I was going through my blogger posts and realized I had quite a few posts that I had started but never finished, this being on of them. Flash fragrance reviews. I love fragrance and when I worked at ULTA years ago now, that's the section where I worked until I starting working in the makeup area. I got to know scents very well and amassed quite the collection so I rarely buy fragrance nowadays and stick to my (mostly) vanilla based fragrance. You can see an older post on my favorite fragrances
here. Either way, I thought I'd finish this post and give you some first impressions of some recent spritzes. My husband is very sensitive to smells so there may be little phrases of his impressions as well, since he's pretty amusing.
Beckham Signature Women Eau De Toilette - I was going through my fragrance sample collection and found this. With notes of Candy apple, Patchouli, Musk, Vanilla, Heliotrope, Anise flower, Amber and Orchid, it sounded ok but yuck! In the sample vial it smells like mens cologne and on me it smells awful. It reminds me of something else that I can't quite place but it's a fairly generic type of scent. Either way, I think the anise with patchouli, musk
and heliotrope makes it just too much for me. A pass.
Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black & White - I'm mentioning these together since not only have I tried them together and separately, but a lot of bloggers and youtubers alike have indicated they wear them together. Black is described as "an addictive blend of alluring violet, sensual sandalwood, and rich
vanilla that strikes the perfect balance between masculine and feminine" and White "a captivating blend of delicate peony, chic muguet, and tender musk for a feminine scent with dark sophistication". Together, I found them simply overwhelming; I didn't really start enjoying the combination till about the 4th hour and the idea of smelling it so strongly on myself would make me nervous about wearing it - granted, it does have some lasting power with just one spritz of Black and one spritz of White. Apart, Black was a bit too spicy for me. I didn't really get the sandalwood or the rich vanilla; what I got was something similar to Opium. Sephora puts this fragrance in the same family as scents that I love, but it also describes it as a warm and spicy floral, which is odd since the 3 notes listed are all notes that tend to smell good on me (and I generally don't think of the 3 scents they mention as particularly spicy). Something tells me there's something else in there. White somehow seemed to give me a top note of rose (unlisted), which I can smell from a mile away since I usually hate it, but again, there are only 3 notes listed in the description. As it settles down, it becomes a bit more sweet and definitely less overpowering than the Black scent. Black combined with a 2nd fragrance, like a straight vanilla works well, but I'm not sure it's worthy to "purchase" though I managed to buy 4 "try these fragrances and redeem rollerballs" when I saw them at my local Sephora in JCPenney on clearance for $15, so I'm going to have to get
something. In any case, my husband was definitely not a fan and threatened to get rid of the clothes I was wearing at the time and that it "didn't smell like me".
Calvin Klein Euphoria - Pretty much a classic. Described as "a contrast between exotic fruits and seductive florals, for a rich, creamy, seductive signature", it lists notes of Pomegranate, Persimmon, Green Notes, Black Orchid, Lotus Blossom,
Champaca Flower, Liquid Amber, Mahogany Wood, Black Violet, Cream Accord. You can definitely smell the bit of freshness and a tiny bit of the amber/wood/creamy notes that I tend to like, but I'm not sure it's for me, even though my husband remarked "it's more of a [my name] perfume". I had a headache that day and I was worried that the perfume caused it because certain florals can do that to me, but then again, tree pollen has been at an all time high and I am pretty much allergic to everything and have had on and off headaches since the trees started trying to procreate so who knows really.
Ralph Lauren Romance - A sweet Sephora employee and I were talking fragrance one day and she almost
made me take a sample vial of this home. I think she wanted to at least look like she was working cause we were having a fun time. I also sold her on trying Philosophy Falling in Love (you know you like fragrance when you start 'selling' your favorites to Sephora team members)! Anyway, the notes listed on Sephora indicate "Sungoddess Rose, Marigold, Ginger, Chamomile Oil, Yellow Freesia, White Violet, Lotus Flower, Day Lily, Patchouli, Oakmoss, Musk". I basically wasn't a fan for the first 4 hours of wear time on this either. I don't like about half of these notes depending on where they are sourced from; heavy doses of freesia can give me an epic migraine and in this case, there doesn't seem to be a base of enough creaminess/vanilla to even things out for me. My husband took a sniff a few hours later and said it wasn't bad but we both agreed it just wasn't quite right. Thank goodness I didn't tell him it had patchouli. He claims to hate it, but half my fragrances have it as a note!
That's all for the moment, though there are a few I'll need to dig up from notes on my phone. In the meantime, since I am suddenly interested in trying all sorts of fragrances, I think I'll keep this up (or I hope so) since fragrance is fun, but it is very personal. Till then...
