Provocative Woman (2004)
by Elizabeth Arden

This was hidden in the back of my closet and I resuscitated it. My bottle is pretty old now, but the fragrance is still good. I don't know why, but I've been reaching for this quite a bit this year (multiple wears and there are still four months left to 2009). I just like the way it smells on me - clean and sweet, yet with a warm drydown. I can't even describe it. I don't smell orchid or melon, but I do get a soft sandalwoody/ambery sweetness in the drydown. It's not overpowering and makes no statements. I just find it easy to wear. I think I have a serious affinity for department store fragrances.

I must say - I have grown to love this fragrance. At first, I did not know what to think of it but as I wore it daily, I really started to love it. It has a really good base note - on me, it does not smell sweet at all. It also does not smell all that powdery or too floral. I love what my chemistry does with this fragrance. I also love the fact that it is not so overpowering - I love it so much, I wear it when I come to work and when I go to sleep at night. My sheets and my nighties smell of this scent and I don't mind. My fiance bought it for me and he loves it on me....so does everyone else, it seems. However, it is nothing special. I also use Dolce and Gabbana's The One and Ck's Euphoria and this one is lagging far behind my other 2 fragrances. I love having it in my fragrance wardrobe - although it is not a big name brand, it does manage to hold it's strongly enough for me to rather wear it to bed than my other fragrances. It gives me great dreams and since people are used to me wearing expensive, good perfumes, they immediately class this one as such, too. I like.

I don't think that "provocative" is a good name for this perfume, because there is nothing "provocative" about this scent.
To me it's a rather generic scent that is reminiscent of cheap shampoo that can be bought at the drugstore.

Smells like cotton candy. Much too sweet. Even sickeningly sweet...

I hate to say this about a fragrance represented by the beauteous and provocative Catherine Zeta-Jones, but, unfortunately, this scent is not anywhere near as beautiful as Ms. Zeta-Jones. Provocative Woman is initially perfumy and then quite overpowering through its progression. It’s too fruity sweet: a sweetness certainly more on the annoying side than the provocative. And as for the florals, they seem to be dominated by the orchid, and I have never been fond of orchid notes in a fragrance. In this case, it’s much more than orchid that’s the problem: The fragrance is a bit rough in its projection just not as refined and structured as it should be. And I’m afraid that its accords and notes are just not very original or inspiring – it is not the fragrance that it should be.

I love the way it smells 45 minutes later - it becomes rather yummy and semi sweet, semi watery fresh.

I am keen to try it out again.