Oscar Oscar de la Renta

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Oscar from Oscar de la Renta was released in 1978 and is described as a floral aromatic. This fragrance, to me, is like all the good parts of women’s fragrance and men’s fragrance put together to form a very classic fragrance.

Oscar

In Bottle: Sharp green and a bit powdery. I get a lot of the herbs in the bottle with a faint trace of florals in the back.

Applied: Herbs and powder, a bit of a strange mix but not at all unpleasant with the rosemary being the most dominant note. It’s interesting and definitely smells like a classic fragrance. As Oscar settles down the perfume heads into more floral territory with a smattering of herbs and green rosemary while still retaining that classic powder scent. The fragrance uses florals in a sheer way with a hit of spicy carnation to give those flowers a bit more sway. The dry down is probably my favorite part that sees Oscar head into this warm amber and spicy powder finish with a dash of full-bodied patchouli. I know a lot of younger people who will be turned off by the powderiness of this and I will warn everyone that this does smell very much like a classic. But if you’re looking to smell sophisticated, this is good stuff.

Extra: Oscar was composed by Jean-Louis Sieuzac. One its recent bottle designs was done by the famous Serge Mansau.

Design: Oscar’s eau de toilette bottle (pictured) is a tall glass with a black cap and usually silver sprayer. The shape of the bottle is a bit interesting and sets it out from other perfumes by not being a big tall rectangle. The parfum version of the bottle looks more exciting, having a Marc Jacobs Daisy meets Nina Ricci L’Air du Temps style with its flower motif.

Fragrance Family: Aromatic

Notes: Orange blossom, basil, coriander, galbanum, peach, gardenia, ylang-ylang, jasmine, tuberose, rose, rosemary, cyclamen, lavender, orchid, opoponax, carnation, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, amber.

I’m loving that notes list and marvel at how well the notes actually work in this fragrance. Oscar is available for purchase almost everwhere with a strong presence at internet retailer sites and can also be purchased on the official Oscar de la Renta site.

Reviewed in This Post: Oscar, 2002, Eau de Toilette.

Britney Spears Circus Fantasy

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So I dragged my heels on this one a little bit. I’m fatigued with the whole Britney Spears Fantasy line, to be honest. Fantasy, itself, is an icon of celebrity fragrances and its flankers are nothing to be sniffed at either. Though they aren’t so unique  that if you passed on them, you’d miss out.

Circus Fantasy

In Bottle: Circus Fantasy does clean! That’s a nice mix up from the fruitiness of the other two Fantasy scents I’ve tried. It smells like a very sweet glass of lemonade.

Applied: Sweet citrus up front and the citrus is a quick fader so we get down to business rather quick. Heading into the rest of the opening, Circus Fantasy hits up a sweet berry note and falls into a pile of pretty little violets right away. The mid-stage is a more floral fragrance, doing a mixture of sweet and clean florals rather well as the scent hits up peony and orchid. It smells really similar to a bunch of other celebrity fragrances in the mid-stage with that sweet floral heart that’s so recognizable. At least it’s easy to accept and wear! The dry down is an uninspired array of vanilla and sugar with a jolt of clean dashed in there for good measure. Overall, Circus Fantasy does clean and refreshing rather well. The mid-stage bores me a bit along with the end stage but the opening was pretty good. I liked the lemonade smell and wished we had gotten more of that.

Extra: Now the only fragrance in the Fantasy line that I haven’t gotten my nose on yet is Hidden Fantasy. That’s the red one. I can’t seem to find it anywhere but online and I would like to avoid getting more than a decant or sampler spray of it so until I track it down, I’m sure Britney’s perfume line will come out with another Fantasy flanker.

Design: Still hate the bottle. Sorry guys. It will probably never look any better no matter what they do with it. Circus Fantasy is an appealing shade of blue at least, with red rhinestones set into the bottle’s glass.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Raspberry, apricot, lotus, orchid, peony, vanilla, sugar, musk.

Move over Midnight Fantasy, Circus Fantasy’s got you beat. I really do like that lemonade opening and wish they could have just bottled that for all three stages.

Reviewed in This Post: Circus Fantasy, 2009, Eau de Parfum.

Calgon Moon Petal Musk 1999

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I remember a long time ago when I got my first set of body mists. They came in four. They were body mists, and they were Calgon. They started my long sordid decline into the perfume obsession I find myself in today. Now, Calgon’s never really gotten any better with these fragrances but I can’t help but feel that little sting of nostalgia whenever I smell one of these.

Moon Petal Musk

In Bottle: Sharp floral twang with a bit of fresh greenness up top. The greenness is very fleeting because it’s easily overpowered by the floral bite.

Applied: Strong flowers floating in ozone notes. Moon Petal Musk might as well be standing ontop of a mountain and shouting, “OZONE!” for the whole world to hear because that ozone note is what lends to the sharpness and powerful fresh smell in this. And fresh, in this case, is defined as overly clean and very sharp. The ozone does fade, however, leaving you with a rather pleasant bouquet of white florals. The most prominent notes being lillies and roses. Mix lily and rose together in equal parts and you will get this vague feel of white, powdery flowers. As Moon Petal Musk dries down, the florals devolve into a very vague floral fragrance where you can’t really tell what flower it is you’re smelling, but you’re sure it’s at least a flower. The florals are mingled with a sharp white musk to usher out the fragrance completely.

Extra: It should be noted that Calgon re-imagined and reformulated Moon Petal Musk since my bottle’s time. The new Moon Petal Musk smells nothing like this and one glance at its new notes list should tell you that. So, if we were going to be ridiculous, I’d venture to say my bottle of watery perfume is a vintage–but we’re not feeling ridiculous right now. I will say that compared to the new Moon Petal Musk, the original is far more competent.

Design: All body sprays tend to be bottled in the same way. Tall cylindrical plastic container with plastic sprayer nozzle. It’s not fancy, it’s not exciting and it’s not meant to be any of those things. This is simply functional, with a little bit of plain and ugly thrown in.

Fragrance Family: Fresh Floral

Notes: Ozone, orchid, rose, freesia, muguet, white musk.

I took a stab at the notes list with what rarity of information I could find online regarding the original Moon Petal Musk’s notes. I refused to believe the one place I found a notes list that “airy green expression” was a serious thing I was supposed to smell. It’s like when you’re playing Pictionary and some smarty pants decides to make you illustrate the concept of humility. My thanks to LittleGnome on Makeupalley for the notes list I referenced. I believe her list might be the official word on this fragrance, so take mine with a grain of salt.

Reviewed in This Post: Moon Petal Musk, 1999, Body Mist.

Houbigant Raffinee 1982

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Houbigant is one of those old perfume houses that made the early 1900s the romantic, complex perfume era that it was. Their fragrance, Raffinée was released in 1982. It was a strong contender in the time of the oriental perfumes.

In Bottle: Opens up with spicy and sweet carnation. I love it when carnation is done right and that’s when there’s a little bit of sweetness thrown in there to calm the flower down. I’m delighted to see Raffinée work the floral opening like this.

Applied: Spicy sweet carnation on the opening, there’s a floral quality up there that makes Raffinée smell elegant and light. The fragrance heads into the mid-stage dolling itself up with some light florals and a dusting of tuberose while the heavy-hitting incense and smooth vanilla amp up. The spiciness takes on a more fleeting role until the dry down where cinnamon makes a bit of an appearance. There’s a powdery quality to this fragrance that smacks of the clean sharp personality of an aldeyhyde treatment. This powderiness remains throughout its lifespan that echoes that clean and classic sensibility of classic perfumery. As Raffinée continues to age it takes on a warm, amber note and a slight bitterness on its way to dry down. The dry down is a pleasantly green, warm cinnamon and vanilla amber fragrance with a bit of woodsiness to round itself off. Raffinée has excellent longevity on me, and its complexity is absolutely fantastic. The projection on me was decent as well.

Extra: Raffinée’s been a victim of reformulation to make it less objective and easier to wear. I haven’t yet smelled the reformulation but of the opinions of the reformulation so far, I can’t say I’m in a hurry to. Houbigant was established in Paris in 1775 by Jean-François Houbigant. Nowadays Houbigant. You may see Raffinée listed “by Dana” instead of “by Houbigant”. The House of Houbigant has a long, sad story that saw the fall of a once great fragrance house to what it is now. You can read up about it at Perfume Projects.

Design: Unfortunately I was unable to identify an actual vintage bottle to use as a photo and I have yet to actually hold a vintage bottle myself. There’s a ton of different iterations for this fragrance as well which does not help in the least in terms of identifying which style the original formula came in. Adding to this complication is Houbigant’s very sad but very complicated recent history and Raffinée not being as well known as it should be. I would like to take an educated guess but would rather not risk being wrong. The fragrance’s general theme seems to be art deco etched in gold on red which sounds like a tasteful treatment. Of the bottles I looked at, the ones involving the art deco design gave the packaging a bit of old design appeal. Much more interesting that the designs that lacked the art deco elements. If you can help me out with the vintage fragrance’s design, please leave a comment!

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Carnation, orange blossom, plum, clary sage, jasmine, citruses, bergamot, rose, mimosa, tuberose, tonka bean, orchid, osmanthus, orris root, hiacynth and ylang-ylang, spices, cypress, sandalwood, cinnamon, musk, vanilla, vetiver, incense.

If you do seek out a bottle of Raffinée, I highly–with italics and everything–suggest you look for a vintage formula. And by vintage in this case, I mean its 1980s self to get the full effect of Raffinée. Any later and you may wander into watered-down and reformulated territory. Also be aware that true vintage Raffinée is difficult to find and quite rare (I, myself, have a small decant scraped out of the recesses of obscure fragrance). Many who label the fragrance as “by Houbigant” are actually talking about a newer formulation that should instead by labeled “by Dana”. It’s complicated, I know. I would appreciate any help in identifying a true vintage bottle.

Reviewed in This Post: Raffinée, ~1985, Eau de Parfum.

BnBW P.S. I Love You

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P.S. I Love You was released in 2009 from Bath and Body Works. A time when I had just gotten my first Bath and Body Works lotion after hearing about them for years. I was all right with the lotion but I was more curious about the perfume they were introducing in their promotional postcard. Turns out, it’s a competent rose.

P.S. I Love You

In Bottle: Bright and pretty, I smell citrus more than I smell florals but the roses are in there, mingling about with a slightly sweet thickness to it that gives P.S. I Love You surprising body.

Applied: Citrus to start that launches into a mild sweetness with a waft of peony before it evolves rather quickly into its rose stage. In the mid-stage is there P.S. I Love You  shines. The roses come up, light and airy at first before they get deeper and turn into a surprisingly lovable smooth and spicy, utterly feminine, rose scent. Make no mistake, P.S. I Love You will deliver perfume’s most beloved flower with a dash of lightly dusted peonies and a hint of sharp musk. Near the end of the mid-stage I get an interesting amber note, it gives this scent a pleasant warming quality. This is a surprisingly well done rose that took me by surprise. It’s young, definitely, but it’s very likable. The dry down is marked with a rather predictable sandalwood accompanied by a bit more fleeting rose and full-bodied  sweet amber to warm the fragrance.

Extra: Something interesting to note is the perfumer of P.S. I Love You who is known for composing fragrances for Ralph Lauren, Bond No.9 and Tom Ford.

Design: P.S. I Love You comes in a couple of concentrations–eau de toilette and eau de parfum. I was testing the eau de parfum version that comes in a cute little bottle that you see pictured above. Unfortunately, the eau de parfum was a limited edition item (as far as I understand it) and is no longer available. Bath and Body Works still carries P.S. I Love You in the eau de toilette version which looks pretty much like every other Bath and Body Works perfume bottle. Both designs are rather tasteful though I vastly preferred the eau de parfum design.  P.S. I Love You’s design reminds me of brush strokes, love letters and flower petals.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Citrus, lychee, peony, yellow rose, riesling, scarlet velvet rose, orchid, lilies, jasmine, incense, creamy sandalwood, patchouli, amber, and musk.

I know a lot of people are afraid of rose. I find rose beautiful but many are understandably wary of it. It is often associated with “old fashioned perfume” but P.S. I Love You is a very youthful an interpretation and  there are still people who find it difficult to love. Though the majority of people who try it, still like it well enough.

Reviewed in This Post: P.S. I Love You, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

BPAL Kitsune-Tsuki

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Kitsune-Tsuki has multiple personalities on me. On some days, she’s a pretty, plummy, fruity jasmine fragrance. On other days, she’s a dried prune scent with a deep resiny quality to her. But what she lacks in consistency she makes up for in entertainment. Kitsune Tsuki

In Bottle: Clean and musky playing with the usually rich, pulpy plum note. Very prominently fruity up top, sweet with a dash of sharp white musk.

Applied: Plum flares up, it’s the first thing I smell. It’s sweet and rich and decadent as it evolves into a pretty sheer jasmine plum fruity floral with a clear note of clean, sharp, white musk. What Kitsune-Tsuki smells like in the bottle is pretty much how she smells on me upon initial application. As she ages, the plum fragrance deepens, edging out some of the florals while the white musk at the base of this fragrance hovers around, cleaning up the scent. The longer Kitsune-Tsuki is left to age on me, the more it starts to dry and smell raisin-like. Some days this raisin scent is sweet and clean with a candy-like dusting of sweetness. Other days it becomes a prune, dry and mealy and a bit disturbing. Whatever its progression, and whatever is wrong with my skin chemistry some days, Kitsune-Tsuki is a pleasant, light plum fragrance.

Extra: Kitsune-Tsuki, according to Black Phoenix Alchemy’s website is named after the female Japanese spirits, possessed by fox spirits who commit mischief.

Design: Bottled in the same way as every other Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs fragrance. It’s bottled in a 5ml amber glass bottle with a black screw on cap. The label displays the name of the fragrance and the perfume house.

Fragrance Family: Fruity

Notes: Plum, orchid, daffodil, jasmine, white musk.

Some days I can’t tell if I love Kitsune-Tsuki’s unpredictable progression, and most days I wonder if I’m brave enough to test which way it’ll go. So while I don’t wear her as often as I’d like, she makes for a fine conversation piece nonetheless. You can purchase Kitsune-Tsuki from the Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs website. She is found under the category, “Diabolus“.

Reviewed in This Post: Kitsune-Tsuki, 2009, 5ml Bottle.

Sugababes Tempt

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I saw this thing laying about the internet and thought to myself, “Are you serious? Is that another Fantasy perfume I haven’t heard of yet?” Thankfully no, this isn’t an unknown bottle of yet another Britney Spears Fantasy. Tempt is actually a member of the Sugababes collection of fragrances. Being Canadian, unsavvy when it comes to music, and a general hermit, I had no idea who the Sugababes were. But I smelled Tempt anyway–in a safe, closed environment from a small sampler vial.

In Bottle: Fruity floral. If there’s anything I wholly expected from Tempt, it was this. Nothing exciting about this, it’s just  “that fruity floral smell” you can get anywhere else.

Applied: Berries up top, layered with a sort of sticky sweet tea scent that’s helped along in its tea-journey by blackcurrant that tries its best to bring the sugar down to tolerable levels but doesn’t succeed. It reminds me of a sweeter, sillier version of Tommy Girl. The midstage isn’t anything to phone home about either. It’s more fruits, more sweetness, a touch of rose to give this thing some florals, and an orchid note that might as well not be there because you have to dig to find it. The dry down is a typical, rather boring way-too-sweet vanilla scent that’s still too sticky for me to handle seriously.

Extra: Apparently the Sugababes is a pop group from the UK. No wonder I haven’t heard of it. Well, if nothing else, Tempt’s smell matches what the band seems to be all about. It’s definitely sugar.

Design: Ugh. I thought the Fantasy bottles were ugly to begin with, why on earth would there be another fragrance line to borrow design elements from it? The shape is awful and it’s made worse by the lack of embellishments.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Berries, blackcurrant, ced tea, rose, orchid, vanilla, musk.

Too sweet, too boring, terrible bottle. I’ll say what I always say for fragrances like this. It is by no means a bad smell. But it is definitely synthetic and unoriginal. If you like sweet fruity things, this is up your alley. If you are looking for something a little more sophisticated, this shouldn’t even be considered.

Reviewed in This Post: Tempt, 2010, Eau de  Toilette.

Jean Paul Gaultier Classique EDP

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You might be wondering why I bothered to put the concentration in the title there. Jean Paul Gaultier’s fragrance, Classique, has two interpretations. An EDT (Eau de Toilette) and an EDP (Eau de Parfum). They are packaged differently and they smell different. This review, obviously, focuses on the EDP. Classique EDP

In Bottle: Heady, floral, sweet oriental with a strong, smooth amber note that gives this a sort of honeyed scent.

Applied: I smell honeyed raisins and spice on first impression. Quite an interesting experience but I can see how people might be turned off by this. It’s a beautifully done fragrance as an oriental and very welcome as the spice deepens the longer you wear it until you reach a point when the honeyed vanilla amber has taken hold of the reins. Classique EDP sits in a heady section of spicy amber during its middle notes with the occasional waft of sweetened floral and spiced up ginger. At times it can smell foody, but the majority of this is spent as a sensually sweet floral. The dry down is equally nice, resting in a pleasant pool of amber woods.

Extra: As mentioned earlier in this review Jean Paul Gaultier couldn’t make things easier for us and has two versions of Classique floating around. Thankfully he made the two versions look different as well as smell different. The EDT was the original release of Classique in 1993 and is usually featured in an undecorated frosted glass bottle. The EDP reviewed in this post is an interpretation of the original and is featured in the bottle pictured in this post. Just to throw a little more wackiness into the mix, Gaultier also has Classique X out now, which thankfully, distinguishes itself a bit more than its concentration.

Design: Bottled in Gaultier’s signature silhouette bottles, the Classique EDP comes with an applique corset on the glass. I like the corset design but I’m not, and was never a fan, of the silhouette shapes. They are interesting looking to be sure but I’m just not feeling the groove. The packaging is also rather nice and interesting. Your bottle may come in an aluminum can, which is handy for keeping out light.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Rum essence, Bulgarian rose, star anise, orange blossom, tangerine, ginger, orchid, iris, ylang-ylang, vanilla daffodil, amber, tonka bean, musk.

Floral orientals aren’t for everyone and Classique EDP is definitely an example of this. Some people might consider this too old while others find it divine at any age. If you’re looking for a dark, deep and sweet oriental fragrance then this is a good choice. Just make sure you smell both the EDT and the EDP so you can determine which one you like more.

Reviewed in This Post: Classique EDP, 2009, Eau de Parfum.

Estee Lauder Youth Dew

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Youth Dew by Estée Lauder was released in 1953 as a bath fragrance and for years, it was the fragrance that women reached for much like Light Blue by Dolce & Gabanna is reached for today. Youth Dew’s popularity might be waning with the ages, but it remains a relevant piece of fragrance history. Youth Dew

In Bottle: A citrus scent with a kick of something heady and dark underneath. Youth Dew has this shadowy undercurrent that’s very endearing to it for me but it’s also this shadowy undercurrent that a lot of people would say this smells like grandma or some other silliness like that.

Applied: Initial blast of citrus and aldehydes receding into a spicy, mature floral scent that echoes that darkness in the juice. Like with most aldehyde-based scents for me, they never really go away and end up lingering throughout the fragrance. The florals hover around the animalic and dirty. A lot of modern fragrance wearers find this offensive because perfumistas refer to this “animalic and dirty” note as “indolic”. Indole being found in either jasmine or clove and in Youth Dew’s case, probably the clove. Maybe even both! The gloves are off on this one. The spice and florals do little to temper the indole in Youth Dew but if you let it stay on long enough and focus, a strange thing happens–it becomes easier to understand. Youth Dew isn’t “smelly grandma”, it’s a complex, daring fragrance that you aren’t going to get with your Light Blues or your Circus Fantasies. If you really wanted sexy, this is probably the stuff. It smells like what it is and you can accept it or get out as far as Youth Dew is concerned. Anyway, after the mid-stage that indole note hangs around for a bit into the dry down that, to me, smells mostly of patchouli trying desperately to clean up the mid-act.

Extra: Youth Dew is a strong fragrance. It comes on strong and leaves a strong impression and it’s gotten something of a bad rap over the years. People call it, “granny juice”, “hell juice”, “smells like corpse” and a multitude of other things. But Youth Dew is a piece of history, whether these people like it or not. But please, Youth Dew lovers, go easy on the trigger.

Design: Youth Dew is bottled in a ribbed glass affair with a bow tying it in the middle where the bottle gets a little thinner. It’s topped with a golden metal cap that has some detailing near the top. I can see its concept borrows from the figure of a woman and appreciate its subtle homage more than Gaultier’s bottles which are often more literal. In general, a simple design but an effective and memorable one.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Aldehydes, orange, peach, bergamot, cinnamon, cassia, orchid, jasmine, clove, ylang-ylang, rose, tolu balsam, peru balsam, amber, patchouli, musk, vanilla, oakmoss, vetiver, incense.

I’ll come clean, I don’t like the smell of Youth Dew. But I don’t hate it either. It’s not a fragrance I can really see myself wearing because I can’t get past the indole in this stuff but it is a classic through and through and if nothing else, you gotta give credit to this classic.

Reviewed in This Post: Youth Dew, 2000, Eau de Parfum.

Paris Hilton Siren

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So I went and smelled a Paris Hilton perfume today and aside from the looks at the drugstore some people were giving  me, it went all right. A lot of people swear by Paris’ perfumes, if they can’t swear by her personality so I was curious.  Siren

In Bottle: Smells fruity in the bottle with a hint of citrus as is per usual for a celebrity perfume. It smells a little bit like a slicked back coconut resting on a bed of fruit salad ringed with flowers. Pleasant but uninspired.

Applied: Fruity flare-up immediately followed by sweet florals where the frangipani makes itself most known. Siren’s a surprisingly pleasant and more successful beachy, tropical fragrance than Dare Me by Baby Phat but I’m still not sure I’m entirely on board with this situation because while it smells pleasant enough, it smells pretty generic and rather dull. As the fragrance ages, its mid-stage is a decked out sweet floral with a predominant splash of vanilla that reminds me quite vividly of Viva la Juicy by Juicy Couture. The florals get a bit weaker as the fragrance wears on though and you’re ultimately left with the hallmark of the modern perfume’s drydown; soft sandalwood and vanilla.

Extra: Paris Hilton has lent her name to the fragrance game for a number of years now and her perfume are quite popular. Maybe, and I hazard to say this, as popular as Britney Spears fragrances. The ad campaign for Siren had a golden mermaid Paris shopped onto a rock with crashing waves. It was a little ridiculous.

Design: Siren’s bottle reminds me a little bit of Guerlain’s Champs Elysees. It’s just in the shape really. It’s got a weird, twisted art deco type thing going on as well that I’m not 100% on board with but the bottling is not bad. You can tell they were going for the whole mermaid tail motif with the myth of the sirens and whatnot. It accomplishes what it needs to accomplish if the imagery is a little bit heavy-handed.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Apricot, mandarin, frangipani, honeysuckle, orchid, lotus, lily, sandalwood, vanilla, musk.

I know a lot of people are put off by celebrity perfume but there’s no shame in owning or liking celebuscents. It’s a bit of a funny misconception that people think Paris actually comes up with her own perfumes. Rest assured, she did not don gloves and goggles and spend years or months mixing fragrances together into a coherent mix. I’m pretty sure perfumer, Honorine Blanc had something of a hand in formulating this stuff.

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