Oscar de la Renta Tropical Flower

I smelled this fragrance before I saw the bottle and while the fragrance left me lukewarm, the bottle really turned me off. Something about the colors, the shape and the way it felt just didn’t settle well with me. Just as well for lukewarm perfume.

Tropical Flower

Tropical Flower

In Bottle: Tropical, pleasant but not especially unique or interesting. I get a lot of fruits, sweet and cooling.

Applied: Tropical fruits upon application, smells like a dewy melon mixed in a tropical drink and meant to be enjoyed under an umbrella. There is a floral, rose note that wafts in during the mid stage with a liberal coating of sugar that runs over the opening. If this had been a bit less sweet, it might have done a little better because there’s something decent about the mid stage and its florals that are trying to class up Tropical Flower, but aren’t quite making it because of the sugar. The dry down is a dead end of white musk and the remnants of sugary fruits and frangipani.

Extra: Having been too busy this summer to make it to the beach, I tried to replace my beachless summer with a fragrance. Some day I’ll make it to the Bahamas, but for now, the Tropical Flower just isn’t a substitution.

Design: I really can’t say I like the design of Tropical Flower’s bottle. It looks very plastic, even though it isn’t. And maybe that’s what they were going for all along, it just doesn’t appeal to me.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Passionfruit, melon, raspberry, gardenia, jasmine, frangipani, white musk.

So that was Tropical Flower, a fairly underwhelming fragrance.

Reviewed in This Post: Tropical Flower, ~2008, Eau de Toilette.


Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy la Fleur

Maybe I’m not being fair. Or maybe I felt like I’ve been spoiling myself with niche and independent fragrances lately, but I went on a department store perfume bender and have a book full of notes that I have only just now gotten around to starting. There’s still more niche to come, but these mass market scents seem fun to me–some less fun than others.

Viva la Juicy la Fleur

Viva la Juicy la Fleur

In Bottle: A big pile of sugar and flowers. Smells a lot like the original, with a weird cloying burnt sugar smell that I didn’t get from the original.

Applied: So Viva la Juicy la Fleur is one of those less fun fragrances I mentioned above. In the past, I’ve been pleasantly surprised and amused by a lot of mass market offerings, but this one hits the ordinary right on the head. The original Viva La Juicy, I had to give props to. Despite myself, I actually liked it on occasion. Granted, I was younger then and had more opportunities to wear hot pink. I’m not sure the original would strike my fancy as much these days, because la Fleur isn’t doing anything for me. If you thought Viva la Juicy was just too strong and didn’t have enough of that burnt sugar smell, then la Fleur might be worth it. For me, the original was better, but these two smell very similar. Same sugary candy opening, same sweet florals, same hint of fruits throughout, and same achingly sweet persona. This is the smell teen girls in high schools and colleges might like and wear. It would only smell ridiculous on me now.

Extra: I still pull out the original Viva la Juicy now and then, take off the cap, spray and smell and then promptly go to wash it off. I really outgrew the fragrance and making it lighter didn’t make it any more grown up.

Design: Someone refreshed design. I had thought the original Viva la Juicy was absurdly girly, but apparently all they had to do to top it off was slap some graphical flowers on the bottle, use a cheaper bow, throw in a script typeface and here we are. Not ugly. The form actually still looks nice. It is just very, very girly.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Orange, berries, water lily, honeysuckle, gardenia, jasmine, caramel, vanilla, sandalwood.

Couldn’t remember the last time I had smelled a generic fruity floral like this. It was actually somewhat nostalgic. Long story short, though, don’t buy this if you have and like the original Viva La Juicy. Unless you just want something weaker and sweeter.

Reviewed in This Post: Viva la Juicy la Fleur, 2012, Eau de Toilette.


Histoires de Parfums 1804

Okay, no more silly celebrity stuff for the time being. I went a little crazy for Histoires de Parfums. Gimmicky as the concept might seem sometimes, I can’t deny for a minute that it hooked me. So I went and got a few more years from the line.

1804

1804

In Bottle: I really didn’t expect the pineapple to be quite so prominent, but it’s just about the only thing there on first sniff.

Applied: Yep, pineapple. Very tropical, quite sweet with a juiciness to it that I want to attribute to the peach. The pineapple note is very strong and quite loud. I rather like it as it screams holidays and summer at me. Strange because I expected something entirely more subdued from 1804, still feminine, still fruity but not screaming fun and sun like it is right now. All confusion and expectations aside, 1804’s pineapple opening is pretty delightful. It’s sweet and girly and fun. It rolls into a mild floral bouquet with a sweet and clean finish at the end. I was looking for the spices the whole time, but they never made themselves known. Not elegant, but not at all bad. I quite like it.

Extra: 1804 was inspired by Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, who might be more recognizable by her pen name, George Sand.

Design: Designed in the same way as most other Histoires de Parfums bottles. I would love to have a full set of these, lined up in a neat row. I would finally be able to pretend I’m some sort of chemist with impeccable taste.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Pineapple, peach, gardenia, jasmine, rose, lily-of-the-valley, cloves, nutmeg, sandalwood, patchouli, benzoin, vanilla, white musk.

Probably not an instance where I’m dying to throw money at it, but 1804 remains a very pleasant, very feminine fragrance. If I had a hankering for pineapple, I think it would be the first thing I go for.

Reviewed in This Post: 1802, 2012, Eau de Parfum.


Illuminum White Gardenia Petals

It was inevitable that I finally got to White Gardenia Petals–or, ever since the royal wedding happened–the “Princess perfume” that Lady Katherine Middleton chose to wear on her wedding day. There’s been a lot of buzz about it and even a little bit of scandal. But when all was said and done, Kay is once again late to the party.

White Gardenia Petals

White Gardenia Petals

In Bottle: A rather pleasant gardenia with a touch of screech in the background.

Applied: I feel as if it’s fair to say that this is the only version of White Gardenia Petals I’ve ever smelled. Which could be a few steps away from the version Katherine Middleton wore on her wedding day. Some perfumistas say that version smells different from the one I’m sampling right now and I haven’t had much luck getting a hold of the old stuff so I only have my new stuff and previous accounts to go by. Without further ado, White Gardenia Petals opens up with a lovely light gardenia with a touch of green. As it wears on, the gardenia gets stronger, a bit of a different progression from what I experienced with last week’s Hothouse Flower. This is heavier handed, better projection, more floral in a sense with a denser concentration of gardenia. Its mildly powdery, but mostly strong. I get occasional whiffs of plastic where the gardenia gets overzealous, but it’s overall fairly nice. I rather like the strong approach White Gardenia Petals chose to take. At its base is a clean white musk which makes me think White Gardenia Petals might work really well as a luxury soap.

Extra: By now, I think we all know why and who wore White Gardenia Petals. I’m no expert on fashion or trends. I’m certainly no expert on the Royals. All I know is, this stuff had a very nice, balanced projection in my opinion so Katherine Middleton must have had quite the gardenia-scented aura. White Gardenia Petals can be purchased on LuckyScent and Illuminum’s Website.

Design: Designed in much the same way as the other Illuminum fragrances. I’m starting to wonder if these things have gotten to me or what because I find their design a little more pleasant now than I did initially. It’s still functional, though not my favorite look by any means.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Bergamot, cassis, gardenia, ylang-ylang, jasmine, woods.

I actually quite liked White Gardenia Petals for what it is. It was plainly simple, but in a nice way. It’s not my favorite gardenia, but it’s not a bad interpretation and I think I’m a little biased because I just had a gardenia I loved in Hothouse Flower. Otherwise, this was quite nice.

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

Disclaimer: The fragrance reviewed in this post was provided to me for free for the purposes of review. In no other way am I receiving pay or compensation for this review. This review was written based upon my personal experiences and opinions of the product.


Ineke Hothouse Flower

As I went through the list of FiFi Indie nominees, my eyes caught on Hothouse Flower by Ineke as the information was transmitted into my brain which made my hand shoot into the box of samples in my desk drawer. Hothouse Flower was a fragrance I had intended to save for spring, but with its name coming up on the nominees list, I couldn’t help the curiosity.

Hothouse Flower

Hothouse Flower

In Bottle: Green and floral, lots of gardenia but smells like dew dappled gardenia.

Applied: Hothouse Flower reminds me of days where the rain only lightly mists everything. It’s fresh and green like the smell you get when you pinch a leaf. The gardenia is very present, but it works well with the greenness and the freshness. It’s tame, not crazy or overpowering. I don’t smell much of the tea, but there’s a small mention of incense in the fragrance. The scent ages with a more noticeable cypress but always remains true to that lovely, green gardenia. Very nice, conjures up beautiful images of tall trees, pretty flowers and dew–just the kind of imagery I could fall in love with.

Extra: Ineke Ruhland is an independent perfumer operating out of San Fransisco. Hothouse Flower was released in 2012 and found its way to my desk drawer via a friend’s recommendation.

Design: Nice, simple packaging. Cylindrical vessel with nice elements etched on glass with a tasteful, equally simple cap. Nothing glaring, nothing too obvious, just plain old good work.

Fragrance Family: Soliflore

Notes: Earl grey tea, leaves, cypress, gardenia, galbanum, fig, frankincense, guaiac wood, corn silk, musk.

After experiencing Hothouse Flower, I want to go out of my way to get more of it thanks to the imagery it inspires. Or, better yet, get my hands on more house samples. Best of luck to Ineke Ruhland in the FiFi awards.

Reviewed in This Post: Hothouse Flower, 2012, Eau de Parfum.


Madonna Truth or Dare

With the way work has been ramping up lately, I haven’t had the chance to get my nose wrapped around much but my usual standbys. So, when I discovered the local mall had a bottle of Madonna’s Truth or Dare sitting out, I shrugged my shoulders and thought, “Well, why not? I’m here already.”

Truth or Dare

Truth or Dare

In Bottle: Wow, tuberose. I get a very strong floral presence that’s predominantly tuberose.

Applied: Yikes. Tuberose. I know this scent gets compared to Fracas–the cheeky Tuberose Queen and I definitely get that impression. Truth or Dare opens up with a powerful hit of sweet tuberose followed with a barely-able-to-contain-itself gardenia note that furthers the floral interpretation. The fragrance is so sweet and floral that it obliterates any other smell to my nose can pick up and starts to smell like plastic a couple of minutes into wear. By the time hour two rolled around, I was trying to scrub it off because I smelled overwhelmingly like plastic. And of course, like with most fragrances that don’t agree with you, this just wouldn’t come off. So I did the only logical thing; I sprayed some more on, in a different location, went home and sat out the fragrance so I could at least take notes on it, review it, and never touch it again. The longevity is fairly good, lasting quite a few hours on me before it tried to exhibit any other kind of personality. Truth or Dare gets a bit less tuberose near the end of its mid-stage and focuses a bit more on this nice creamy, vanilla with some plastic stretched over it. But for as long as I could still smell it, there was that sweet plastic tuberose note dominating the entire scene.

Extra: Truth or Dare was launched earlier in 2012. The fragrance was composed by Stephen Nilsen.

Design: I can’t say I see the beauty of this design. The bottle is a white glass, but looks like it’s made of plastic until you touch it. The cap is a gold plastic, molded with these little studs, it looks a bit inappropriate and doesn’t quite do the fragrance any favors. All right, I admit, the thing is downright ugly. I think those studs or raised bumps on the bottle are taking it from “plain but looks all right” to “fugly” territory. I’m just a fan of the aesthetics this time.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Floral

Notes: Neroli, gardenia, tuberose, jasmine, benzoin, lily, vanilla, amber, musk.

I was actually hoping this one would work out, having heard how classical it was supposed to be. Having heard how similar to Fracas it was. But unlike Fracas, it overdoes the tuberose and not in a good way. I think I’ll stick to Fracas.

Reviewed in This Post: Truth or Dare, 2012, Eau de Parfum.


Miss Dior

Miss Dior, unlike her younger sister (Miss Dior Cherie), is a smart, sophisticated woman who enjoys the finer things in life but doesn’t let it get to her head. She’s humble and complex with a classical charm that Miss Dior Cherie can never beat.

Miss Dior

Miss Dior

In Bottle: Green with a prominent aldehyde quality to it and a dusting of florals.

Applied: Sharp green aldehydes that are a bit of a sting on the old nostrils. Miss Dior goes on strong and powerful, hits you with a wave of classical perfume and reminds you of what a real chypre ought to smell like. Nothing like the lilting chypres of today that have been toned down and have lost their oak moss. Miss Dior is the full force of chypres upon application. As the fragrance ages, she smooths out a bit taking on a powdery quality to me with a warm sensuality that works in the complexity of the fragrance. It’s hard to describe complex fragrances for me because breaking them down into components and saying, “I smell this and now I smell this” would ruin the experience. Instead let me just say that Miss Dior smells like a vintage with an aldehyde and floral mid-stage prominent in neroli and jasmine and is every bit the chypre that she’s supposed to be. The fragrance dries down into a lovely rich flowers, forest and buttery leather scent that makes me want to stick my nose to my wrists and deeply inhale.

Extra: Miss Dior was released in the late 1940s and was composed by Jean Carles and Paul Vacher. Like most (if not all) classics that have survived till today, Miss Dior has been reformulated. The version I’m reviewing in this post is reportedly from sometime in the 1970s. I have not tried the more readily available, “Miss Dior Originale” yet, but I do have a sample of that so I will be trying it eventually.

Design: Miss Dior seems to do everything better than Miss Dior Cherie. The bottle has a classic look, but one that will never go out of style. While it’s a familiar shape to Miss Dior Cherie, Miss Dior’s more grown-up style and beautiful textured glass sets it a class above its younger counterpart. Miss Dior doesn’t need a bow on its neck to exude femininity, basically.

Fragrance Family: Chypre

Notes: Aldehydes, gardenia, galbanum, clary sage, bergamot, carnation, iris, jasmine, neroli, lily of the valley, rose, narcissus, labdanum, leather, sandalwood, amber, patchouli, oak moss, vetiver.

It probably sounds like I’m ragging on Miss Dior Cherie a lot in this post, and I am. It’s not that Miss Dior Cherie doesn’t accomplish good things as a modern gourmand that appeals to younger women, it’s just that Miss Dior–who sometimes gets confused with her younger counterpart–gets a lot of bad press from people who accidentally picked her up thinking she’ll smell anything like the candy-like Miss Dior Cherie. Then come the proclamations that Miss Dior “smells like old lady”, and that’s just unfortunate.

Reviewed in This Post: Miss Dior, ~1970, Eau de Toilette.


Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia

Gorgeous Gardenia

Gorgeous Gardenia

Gucci Flora was like my guilty little pleasure where I knew the fragrance wasn’t super sophisticated, but I still like it and wear it anyway. So I got curious when I saw they had come out with some Flora flankers. I had my reservations, after all, Flora wasn’t anything to call home about so how good could the flankers be? I know I shouldn’t judge a flanker by the perfume it was modeled after. But what bothered me most about Flora Gorgeous Gardenia was its somewhat silly name.

In Bottle: Pear and sweetness with a little touch of floral.

Applied: Pear upfront with the sweetness rolling out its game very quickly. Gorgeous Gardenia smells of candy and lace and fruity summer drinks with little umbrellas in them. After the initial blast of fruit juice and candy, Gorgeous Gardenia settles down a bit and introduces a very mild and difficult to pick up floral element. I can’t say the gardenias are making much of a show as this tends to enjoy smelling like generic flowers and sugar. The sugar in this isn’t too strong. It’s actually used rather well, giving the fragrance a soft lilt that sort of brushes your nose instead of slamming into it. I like that about it, but as for everything else, it’s a pretty bland affair. The dry down isn’t very noticeable either with the sugar cleaning itself up a bit and leaving a ghost of itself behind with a dry and cleanly scrubbed patchouli note finishing the scent.

Extra: Gorgeous Gardenia is only one of five Flora flankers to be released. The other four are Generous Violet, Glamorous Magnolia, Glorious Mandarin, and Gracious Tuberose. Makes me wonder what other “G” words they can come up with to couple with some unsuspecting flower. Perhaps we’ll get Grandiose Rose.

Design: I really liked the design of Gucci’s Flora and the more I used my little 30ml bottle, the more the design grew on me to the point where I decided it was adorable and that I loved it–just in time for all the juice to run out. Still, I liked the packaging for Flora and I like the packaging for Gorgeous Gardenia which is largely similar except in a tall bottle as opposed to squat and with pinkish liquid.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Pear, berries, gardenia, frangipani, patchouli, sugar.

I did like how Gorgeous Gardenia smells, but it’s far from interesting or new. It’s a very functional fragrance much like Flora–though the two don’t smell alike. Gorgeous Gardenia tends more toward sweet and fruity as opposed to sweet and floral like Flora did.

Reviewed in This Post: Flora Gorgeous Gardenia, 2012, Eau de Toilette.


Cacharel Liberte

Liberte is a beautiful and vastly underrated fragrances. I don’t hear much about this one, but if you can find it, it’s quite a beauty in a girly, sweet scented way.

Liberte

Liberte

In Bottle: Somewhat harsh with the orange scent mixed with a very sweet note. Reminds me a bit of orange marmalade of which I’m not a very big fan of.

Applied: The orange marmalade scent throws me off for a bit and has me a bit worried but it goes away rather quickly. What replaces it is a beautiful crystal clear honey scent with a delicate floral heart. I haven’t smelled mainstream this good in a while. It reminds me a teensy bit of the more complex Aftelier Honey Blossom. Honey Blossom still has this stuff beat in terms of authenticity and complexity, but Liberte has a more delicate scent after its initial wave of citrus jam. If you don’t want to get too complex and if you want something flowery and honey-like then Liberte is a good catch. It’s dry down introduces a bit of spices and vanilla to join in the honeyed florals. There’s a bit of patchouli, but it adds rather that distracts from the rest of the fragrance. Very nicely done!

Extra: Liberte doesn’t seem to be too hard to track down. I’ve found it on at least two discounter sites and for a fairly reasonable price too. Liberte was released in 2007 and composed by Olivier Polge and Domitille Berthier.

Design: Bottle simply in a tall glass flacon. Liberte sports one of the better designs from Cacharel. It’s nice and elegant with a sophisticated look. The bottle itself is easy to hold and use. I couldn’t be happier with the design choice for Liberte.

Fragrance Family: Chypre Oriental

Notes: Bergamot, lemon, orange, bitter orange, mandarin, sugar, freesia, frangipani, gardenia, heliotrope, honey, marmalade, spices, vanilla, patchouli, vetiver.

All in all, I would still pick Aftelier’s Honey Blossom over Liberte, but it all depends on what you want in a fragrance. Liberte is certainly beautiful and shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s miles better than most fragrances that claim to be honey-based.

Reviewed in This Post: Liberte, 2007, Eau de Toilette.


Diesel Loverdose

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.