthetic and is a pleasant enough thing to look at.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Cassia, lemon verbena, anise, peony, magnolia, rose.

I suppose the fact that this fragrance has a large number of flankers and men’s versions of it is a testament to how popular it was–and probably still is. It is a great fragrance for someone who is into florals (roses in particular) and isn’t afraid of the fragrance being a bit on the strong side.

Reviewed in This Post: Very Irresistible, 2005, Eau de Parfum.

Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady

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Portrait of a Lady was the talk of Niche Town when it was first released. It took me a while to get my sample of this fragrance but I’m glad that I did.

Portrait of a Lady

Portrait of a Lady

In Bottle: Sour to my nose thanks to the currants with a spicy kick from the cinnamon and clove.

Applied: Sour currants that give way to spicy cinnamon and clove that mixes in with the incense in the midstage. I get mostly smoke from Portrait of a Lady until she keeps aging on my skin and there’s a bit of earthiness that comes up from the patchouli as the scent keeps aging the amber and its warmness rushes up to mingle with the smoke and spice. The rose in this scent doesn’t come up until later in the fragrance where the spicy notes settle down a bit to leave us with a soft, warmed, rose with a hint of spice.

Extra: Portrait of a Lady was created by Dominique Ropion who also created fragrances such as Burberry The Beat, Cacharel Amor Amor, and Armani Code for Women.

Design: Bottled in much the same way as other Frederic Malle scents, in a cylindrical glass bottle. It has a nice weight to it and the simple design makes you focus more on the scent inside the bottle than the flashy exterior. It’s simple and functional for what it is.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Raspberry, blackcurrant, clove, cinnamon, rose, sandalwood, patchouli, incense, musk, amber, benzoin.

Portrait of a Lady is a really well done oriental, it smells a bit like an oriental powerhouse but also has elements of a sophisticated modern scent. I especially like the spicy rose present in this fragrance.

Reviewed in This Post: Portrait of a Lady, 2011, Eau de Parfum.

Creed Aventus

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Creed’s gone tropical with Aventus but doesn’t dive in immediately into the fruity tropical pool. There are elements of sophistication still associated with Aventus.

Aventus

Aventus

In Bottle: Fruity opening with a smoky leather background that has a certain earthiness to it too.

Applied: Fruity, almost tropical and probably helped along in that direction thanks to the pineapple note. The opening smells rather familiar to a women’s fragrance actually with a deeper masculinity that comes up smelling mostly like fresh fruits and a bit of tar. Tar being that smoky–sometimes plastic–smell that I don’t particularly find enticing if not mixed well enough. Aventus does a good enough job of keeping it in check so that it enhances the fragrance for me instead of takes away from it. As the midstage wears on, there’s a little bit of floral but what I mostly get is this sharp earthy  scent that dwells on in the fragrance way into the end where it fades with a bit of sweet vanilla.

Extra: If you were afraid of other Creeds and those smelling a little too classic for you then Aventus is probably a good Creed starter. It’s got excellent projection and power but is an easy to wear fragrance. It is, however, a bit of a departure from how Creeds used to be. It is, nevertheless, still a competent fragrance.

Design: Bottle design is similar to other Creed bottles. The niche houses tend to keep their designs fairly uniform and Creed’s not much different in practice. The bottle has a nice weight and is easy to hold and use. It also looks quite sharp with its clear glass elements combined with the black and metal treatments.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Modern Chypre

Notes: Bergamot, blackcurrant, apple, pineapple, jasmine, rose, birch, patchouli, musk, oak moss, amber, vanilla.

I’m not that big of a fan of Aventus on my own skin but it is a funny fragrance that starts off a bit feminine then nosedives right into a masculine scent. It’s playful then sophisticated at the same time.

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

L’Occitane 4 Reines

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L’Occitane’s fragrances are surprisingly good for a bath and body company. But L’Occitane’s offerings tend to be a bit more complex than stuff at Bath and Body Works. 4 Reines was one of the first fragrances I tried from L’Occitane and it was a very nice, modern rose composition.

4 Reines

4 Reines

In Bottle: Rose, rose, and more rose. There’s a bit of classic rose in this but 4 Reines mostly represents a very competent modern, clean rose.

Applied: Clean, bright, dewy rose that’s very young and very modern. There’s a big difference between a classic rose scent and a modern one. I suppose a review of 4 Reines is as good a place as any. A classic rose to me (or old fashioned rose) has more depth and more density to it. There’s this sense of complexity to it that tends toward a bit of powderiness. A modern rose–like this fragrance–is usually clean, crisp and fresh. It’s youthful and easier to like and a bit watered down but that helps make it easier to wear. I smell modern rose in almost everything these days and classic rose in increasingly smaller and smaller amounts. Anyway, 4 Reines smells like a full on modern rose. A very well done one too.

Extra: 4 Reines, true to its name as a fragrance that contains four rose scents was composed by Karine Dubreuil who also composed Gucci Envy Me and Just Cavalli Her.

Design: A nicely designed square glass bottle that looks pretty unassuming. It has a pretty 80s-esque label on it. The rest of the bottle looks just as unassuming with very frills or thrills. It’s just functional.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Rose, Turkish rose, Moroccan rose, Bulgarian rose.

It’s light, it’s clean, it’s dewy and if you love rose then you’ll love this. There’s little else in the fragrance for it to progress much. If you love a more classical rose, then 4 Reines might not be for you and I may suggest something a bit older like Guerlain’s Nahema.

Reviewed in This Post: 4 Reines, 2010, Eau de Toilette.

Caron Acaciosa

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Acaciosa is one of perfumery’s greatest floral perfumes. It was released in 1924 and remains one of the most beautiful, lush jasmine and rose fragrances ever.

Acaciosa

Acaciosa

In Bottle: A big floral bouquet of jasmine and rose with a slight hint of amber.

Applied: Jasmine and rose are the stars here and the major players throughout the entire fragrance. The instant Acaciosa is applied you will smell these two principle notes that have endured the test of time and have continued to appear together in some of the fragrance world’s most popular classics and contemporary fragrances. Acaciosa does jasmine and rose proud because it plays up their authentic beauty and blends them together so well that a sniff of Acaciosa tells you immediately that you’re smelling a fantastic floral. There’s no real debate to be had, you’re smelling history and you’re smelling a floral perfume as it should be. Right from the start, into the middle, and down into the base you get jasmine and rose mingling together in a gorgeous medley. There’s a faint hint of sweetness and a jolt of tart pineapple that serves to deepen this fragrance with its mostly heady floral bouquet. The base intensifies with a warm amber quality. This amber note is present during the opening and midstages but doesn’t become too strong until you reach the base.

Extra: Caron has a fountain version of Acaciosa available for those of you who wish to experience the full on artistry of this fragrance. One of these days I’d like to see a Caron fragrance fountain for myself.

Design: The bottle pictured above is from a vintage ad dating back to the 1930s when Acaciosa was a bit easier to find. It’s a shame this fragrance is so exclusive now. I have yet to hold or even see more than a small sample of this stuff but everything Caron made back in its hey day looks beautiful.

Fragrance Family: Classic Floral

Notes: Orange flower, pineapple, jasmine, rose, amber.

I have no idea and no way to tell how old the decant of Acaciosa I have is. We can only take a blind stab in the dark that it is a vintage that could have been from the 40s, but even then we can’t be quite sure. So take the dating of my sampler with a grain of salt since I can’t guarantee its accuracy.

Reviewed in This Post: Acaciosa, ~1940, Parfum.