Annick Goutal Mandragore

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The best thing about Annick Goutal fragrances for me is the fact that they all tend to have this lovely light, garden flowers type of smell. The kind of fragrances that take something mainstream and improve on it. Like Guerlain often did. Mandragore

In Bottle: Fresh bright citrus, cooling mint and a lovely sweet anise note. Very fresh, nice amount of citrus and thankfully, no presence of lemon as fresh scents do tend to use that note as a crutch. Mandragore gets its freshness from mints and other citrus instead which I am very grateful for.

Applied: Citrus, mint, herb and a lot of anise. I’m really impressed with the mint and other herbal notes in this. They’re crisp and green and extremely refreshing. The anise sweetens and spices up Mandragore quite a bit. The fragrance remains fresh and bright with gentle wafts of spiciness coming in and out as the fragrance ages on my skin. The citrus leaves the fragrance some time during the mid-stage but the freshness doesn’t suffer from it. Mandragore uses those herbal aromatic notes to freshen things up instead of citrus. I’m really impressed. The dry down is a great fresh herb and woodsy ending. Unfortunately, Mandragore doesn’t last a very long time and needs to be reapplied more often than other eau de parfums. But the scent is absolutely lovely.

Extra: Mandragore is one of Annick Goutal’s more popular fragrances and with good reason. It’s got enough freshness to be a fantastic office scent, is excellent for places where you might need your scent to go on light and it’s quite a good unisex scent too. That is, if you don’t mind or like the feminine bottle design.

Design: Bottled in the same way as other Annick Goutal fragrances, in a ribbed glass bottle with a gold ribbon tying the fragrances name to the bottle. Mandragore also comes in a butterfly bottle. These things are round glass bottle with a butterfly topper. Finally, Mandragore can be purchased in a square bottle. Which is just that, a square-shaped bottle with a metal cap. Standard look if you would prefer something a little simpler in design.

Fragrance Family: Fresh Aromatic

Notes: : Bergamot, star anise, peppermint, sage, ginger, black pepper, boxwood, mandrake powder, ciste roots, labdanum.

I really love the bottles Annick Goutal presents their fragrances in. Not simple but very elegant and classic in style. Lining these things up is a great past time if you’re insane like I am.

Reviewed in This Post: Mandragore, 2008, Eau de Parfum.

Montale Soleil de Capri

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It’s a testament to how lovely Soleil de Capri is when I applied this and found it smelled so nice I had to stick my nose so close to the application site that I got some on my lips–then in my mouth. And before I knew it, I was swallowing the stuff and found it didn’t taste bad at all. Yeah, I’m a goof. But when a perfume tastes not bad and smells wonderful, you know it’s a keeper. Soleil de Capri

In Bottle: Light, sweetly floral and soapy scent with a very pleasant clean and clearness that I’m thinking might be white musk.

Applied: Lovely, clean and fresh and clear juicy, crisp citrus and clean white florals backed by a beautiful faintly sweet white musk. The scent sticks close to my skin. That’s how the little accident with me tasting this happened, you see. And you know what? It tastes like soap. Not at all unpleasant, though I wouldn’t recommend eating this all the same. The citrus stays around a bit but dissolves into the florals and white musk giving this a faintly soap scent. It dries down into a nice sheer musk. Soleil de Capri is lovely for sure, versatile for every day wear situations, not adventurous but manages to be beautiful just the same.

Extra: Sadly this isn’t the first time I’ve accidentally eaten or tasted my perfume. And funny enough, Soleil de Capri was the least offensive of the ones I’ve accidentally tasted.

Design: Bottled in much the same way as other Montale fragrances. Soleil de Capri’s container is a light brushed metal.

Fragrance Family: Fresh

Notes: : Grapefruit, kumquat, white flowers, white musk, spices.

I couldn’t smell much of the spices but the rest was certainly pleasant. Out of all of Montale’s fresh and clean fragrances, I really have to hand it to Soleil de Capri. It took light, airy, fresh and beautiful and made paradise for my nose.

Reviewed in This Post: Soleil de Capri, 2009, Sample Vial.

Boadicea the Victorious Pure

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Boadicea the Victorious is one of the luxury niche brands. I know, I know, just what does luxury mean in an industry defined as luxury? The price points for this house tends to be higher than the others, thus defining it as the luxury of the luxuries? Who cares, bottom line, it’s expensive. Pure

In Bottle: Fresh, crisp citrus and pink and white flowers. Pure smells like laundry,  just barley, but with a citrus topper and an even cleaner lead.

Applied: Beautiful citrus opens up the fragrance. Green and fresh, a lot of lime and a bit of lemon then the white florals come in and add a slight powdery sweetness to this while the citrus notes hang on into the mid-stage where that clean laundry scent gives way to a beautiful, airy beach-like floral and green tea. The dry down comes too soon as I was appreciating that lovely white sides, blue ocean, green palms feel of Pure. Upon dry down I finally get word of the sandalwood in this as Pure becomes a dusty, pretty citrus. This fragrance triggers a vague memory from my childhood. Green fields, dusty country road and laundry hanging from the lines.

Extra: Boadicea the Victorious is a relatively new British niche house headed by Michael Boadi. The house features some exclusive scents, and a ready to wear line referred to as The Victorious, which Pure is a part of.

Design: Presented in a rectangular glass bottle with lovely metal trimmings. You will receive the bottle nested in its own box and you shouldn’t settle for less, especially given how much this goes for on Luckyscent at $265.00 per 100ml. Yikes.

Fragrance Family: Fresh

Notes: : Bergamot, Sicilian lemon, green tangerine, Mediterranean cypress, basil leaves, Egyptian cumin, juniper berry, ylang ylang, sandalwood, amber, patchouli, vanilla.

Given how much this is, I wouldn’t settle for less than a fragrance that completely knocks my socks off. Pure is a lovely scent, for sure, a few degrees above a mainstream house’s general fair when it comes to clarity of the fragrance. I do love that juicy, pure citrus opening.

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

Gucci Flora

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There’s nothing very special about Gucci Flora that you couldn’t get anywhere else. It has a nice scent, an inoffensive and pleasant aroma perfect for office or school wear. Something about its squeaky cleanness just slots it in generic category. Generic, boring, common but ultimately very pretty. Flora

In Bottle: Light, sheer, clean peony with citrus and a mixture of discriminatory florals. Nothing stands out too much in Flora.

Applied: Citrus opener that has a nice clean kick to wipe the palette before it calls in the peony and its entourage of florals as the scent prances in a field wearing a cotton dress into the mid-stage. Rose is used to bolster the scent in Flora as I can’t smell rose, exactly, except for its presence. That sweet pinkish feel that builds up the power of the other flowers must be those mysterious fruity notes that Flora alludes to while rose is happy to just settle in the background. I was looking forward to a few other notes in this but they never actually make an appearance. It’s all just lumped into one big bouquet of fresh and clean. If someone asks me what I smell in Flora, they’re likely to see my eyes bug out as I chirp, “Flowers!” Flora lasts a decent time, often getting hours of wear before approaching its dry down which is a clean patchouli, vaguely flowery, and sandalwood mix.

Extra: I like Flora. I really do. Don’t let my comments about how pedestrian it is turn you away. This is a very nice fragrance with a classy, clean aroma that’s pretty set to be widely worn and commented upon. Mostly you’ll get things of the, “Hmm, you smell nice” category. Then you get the pleasure of telling them what it is and it’ll be a great time.

Design: Cute squat bottle in a geometric shape with a little black ribbon on the bottle. The design is pleasant, the bottle isn’t too awkward to hold and everything works as it should. One thing I will note is that I love the floral pattern detail on the inside of the box. Reminiscent of botany texts and old woodcut floral patterns. I am a big sucker for that kind of thing.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Citrus, peony, osmanthus, rose, fruity notes, sandalwood, patchouli.

I own a small 30ml bottle of this stuff that I spray on whenever I want to smell clean and fresh but more interesting than one of my clean musk scents. I always find myself smiling a little whenever Flora wafts up to my nose, so something in this stuff is doing good work.

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

Guerlain AA: Flora Nymphea

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In and around the time Guerlain decided the status quo was not filling their coffers, they decided to output the Aqua Allegoria (abbreviated AA above) line of fragrances. These were simple, non-complex compositions of scents meant to draw in tentative consumers new to the Guerlain line and be evocative of nature. The philosophy behind Aqua Allegoria was to pump these things out and if a fragrance didn’t sell well, it would disappear. Flora Nymphea

In Bottle: Flora Nymphea is a light floral expression of a fragrance that reminds me quite a bit of my laundry detergent (Tide). It’s the light, inoffensive blend of generic florals that shouts clean and fresh! A pleasant deviation from Guerlains past.

Applied: Flora Nymphea is the embodiment of light, inoffensive floral. If you wanted a floral fragrance but you hate it when florals are heady then shack yourself up with some of this. It starts off with a bright citrus then mellows out into a sweet golden, floral scent with a slight green edge. The dry down is a soft, airy woodsy musk with a sheer layer of flowers.

Extra: Flora Nymphea is the newest member of the surviving Aqua Allegorias. Over the years, Guerlain’s made quite a few of these and only five are in rotation in 2010. The rest you will have to buy secondhand or from old stock because they have been cycled out of production. The surviving members are Pamplelune, Herba Fresca, Flora Nymphea, Mandarine Basilic, and Tiare Mimosa.

Design: I love the Aqua Allegoria line because they are bottled in Guerlain’s signature bee style. While it’s not exactly a close replica of vintage Guerlain bee bottles, the Aqua Allegorias do a very nice throw back to their roots. Glass with a metal honeycomb mesh over the top. The top of the metal cap has a bee embossed onto it. Lining these things up in a row is delightful because they are quite beautifully designed.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Syringa flower, orange blossom, beneficial honey.

Of all the Aqua Allegorias, Pamplelune holds a special place. I could do with or without Flora Nymphea as it is a pretty generic, inoffensive floral fragrance.

Reviewed in This Post: Flora Nymphea, 2010, Eau de Toilette.

BPAL Embalming Fluid

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Embalming Fluid, despite its name, is actually quite pleasant. It’s a nice, green summer scent that’s got a good bit of refreshing bite to it that makes it perfect for warm weather. The heart of the fragrance is one of my favorite notes; green tea. Embalming Fluid

In Bottle: Green tea and lemon. Embalming Fluid isn’t high on the complexity meter but it’s a lovely mixture of two notes that go very well together when I smell this in the bottle.

Applied: Green tea amps up immediately and remains with me as the lemon comes rushing in afterward. There’s a slight sweetness to this too that helps soothe the very sharp lemon and tea scents. It mellows them out a little as the fragrance approaches mid-stage where, honestly, it does very little changing. I could be happy wearing this though and so would anyone else if they were a green tea note fan. The dry down gets a bit more interesting as the muskiness comes up for the final curtain but Embalming Fluid is a pretty easy and simple fragrance to love.

Extra: Embalming Fluid is one of those misunderstood fragrances with a name that could turn people away. Give it a chance though if you’re looking for a light, green, fresh summery scent.

Design: Bottled the same way other general catalogs scents from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab are.

Fragrance Family: Fresh

Notes: White musk, green tea, aloe, lemon.

The green tea note in Embalming Fluid is quite good. It’s very reminiscent of Creative Universe’s Te, except much simpler and lasts quite a bit longer.

Reviewed in This Post: Embalming Fluid, 2009, 5ml Bottle.

Marc Jacobs Daisy (in the Air)

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Daisy is one of the most popular modern fragrances that is widely available through many different stores. You can find this thing sitting in department stores, drugstores, boutiques, you name it. And it’s not hard to see why. Daisy is a light, playful, fresh and clean scent that was made to appeal. Like the Acqua di Gio of the 2000s. Daisy

In Bottle: Green and grassy with a light violet leaf giving it that green grassiness. The fruits in this are detectable but they’re watery–not sweet and honestly, they don’t need to be.

Applied: Fruit is the first thing I smell, diluted and tamed fruit. Most of you time you would think of fruit notes as being sweet and loud but the ones at play in Daisy are much more subdued. The mid-stage is characterized with a blend of fresh and clean smelling flowers and the persistent edge of green grass. I smell the gardenia most of all in the mid-stage which is a really addition. The dry down is a pretty and sheer musky vanilla. Daisy is the representation of a beautiful green meadow, a light breeze, and a happy frolic. It’s care-free, girly, clean and fresh. It’s also very, very light as I find myself having to use more Daisy than I would any other fragrance to catch my scent in the morning. The fact still remains though that this is a great modern fragrance that truly earns its badge as one of the most popular available fragrances.

Extra: Daisies do not actually have a scent. Marc Jacobs’ Daisy invokes the concept of what a daisy would smell like instead. It should be noted that you may find Daisy and Daisy in the Air available in stores. Daisy in the Air is the exact same fragrance in a limited edition bottle with blue flowers. Unless you are in the market for a new bottle of Daisy, do not drop the cash on Daisy in the Air because it is not a flanker, just a redesign for the bottle.

Design: Cute little curved glass bottle with an equally adorable topper covered in white (or blue in the case of Daisy in the Air) flowers. I had originally thought the design for this fragrance was a little hokey but those flowers get to you so that even the most minimalist of us are swayed by those infectious little flowers. I gotta admit now, I like the bottle design. It’s cute and playful and effective. The rubber flowers are what cinched the deal.

Fragrance Family: Fresh Floral

Notes: Strawberry, violet leaves, ruby red grapefruit, gardenia, violet petals, jasmine petals, musk, vanilla, white woods.

Another thing to note of Daisy in the Air, aside from the blue flowers, it also comes with a garland that you can spritz with scent and hang in the room so that it disperses fragrance throughout the place. I think it’s a cute gimmick but again, this isn’t a flanker, it is just the exact same smell as the regular Daisy packaged differently.

Reviewed in This Post: Daisy & Daisy in the Air, 2010, Eau de Toilette.

Clinique Happy

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You have to throw props at a fragrance that doesn’t even try to pretend that it has any ounce of natural to it. Clinique Happy is the big red balloon of the fragrance world. It smells fake, it smells perky, and it doesn’t even bother to hide it. Happy

In Bottle: I don’t know where the notes listing got the idea that this was supposed to be fruity and floral. The only thing this smells like is powdered makeup. Ever hovered near the Clinique counter at the department store? Ever bought any of their cosmetics? That scent you get is what Clinique Happy smells like in the bottle.

Applied: Juicy green citrus followed by a powdery green floral and dry citrus rind mid-stage that has this synthetic heart to it. That synthetic heart smells like a child’s red balloon. It smells like Clinique cosmetics. I swear this scent is what they imbue in their products because, to me as someone who knows and hangs out with several people who wear Clinique cosmetics, this fragrance is  extremely familiar. It’s not unpleasant by any means, it’s just familiar and frustrating because I cannot dissect it and cannot separate it from the products I know it smells like. I can only go so far as to suggest it smells like citrus at first, then green florals, ivy, and dry citrus notes and when it dries down it has a dusky green powder tail that drifts off leaving a hint of freshness. Fresh, clean and synthetic.

Extra: Clinique is well known for their line of hypo-allergenic cosmetics. So I’m guessing that all the people who say this fragrance makes them happy are either smelling the red balloon and remembering the circus or just really, really like Clinique products. Maybe I’m just not understanding the floral this is supposed to be. I didn’t find myself any happier having smelled this or put it on. I didn’t find myself any sadder either so there’s that.

Design: Very simple bottle design. Clinique does simple packaging very well with their signature light green color on their cosmetics. I was surprised Happy didn’t feature the light green in some way but I’m not complaining about what it currently is. Easy to hold, not unpleasant to look at. Just a bit too plain though.

Fragrance Family: Fresh

Notes: Bergamot, boysenberry, honeysuckle, bushflower, grapefruit, moss, freesia, lemon, Hawaiian wedding flower.

Nothing really sweet in this either. It was just a light, powdery, fresh scent. Not at all offensive, quite amusing in that it smelled like Clinique cosmetics too. This is nice if you need an office fragrance or a scent for everyday wear.

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

Prada Infusion d’Homme

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Infusion d’Homme is a part of Prada’s infusions series that includes one of my favorites, Infusion d’Iris. This series of sheer and light fragrances aren’t known much for their longevity or silage but are fantastic as clean and light fragrances. Infusion d'Homme

In Bottle: Infusion d’Homme smells fresh and clean, mildly aromatic but mostly  just fresh and clean–like a bar of soap. Generic, lovely smelling, soap.

Applied: Neroli and dryness for a moment then Infusion d’Homme sends the soap straight out at you. There’s a powderiness to this that lingers a bit with the soap, furthering that clean, fresh scent. Infusion d’Homme does one thing well and that is make you think you’re wearing a bar of soap around your neck. It’s a nice bar of soap though. During the middle development, this gets a little sharper and very, very slightly sweeter before it goes back to just soap. There’s a pyramid of notes presented for Infusion d’Homme that I think is just there for show since the only piece of that pyramid I saw was powder and neroli. The soap stays with you, never truly leaving–not even on the dry down when Infusion d’Homme gets a bit more powdery.

Extra: Although generally thought to be a masculine fragrance, Infusion d’Homme is more of a unisex. I don’t really see how a fragrance that smells like soap and cleanliness could have a gender anyway.

Design: Call me a sucker for uniform, but I love how these infusions are bottled the same way with varying colors and slightly different themes. Infusion d’Homme is bottled exactly the same way as Infusion d’Iris except it is a beige color instead of a light green. Simple, elegant, looks great on a shelf–if I kept my fragrances on a shelf, anyway.

Fragrance Family: Clean and Fresh

Notes: Mandarin, neroli, clean notes, iris, galbanum, cedar, vetiver, benzoin, frankincense, powdery notes.

Infusion d’Homme reminds me a bit of my childhood, French colonial style apartment buildings with clotheslines threading the distance between them. A day on the stone balcony playing with a bar of soap, that this fragrance invokes the smell of, while our downstairs neighbor simultaneously cooked dinner and yelled at her kids.

Reviewed in This Post: Infusion d’Homme, 2009, Eau de Toilette.

Montale Chypre Vanille

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Shameful as it is, I do not remember how Montale’s Oud based fragrance line smells like. Not a single one. I’m working my way back in that direction though. Along the way, I’m picking up some others first. Notably, the cleaner, whiter Montale fragrances that catch that part of me that just wants to smell clean and fresh. Chypre Vanille

In Bottle: Light and green, very pleasant and clean fragrance. Think fresh out of the shower scent with a nice, light, floral mist.

Applied: Beautifully light floral fragrance that’s very quintessentially white and airy. There’s a soapiness to this that opens the fragrance and stays with it as the scent starts to age. The incense used in Chypre Vanille isn’t your typical fair. It’s been cleaned up to the point where it’s hard to recognize as it helps to dry out the vanilla, presenting this concept of vanilla that is unfamiliar but very likable. Chypre Vanille takes the sweetness out of vanilla and makes it sharp and clean, something I wouldn’t expect the note would be capable of. But it wouldn’t be the first or last time I’m wrong. There’s a powderiness to this fragrance too that lingers in the back and reminds you once every so often that it’s still there. The dry down is a nice clean and dry woodsy scent with a very heavy reminder of the vanilla that this was based on. The dry down actually reminds me a little bit  of how the classic Guerlains smell.

Extra: Montale is popular for their many different oud-based fragrances that run the gamut of colors, styles and scents.

Design: Bottled in much the same way as other Montale scents, Chypre Vanille is presented in a lovely dark blue bottle with a metal cap and sprayer.

Fragrance Family: Chypre

Notes: Vanilla, rose, amber, incense, sandalwood, iris, vetiver, tonka bean.

An interesting take on what some people cringe to refer to as a “modern chypre”. I don’t know if I like it enough for a bottle but it’s still pleasant nonetheless. Something very clean about it. Almost soapy but very nice.

Reviewed in This Post: Chypre Vanille, 2009, Sample Vial.