Mambo for Women (2001)
by Liz Claiborne

Mambo is a tropical fruity / floral with mango, peach, citrus as the fruit and ylang ylang, orange blossom, and hibiscus as florals. It has a base of sandalwood, musk and vanilla. The notes seem to be thrown in the pot with no regard for each other, and no regard for any kind of balance or refinement. It's mainly synthetic, and what isn't synthetic is gaudy. It smells better on paper than on my skin, so it's probably the skin chemistry that makes it seem so bad.

5th December, 2010.

The first time I tried this, I was 14 and filching a spray of perfume from one of my friend's medicine cabinets after a sleepover because I had forgotten to bring any. It's a spicy, earthy scent that reminds me of a sweaty Latina -- in a good way. I've smelt this scent on other women, and on some it's simply awful, with the fragrance being completely off-putting and synthetic. However, on the right person, it comes out sexy and seems almost as if the person is emitting the scent themselves, instead of wearing a perfume... like it combines with their persona.
I don't wear it anymore because I find it to be too forward, but if I ever find myself going to southern Mexico in the summertime, I suspect I'll be picking up a bottle!

24th September, 2009.

In the opening, the mango and mandarin are in open warfare, and neither is winning. Or rather, the lines between the two become blurred and create a new mango-mandarin-synthetic-plastic accord that is quite repulsive. The ginger is barely discernable, as is the orange blossom, behind this powerhouse opening accord of atrociousness. As the fragrance progresses cinnamon and ginger become more prominent, and a bit of sandalwood does make its presence known, thank goodness. This fragrance certainly improves with time, and becomes a medium-bodied spice scent, though I'm not sure I want to wade through the trenches that are the opening notes to get to the good part, even for a great price!

2nd November, 2008.