Badgley Mischka (2006)
by Badgley Mischka

Badgley Mischka serves up the brightest, sweetest fruit custard accord you could imagine on a platter smooth woods, clean musk, and amber. It’s not complex, it’s not sophisticated, and its not subtle. It doesn’t develop all that much, and it reveals no hidden depths. It’s simply happy, and if you’re looking for a cheerful, fruity scent for summers on the beach, you could do a lot worse.

This is the ultimate in fruity, floral fragrances! It is so fruity, in fact, that it begs the question, "Do we really want to smell like fruit?". The floral accords save this from being a pedestrian, however. So, if you love this sort of thing, you really need to keep plenty on hand. Badgley Mischka is the apex of this genre.

Reminds me of a rich, heavy fruitcake I prepared for friends and family one holiday season -- a dense, syrupy concoction loaded with candied fruits and brandy. Delicious, but a few bites proved to be more than enough.

I've worn Chanel's Coco for many years, and also Prada edp. Badgley Mischka fits somewhere in the same ball-park as these two, although it's not as sophisticated or spicy as Coco and not as soft and rich as Prada. Both of these are leagues less sweet than Badgley Mischka. I can't see myself wearing Badgley Mischka every day, but it definitely has a place in my fragrance wardrobe. It borders on being almost too sweet for me, and makes me think of brandied fruits. But it is still a beautiful fragrance for those who want something with a lot of personality and not like the other canned fruit dreck that's being sold. The ambery base is very good, and by the time you get there, it's a lot less sweet. It is very very pretty and feminine, almost womanly. Sillage is impressive and lasting power good. This is my favorite of all the fruit fragrances floating around - a lot richer with more personality than Boucheron B, for instance. This is mostly for fall and winter weather, or special, exuberant occasions. I think it would be oppresive in summer, even though there is something lush and almost tropical about it.

As I was checking this out at Sephora, I thought its top notes bore a striking similarity to Coco Mademoiselle, so I sought the CM tester to compare, but it was missing from the shelf. Brought home a scent strip (which is quite pungent) and kept sniffing it to analyze how I felt about it. In some ways it's as loud as a cheerleading squad: "Give me a P, give me an E, give me an RFUME." It's truly "perfumey." And there's something that's giving me flashbacks to my mom wearing some sample fragrance from decades ago. Then I began to pick up on a soapy quality that has now morphed to a aftershave scent. I'd probably compliment someone wearing this, but would fatigue of it quickly if it were in my own wardrobe.

This scent was made to be worn with lace and pearls. Big, fat, luminescent, pearls. and a pout to match.